Saturday, April 29, 2017

OUT OF FOCUS


OUT OF FOCUS

I am not young, spry, strong, stable, and smart like you.
The photo above was taken hand held.

The photo below was taken with the same camera.  Of
the same object, in the same light, only a couple of 
minutes earlier.  BUT,  on a tripod.

THE DIFFERENCE IS HOLDING STILL.




Life is like that.
I know a "person" [Perhaps several] like that.  This 
person will not hold still long enough to truly hear.
Oh, this "person" says "Go on talking, I'm listening."

BUT,  latter it comes out that person did not hear 
what I was saying.  What this person was clearly
told, was totally unknown to them later.

Are we like that with life?
So engrossed with what we are doing, or want to
do, that we do not know where we are going?

God said;

"Be still, and know that I am God."
(Psalms 46:10 RSV)

"Be still before the Lord, and wait
patiently for him;"
.......
"Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."
(Psalms 37:7 and 8 RSV)

Have you taken time to hold still and 
take stock of yourself to see where your
life is taking you??

Friday, April 28, 2017

SO YOU ARE WISE!





Images courtesy of:www.Pixabay.com



So you are wise and act wisely.

How do you define wise?
What is wise to you?




Does you opinion of "wise" match up with
God's opinion of wise.  God, you know, the
one who gives you life and breath.  The one
we will all answer to when we pass on from
this life.


Consider God's opinion of wise
.



"The Lord looks down from heaven
upon the children of men, to see if
there are any that act wisely,
that seek after God."
(Psalms 14:2 RSV)


Wednesday, April 26, 2017

TRUE VALUE



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Yesterday I learned something about values.

Being a retired auto mechanic I wanted something
to do that I could enjoy doing, and perhaps make 
a little extra income.  So for a few years I have 
been planning on opening up a small engine repair
shop.

I began to collect some chain saws, weed eaters,
tools, etc.  Plus gained a lot of experience with
this little "critters".  Of course all of these needed
repair.  The idea was to repair and resell them as
well as repair other peoples small engine problems.

You know how life is though.
Things do not always go as planned.

I will not go to the trouble to explain this.
BUT,  God begin to deal with me over this
issue.  That was not the direction He wanted
me to go.  In addition,  He wanted me to sell
this things.  Get them out of the way and
change my course of direction.  They were
to no longer be a thing of value for me.  Get
rid of them, all of them.

So, yesterday was the day I took them to the
sale.  I had a small truck load of used chain
saws, weed eaters and small engines.  I knew
the value of these things.  Well, at least the
potential value.  I was hoping to regain some of
the monies I had put out on them.

Do you know other people do not have the
same values I do?

The check I got for this entire truck load
of "good stuff" was enough to pay for my
gas over to the sale and back.




WHAT'S THE POINT.

Our values are not always the same as "real life".

And our life and values may not match up to reality.
God said;

"The things that most people think
are important are worthless as far
as God is concerned."
(Luke 16:15 CEV)

When that day comes and you die stepping out
into the "great forever", is it going to be after
a life of chasing your values?  Or God's values 
whom you will come to face to face with.?


Friday, April 21, 2017

THE HEALER OF BROKEN HEARTS



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Life hurts.  If you have not found that out,  you have not
lived very long yet.  Some hurts or pains are minor.  You
know, you pinch your little "pinky".  But mommy's kiss
fixes it.  Then there are hurts and pains that will send you
to the doctor.  Usually some medication and time fixes
those.

  Then, there are hurts and pains that go really
deep.  The kind that mommy nor the doctor can
repair.  The "shrink" (psychologist), the bottle, nor 
the pill can fix.  Often we cannot even share them 
with our best friends.  And if we could, they really 
could not do anything to help.  We call them a
"broken heart".

The "broken heart" might be the cause of relationships,
physical conditions, circumstances or disappointments.
But a broken heart stills hurts.  Usually hurts worse
than any physical pain.  This is the kind of thing I am
talking about today.

And yes, there is a cure.  That is, if you are willing
to take it.

Let's start with some facts.

