NOT YET GRAVE

"The LORD protects those of 

childlike faith;

I was facing death, and he saved me."

(Psalms 116:6 NLT)

I want to give a personal testimony of how

the truth of that verse worked out in my 

life.

I should have died about nine years ago.

I ended up in ER and they found that 

my body had quit making blood.  A normal

man's blood count would be about 15, but

mine had fallen to 5 and I was only 79

years old.

For about a year or two I lived on other

peoples blood.  You know, blood transfusions.

There is a lesson in that.

Our true life comes to us from the 

blood of Jesus Christ which was shed

for us.

Yes, they sent me to the state hospital down

at Little Rock, Arkansas.  There I went through

a couple of therapies.  One with horse serum

which did not work.  Then later one with rabbit

serum which I don't think worked either.

BUT GOD:

Of course my church family and friends

were praying for me.  And as according to

the Scriptures, I was anointed with oil and

prayed over.

Points of interest.

The first time I was in the hospital I did 

not know anybody but my own family.

The insurance records I have here show

that 10 different doctors came through and

checked me out.  They did not find the 

problem, but they sure charged the insurance

company.

God lead through a non-medical doctor to

easily find the source of the infection.  When

that was cured it made recovery possible.

Shortly after a supplement was recommended.

That supplement seems to be the real source of

healing.  Yes, I have increased the dosage several

times.  But thank God, at 88 years old I still go

out and work hard - for short periods of time.

I know.  I might not live through this day.

But at least God has given me 9 more years

of life and headed toward 10 years more.

GO TO GOD FOR HELP FIRST.

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

“Indeed most Christians are so far 

away from God that they no longer 

seem to be able to see the evil in art, 

music, fashion and pop culture of our 

day.”

- Y.P. Yohannan -

 

THE WOMEN SHOW US HOW.

I don't know about you, but I want to do 

something for God.  Yet, here I sit, a 

nothing.

The world tells us to have great dreams.

Strive to accomplish your goals.

God has a plan for your life.

Etc.

But, is that God's way?

Consider two women and their service

to God.  Jesus sets both of them before

us as examples to follow.

There was the woman who poured her

expensive perfume on Jesus.  In another

place of the Scriptures we get the impression

that she may even have had a bad reputation.

Now over a long life and my experiences

around women my guess is that was her

 prized possession.  But, she gave it all

to Jesus.  Not just a smell of it, but poured 

it on him. She was criticized for it, but 

Jesus said;

"She has done what she could..."

(Mark 14:8 NLT)

Then Jesus was in the temple with

his disciples and another example

comes by.

"Then a poor widow came by and 

dropped in two small coins.

'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said,

'this poor widow has given more than

all the rest of them.  For they have

given a tiny part of their surplus, 

but she, poor as she is, has given

everything she has."

(Luke 21:2-4 NLT)

Did you catch that.  The one with 

least - did the most.  Why?  She

gave all she had. 

Remember, Jesus tells us;

"And if you give even a cup of cold

water to one of the least of my 

followers, you will surely be 

rewarded."

(Matthew 10:42 NLT)

O.K.,

so I don't have anything and

cannot do anything.  But Jesus is only

asking me to do what little I can and all

I can.

TODAY'S QUOTE

 

A SORRY SUCCESS STORY

Lot has a lesson to teach us.

The New Testament tells us that Lot was

a righteous man.  Today we would say that

Lot was a Christian.

In fact to this point God had blessed him

and his uncle Abraham in a big way.

Lot would have been considered a very

successful rancher in our day.

Then Lot had to make a decision regarding

his livelihood and he went for the green.  Green

pastures in his case.  For us that would have

been for the green - money.

"Lot took a long look at the fertile

plains of the Jordan Valley in the 

direction of Zoar.  The whole area

was well watered everywhere, like

the garden of the Lord or the beautiful

land of Egypt.  (This was before the

Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorra.)

Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan

Valley to the east of them.  He went

there with his flocks and servants and

parted company with his uncle

Abram."

(Genesis 13:10,11 NLT)

It is not long until we see Lot has moved

right in with the world.  His home is in 

Sodom in the middle of a bunch of homosexuals.

And we know what God did to Sodom as a

result.

Yes, God saved Lot in the outcome.  But

Lot lost everything.  He ended up living 

in a cave with his two daughters.  Going

after the "green" was a very costly thing

for Lot.

Where is true wealth found?

"Yet true godliness with contentment

is itself great wealth.  After all, we

brought nothing with us when we came

into the world, and we can't take any-

thing with us when we leave it.  So if 

we have enough food and clothing, let

us be content."

(1 Timothy 6:6-8 NLT)

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

 

“Too assert that a world as intricate as 

ours emerged from chaos by chance

is about as sensible as to claim that

Shakespeare’s dramas were composed

by rioting monkeys in a print shop.”

