Friday, November 30, 2012

WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?




This girl here,


was sitting at her computer down in the corner by the little
window.  And I was sitting arms length away at my computer,
the big one with the big screen.  We were each doing our
 own thing on our computers.

When "that" girl emailed me to tell me she was hungry and
wanted a snack.

What happened to talking.  You know, communication.
How will we converse if the electricity goes off?

Come quickly Lord Jesus.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

TODAY'S PROMISE


"Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
and that seek him with the whole heart."
(Psalms 119:1,2 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)

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS


"But as for you,
Christ has poured out his Spirit on you.
As long as his Spirit remains in you,
you do not need anyone to teach you.
For his Spirit teaches you about everything,
and what he teaches is true, not false.
Obey the Spirit's teaching, then
and remain in union with Christ."
(1 John 1:27 GNB)


Books, books and more books.
I LOVE BOOKS.

Over the years there have been two things I could not pass up.
Books and tools.

I have had hundreds of books.
Most of these books have been either spiritual in content,
or instructional.
[You think I should have read more of them.  I probably should have!]

One of these books - EXPERIENCING THE DEPTHS OF 
JESUS CHRIST - by Jeanne Guyon
has a thought I want to look into more deeply
and pass on to you.

One of her chapters is written for illiterates, 
people who cannot read.
That's right.  She wrote a chapter for people who cannot read.
She intended that someone who could read, would read it to 
someone who could not read.

The essence of that chapter is, 
you do not need to suffer spiritually because you cannot read.
On page fifteen she says,

"The first thing you must learn, dear friend,
is that 'the kingdom of God is within you.'
(Luke 17:21)

"Never look for the kingdom anywhere but there,
within.  Once you have realized that the kingdom of God is
within you and can be found there, just come to the Lord."

The apostle Paul seems to concur with this,
that is, if you are a "real" Christian and 
the Spirit of God is in you.

"But you do not live as your human nature tells you to:
instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to -
if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ
 does not belong to him."
(Romans 8:9 GNB)

"Surely you know that you are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you!
.... For God's" temple is holy, and you
yourselves are his temple."
(1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 GNB)

"Don't you know that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you
and who was given to you by God?"
(1 Corinthians 6:19 GNB)

Is it possible that those of us who love books
may be looking the wrong place for our guidance.
That is, other people rather than the "Spirit" that 
is within us.

Of course, if it is not God's Spirit in us,
we are in trouble anyway and would only
be mislead further.

Books are good.
But are books causing us to miss the best?

"My child, there is something else to watch out for.
There is no end to the writing of books,
and too much study will wear you out."
(Ecclesiastes 12:12 GNB)


Sunday, November 25, 2012

DIAGNOSED BY GOD






"Search me O God,
and know my heart:
try me,
and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
(Psalms 139:23,24 KJV)


Friday, November 23, 2012

CHRISTMAS PREPARATION

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com


Remember

1. "Jesus is the reason for the season."
If it had not been for Jesus Christ, there would be no Christmas.

Decide

2. Are you going to please Jesus for Christmas
or the merchants.

Consider

3.  While you are doing your Christmas shopping
consider that Jesus, who Christmas is all about,
said,
"Those who love their father or mother
more than me are not fit to be my disciples;
those who love their son or daughter more than me
are not fit to be my disciples."
(Matthew 10:37 GNB)


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

TODAY'S PROMISE






"And you shall serve the LORD your God,
and he will bless your bread, and your water,
and I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
There will nothing cast their young,
nor be barren, in your land;
the number of your days I will fulfill."
(Exodus 23:25,26 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)

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

MY CROSS




Jesus said,
"If you want to come with me,
you must forget yourself,
take up your cross every day, 
and follow me."
(Luke 923 GNB)


The cross was an instrument of execution.
We all know that.

And many of us understand out of love, devotion
and responsibility giving our selves totally to Christ.
Giving ourselves without reservation to him and his service
and a life of holiness.  Then going forth in the power of
the Holy Spirit.

Now this will go against some "theoryologies".
I know.  I've been there.