Contrary to popular belief - there is a God.
Literally millions of us know, experience or 
have a relationship with him.  He is more real 
to many of us than even our family members.

Then there are those who deny him.  They are
like someone you would hand a radio and say,
"Listen to the music."  But they would say,
"No.  There are no such things as "radio waves".
I cannot see them.  I cannot feel them.  And I
cannot taste them.  So, I am not going to turn
the silly radio on."

What they do not recognize is that God is in a
different dimension.  God is "Spirit".  And God
created the "material".  And in the material man,
God put a spiritual dimension that can tune in to
God.

The thing that we are really interested in today
is that,

"He heals the broken hearted, 
and binds up their wounds."
(Psalms 147:3 RSV)

Our purpose now is not to define God or how 
he works.  If we could, he would be no more 
than we are.  But his word "The Holy Scriptures"
or "The Holy Bible" tells us that the one who
created us, loved us (you and me) enough that
he came down and became a man.  Then in love
for us offered himself up as a sacrifice for our
sins, if we will accept that sacrifice for our selves.

God speaking through the prophets of old told 
us that Jesus Christ was coming and what his 
mission was to be.

We could say that this is the very mission statement
of Jesus Christ himself;


"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord 
has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted,
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives,  and the opening of the prison to
those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort
all who mourn;



to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a
garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead
of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint
spirit;...."
(Isaiah 61:1-3 RSV)

  A fact.

"The Lord is near to the broken hearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit."
(Psalms 34:18 RSV)

Look at his invitation.


"Come to me, all who labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.  Take my yoke upon
you, and learn from me; for
I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your 
souls.  For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light."
(Matthew 11:26-30 RSV)


Christ wants to come in and mend 
your broken heart.  But how?

"... because, if you confess with your  lips
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will
be saved.  For man believes with his heart and
so is justified, and he confess with his lips and 
so is saved.  (Romans 10:9,10 RSV)

Do not try to fool or con God.
It's impossible.  He knows you better than 
you yourself do.  So;
  
simply recognize that God came down to earth
as a man named Jesus Christ to die for your sins.

Then call out to him confusing your sins or 
failures to him.  How loud or low a whisper 
does not matter.  He will hear you.  He even
knows your very thoughts.  Just be serious.

Ask him to come into your life and take over.
Let him take complete control of your life.

Then talk with him about that broken heart.
He will help "fix it".






Wednesday, April 19, 2017

THE COMMON DENOMINATOR


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Mark Twain
Simone de Beauvoir
Isaac Asimov
Marlene Dietrich
Frank Zappa
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
Douglas Adams
Katharine Hepburn
George Carlin
Alexander McQueen
Christopher Hitchens

And many others.


There are at least five common denominators
among this list:

1. They all were atheist.
2. They all are dead now.
3. They all know now there is a God.
4. They all know there is a devil's hell.
5.  It is too late for them now.


Saturday, April 15, 2017

A CLOSER WALK WITH GOD

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Do you want a closer walk with God?

Most Christians I know want a closer walk with God.
And, most Christians I know relate it to a knowledge 
of God's word - The Holy Bible.  And that's very, very
important.


Frankly I am appalled at the lack of knowledge of the 
Bible by most Christians.  They would claim that it is 
the most important book in the world.  Yet it seems the 
only knowledge they have about spiritual things is only
the things they have heard some preacher preach.


BUT IS THAT THE PROBLEM?

Consider this.

Shortly after God created mankind, in about the 
sixth generation, was a man named Enoch.  Enoch
walked with God.  In fact, Enoch walked so close to
God that God decided to just take Enoch on up to 
heaven with him.  So, God "translated" Enoch to
himself.


But, Enoch did not have a Bible.


After a lot more years mankind had gotten so rotten
that God decided to just wipe them out.  But, there 
was one man who "walked" with God.  His name 
was Noah.  So God preserved the human race through
Noah, because Noah walked with God.


But, Noah did to have a Bible.


