LOSING TOUCH WITH REALITY

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Politicians lose

touch with reality.

They think the way to prosperity is to take it away
from those who have, and give it to those who
have not.

You can see the proof that this does not work in the
countries and states that are going broke.  They
took it away from those who earned it, and gave it
to those who would not work.

But are we doing the same thing?

The real you, that is your soul. Are you feeding
and caring for it?  Or, are you only feeding and
caring for your body?  When your life on earth
is over, will your soul be bankrupt when you
have to give account to God?

How God looks at it.

  "So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer nature is wasting

away, our inner nature is being

renewed every day.  For this slight 

momentary affiliation is preparing

for us an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison, because we 

look not to the things that are seen 

but to the things that are unseen;

 for the things that are seen are 

transient, but the things that are 

unseen are eternal."

(2Corinthians 4:16-18 RSV)

 Are we working for the temporary 

things, or the eternal things?

JOHN COOPER

JOHN,

DID I GET YOUR ATTENTION?

This is the table you ask about.

I am sorry about the poor lighting on the 

subject.  But I just snapped the picture to show a

friend the style my daughter choose,  Not to 

showcase the table.

The table is 7' long and 45 1/4" wide.  It was 

designed to fit her kitchen.  She is into "rustic"

decor.  The hardwood boarder, legs, frame 

material, glue, screws etc. only cost 29 times 

more than the pallets.

Being a father of daughters can be,

well, time consuming.

But I love them anyway.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"And this is the confidence which we have in him,

that if we ask anything according to his will he

hears us.  And if we know that he hears us in 

whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained  

the request made of him."

(1 John 5:14,15 RSV)

A SHORT MEDITATION

"Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed

in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not 

confess it, lest they should be put out out the 

synagogue: for they loved the praise of men

more than the praise of God."

(John 12:42,43 RSV)

OUCH!

Am I more concerned about the opinions of my 

fellow men than of God who made me, gives me

life and loved me enough to die for me?

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"When death is chasing you

in the emergency room

there is no atheist."

-Maurice S. Rawlings, M.D.

A FRIGHTENING EXPERENCE

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"Then people went out to see what had happened,

and they came to Jesus, and found the man  from

whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of

Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were

afraid." (Luke 8:35 RSV)

WOW!

Would that ever be frightening.

If Jesus went to Hollywood and started casting

out demons.  Can you imagine people actually

putting their clothes on and having a right mind?

That would scare the rest of them to death.

Would it scare you being around a sane

person?

PAYDAY

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About forty years ago, as a young man,  I wanted to 

think that God paid his managers very well.

[Guess what I had in mind.]

I was right.  I was right.  I was right.

But on payday.  

I was wanting it ahead of time.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"For he who sows to his own flesh

will from the flesh reap corruption;

but he who sows to the Spirit will

from the Spirit reap eternal life."

(Galatians 6:8 RSV)

A SHORT MEDITATION

"A man's mind plans his way,

but the Lord directs his steps."

(Proverbs 16:9 RSV)

Many, many years ago I was just a "dumb" kid in

High School.  About the only things of interest to

me were my "hot rod" and girls.

One year wanting  to take a class in physics, because

I thought I might learn something in it I could use 

to make my "hot rod" faster, they would not let me

because the class was full.  So, the counselor talked

me into taking "typing" instead.  Why not.  There

would be no home work, very few of us had

typewriters at home.  No reading and studying, 

O.K.  I had to have another class so it sounded

good to me.

Now, about 67 years latter, I have seen time after

time that "typing" class has been of more value to

me than any other class I ever took in High School

or either College.

I thank God for directing my steps when I was

not smart enough to.

"I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not

in himself, that it is not in man who walks

to direct his steps."

(Jeremiah 10:23 RSV)

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"The power of prayer cannot be diminished

by distance; it is not limited by age, infirmity

political change or restrictions.  The power of

prayer in the life of an obedient Christian can

only be undermined by neglect."

-David Bentley Taylor

DO YOU HAVE A THORN?

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Many of us know about the apostle Paul's thorn in the flesh. 

And the Scriptures make it clear that because of the revelations

God gave him, the thorn was given to; 1.  Keep him humble.

