If tranquility is what you seek, you'll not find it in Sweden's island neighborhood, Gamla Stan. Its medieval streets squawk with countless languages as tourists trod the cobblestone paths of what is today better known as old Stockholm.

Weary from the walk, Diana and I slipped into Cafe Schweitzer. Fur pelts adorn the seats of this curious cafe, where nearly every square inch of the walls and ceiling are covered with graffiti screaming messages in many languages. Who knew plaster and paint could be so loud? Yet the old-world charm, freshly squeezed juices, and distinctly Swedish menu intrigued us.

Munching our toasted Skagen —shrimp, eggs, dill, and lettuce on toasted rye— (you've never seen such a mound of mayonnaise), we tried to make sense of the graffiti. And that's when I saw it.

At the top of a column, camouflaged by so many other scribblings, was a blue-lettered Bible reference to Joshua 1:9. You know the verse. It's God speaking to Joshua, who is facing enormous obstacles, and God tells him:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

What a breath of fresh air in a city that today is as choked with paganism as any place I've been. Looking back on our visit to Cafe Schweitzer, two lessons seem to work their way off of the graffitied walls.

First, you and I live in a noisy age. It’s easy to miss God’s voice, just as I nearly missed that Bible reference on top of the column. Messages from a media-mad world threaten to crowd out the one voice we must hear—the Almighty’s.

Second, God's promise to Joshua is ancient—but still active. I don't know what neighborhood your path will take you through today. I don't know what obstacles or adversaries you'll face. But I do know a promise you and I can both claim:

Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified nor dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

What’s the first thing you do in the morning?

Whatever it is, it's important to you. That's why you do it first. That's also why first things can be a struggle and ought to be chosen carefully.

So, what's your morning routine? After showering, I first try to grab my Bible and journal and head off to a comfortable old chair for my daily quiet time. For the most part, I'm disciplined. But the battle for first things is never fully won.

I am easily derailed by an "urgent need" to dash off an email on my phone—at 5:45 in the morning (gimme a break, right?). Or, I can be so distracted mentally that I have little capacity to pray. Or—because I'm committed to a 45-minute walk every morning—threatening skies can tempt me to walk first and pray later. But "later" somehow never arrives.

Indeed, the battle for first things is never fully won. And there's something wrong when my step count is more important than keeping in step with the Holy Spirit. In fact, there's something wrong every time we shut out the Voice whispering to us that we should be doing something we've placed lower (later) on the list.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." Meaning that everything else is secondary. I'm sure there's some re-ordering of the soul that needs to take place in my life. Maybe yours, too.

Matthew Henry says it best: “First things belong to Him who is first.”

Lord—

Would you help us know what it means—today and every day—to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? We ask you to shout rather than whisper. For our souls are hard of hearing.

Amen. 

Imagine yourself in the co-pilot's seat of a four-place airplane. You've just clicked your safety belt when the pilot announces, "I'll have you handle the take-off and then some other maneuvers once we get airborne."

That was me with instructor Ian Hawk at the Moody Aviation flight school in Spokane, Washington. Since you’re reading this blog, you know we survived the flight.

Watching Ian run through the pre-flight checklist of more than 100 items, I was impressed with the meticulous attention to detail that defines every facet of Moody Aviation. These men and women are superb professionals.

As for the flight, I felt overwhelmed staring at so many screens and gauges. But take off we did. And what a rush to pull back on that yoke, to watch the nose rise and see the runway and buildings shrink as we soared.

In my headset, I heard Ian's calm instructions and a good bit of pilot talk. So much to think about:

• Was my rate of climb too fast? Too slow?
• Having reached altitude, was I flying straight and level?
• Was I paying attention to the airspace around me?

Pulling out of a tight turn, Ian commented, “There are a hundred ways for things to go wrong in an airplane. But most of them are hardly noticeable—until you’ve neglected the symptoms long enough that you’re in real trouble.”

But isn't that precisely the way it is with the Christian life? We have Christ's promise that He will never leave or forsake us. More than that, we have the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. But just like the instruments on that Cessna’s panel, we can ignore them or acknowledge them.

I’m hoping to hang on to three insights from that flight:

1. Flying straight and level is far more challenging than I’d thought. Same with the Christian life. It’s disturbingly easy to get off course. Let’s not be fooled!

2. There are plenty of ways to gauge your status—if you’re willing to look. But so often, we cheat our morning "pre-flight" time in the Word. Or we shrink our prayer time to a few "Bless me" and "Help me" phrases.

3. Having a pilot who really knows is a powerful comfort! Knowing that Christ is right there beside us is the only reason we can have confidence and peace when the skies aren’t so friendly.

One last thought. If God is your co-pilot, you’re definitely in the wrong seat!

(Hope you’ve enjoyed today’s flight). 

Been out shopping lately for a new phone plan. Call me a dinosaur, but I don’t have unlimited data. Like most everyone else, though, I want the ability to stream without worry.

Interesting. The cry of our day is unlimited connectivity and constant access. We want a wireless world without hassles or hurdles of any kind. And don’t even think about throttling us back!

The analogy might sound worn, but our heavenly Father has already given us much more than that in Christ:

• Unlimited connectivity through prayer.
• Unlimited access to the Father because of Jesus’ death on the cross.
• Unlimited power through the Holy Spirit.

But many of us are more enamored of our screens than our Savior. We’re not just glued to them—we’re welded to them! All the while, we take shockingly little advantage of what we’ve been offered through Christ.

How easily the minutes click by on Instagram or Messenger. How slowly when in the presence of the King of Kings. 

I’m as guilty as anyone. Still, don’t you wonder how could we be so far out of whack that we would spend more time with a hand-held device than our hand-holding Savior?

I want to love Jesus more than anyone or anything (including my phone). And the amount of time I spend with Christ will prove—or disprove—that claim. Same for you.

Who or what is going to have first place in your life? A hand-held device—or a hand-holding Savior?

Did you watch any fireworks over the Fourth of July holiday?

According to Wallethub, America spent about 2.4 billion dollars on fireworks in some 16,000 civic displays. These civic displays cost anywhere between $5,000 and $200,000. All told, we import about $301,000,000 worth of fireworks—97% of those from China.

About 37% of Americans attend fireworks displays of some kind. My wife and I are among them.

While waiting to view the show in front of us, some neighboring towns behind us were blasting away with theirs. We were only a couple of miles away from the distant blasts, but I was struck by how wimpy the sound of those vast explosions was.

Though impressive in person, the audio quickly loses its bombast with just a bit of distance.

Something else I’ve noticed over the years. At the beginning of a fireworks show, every eye is fully engaged as the first few rockets blast into the sky. But before too long, some younger kids lose just a bit of interest. And some moms and dads are fiddling with their phones—and no, they aren't all posting photos. They are—unthinkably—bored. Or at least distracted. Think of that.

Call me crazy, but whenever we get to the “Grand Finale," the image of heaven comes to mind. I think of the twelve gates, each made of a single pearl. I think about the streets of gold and the River of Life, and the living creatures. And, of course, I think about King Jesus.

But of this, you can be assured. When we finally reach heaven, we will never have occasion for boredom or distraction. Our enjoyment of God and our amazement at being in His presence will never fade, never grow old, and never lose the slightest bit of enchantment. It will be forever new, forever amazing, forever a sanctified sensory overload.

So, forget the tired image of wimpy Christians clustered on clouds plucking harps half-heartedly. Heaven is better. WAY better than that.

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

-1 Corinthians 2:9

SOURCE: https://wallethub.com/blog/4th-of-july-facts/22075