Pleasant Grove Community Church

June 2, 2020
TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY

Do you have A.A.A.D.D.?
Age-Activated Attention-Deficit Disorder.
 
This is how it manifests:
 
I decide to water my garden.  
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, 
I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.
 
As I start toward the garage, 
I notice mail on the porch table that
I brought up from the mail box earlier.
 
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
 
I lay my car keys on the table, 
put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table,
and notice that the can is full.
 
So, I decide to put the bills back 
on the table and take out the garbage first.
 
But then I think, 
since I'm going to be near the mailbox
when I take out the garbage anyway,
I may as well pay the bills first.
 
I take my check book off the table, 
and see that there is only one check left.
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, 
so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I'd been drinking .
 
I'm going to look for my checks,  
but first I need to push the Pepsi aside
so that I don't accidentally knock it over.
 
The Pepsi is getting warm,  
and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
 
As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi,  
a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye--they need water.
 
I put the Pepsi on the counter and  
discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk,
but first I'm going to water the flowers.
 
I set the glasses back down on the counter, 
fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
 
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, 
I'll be looking for the remote,
but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table.
So, I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs,
but first I'll water the flowers.
 
I pour some water in the flowers, 
But quite a bit of it spills on the floor.
 So, I set the remote back on the table, 
Get some towels and wipe up the spill.
 
Then, I head down the hall trying to 
Remember what I was planning to do.
 
At the end of the day: 
The car isn't washed,  
The bills aren't paid, 
There is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter, 
The flowers don't have enough water, 
There is still only one check in my check book, 
I can't find the remote, 
I can't find my glasses, 
And I don't remember what I did with the car keys. 

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, 
I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day,
and I'm really tired.
 
I realize this is a serious problem, 
And I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....
 
Do me a favor.
Forward this message to everyone you know,
because I don't remember who I've sent it to.
 
Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

P.S.  I don't remember who sent it to me, so if it was you, I'm sorry.
A Devotional Thought by Don Anderson

Scripture is very clear that all of us will experience suffering in life; some more than others, so it seems. Scripture is replete with examples of suffering. Take Job for example; a man who seemingly had it all together. Job 5:7 states, “Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” There is no question about that!
 
The apostle Paul is another example. In fact, his suffering was predicted even before his ministry began. Acts chapter nine recounts the conversion of Paul on the road to Damascus. Following his encounter with the living Christ, Paul was escorted into the city where “he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (Acts 9:9). At the same time, a certain disciple named Ananias was told by the Lord to go to Paul and lay hands on him so that he might receive his sight. When Ananias protested to the Lord concerning the danger of confronting Paul, the Lord replied, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
 
Later, after years of ministry for Christ, Paul recounts the many ways he was called to suffer when he writes,
“in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness—besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches”
(2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
 
Wow! I doubt if any of us could say that we have suffered as Paul did. I hope that none of us are ever stoned and then dragged outside the city and left for dead as Paul was at Lystra! Yet Paul arose, went back into the city, and left the next day for Derbe.
 
How could Paul keep up a ministry that required all of that tribulation year after year? How could Paul maintain an attitude of gratitude through it all? What can we learn from Paul to help us through the trials we face? And how can we maintain an attitude of gratitude when the world continually throws trials our way?
 
Paul makes it clear in Philippians 4 that maintaining an attitude of gratitude is a process of spiritual growth. He says, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (Philippians 4: 11-12). The word “learned” in verse 11 means to learn by experience or practice. The word “learned” in verse 12 is a different word. It has the idea of learning through teaching. The word was used of learning the secrets of something through initiation. In ancient times, someone was initiated into a secret society by learning its secret rites.
 
What Paul is saying to us is that as life brings trials and tribulations our way, we are offered the opportunity to learn the secrets of contentment through them. When Paul uses the word “content,” he means to be happy or satisfied with what one has or with the circumstances in which one exists.
 
But what was it in all of Paul’s circumstances that gave him the ability to learn contentment and maintain an attitude of gratitude? The next verse makes this crystal clear: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). What a great verse to memorize, especially as circumstances come along that allow us to learn contentment! No one would have had the fortitude and determination to forge on in light of the overwhelming circumstances that Paul faced without the strength supplied by Christ.
 
The word “can” in Philippians 4:13 means to have the necessary strength for all things or having an empowering ability. In other words, the Lord Jesus was supplying the strength whenever Paul needed it. The result of this strength was to be content in whatever circumstance Paul found himself. It is interesting that the tense of the word “can” is present meaning that Jesus was ever-present in Paul’s life, ready to empower him when the needs arose. According to Paul, “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
 
Jesus can do the same thing for us. When circumstances come along that test our ability to: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), we have a divine opportunity for learning contentment in whatever that circumstance might be.
 
Jesus will, just as He did for Paul, pour on the power that we need in order to teach us contentment and develop our attitude of gratitude. As future circumstances present themselves, we will have additional occasions to refine our attitude. Over time we will be able to live above our circumstances as we come to see that what we are experiencing is no accident and no surprise to God. We can choose to trust God to lead us in all things for His glory and our good. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28)!
ADDING NEW SHARE CATEGORIES THIS MONTH

Please share with us your:

  • Favorite Recipe (and if there is a story behind it, share that as well)
  • Favorite Quote (and who it's from)
  • Favorite Bible Verse
  • Garden (if you do your own gardening)
  • and continue to Share Your Art

Send your contributions to pgcc1730office@gmail.com
Hydrangea from Jean and Bill Stephen's garden

Send a picture of your garden, favorite recipe, favorite Bible verse or quote to us at 1730pgccoffice@gmail.com .
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Blessings, PGCC staff


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Pleasant Grove Community Church
1730 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Roseville, CA 95747
(916) 771-4447 www.pgcc.church
Email: 1730pgccoffice@gmail.com