- Merrill C. Tenney, modern scientist.-

 

YOU CAN'T DO IT BY YOURSELF

I know.  I know.  I know.

The trend on social media is what we

call self help.

You know.

"You can do it."  "Get up and try again."

"Hang on, you will make it."  "Don't give up."

etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. - over and over and 

over again.

But, what would God teach us.

The apostle Paul shows us:

"In fact, we expected to die.  But 

as a result, we stopped relying 

on ourselves and learned to rely 

only on God, who raises the dead."

(2 Corinthians 1:9 NLT)

How would God have us do it?

Again the Apostle Paul shows us:

"Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.  Tell

God what you need, and thank him

for all he has done.  Then you will

experience God's peace, which exceeds 

anything we can understand.  His peace 

will guard your hearts and minds as 

you live in Christ Jesus."

(Philippians 4:6,7 NLT)

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"All praise to God, the Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ.  God is our merciful

Father and the source of all comfort. 

He comforts us in all our troubles so

that we can comfort others.  When they

are troubled, we will be able to give them

the same comfort God had given us."

(2 Corinthians 1:3,4 NLT)

 

GOD KNOWS BEST.

This old computer brings some things to mind

about how God knows what I need best.

Twenty some years ago I wanted this old

computer real bad.  I do not remember why.

All I remember it that I wanted to get home

to my computer and buy this computer at 

the "buy it now" price before someone else 

got it.

But, the auto agency I was working for sent

me and a fellow employee from Fayetteville,

Arkansas down to Fort Smith to pick up an

automobile and bring back to Fayetteville.

That kept me from getting home to "buy it 

now" before the bidding started.

So, I had to get in on the bidding.  Guess

what!  Buy getting in on the bidding rather

then buy it at the "buy it now" price I got it

quite a bit cheaper.

Oh! and I still use it to this day for some

things.

The property I live on.  When I moved into

this area I wanted a lot more acreage than 

this place has.

God gave me a very clear sign that I was to

buy this place instead.

You know the answer.   Over about forty

eight years has proven that this place fit my

needs best.

I have a few areas of woods I bought at a 

state tax sale.  All the places that I really 

wanted I was out bid on over a couple of

years.  It was just to be a place to hid from

the world once in a while.  So just a patch

of woods would be good.

But, one place did not sell at the last sale

I went to.   After the sale was over I dealt direct

with the state and and was able to buy this 

little patch of woods at a very affordable

price.  It also had a usable structure on it 

that others did not have.

Plus, checking the county's estimated value

a few years later on my little patch of woods

my value had about tripled over what I paid

for it.  And the place I really wanted the most,

and was far out bid on, was only worth about

one third of what the fellow paid for it.

One more and then I will shut up.  Years ago

while I was still single there was two ladies

[At different times.] that I waned more than I

wanted to live.  They were prayed for a lot,

But I did not get either one.

But, in watching them over the years I can 

see that had I gotten either one - I would have

been hurt very badly.

Later God clearly told me who was to be my

wife.  And, you guess it, I could not have gotten

a better woman for a wife.

"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 QUOTE

 

JESUS CARES

YES, YES, YES.

Jesus turned water into wine at least once.

Yes,

Jesus stilled the storms a couple of times.

Yes,

Jesus gave the fishermen miraculous

hauls of fish at least twice.

Yes,

Jesus feed about 5000 men and their

families once and about 4000 men and

their fames once.

Yes,

Jesus raised dead people to life

at least three times.

But where was Jesus real concern?

"A huge crowd kept following him

wherever he went, because they saw

his miraculous signs as he healed

the sick."

(John 6:2 NLT)

"Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped

from the boat, and he had compassion 

on them and healed their sick."

(Matthew 14:14 NLT)

In the Gospels we read about ten times

that Jesus "had compassion" on them.

And again in the Gospels we read about

thirty-five times that Jesus healed them.

Jesus cares about people.  He cares about

our hurts, our sickness and our problems.

That is why he died for us.

JESUS CARES ABOUT US.

Remember;

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,

today and forever."

(Hebrews 13:8 NLT)

And;

"By his wounds you are healed."

(1 Peter 2:24 NLT)

Jesus seems to have special concern for 

our sickness and problems.

King Asa was a great king.  But in his

latter years he messed up.

"in the thirty-ninth year of his reign,

Asa developed a serious foot disease.

Yet even with the severity of his disease,

he did not seek the LORD'S help but

turned only to his physicians."

(2 Chronicles 16:12 NLT)

Yes,

I had a deathly sickness.  About a dozen

doctors looked me over and I have been 

in the hospital four times,

BUT IT WAS JESUS WHO HEALED ME.

The doctors efforts helped me stay alive longer,

but it was Jesus who had to give me direction

apart from the doctors for healing.

Look to Jesus first.

He cared enough about you to die for you

and he wants to heal your problem now.