Chinese restaurant | brady, mark a.

I got spoiled and took it for granted. I love Chinese food! When I lived in the Chicago suburbs and worked in downtown Chicago, I had several excellent Chinese restaurants around me. Within a five-mile radius of my home I had five alone that were good! I didn’t realize how good I had it until I moved back to my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, after retiring from AT&T.

April and I tried another place today for lunch. I was excited, and my hopes were high. Let’s just say I tried to like it, but the taste fell far below what I wanted. I have analyzed the situation and realized the bar was set high when I lived in Illinois. There was one place where the head cook was known as “Grandma.” I would walk in and ask, “Is Grandma back there cooking?” If the answer was “Yes,” then I knew it was going to be good. In fact, when Grandma retired, the quality went downhill, and I stopped eating there. Grandma had set “The Standard.”

There are many “religions” around the world, and those who follow them will say they are satisfied with their choice of following that “religion.” My choice is Christianity, where I don’t follow a “religion” but rather have a “relationship” with the Creator of the universe, God Himself.

“Religions” usually come with a set of rules and spiritual practices that one must follow in order to achieve some kind of spirituality with the hopes of being “good enough” to make it into heaven. In my relationship with God, as long as my sins have been forgiven via his Son, Jesus, and the attitude of love resides in my heart, I am promised by God himself to live with him in heaven for eternity. In my opinion, what I have learned about other “religions” seems lifeless, burdensome, and demanding. God has set The Standard when it comes to being spiritual and Jesus Christ set the bar!

Jesus Christ is the only One who taught, walked, and lived out a life of perfection and love but then died and rose again to be with his Father in heaven. No other priest or teacher did that. Not Buddha, Muhammad, or any other person. They’re still dead!

As I watched today several customers come in to eat or pick up their orders, I asked myself, “If the food here isn’t that good, then how can this place be so busy?” Then the answer hit me. “Duh! Their standard of good quality Chinese food is low. They haven’t partaken of the best!” The same goes for the masses who have not accepted Jesus Christ into their life. Asking for forgiveness for their sins and then walking in a loving “relationship” with God.

Consider a “relationship” with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. That is why He died a horrible death for you on the cross! Even if you were the only person on Earth and you sinned and did something wrong, Jesus would have gone through the pain and agony of dying for you. That is how much He loves you.

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good;
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Ps. 34:8 (AMP)

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18 (MSG)

I seldom get down, and depressed, but it happened the other day. I knew what all was bothering me, but I could not come up with an answer to the problem.

I asked God, “What should I do?”

I sensed He whispered, “Love”.

I thought for a moment and said, “What else you got?”

His answer seemed impossible considering the circumstances, so I continued to remain quiet, and sad.

I wrote, just last week, how God gets creative whenever He communicates with us. Last night, He just showed off! A friend texted with a request to help her and so we agreed and went over to a different neighborhood than ours and took care of her need. I could have completed the task by myself, but thought about the restaurants in that area and asked my wife if she would go with me. I didn’t tell her what I was planning, but I knew one of her favorite eating establishments was close by.

I took care of the deed, and then drove about a block to the Chinese restaurant. The look on my wife’s face of pure excitement and joy was worth the trip alone. We ordered and she went and found us a place to sit to enjoy our meal. I, on the other hand, got our drink, plastic ware, napkins, soy sauce, and of course a fortune cookie. There was a whole basket of cookies, but I randomly picked one.

We ate and then I cracked opened the cookie. Now, I am not one to believe in fortunes, or horoscopes, or the like, but when I read the message inside, I knew it was meant to be. It read,

“Hope is the most precious treasure to a person.”

As the, so called, “random” message sunk in, I sensed a feeling of love, and God saying, “Gottcha!” I believe in hope, I write about the importance of hope, and of the power of hope. In that moment all of my depression left, and I knew the situation was going to be okay, and yes, his earlier message of “Love” was going to be the key.

God speaks. Look for his words, seek them out, expect them, and listen when He does whisper to your soul. He communicates because He loves us so much.

I asked God, “What should I do?”

I sensed He whispered, “Love”.

I thought for a moment and said, “What else you got?”

“Hope is the most precious treasure to a person.”

God always answers, one way or another, even when people don’t recognize his presence.Job 33:14 (MSG)

God always answers, one way or another,
even when people don’t recognize his presence.
Job 33:14 (MSG)