But if we will be honest with ourselves we find that life
is like gardening.  A weed is going to crop up.  It may be
the same day, or another year.  But there will be a piece of
root left in the ground.  Or a seed blown in by the wind.
And our life will have a weed(s) in it.

God knows these vessels of clay.  God also knows what
life is going to throw at us.  That is why he said, 
"take up your cross every day,"  Or as another version
says, "daily".

Praise God.  After a time of refreshment with the Lord,
tomorrow will be a new day.  And we will die (again?)
to self, pick up our cross and carry on.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

SEEKING SATISFACTION





"He that loves money will not be satisfied with money;
nor he that loves wealth with increase;
this also is vanity.
When goods increase,
they are increased that eat them;
and what good is there to the owners 
but to see them with their eyes?
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
whether he eats little or much;
but the abundance of the rich will not let him sleep."
(Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 AKJV)




Friday, November 16, 2012

LEARNING FROM BEDOUINS



Looking around the house I see nicknacks, ornaments, decorations
and just "stuff".  All sitting, doing nothing but being in the way
and gathering dust.

My shop has more chain saws than I can keep running and more motorcycles
than I can ride at one time.  There are even new unused tools sitting and 
gathering dust and rust.

As you would guess, there are things around that the grandchildren
just had to have.  But now grandpa has to take care of - just in case
some year or other they decide to play with them again.

Sound familiar?

Something is wrong!

I am not suggesting that we return to horse and buggy days.
But there is wisdom in a statement made by Dr. Bob Pierce when
talking with Dr. Wes Ulrich in a Jordan hospital years ago.

"But here!  These Bedouins are living as they did three or four
thousand years ago.  They don't even want what we have in
the West; they don't even miss television and such, they don't
covet our way of life."
(BOB PIERCE This One Thing I Do  p.167) 

"Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world.
If you love the world, you do not love the Father.  Everything
that belongs to the world - what the sinful self desires, what people
see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud
of - none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world."
(John 2:15,16 GNB)


Wednesday, November 14, 2012

TODAY'S PROMISE

              

"Ho, every one who thirsts,
come to the waters,
and he that has no money;
come, buy, and eat; yes, come,
buy wine and milk without money
and without price.
Why do you spend money for that which is not bread?
and you labor for that which satisfies not?
Hearken diligently to me,
and eat you that which is good, 
and let your soul delight itself in fatness."
(Isaiah 55:1,2 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)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

THINKING ABOUT PRAISE


Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

"Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed
on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess
him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
(John 12:42,43 KJV)

Here are believers in Christ.  But they are more concerned about
what their fellowman thinks of them, than what God thinks of them.

Am I that way?
Am I more concerned about the opinion of my fellow church
members or traditions than the opinion of God?
Or even worse, the opinion of the world?

George Muller relates an incident that was an encouragement to me.
He had gone to Teignmouth to preach.  And of that sermon he says,

"One young woman came to know Jesus Christ as her Savior 
that first evening.  This blessed me because none of the
resident ministers liked the sermon.  The Lord judges so
differently from man!"
(The Autobiography of George Muller, p.30)

Sunday, November 11, 2012

WHERE IS MY LOVE?



"Do not love the world or the things in the world.
If 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)


Friday, November 9, 2012

FOOLED AGAIN



Photo courtesy of: www.freefoto.com

As I was sitting in the office the sound of a vehicle could be
heard coming up the drive.  As the SUV flashed by my widow
I  wondered why the wife came home.  She had left that
morning to house sit in town for a few days.  What was wrong?

There was no choice but to trudge up the hill to the house and
find out.  Nearing her car it was obvious the engine had been
left running.  She must have forgot something.  But that was a
long drive home for some item or other.

When I was a few feet from her car something looked strange.
It was a Buick.  Her vehicle is a Ford.  But it was the same 
color as hers.  It was the same shape.  And driven in the same 
way - in a hurry.   Instead it was someone to see the daughter.
All the way up the hill for nothing.
Fooled again.

