TODAY'S QUOTE

“Doctors and druggists would not have

prospered on our family.  We never spent

so much as 50 [cents] for medical care or

medicine.  Our one and only Physician,

who was in us and around us, always 

cured us.  He was out of the world!”

- A.C. Valdez

In “Fire on Azusa Street

p.112

TODAY'S PROMISE

"As for me, I look to the LORD for help.

I wait confidently for God to save me,

and my God will certainly hear me."

(Micah 7:7 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

"And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name,

let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon

and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains

and oceans - and all that lives and move upon them. He has

given us all green things and everything that blossoms and

bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have

misused - and to save us from our foolishness, from all our 

sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself."

-Sigrid Undset

A FATHER'S LOVE

I just want to share an emotion, an insight that
I experienced again today.  That is the love of
a father for his kids.

Many, many years ago I was involved in a failed
marriage and the resulting breakup from it.  There was
the initial shock of coming home from work to find
an empty house and then "existing" in a daze for
about a week.  But the emotion that still stands out
in my mind the most - wether it was the same day or
the next I do not remember - was the realization that
the kids were not there needing my help.  My kids were
gone.  What was I going to do without my kids.  How
was I going to love them and provide for them.  It hurt
me deeply.

Yes, they had a good mother.  That was not the problem.
It was that need for a father to be able to share his love
with his children.

Thank God,
as the children grew up in another state and
began to get out on their own that relationship
has been reestablished.  We share a love for
each other even if they are grandparents now.

Down to the present.
Believe it or not, I am a lot older now than I
was then.  I even have "great grandchildren"
who have grown too big to want grandpa to
hold them and love them.

I have noticed the last few days that this old
man just aches sometimes to hold a loving little
child in my arms and love them.

Today as I was walking down to get the mail
God brought something to my mind.  That is
the way God is.  God truly wants to love us,
hold us, cuddle with us, just like an earthly
father would want to do.  The Scriptures point
that out many times.  But I will only share one
of them with you.

"See how very much out Father loves us,
for he calls us his children, and that is what
we are!  But the people who belong to this 
world don't recognize that we are God's
children because they don't know him."
(1 John 3:1 NLT)

Here the Apostle is writing to the Christians.
No, everybody is not God's child.  But He
wants them to be if we will just turn to Him.

REMEMBER.
God wants to be a Father to you and love you,
if you will let Him.

THAT IS WHAT CHRISTMAS
IS ALL ABOUT.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"And the one sitting on the throne said,

Look, I am making everything new!'  And

then he said to me, 'Write this down, for what

I tell you is trustworthy and true.' And he also

said, 'It is finished!  I am the Alpha and the 

Omega - the Beginning and the End.  To all who

are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of 

the water of life.  All who are victorious will

inherit all these blessings, and I will be their

God, and they will be my children."

(Revelation 21:5 - 7 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

"It was standard procedure to call on the creator

of all things to help solve pressing problems -

no matter how trivial or tremendous."

-A.C. Valdez in

Fire on Azusa Street.

p.93

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE

I know.  Those are icicles.  But icicles do not 

shine or spark by themselves.  Their light has

to come from somewhere else.

I was looking out a window of my "hide a way"

in the woods right after a heavy rain.  The trees

had water hanging all over them.  Then I noticed

the cedar tree closest to the window and it had

two beautiful small blue lights in it.  You know

what they were.  Two of the drops of water just

happened to be aligned correctly to act as a 

prism with the sun shinning on them. 

The beauty I was seeing was the sun shinning

through the drops of water.  But only, if in the

correct alignment with the sun.

Jesus Christ said:

"You are the light of the world -"  

(Matthew 5:14 NLT)

But how am I to shine when there is no light

in me?  I am like the icicle or the drop of water

or prism.  I have no light in myself.

"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said,

'I am the light of the world. ... "  

(John 8:12 NLT)

There is our clue.

When we submit ourselves to Jesus Christ 

and invite Him to come into our lives taking

over not only as Saviour, Lord and master -

then we have the light in us that the world 

needs to see.

“The friend told me, ‘You wouldn’t

believe it if you saw it.  He sold everything!

He is happily living a much simpler life

and sharing with everyone why he

has done it.”

- K.P. Yohannan

In

Living in the Light of Eternity

p.26

GOD KNOWS BEST

This is one of those things that hurts to share

on one hand.  Then on the other, happy to tell

you about how God can work for us.

About forty three years ago I was of course much

younger and single.  Now a single life does not appeal

to me at all and I had fallen in love with a young lady.

Lets just say that this lady and I were in two different

leagues.  There were too many differences and obstacles.

But, you know that does not stop love.

So, having faith in God and believing that nothing

is impossible with God, she became the object of much

pray and trusting God to work out the impossible.  Yes,

it was sorta a one sided affair.  I loved her and she was

just simply a friend.  

