A SHORT MEDITATION

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Many years ago, before you were ever born,

I used to hear the expression:

"He/She is so heavenly minded that He/She is

no earthly good."

Now I have lived for over eighty three years.

During those years I have attended many churches

because of living in different places.

Do you know what?

NEVER  once have a met a Christian like that.

However,

I have met dozens of Christians who are

"So earthly minded that they are no heavenly good."

"If then you have been raised with Christ,

seek the things that are above, where Christ

is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set

your minds on things that are above, not

on things that are on earth."

(Colossians 3:1,2 RSV)

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"When a man makes alliance with the Almighty,

giants look like grasshoppers."

-Vance Havner

THANKSGIVING

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"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and pay your vows to the Most High:

and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me."

(Psalms 50:14,15 RSV)

BEWARE OF BARGAINS

Yep!

That's a tie.

It's a poor photo, but a nice tie.

I confess, I admit and I apologize, that there was a time

in my life when it was proper for me to wear a white

shirt and tie every day.  Sorry about that.

But then, I did one of the smartest things in my life.

I wanted off of the merry-go-round of that life style.

So I moved to the hills more than forty years ago.

And, yes, this culture does not require a tie.  Even

on Sunday.  If you see someone coming with a tie

on - WATCH OUT.

It is true that a tie is proper once in a while.  So I 

might wear a tie once or twice a year, maybe.

Now I have a wife who tries to take good [That's,

GOOD.] care of her husband.  Also, she cannot

pass up a bargain - even here in the hills.

The result was that over the years she had accumulated

about seventy five ties for me.  AND, I DON'T EVEN

WEAR TIES.

Where is the bargain in that?

God told us;

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures

on earth, where moth and rust consume

and where thieves break in and steal, but

lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither month nor rust consumes

and where thieves do not bread in and

steal.  For where your treasure is, there

will you heart be also.

(Matthew 6:19-21 RSV)

"He who believes in him is not condemned;

he who does not believe is condemned already,

because he has not believed in the name of the

only Son of God."

(John 3:18 RSV)

A SHORT MEDITATION

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"Oh, how I love they law!

It is my meditation all the day."

(Psalms 119:97 RSV)

Old age

Most of you kids, - that's someone under about seventy

years old - will not under stand what I am talking about.

Go talk to your grandparents, they will tell you.  BUT,

this old age stuff is not all that "Golden years" thing.  In

fact even the Holy Scriptures give us a different picture.

"Remember also your creator in the days of your youth,

before the evil days come,"(Ecclesiastes 12:1 RSV)

Instead our cry becomes,

"Do not cast me off in the time of old age;

forsake me not when my strength is spent."

(Psalms 71:9 RSV)

But there is a promise that I cling to.

"The righteous flourish like the palm tree,

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon...

They still bring forth fruit in old age,

the are ever full of sap and green,"

(Psalms 92:12 & 14 RSV)

The key is "The righteous...", that is,

do what is right in God's sight.

Getting old?

Get acquainted with God.

Grab his hand and live with him,

then you will have enough strength

and vitality to be useful even in old

age.

TODAY'S QUOTE

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" A thousand times over the centuries the death knell

of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession

formed, the flowers ordered, the inscription placed

on the tomb stone and the eulogy written but somehow

the corpse never stays put."

-Bernard Ramm

I DON'T BELIEVE IN JAIL

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Can you imagine someone standing before a judge who

has sentenced them to some jail time for; too many 

speeding tickets or too many parking tickets or for 

showing disrespect for the judge or something else,

and saying;

"I don't believe in jail.  There is no such thing as a 

jail.  I have never seen one or known anyone who

has seen or been in one.  

There is something else that some people do not think

exists.  But God does not agree with them.

Whether we like it or not,

every human being that has ever lived on this earth

is going to stand before Jesus Christ in judgement.

To some he will have to say;

"Away from me, you that are under

God's curse!  Away to the eternal

fire which has been prepared for the

Devil and his angels!"

(Matthew 25:41 GNT)

Don't be one of them.

Get personally acquainted with

Jesus Christ, NOW.

JUST TALK

Many years ago I had one of those old Dodge Power

Wagons.  The thing was a good old solid truck.  It 

was like nothing could stop it.  But, it sure could 

drink the gas.  So, I bought a newer small pickup.  

It has served me very well also.

Being the old thing it was, I just gave the old Dodge 

to a man who lived back on one of the dirt roads 

in our area.

He was happy and proud of it.  And I was glad

someone could use it.  In fact, for a while he 

used it to drive back to the fishing holes and

ponds in the area for fishing.  Then he parked

it.  That was O.K.  It was his.

For years he kept telling me what he was going

to do with it.  BUT, it just sat there.

I think it was last year he came to my house 

to tell me what as great "hot rod" he was going

to make out of it.  "O.K.  Fine, it's yours."

Believe it or not, he got it running again

driving it up and down the road for about

a week.  Also someone took a spray can

and painted some of it with primer.  I guess

that was what made it a "hot rod".

But, I see it has gone back to just setting.

Talk.  It is (was) all just talk.

So much like many people today.  They

talk about all the great things they are 

going to do.  But years pass, and nothing

happens.  It's just talk.

That is the way it is in the "Spiritual"

world too.  Some start off with a "bang".

Then - that's it.

Jesus tells us about some that way.  They

hear the word of God:

"And these in like manner are the ones

sown upon rocky ground, who when

they hear the word, immediately receive

it with joy; and they have no root in

themselves, but endure for a while; then,

persecution arises on account of the 

word, immediately they fall away."

(Mark 4:16 RSV)

Makes me wonder.  Is my religious or

spiritual talk, just talk.  Is there any 

depth to my confession?

TODAY'S PROMISE

"...give, and it will be given to you;

good measure, pressed down, shaken

together, running over will be put into

you lap.  For the measure you give will

be the measure you get back."

(Luke 6:38 RSV)

TODAY'S QUOTE

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Pascal the French philosopher said;

"I prefer to believe those writers who get their

throats cut for what they write."

DEAD OR ALIVE?

Is your king, leader, hero or mentor

dead or alive.

Look at how many of these are dead and
in their grave.

and dozens more.


Which one do you admire, pray to or worship?
One dead or alive?

There is one that over come death.  Rose from
the grave and is alive today.

That's;

Jesus Christ.

Why do you waste your time following
the teachings or philosophies of a
dead leader?

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

The Lord is gracious, and full of

compassion; slow to anger, and

of great mercy."

(Psalms 145:8)

BUT GOD LOVES THEM TOO.

Old and forsaken.

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Bad health.

Destitute with nothing.



But, God loves them too.

BETTER THAN EXERCISE

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God said;

"Physical exercise has some value,

but spiritual exercise is valuable

in every way, because it promises

life both for the present and for

the future."

(1 Timothy 4:8 GNT)