But that is not the first time.
There are several extremely popular teachings or doctrines in 
the church today that I have believed or wanted to believe.
But they are wrong.

Their proponents can quote chapter and verse.  I did.
But they are wrong because they ignore the total teaching
of the Scriptures on the subject.  They present only one side
of the coin or facet of the diamond - the side we want to see.
This results in lopsided out of balance "truth".

The Scriptures tell us,
"Well, no wonder!  Even Satan can disguise himself to look
link an angel of light!."
(2 Corinthians 11:14 GNB)


I needed a closer look at the book.

"I tell you, then, do not let anyone deceive you
with false arguments, no matter how good they 
seem to be."
(Colossians 2:4 GNB) 



Wednesday, November 7, 2012

TODAY'S PROMISE



"The righteous will flourish like the palm tree:
and will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that are planted in the house of the LORD
will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bring forth fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to show that the LORD is upright:
he is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in him."
(Psalms 92:12-15 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)

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

FISHING

(Photo courtesy of:www.bigfoto.com

"If you are too busy to fish.  You are too busy."
Some one once said.

I am way past retirement.  In fact, well past my three score and ten
years.

So,
If I am ever going to learn to fish.  I had better get with it.

Watching a video on crappie fishing was enlightening.
Three men were fishing off the bank of a farm pond.
And some one must have been running the video camera.

These men were catching fish right and left.  First one man
and then another would catch a nice fish and put in their basket
thing in the water.  Once in a while a fish was thrown back for
one reason or another.  Obviously there was going to be a good
fish fry that night.

While the men were fishing and visiting, one was ask why he
fished from the bank instead of using a boat.  He responded
by relating the experience of his friend.

This man's friend spent $18,000 on a bass boat.  He hooked it
up behind his $30,000 pickup truck and went fishing.
He caught a two pound fish - and threw it back in.

Sounds to me like todays "Church".
There are fish all around us that could be caught with a cane
pole and a worm on a hook.

But we are more interested in the equipment than the fishing.

"And Jesus said to them,
'Follow me and I will make you become
fishers of men.'"
(Mark 1:17 RSV)

God, give us a heart to fish.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

SOURCE OF WISDOM




"O how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
You through your commandments 
have made me wiser than my enemies;
for they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers;
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients because I 
keep your precepts.
I have refrained my feet from every evil way,
that I might keep your word.
I have not departed from your judgments;
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth.
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Your word is a lamp to my feet,
and a light to my path."
(Psalms 119:97-105 AKJV)

Friday, November 2, 2012

MAN'S WAY, HIDE IT.


After removing a large trash pile from the hill side it left an open area vulnerable
to erosion.  Something needed to be done to keep the soil from ending up in
the ravine.

It seemed logical to use what was at hand.  That is, several dead trees and some
of the trash pile that would make a suitable trash line forming a small 
terrace.


On the uphill side of the tree trunk (Right side.) is the trash line.  You don't see the trash
because I did not like the looks of the trash.  So, I buried it under leaves.
But the trash is still there.




Another terrace.  The same hill side, a little further up.  And - more buried trash.
 (On the left side this time.) This time buried under mostly decayed wood and dirt. 
But the trash is still there. 

That is the way mankind does it.  If we don't like the looks of it - or want other
people to see it, we hide it, or try to.

It has been that way from the beginning of time.  Our first ancestors sinned
and tried to hide it by sewing fig leaves together for clothes.
It did not work.  They knew and God knew.

Then their kid Cane killed his brother Able and tried to hide it by burying his
brother.  It did not work.  He knew and God knew.

We try to hide our sins, mistakes, short coming etc.  But they and/or
their effects are still there.

BUT GOOD NEWS.

God has another way.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and there is no truth in us.
But if we confess our sins to God,
he will keep his promise and do what is right:
he will forgive us our sins and 
PURIFY
us from all our wrongdoing.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make a liar
out of God, and his word is not in us."
(1 John 1:8-10 GNB)

Pure, clean, gone.
Another place it says,

"As far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our 
sins from us."
(Psalms 103:12 GNB)