HE DID IT FOR YOU

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"If you pray for bread and bring no basket to carry it,

you prove the doubting spirit which may be the only

hindrance to the gift you ask."

- D. L. Moody

PAYING THE PRICE

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"They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate

regarding life.

(Romans 1:22 MSG)   

Yesterday a man than I have known for over forty years

stopped by to visit.  I had not talked with him for several

years.  What a change.

There had been a family tragedy about thirteen or fourteen

years ago.  It has totally eaten him up.  He still is completely

consumed by it to the point that he is not mentally stable, at

least when on that subject.  It was unbelievable to me.

When wondering "why Lord", God reminded me of earlier

times with this man.  I well remember things coming up 

in Sunday School class that the Bible speaks very clearly 

about.  But this man's position would be, "But I think..."

This man was putting his thinking above what God almighty

was saying.  Watching his life over the past forty years Iv'e

seen him do a number of things his way - instead of God's

way.  It looks like God has just let him go his own way, 

and now he paying the price for it.

Consider this passage:

"Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God,
God quit bothering them and let them run loose."
(Romans 1:28 MSG)

THE UNSUNG HERO

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There is a person in the Bible that is getting to be a real

hero to me.  That is:

"...Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born,

who is called the Messiah."

Consider this man Joseph.  We are told that he was a righteous

man.  That would be unusual in this day and age.  But when he

found out that his fiancee was pregnant, and he knew he was not

the father, what did he do?  You and I would have "blown up".

But even then Joseph did not want to disgrace her.  So he was 

going to put her away, or send her away quietly or secretly.

However when God revealed to him that the true father was

the Holy Spirit of God, and told him to take her to be his wife,

Joseph obeyed God and married the girl.

Later when God told Joseph that king Herod would try to 

kill the child, Joseph with his small family willingly became

refuges in another country - Egypt.

Several more times God directed Joseph to go one place or

another, and Joseph obeyed.  In the Scriptures we last see

Joseph spend three days hunting for his step son Jesus in

Jerusalem.

What I see in Joseph is a humble hard working carpenter

who simply obeys when God gives him a task.  No honors,

citations, awards or any thing.  He just does his God given

job.

But think about it.  This basically hardworking craftsman

played a more important role in God's plan of redemption 

for mankind than probably all the evangelist, with or without

a T.V. program, in the world.

God help me to be more like Joseph.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Wait for the Lord;

be strong and let your 

heart take courage;

yes, wait for the Lord."

(Psalms 27:14 NASB)  

HEART PROBLEMS

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Last night God brought one of his blessings to my mind.

Let me share it with you.

When I was in my early teens the family doctor detected

that I had a heart mummer.  [What ever that is.] The doctor

attempted to cure it with something or other that did not work.

Then when I was about eighteen or nineteen the draft called

me in for a physical.  Yep, I was rejected because of my 

heart.  I was issued a 4-F.

When later married, and having three children my income

came from selling life insurance.  With a growing family

having an insurance policy would be a wise move.  So I

applied for a life insurance policy with the company I worked

for.  That required a physical.  I was rejected because of my

heart by the company I sold for.

My staff manager crawled all over the company because 

they would not issue a policy to one of their employees.

So I was sent in to company headquarters or some place

where all kinds of tests were done on me.  They did relent

enough to sell me a "rated policy".  That means I had to 

pay a lot extra for the policy.

Oh!

I dropped the policy about forty years ago.

What is my point?

In about three weeks I will be eighty four years old.

Though not as strong as I used to be, I still whip a

chainsaw around, spit wood, repair my own vehicles

and donate time to a family camp working on trucks,

tractors and what ever.

I feel like God has given me the last laugh.

Why?  I have done nothing to overcome the problem,

but these two verses of Scripture could sum up why

I have made it this far.

"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."
-Isaiah 41:10

"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and
that all my go well with you, even as your soul is getting
along well."
-3 John 1:3

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"Prayer is not a means by which I seek to control

God; it is a means of putting myself in a position

where God can control me."

-Charles L. Allen

IS YOUR LOAD TOO HEAVY?

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Is your load to heavy?

I have been noticing something on Facebook lately.

It is almost impossible to believe that so many people

are hurting in life.  Relationships are broken.  Health

is broken.  Dreams are frustrated.  Wrongs have been

done, etc, etc, etc.

Or on the news, accidents, overdoses on drugs and 

suicides.  Any way you look at it life is too much in

many cases for people to handle.  Even all the self-

help schemes about how to "tough it out" or take control

of yourself etc., fail.  They at the best are only band aids 

over a cancer.

But there is good news.

There is someone who wants to help you out.

God almighty himself wants to help you.

Even best he wants to actually come right into

you and become the strength of your life.

A person needs to realize that Jesus Christ is

the one who gives them life to start with.  But

we have ignored him and gone our own way.

So he came to earth as a man and became a 

sacrifice for us.  He died in our place, if we

will accept it.   Then all we have to do is cry

out to him to forgive us and honestly ask Jesus

Christ to come into our messed up life and 

take over.

If we will submit to him and allow him to

he will actually come into us as a person 

and bring the very strength of God into our

being.

Nothing is too much for Jesus Christ to handle.

Invite him in to take your load off you.

DO YOU HAVE YOUR PLANS MADE?

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Long before your or I were born God told us how things

were going to go in this old world.  And if you ever paid

any attention to what he said was going to happen, then

watched the news to see what is happening, you know that

it is right on his schedule and this old world is headed for

destruction.

In the news and especially the so called "social media" there

is constant evidence that individual lives are being torn apart

and destroyed - because they followed their plans, rather than

God's plans for them.

While you are making your plans for life, or even tomorrow,

it would be wise to make them coincide with God's plans.