2. Keep him dependent on God, not himself.  Good advise

for all of us.

Now I am not near as perfect as you.  I would expect that 

your thorn in the flesh is something as serious as not 

being able to pronounce "Zerubbabel" correctly.  That of 

course is to keep you from feeling "over  smart".  But me,

 I live in a briar patch.

This morning in my devotional period the Lord seemed

to reveal to me clearly, and gently, that one of those 

stickers in the briar patch is "my thorn in the flesh".

Believe it or not, knowing that is a relief.  It has kept

me from being "super spiritual".  And it sure keeps me

dependent on God.  God loves me enough to give me 

a problem to keep me in my place.

Does God love you enough to give you a problem to

help develop you???

"Count it all joy, my brethren, when you 

meet various trials, for you know that the

testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect,  

that you may be perfect and complete, 

lacking in nothing."

(James 1:2-4 RSV)

THANKS AGAIN LORD

THANKS AGAIN LORD

"A man's mind plans his way,

but the Lord directs his steps."

(Proverbs 16:9 RSV)

I have mentioned before purchasing a patch of woods

to go hide in when I need some peace and quite.  Being

a poor boy I purchased it at a state tax sale.  That allowed

me to get it very, very cheap.  That is, with just play

money.

I had my heart set on some woods that had about three

times the acreage of what I ended up with.  It had nothing,
nothing, nothing but trees on it.  My intent had been to drag by
hand lumber down into the middle and build a small shack
 to sleep in, if I wanted to.,

But I was out bid and very disappointed.  However one
small place simply would not sell at the sale. [This was
God's doing.]  So later I bought it from the state.

The place I ended up buying had an abandoned structure

on it.  With some patching up I had a place to sleep, to

cook and with a wood stove for warmth.  I have been

thanking God for that ever since.

But today, and the purpose of my thanksgiving, I looked

into the county assessors records out of curiosity.

Guess what!

The market value of the little place I bought is three and

one third times more than what I paid.

And, the market value of the place I wanted so bad is,

only one fifth of what the other man paid for it.

(Poor guy.)

Thank God he did not let me have what I wanted so bad.

THANK YOU JESUS.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes

no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no 

deceit."

(Psalms 32:1,2 RSV)

A SHORT MEDITATION

"For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

he bestows favor and honor,

No good thing does the Lord withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts

blessed is the man who trust in thee!"

(Psalms 84:11,12 RSV)

Do you want God's blessing on your life?

The answer is in the above Scripture.

Observe it is when God is "Lord" in our life.

Three times we see the necessity of God 

being "Lord" in our life.  If we have 

submitted to God allowing him to be our 

"Lord"and follow his instructions  then the 

blessing follow; 

i.e.,

God's favor and honor.

God will not keep any good thing from us.

And if we trust him, rather than our selves,

then his blessing will be on us.

TODAY'S QUOTE

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 "You have made us for yourself,

O Lord,

and our heart is restless until it

rests in You."

-Augustine

O BOY. GOOD JUNK

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Last week I was donating some time at Fort Rock 

Family Camp.  Most of my time there is in maintenance,

you know "fixing stuff".   I was at the shop working when

one of the children from a family helping came to me 

wanting help to build a whistle.  She had picked out a 

piece of scrap tubing.  All I had to do was help her make

into a whistle. [Ha, ha, ha.]

We needed a piece of material to make the "fipple block"

with.  So, I pointed her at the scrap pile.  It is "fair game"

for anybody to use.  So with the help of her two smaller 

brothers they begin to dig in the scrap pile.  And I went 

back about my business.

Can you imagine my surprise when I came back out and

found that Lydia and each of her brothers had laid out

about a wheelbarrow load of scrap steel and old parts

 for each one of them.  Good stuff they had found in 

the scrap pile.  Three wheelbarrows of stuff.

But, their mother would not let them take all that good 

stuff home with them.

Just like you and me.  We spend a life time of  piling up 

a lot of "good junk" that we cannot take with 

us when we die and leave this old world.

One day every one of us is going to stand before

God in judgement whether we like it or not.

Consider his opinion on all this good "stuff" we

gather up for our selves.

