Thursday, December 27, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE




"If you then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father who is in heaven give what
is good to those who ask Him."  
(Matthew 7:11 NASB)  


Wednesday, December 26, 2018

LESSON FROM THE OLD TRUCK

You have seen old trucks before.  Even I know that.
And, there is nothing special about this one.

This one is an old 1979 Dodge Power Wagon.  I
used it for many, many years.  But I wanted something
smaller and lighter so this thing was set aside.  Then
after buying a newer smaller truck I just gave it to a
neighbor up the road a ways.

He used it to go fishing a lot around the various
farm ponds in the area.  But the point I want to 
make is how he spent a lot of time telling me what
a great hot rod he was going to make out of it.  He
was going to take the cab off and change a dozen 
other things.  That was fine with me.  But I knew
my neighbor.  After sitting at his house for a long
time he talked someone into painting it with a 
spray can.  That is what you see in the image above.
And that was as "hot rod" as it ever got. Then it sat 
and sat and sat.

I finally saw it hauled off on a wrecker.  My guess
is he traded it for a six pack of beer.

The same old truck with a little make up on the out
side.

The lesson.  I see what seems to be a lot of professed
"Christians" who seem to have changed the outside
some, or give a real good talk.  But, in actions they
seem to have the same old insides, mind, thoughts,
 attitudes and desires.

If truly we will turn our selves over to God and allow
him to work in us, it will make that "hot rod" out of
us.  But just being "churchy" will not do it.






Tuesday, December 25, 2018

MERRY CHRISTMAS


  "For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in 
Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life."  
(John 3:16 NASB)  

The best Christmas gift ever.
The very creator of the universe came down
and became a man named Jesus Christ who
out of love for his created beings died as a
sacrifice for our sins and failings.  Then offers
us eternal life to live with him for ever if we 
will but turn from the way we are going and
give our selves to him.

Don't ignore the greatest gift ever.
God does love you.




Thursday, December 20, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE



"But you shall serve the LORD your God,
and He will bless your bread and your 
water; and I will remove sickness from
your midst."
(Exodus 23:25 NASB)

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

ANOTHER THANK YOU JESUS


I know.  This picture probably would not mean a thing 
to you.  It's just a cut up tree.  But let me explain why it 
makes me happy, happy, happy.

You see about five years ago when I was only seventy-nine
years old I came down with "Aplastic anemia".  That means
that my body quit making blood.  I hope you know, you have
to have blood to live.  And I did not remember it, but being 
as I cannot spell all these neat words like, "Aplastic" and
"anemia" I pulled out one of my "primary care physician's"
reports to see how to spell it.  It also listed me as having
"Type 2 diabetes mellitus with diabetic chronic kidney
disease,"  what ever that is.

Yes, I had to live on other people's blood for about two
years.  That was a lot of hospital time.  But, I and a lot
of other people pray.

Back to being happy.  About four years ago if I wanted
to go down to my shop and do something, I could not even
walk it.  I would drive my truck the 150 to 200 ft. down or
back.  But God has been healing me.

The tree.  Last Friday night we had the worst storm I 
remember having here in the last forty-five years.  That
tree was blown over in the front yard.  So I decided I
wanted to get it out of the yard today.

Yep.  I cut it up as you can see, AND moved the three
truck loads of brush from it over to the burn pile all
today with time to spare.

Do you see why I am happy, happy, happy and have 
been thanking God all afternoon.




Tuesday, December 18, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


"Our life is full of brokenness - broken 
relationships, broken promises, broken
expectations.  How can we live with that
brokenness without becoming bitter and
resentful except by returning again and
again to God's faithful presence in our 
lives."
-Henri Nouwen





Thursday, December 13, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE



"You shall walk in all the way which the Lord
your God has commanded you, that you may
live and that it may be well with you, and that
you may prolong your days in the land which
you will possess."  
(Deuteronomy 5:33 NASB)



Wednesday, December 12, 2018

THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD




THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.

A few days ago while sitting in my recliner reading a
bright light shone in my eyes.  It was a very small beam
but when lined up just right it was as bright as an LED
light.

I of course begin to search for it's source.  It was coming
from a bouquet of flowers the wife has sitting on a stand.
You and I both know that flowers do not shine lights in 
your face.  And especially those.  They are artificial or 
fake flowers.