How?  Get God's word "The Holy Bible" out and see which

way God is going.  Then, Go with God.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

(Psalms 55:22 NASB)

COMING OUT AHEAD

The first time I served on jury duty was at a time 

when my wife and I could not afford the loss of 

work.  Yes, jury duty paid a trifle and milage.  But

that was not enough.

I prayed desperately about the situation.  Then went

ahead and did my duty as a citizen.  Praise God.

My employer paid my wages even while I was off

on jury duty.

To top it off.

When my jury money came in, I felt the least I do

was give it to my employer because he paid my

wages anyway.  But he would not even take it.

I was paid both my wages and the jury money too.

ISN'T GOD GREAT?

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"I can only say that I am nothing but

a poor sinner, trusting in Christ alone

for salvation."  

-Robert E. Lee

THANK YOU JESUS

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It's like repeating myself. (You know how old men are, 

they tell you the same old story over and over.) However,

having run into so many people lately that have such serious 

health problems, and younger than myself, I cannot but be 

thankful for God's healing touch and being alive and feeling

 well.  

I should be dead now, but God undertook. It has been over 

two years since having the need of a blood transfusion 

which makes me feel elated.

THANK GOD FOR HIS HEALING POWER.

"...and He Himself bore our sins in His body

on the cross so that we might die to sin and

live to righteousness; for by his wounds you

were healed." 

(1 Peter 2:24 NASB)  

THE KEY

My wife cleans a lot of houses to stay active 

and possibly because she likes to shop a lot.

Last week she started cleaning house for a new

lady who gave her a key to the house.  But when

she got home that evening realized she had lost 

the key.  She and I both did a lot of searching only

to come up with no key.

Now my wife and I both depend on prayer a lot.

So we both were praying about finding the key.

However it never showed up.

Yesterday when she went back to this new house

she went expecting to apologize to the lady and

ask for another key.  She sit her purse down and

started to apologize to the lady while opening her

purse.  There was the key hanging in her purse on

a hook. Now apology needed.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"The LORD is good,

A stronghold in the day of trouble,

And He knows those who take refuge in Him."

(Nahum 1:7 NASB)

CLIMATE CHANGE

CLIMATE CHANGE

Arn't you glad.

Where I grew up there was little change.

There was a hot dry spell that we called summer.

Then there was a cooler season with some moisture.

We called that winter.

Where I live now we have more climate change.

We call them;

Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter.

[I know.  You are thinking that I am a fool because

that is seasons, not climate.  Tell that to my body

on a hot sweltering day or a snowy day.]

God started "climate change" thousands of years

ago.  It happens every year.  Doesn't that make 

you glad that our smart scientists are just now figuring

that out.

MAY YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY.

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"Many pray with their lips for that for

which their hearts have no desire."

- Jonathan Edwards  

YOU CANNOT DO IT YOURSELF.

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I have lived a lot longer than you have and in all that 

time the thing of "New Year's Resolutions" has been

a joke.

You know the attitude about New Year's Resolutions as

well as I.  Or, for that matter any Resolutions we make.

True, sometimes we make one and by shear grit and 

determination we manage to keep it - at least for a while.

The reason for this failure or short coming is simple.

It is the human nature that we have.  The nature we 

have in us tends to pull us down, not up.  To destroy

us, not build us up.  If you do not believe me, you

have not lived very long yet, or been observant of life

at large. 

However there is good news.

Jesus Christ, the author of human life its self wants

to help on the matter.  He not only offered himself as

an sacrifice for our sinfulness - if we will accept it,

but he wants to literally come into us and give us the

strength of God to overcome in life.  We simply need

to turn to him, submit to the Lordship of Jesus and

ask him to come in and take over.  Then with Isaiah

the prophet we can say;

"Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

For the LORD GOD is my strength and song,

And He has become my salvation."

(Isaiah 12:2 NASB)  

PROFESSIONAL CHRISTIAN STUDENTS

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You have met them.  People who find it easier to 

study than to work.  So they go to school as long

as they can get grants or someone to feed them.

We call them "professional students".

I must confess that in the Christian realm I along

with many others have become "professional students".

No, not for money.  But it is far easier to sit at a desk

or with other people of a like mind and study the Bible

than it is to go out and live out the Bible instructions of 

service.  So we spend our spare time going to "Bible

Studies", or "Bible conferences" etc.

We use as our excuse the reference in the Old King

 James version 11 Timothy 2:15;

"Study to show thyself approved

unto God, a workman that needeth

not to be ashamed, rightly dividing

the word of truth."

But stop and think a minute.  [I am sure you 

can better than I can.]  The same writer in the

same version said;

"And that ye study to be quiet,"

(1 Thessalonians 4:11 KJV)  

Have you ever undertaken a study or a

class in how to be quiet?  No, because that

is not what the old English meant.  The Greek

word translated "study" here meant;

"be diligent".  In other words put into practice

what you have been learning.

I love to read, study and soak up the truths of

the Bible.  But with God's help I intend to put

them more into practice.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,

Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand."

(Psalms 37:24 NASB)

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS

Product manufactures provide operators manuals

for the proper use of their product and your safety.

God who gives you your life has provided an

operators manual for you.  It is to show you how

to live a blessed life and for your safety now and

for your coming after life.  It is called the 

"HOLY BIBLE".

Ignore at your own risk.

TODAY'S QUOTE

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"When you pray, rather let your heart

be without words, than your words

be without heart."

-John Bunyan

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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"Therefore if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creature; the old things

passed away; behold, new things 

have come."

(2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB) 

Tired of your old life.

Don't only start a new year,

but get into a relationship with Jesus Christ and

start a new life.