A man was walking through an art museum, when he suddenly stopped. In front of him was a painting that portrayed two individuals playing the game of chess. The man, being a chess champion was intrigued, and studied the piece of art with intense focus. The title of the painting was “Checkmate”. In the game of chess that means the king is about to be overcome, and there is nothing he can do about it. “Checkmate”, is a word that indicates or announces, you’re done. It’s over. It may even invoke fear.
Do you feel as though someone, or circumstances has recently said, “Checkmate” to you? Is your heart being gripped by fear? I was watching the news the other day, and heard how many people are still unemployed, and are being threatened of losing their dwelling place, and worst yet, are hunger challenged. I don’t like to see anyone suffer, and if it hurts me I know it must hurt God. Yes, God has emotions. Where do you think we got ours as we are created in his image.
There is truth in saying that “some” people create their own problem(s) by how they live, or by what they do with their money, but now is not the time to give a lecture when they are already on their knees. We can only hope they dislike their circumstances so much they make drastic change as soon as they can. In other words, they find a glimmer of hope, and they hang on to that hope, because truth is, there may not be anything else to hold on to. The kind of hope that can eliminate fear. The kind of hope that can only be found in Jesus who is the King of Kings!
The chess expert in the museum cried out,
“This painting is incorrectly titled!”
The museum curator came rushing over to see why the man was making such an outrageous claim. “Sir, why do you claim it is titled wrong?” asked the curator. “Because I have looked at every possibility, and the king has one more move that will cause his opponent to be checkmated!” The piece of art is now in a private collection.
You see, when you place your hope, your trust and faith in the King, you don’t ever have to worry about it being over, for the King of Kings always has one more move.
Copyright © 2020 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
A minister shared the story of his daughter, who was very young at the time, and in Africa, by herself. There was a native mother having trouble birthing her child. She was in great agony and screaming out. The village, female, witch doctor had her candles burning, incents smoking, while she recited “hocus pocus” chants. The young woman had enough and begged someone to go retrieve the American, who earlier had made her faith in God, known. The minister told us his daughter went there and surveyed the situation. She was barely 21 years old, and the only thing she could think of to do was sing the song, “In the Name of Jesus”. The witch doctor had a fit, and stormed out, at which point peace entered, the woman’s pain subsided, and she delivered her baby.
How do you convince someone you love them? You could tell them over and over perhaps. You could show them in every way possible. You could do everything you can think of. You could even learn their love language, and speak it fluently. After all the effort you would expect them to accept you, to accept your love, but what if they don’t? Can you imagine the frustration you would feel? Then, what if you told them, “In order to prove how much I love you, I’ll die for you.” They might still reject your offer, and even say, “You’re crazy!”
I attended a funeral this week. My aunt. She was the last sibling to pass on, from my father’s side. There were 10 of them. After the grave side service I walked over to my father’s grave. I cleaned it off and told him I missed him, even though he was a handful to deal with in the last years of his life.
Considering the challenges, it’s understandable why my wife and I had a difficult time in the beginning adjusting to each other. An American who didn’t understand Filipino culture, and a Filipino who wasn’t used to a man making decisions. My wife’s father left the family when she was young.
A pig is very selfish. Also, it will kick and scream to live until the very last drop of blood drips out of its body. Pigs will do anything it takes to survive, and to get theirs. Sound like anyone you know?
I had a conversation with one of my neighbors today. He conveyed a story of one of his, and his wife’s travels back to the U.S. from Uganda. He shared how the plane developed some trouble and they landed safely in the middle of the night un-expectantly.
Jobs have disappeared,
I received the T shirt pictured here in the mail yesterday. I laughed, and couldn’t believe my knucklehead friend/ex coworker would do such a thing. Okay, now you are probably asking yourself, “Who’s Mike?” Mike was a manager where my friend and I worked. He was a different soul, went by the book, and talked a lot! I often wondered how he kept from going hoarse every day.
brady, mark a. 