May 22nd Reflections

     Rainwater is streaming down the driveway but it is beneficial for the vegetable garden that just went in earlier this week.
    Recently I prayed for God to give me His compassion for other people, a request that I need to ask for periodically. Perhaps not coincidentally I experienced the longest bout of physical pain that I have experienced in many years. I ate Ibuprofen like candy and even prescription pain medication proved almost worthless. Now I have a renewed appreciation for people in physical pain.
    Reading in the end of John several things jumped out at me. In 17:4 Jesus says, "I glorified you  on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do." I have long believed that glorifying God is the ultimate purpose for which we have been created. ( Phil 2:9-11, Isa. 43:6-7, 48:11, Romans 16:27 et. al) Yet how to do this can seem nebulous. Is it worship, praise, our whole lives? This verse provides insight that if we do the will of God we are glorifying Him.
    Finished watching the Brazilian TV mini-series "Rei Davi," ( King David) for the second time in my ongoing effort to learn Portuguese. I have also watched Ester, ( Esther), Sansao e Dalila, ( Samson and Delilah) and Jose do Egito ( Joseph of Egypt). I am finally understanding a majority of what I hear. Of course it helps to have professional actors who are enunciating and pronouncing clearly, and the many clues provided by facial expressions and actions plus a solid knowledge of the underlying biblical accounts. While i remain a little dubious about recommending them due to the eighty or eighty-five percent that is fabricated, and occasional salacious scenes, I do like the musical scores, and I am learning the language.
     Later in John 18 when Pilate is questioning Jesus, even a pagan foreigner understands that Jesus is claiming to be a king of a kingdom even though he doesn't understand the spiritual nature of that kingdom. Would that modern Christians understood and acted upon the revelation that Jesus is King of the Universe, and came to proclaim His kingdom and rule. "But he said to them, "I must preach the goods news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose." ( Luke 4:43