In time I came to realize that this was not going to

work.  So I went to God in pray offering her up to

Him and "trying" to release my interest in her.  It

was perhaps the most difficult thing I ever did it 

my life.  I can still remember the hurt to this day.

However,

we still live in the same area and are still friends.

But after watching her go through several marriages

I see now that I would have been hurt really, really

bad.  And further, because of her goals and outlook

on life, she would have been an obstacle to my 

relationship to God and living for him.

Further.

Shortly after this - perhaps a year - God brought

another lady into my life.  Not only did he bring

us together but clearly indicated to me that she was

to be my wife.

After over forty years of marriage I can truly say

that God gave me one of the best wives on the 

face of the earth.  Praise God.

GOD KNOWS BEST.

"And we know that God causes everything to work

together for the good of those who love God and 

are called according to his purpose for them."

(Romans 8:28 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"And this hope will not lead to disappointment.

For we know how dearly God loves us, because

he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts

with his love."

(Romans 5:5 NLT)

TRUE CONTENTMENT

What a great day.

Today just happens to be "Thanksgiving Day".

It is cold and rainy.  But by the Grace of God, we 

live in a comfortable house and though we are old

and have lived longer than most people, still able to

get around without a lot of pain and discomfort.

God gave me a good nights sleep last night.  Then

my wonderful wife prepared us a delicious breakfast.

After a great meal like that a good nap is required by

this old man.

When I awoke from a real good nap it was quite and

peaceful.  Very comfortable laying there in the recliner.

Now it just does not get any better than that for an old

man who is tired of all the drama of life.

Reaching over for my Bible I turned to the book of 

Philippians on purpose.  You see, the book of 

Philippians is one of the most inspiring and encouraging

books to read in the Bible.  After reading only a few verses

the Apostle Paul said, "... in my imprisonment..."  WOW!

It was real easy for me to lay there and feel content with

life.  But Paul was in prison in chains when he wrote

that extremely encouraging book.

What is the difference between the Apostle Paul and us?

We have to face the fact that most of us live our lives for

ourselves.  Our every thought and action is about getting or

being what we want for ourselves.  I know, we want things

for other people, our children, friends etc.  But it is still

about us and our desires.

But the Apostle Paul's life was totally and completely

given over to Jesus Christ.  In one place Paul tells us

that he "... takes very thought into captivity for Christ."

That is way Paul was able to be content - even when 

in chains in prison.  He was able near the close of his

epistle to the Philippians say;

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned

how to be content with what ever I have.  I know

how to live on almost nothing or with everything.

I have learned the secret of living in every situation,

whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with 

plenty or little.  For I can do everything through

Christ, who gives me strength."  

(Philippians 4:10 - 13 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

I AM UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Some of us do not have all the "carry through" we would

like.  How many incomplete projects do you have sitting

around?  Or things that you want to do - some day?

And, even worse, a concern about finishing life it's self

and being ready to stand before God at the end of our 

earthly life.

There is one of the truths of the Scriptures that is a real

comfort to myself.

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work

within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished

on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

(Philippians 1:6 NLT)

What is the good work that God began?

Very few people over all have God working in them at all.

They are living and working for themselves rejecting 

what God wants to do for them.

The "the good work" that is being spoken of here is;

the work that God does in a person who has submitted

to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  When we submit to 

Jesus Christ and invite him in to run our lives He

places in us His Holy Spirit.  Then, we have two

natures in us.  One of course is the natural nature

that is in very person alive.  The other is the nature

of God Himself, or the Holy Spirit.

It is this nature, the nature God has put in us that

causes us to be "Born Again" as is it is often called.

And God will continue to give us life through that 

new nature until Jesus Christ returns to this earth to

to rule and reign over his creation.

The Apostle Paul who was the writer of the above

Scripture also said it another way about this good

work that God has started in a "TRUE" Christian.

"He will keep you strong to the end so that you

will be free from all blame on the day when

our Lord Jesus Christ returns."

(1 Corinthians 1:8 NLT)

You and I both know that life is not easy.  We

have our "up's" (mountain tops") and our "downs"

(valleys) in this life.  God has it that way on purpose,

 to help us grow into what He is trying to make us

into.

I like the way Kathryn Kuhlman said it;

"Christian character isn't made on the

mountain top.  It's made in the valley."

One more thought about God completing

His work in me.  Speaking of the Lord Jesus

Christ the writer of the Hebrews stated;

"Therefore he is able, once and forever,

to save those who come to God through

him.  He lives forever to intercede with

God on their behalf." 

(Hebrews 7:25 NLT)

Did you catch that?

Those of us who come to God through

Jesus Christ, Jesus himself will be 

interceding to God the father for us forever.

Let me close with part of a children's song

the Hemphills wrote. Yes, I know it is childish, 

but so true.

"He's still working on me

To make me what I need to be

It took him just a week to make the moon and stars

The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be

'Cause He's still working' on me."