TODAY'S PROMISE

"Because he has set his love on me,
I will deliver him:
I will protect him,
because he knows my name.
He shall 'call upon me,
and I will answer him;
I will deliver him, and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him, 
and show him my salvation."
(Psalms 91: 14-16 AKJV)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR

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"They were filled with craving in the desert
and put God to the test;
so he gave them what they asked for,
but also sent a terrible disease among them."
(Psalms 106:14,15 GNB)


How many has been the time we just had to have something.
Then it ended up being an unbearable expense,
a head ache,
or an entanglement we regretted?

Years ago there was a song that went something like this,
"I got what I wanted.  But I lost what I had."

We need to beware of our desires.
May they be God directed.

Photo courtesy of:
www.freefoto.com

Photo courtesy of:
www.freefoto.com

GOD'S HELP

"I called on the LORD in my distress;

the LORD answered me, and set me free.

The LORD is on my side;

I will not fear:

what can man do to me?

The LORD is on my side to help me:

I will see my desire on those who hate me.

It is better to trust in the LORD

than to put confidence in man.

It is better to trust in the LORD

than to put confidence in princes."

(Psalms 118:5-9 AKJV)

GOD WANTS TO BE NAGGED

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How often do you consider nagging a virtue?

Consider these passages.

Concerning Jerusalem God said,

"On your walls, Jerusalem, I have placed sentries;

They must never be silent day or night.

They must remind the Lord of his promises

and never let him forget them.

They must give him no rest until he restores Jerusalem

And makes it a city the whole world praises."

(Isaiah 62:6,7 GNB)

Or consider what Jesus told us about praying.

If we went to a friend at midnight and pestered him

for some food,

"... he will get up and give you everything you need 

because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.

And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive;

seek and you will find;

knock, and the door will be opened to you."

(Luke 11:8,9 GNB)

Further, "... Jesus told his disciples a parable 

to teach them that they should always pray and 

never become discourage."

Then he gave the parable of the widow harassing

the unjust judge.

He concluded,

"Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people

 who cry to him day and night for help?

Will he be slow to help them?

I tell you he will judge in their favor and do it quickly."

(Luke 18:1,7,8 GNB)

CAUTION:

This does not mean that everyone in the world can go

running to God and nag him for something they want.

Notice it says God will judge in favor of 

"his own people".

If I do not have a personal relationship to God,

I am not his child and have no right to ask

anything of him.

And even if I am his child God pointed this out to me.

"Don't think that the LORD is too weak to save you

or too deaf to hear your call for help!

It is because of your sins that he doesn't hear you.

It is your sins that separate you from God when

you try to worship him."

(Isaiah 59:1,2 GNB)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

the LORD bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

O LORD Almighty

blessed is the man who trusts in you."

(Psalms 84:11,12 NIV)

********* 

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

GOD'S BLESSINGS

"Bless the LORD, O my soul:

and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits;

Who forgives all your iniquities;

who heals all your diseases;

Wo redeems your life from destruction;

who crowns you with lovingkindness

and tender mercies;

Who satisfies your mouth with good things;

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."

(Psalms 103:1-5 AKJV)

CAGED IN

These rabbits are caged.  For rabbits, they are rather large cages.

The little guy is in a walk in cage that is about 3 ft. x 6 ft.

And the large girl is in a walk in cage that is 6 ft. x 10 ft.

Both seem quite content.  I can work with them and just leave

the door open.  Also I have observed that if some dog or 

other happens to come around, the rabbits just ignore it.

No panic.  They seem to have learned that the cage 

protects them.

I am at a point that I would like to just open the cages and

let the rabbits go.  You know - total freedom.

But I have done that before.  The result would be,

in a couple of days there would only be a few

chunks of fur left.  A dog, cat, raccoon, or fox

would get them.

So, I have to keep them caged for their own protection.

That is why God has laws.

For our own protection.

  

 God cages us in with his laws for our own good.

"Happy are those whose lives are faultless,

who live according to the law of the Lord.

(Psalms 119:1 GNB)

But his cage is large.

"I will live in perfect freedom,

because I try to obey your teachings."

(Psalms 119:45 GNB)

However, God will allow us to walk out the door

away from his laws and commands - at our own

risk.

"Be alert, be on watch!

Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a lion,

looking for someone to devour."

(1 Peter 5:8 GNB)

When we leave God's cage [His laws and commands.]

We are going to be hurt bad in this life,

and utterly destroyed in the next.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

"For I am the LORD, your God,

who takes hold of your right hand

and says to you, 'Do not fear;

I will help you."

(Isaiah 41:10,13 KJV)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

STAMPEDE

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"The whole herd - about two thousand pigs in all -

rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake

and was drowned."

(Mark 5:13 GNB)

Getting caught in a stampede is a good way to get killed.

People who tend animals have known that for years.

But we are not animals.  [We just act like them.]

One of the definitions of stampede is,

"2. a confused headlong rush or flight of a large group

of people."

(Webster's New World College Dictionary,

page1395

When was the last time you stood in a long line to get

some new gadget? 

Or,

fought the crowd to get a good price on Black Friday?

Or,

just went along with the crowd in your life style?

Remember.  The crowd is stampeding for hell

just as fast as it can go.

THE QUESTION THAT HAUNTS ME

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God has been exceptionally good to me.

I have passed my three score and ten years.

And am now very close to the four score years.