"There is great gain in godliness with contentment;

for we brought nothing into the world, and we

cannot take anything out of the world, but if we

have food and clothing, with these we shall be

content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into

temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and 

hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and 

destruction.  For the love of money is the root of

all evils; it is through this craving that some have

wandered away from the faith and pierce their 

hearts with many pangs."

(1 Timothy 6:6-10 RSV)

SMART, OH SO SMART

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SMART, OH SO SMART

For  many years I worked as an automotive

technician in a university town.  It was a

Lincoln Mercury dealership.  This resulted 

in a good number of our customers being

"professors" or "administrators" from the

University.

One day I was sent up to the University to

help one of the "professors" get his car started.

[I do not know what he "professed".]

I had to show him how to turn the ignition

switch all the way over to the start position.

Give the man credit.  It did not take him

too long to grasp the concept.

"Be not wise in your own eyes;"

(Proverbs 3:7 RSV)   

I know another very very intelligent man.

BUT, he can not seem to do the simplest

task correctly.  Perhaps he is too smart.

Of course, he would not want that fact

pointed out to him.

"Claiming to be wise, they become 

fools,"

(Romans 1:22 RSV)

I am beginning to thank God that I am not

too smart.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might

he increases strength."

(Isaiah 40:29 RSV)

A SHORT MEDITATION

Many years ago, some where around 926 - 886 BC, there

was a king in Israel named Asa.  A good name even today.

Asa was a good king and God let him have peace in his

kingdom for the first ten years of his reign.  Then another

king came against him with a million man army.  But king

Asa only had an army of 580,000 to defend his kingdom 

with. 

So when king Asa went out to fight with his smaller 

army and he prayed out:

"O Lord, you can help a weak army as easily as 

a powerful one, Help us now, O Lord our God, 

because we are relying on you, and in your name

we have come out to fight against this huge army.

Lord, you are our God; no one can hope to 

defeat you."(2 Chronicles 14:11 GNT)

God helped Asa and his small army totally defeat

the much larger army.

About fifteen years latter another army came against

King Asa.  But this time he handled it differently.

Asa used some political manipulation and bribery.

It seemed to work.  But Asa did it his way and not

God's way.  And Asa's career went down from there.

When God was rebuking king Asa through the 

prophet Hanani we pick up this clue;

"The Lord keeps close watch over the whole

world, to give strength to those whose hearts
are loyal to him."

 (2 Chronicles 16: 9 GNT)  

Hey! That's you and me too.  Want strength

for that battle that is too big for you.  There

is your answer.

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"Christianity is not a religion.

It's a relationship!

-Dan E. Perry

PLAGIARISM

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Back in college, around 1958, a guest

speaker one day said something to this effect;

"The person who is original, is one who has

read so broadly that they forgot where they

read it."

Perhaps that is a polite way to say that none 

of us are original, or we just stole it from 

some one else.

Either way, it is one of the failures of 

human nature that is not new.

Back about AD 23-79

Pliny the Elder, the Roman statesman

and philosopher said;

"When collating authorities I have found 

that the most professedly reliable and 

modern writers have copied the old

authors word for word, without

acknowledgement."

God himself around 630 - 580 BC

through the prophet Jeremiah said,

"Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets,

says the Lord, who steal my words from one

another"  (Jeremiah 23:30 RSV)

Perhaps this last quote should be a 

warning to some of our modern preachers

and teachers.

Either way you have seen it on the internet

just as I have.  You see some things posted

by so many people that you do not know

who started it.

Or the thinking of most people.  It is the 

same as the masses who follow some stupid

leader shouting slogans.

It has been well said, "That the masses

are nearly always wrong."

Pardon me, but I want to try to do my

own thinking.

JUST LIKE THE DEVIL

Just like the devil.

It snuck in last night and was waiting 

at the back door this morning.

These "snappers" are a threat to everything 

around them, even animal lovers.

"Be sober, be watchful.  Your adversary the 

devil prowls around like a roaring lion,

seeking some one to devour."

(1Peter 5:8 RSV)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear,

though the earth be removed,

and though the mountains be

carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof roar

and be troubled, though the 

mountains shake with the swelling

thereof." (Psalms 46:1 - 3)