Years latter again there was a man who walked with
God.  His name was Abraham.  Abraham was known
as "The friend of God".  And God made a covenant 
with Abraham that resulted in a race of people we 
call "Jews".  Because Abraham walked with God.


But, Abraham did not have a Bible.


Many more years later another man named Elijah
walked with God.  Elijah walked so close to God 
during his life time that God sent a fiery chariot to 
take Elijah to heaven.


But, Elijah would have only had a few of the books
we call "The Old Testament" available to him.


My friend,
the problem is not how well we know the Scriptures.


The problem is in our want to.

We get what we want.  That is why you owe money
for some things that "you wanted."


When we WANT to walk closer with God bad enough,
then we will.


"But from there you will seek the
Lord your God, and you will find
him, if you search after him with
all your heart and with all your
soul."
(Deuteronomy 4:29 RSV)




Wednesday, April 12, 2017

SAFETY FIRST



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Do you know how blessed you are with so 
many government agencies to watch after
your health?  And of course the yellow pages
are full of people who want to do one thing
or the other to help you - for a price.

I grew up in the "West".  I guess it was
the wild west.  We had to do it ourselves
if we wanted it done.  And even worse,
there was no agency to tell us how to 
do it, or if we were allowed to do it at
all.  But, some how we did manage to 
survive.

After over eighty years of experience in 
living, I did not want it all to go to waste.
So, I decided to pass on some safety
hints on something that could help every
one.  

Not every one wants to raise rabbits,
garlic, or even repair their car.  So, I picked
on safety in finger nail care.  I have read
several times that even a dead person's 
nails and hair continue to grow for a period
of time after they die.  Now, I have not been
dead yet.  I have faced death, but God in his
mercy pulled me through it.  But safety in
finger nail care could benefit the dead and 
the living.


You have decided to tend to your finger nails.  So you 
have your nails dry and clean.  You have laid out your 
your nail clippers or manicure scissors and plan on 
properly cutting straight across, then rounding your nails
out.

BUT, but, but.
Have you checked with your doctor.
Why?  I don't know.  But like myself, you know that 
any health advice always ends with check with your doctor.
So, check with your doctor to see if you are healthy enough
to undertake this endeavor.

Then before you start, lay your clippers and emery board
out.  But do not use them until you have the proper safety
equipment on and in place.

You will need:
1.  A hard hat.  you never know when a clipped nail
can fly around and injure you.
2.  Saftey glasses.  same reason.
3. Steel toed boots.  When you are concentrating on
your nails you could easily step on you toes.
4. Last but not least, a good heavy pair of 
work gloves to protect you fingers while you
work on your nails.  Clippers and scissors
could be real hard on your little pinky if
miss guided.

One other thing that can be very helpful today.
No matter how you do it, some snowflake is 
going to be offended by the way you do it.
And you do not want to end up in court because
some one is offended.  You do not dare to offend
anyone in this day and age.  They are not mature
enough to handle life.

So plan on doing it while most other people are
asleep.  And safer yet would be to do it in 
the basement or perhaps hide in the attic.

Remember when you are done,
check with your doctor.


Friday, April 7, 2017

HELP IN TROUBLE



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"God is our shelter and strength,
always ready to help in times
of trouble.



"So we will not be afraid,
even if the earth is shaken
and mountains fall into
the ocean depths;
even if the seas roar and rage,
and the hills are shaken
by the violence."



"The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge."
(Psalms 46:1-3 & 11 GNT)



Wednesday, April 5, 2017

ONE MAN KILLED AN ARMY



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Back when Hezekiah was King of Judah, 
Sennacherib King of Assyria sent a great
army to invade Jerusalem.  

After many serious threats, in desperation
King Hezekiah went to God in prayer.
In response God said through the prophet,
"Because you have prayed to Me against
Sennacherib king of Assyria,..."
(Isaiah 37:21 NKJV)

Note that: "Because you.."  You was one
man named Hezekiah.

This one man prayed and God sent out an
angle that night who killed 185,000 Assyrian
soldiers in their camp.

Do you have a problem?
Have you thought about taking it to
the one who can do something about it -
God himself.