He not only has he given me life.  But eternal life through

the death of Jesus Christ in my place.  God has kept me 

from suffering major illnesses or injuries.  He has always

 kept me clothed and fed.  I do not remember ever missing 

a meal out of necessity.  Some times by choice.  But not 

necessity.

The Lord has provided me with a comfortable home.

A loving family, and even permitted me to have

some "toys" to play with.

Yes I have had heartbreak, tiredness, hurt etc like

everyone else.  But that's life.

But God has been good to me.

However.  As I read God's word something keeps popping out

at me.  And that is the call of the disciples, especially as

narrated in the Gospel of Luke.

In chapter five we see the fishermen fishing all night.  But

caught nothing.  And we all love it when they follow the

Lord's instruction, and catch so many fish that both boats 

begin to sink.  Hey Lord.  Join me in my business.  O.K?

Boats full of fish.  Business is booming.

But,

"They pulled the boats up on the beach,

left everything,

and followed Jesus.

(Luke 5:11 GNB)

Next Jesus goes to the tax collector's office.

Told Levi to follow him.

"Levi got up, left everything and followed him"

(Luke 5:28 GNB)

The question that haunts me.

WHAT HAVE I LEFT FOR JESUS?

"In the same way,' concluded Jesus, 'none of you

can be my disciple unless you give up

everything you have."

(Luke 14:33 GNB)

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TODAY'S PROMISE

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

though the earth be removed,

and though the mountains be

carried into the midst of the sea;"

(Psalms 46:1,2 AKJV)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

DOWNLOAD THE HOLY BIBLE

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Would you like the entire Holy Bible downloaded

on to your computer?

you can.

The "Updated King James Version" is available for free download.

What is the Updated King James Version?

That was my question.  In one of brother David Wilkerson's

books he quoted from it exclusively.  If you know who brother

David Wilkerson was, and he used it, you know you can

trust it.

I found out that the Updated King James Version is a version

that has been updated using modern technology.  A brother

in the Lord came up with a computer program to simply take

the King James version and replace the archaic words with

more modern words.  An example would be "thou" replace

with the word we would use, "you".

Best of all, this brother was doing this out of a love for

Christ.  Not for fame or profit.  The result is that he

 put it into Public Domain.  Yes you can copy it to your

hearts content with one or two small provisions.

If you are interested here is the link to download it.

www.oocities.org/updatedkjv

God bless you as you load up your computer with 

God's word and then download it into yourself.

WHERE IS MY LOVE?

"Love not the world, or the things that are in the world.

If any anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not

in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust

of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is

of the world.

And the world passes  away, and the lust of it; but he that

does the will of God abides for ever."

(1 John 2:15 - 17 AKJV)

RENEWED HOPE FROM GARLIC

I AM NOT A GARDENER.  I AM NOT A GARDENER.

I AM NOT A GARDENER.

However,

Since retirement I have been "playing" with a few plants.

(O.K.  Killed a bunch of plants.)

My favorite is garlic because it is harder for me to kill.

I have been playing with garlic for four or five years.

As a result I have learned two or three things about garlic,

if I could just remember what it was.

This year I put out several different kinds of garlic I

wanted to try.  [I know.  It works best for me in the fall.

But I am not always in the mood in the fall.]

However due to the drought, it looked like a complete loss

for several that good money had been paid for.

While walking around the "forsaken" garden plots

one day - Praise God - I found these plants.

The top picture is an "elephant" garlic that somehow

survived.

The above picture is the result of cloves brought in from

Bangkok Thailand, and promptly killed - all by myself.

This one is "Fred's" garlic.

Fred has been dead for years now.  But in a gardening effort about

20 years ago he gave me a garlic start.  He did not know what kind

of garlic it was.  Only that it was, Good.

Of course I soon gave up on my gardening efforts, including the 

garlic.  But after about 20 years of total neglect, in the bushes,

 under a tree, here is some "Fred's" garlic trying to go again.

Praise God.

Through this God drew my attention to the apostle Paul's comment.

"For this reason we never become discouraged.  Even though our

physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being

is renewed day after day.  And this small and temporary

trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory,

much greater than the trouble.  For we fix our attention, 

not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen.

What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot

be seen lasts forever."

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18 GNB)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"The LORD knows the days of the upright:

and their inheritance shall be for ever.

They shall not be ashamed in the evil time:

and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

I have been young, and now am old;

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

or his children begging bread."

(Psalms 37:18,19,25 AKJV)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

FOSSILS ARE WHERE YOU FIND THEM

THE OLD FOSSIL

No that is not me.

It is better looking than I am and better preserved.

Just another one

The picture below is the area where the fossils were found.  With out trying very hard I have found at least half a dozen fossils in an area of about 40' X 40'.  Most of these are (were) sea shells.

Now what were sea shells doing on top of a hill about fifteen hundred feet above sea level and four hundred miles from the closest sea?

Believe it or not,

"The flood continued forty days upon the earth: and the waters
increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth; and
the ark floated on the face of the waters.  And the waters prevailed
so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains under the
whole heaven were covered; the waters prevailed above the
mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.  And all flesh
died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts, all swarming
creatures that swarm upon the earth, and every man; everything
on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died.
He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the
ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of
the air; they were blotted out from the earth.   Only Noah was
left and those that were with him in the ark.  And the waters
prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days."
(Genesis 7:17-24 RSV)