It was as you guessed, a reflection of the sun on something
in the bouquet.  

Hey!
That is the way I am supposed to be.  When Jesus Christ
was talking to his disciples he told them, "You are the light
of the world..."  But as you know, a disciple in and of themselves
are about as bright as mud, just like those fake flowers.

Another place Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."
Now we have it.  Like on a bright moon lit night the moon
really does not shine.  We know that it only reflects the light
of the sun.

That is the way it is supposed to work with us.  We are to 
live so close to Jesus Christ that the very life of Christ
reflects in and through us making us the light of the world.

May God help me to allow the life of Jesus Christ shine
through me.






Tuesday, December 11, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com    


"For where love is wanting, the beauty
of all virtue is mere tinsel, is empty sound,
is not worth a straw, nay more is offensive
and disgusting."
-John Calvin







Thursday, December 6, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE




"So don't worry about these things, saying
'What will we eat?  What will we drink?  What
will we wear?'  These things dominate the 
thoughts of believers, but your heavenly 
Father already knows all your needs.  Seek
the Kingdom of God above all else, and live
righteously, and he will give you everything
you need."   
(Matthew 6:31-33 NLT)  







Wednesday, December 5, 2018

THE NEWS BEFORE IT HAPPENS


Image courtesy of:  www.Pixabay.com  

THE NEWS BEFORE IT HAPPENS
   
Do you want to know what is going to happen
to this old world?  It is already written in The Book.

Do you want to know what is going to happen to
your country?  It is in The Book.

Do you want to know what is going to happen to
your people and your culture?  It's in The Book.

Do you want to know what is going to happen to
you as a person?  IT'S IN THE BOOK.

I grew up in a very peaceful and prosperous period
of time, at least in my country.  I would never have
imagined there could even be the turmoil that there
is today.  But it's here.

These days were foretold several thousand years
ago.  God knows in advance what is going to happen,
and in His mercy he has told us.  It's all in The Book;
that is The Holy Bible.   And the things he has told us
have been 100% accurate.  And if you think things are
bad now, it will scare the life out of you about what is
coming right where you live.

About sixty years ago I began to see what God told us
was coming.  So, I began to adjust my life for what is
coming.  In fact knowing what is coming is one of the
reasons that I left my place of birth, about forty-five
years ago, and moved to where I now live.  Why, because
I did not want to be in the area I was born in when these
times come.

Do you want to know what is going to happen before
it gets here?  Get yourself a "HOLY BIBLE" and read
it for yourself.  It can literally be a life saver.









Tuesday, December 4, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


"There are many of us that are willing 
to do great things for the Lord,
but few of us are willing to do little things."  
-D.L. Moody







Thursday, November 29, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE



"But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him."  
(Isaiah 53:5,6 NASB)


Wednesday, November 28, 2018

OVER LOADED

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   

OVER LOADED.

Are you overloaded?  I am.
A couple of generations ago, when I was just a kid
there was an old saying that said;
"Three moves equal one burnout."  The meaning being,
every time you move your home, or residence, you 
eliminate all the extra stuff you have so you do not 
have to take it with you.  Three moves that way and
you throw away enough stuff to equal the house being 
burned down.

A few years ago God enabled us to move into a new
house.  The old house was old when I bought it and
after living in it for 36 years it was even older.  A real
good description would be it was "wore out".

The new house is on the same piece of property so
it was not necessary to tear down the old house right
away.  Some places you could not get away with that.
But in this area we can.

Finally the time came to begin cleaning up and tearing
down the old house.  WOW!  I do not know how else
to say it.  I could not believe how much was in the old
house that needed to be given away, sold, recycled or
thrown away.  And we have lived several years without
needing any of it.   So, why did we have it to start with?

Life seems to be that way.  We gain a lot of excess stuff
that we just have to have.  Then we go rent a storage
building to hold all the stuff we don't need to start with.

God speaking through the Apostle Paul said;
"For we have brought nothing into the world,
so we cannot take anything out of it either."  
(1 Timothy 6:7 NASB) 

Personally over the last few years I have been getting
rid of a lot of "stuff".  Believe it or not, the less I have
the less work and worry I have.  I am enjoying it. I can
either spend more time enjoying life or, and more 
important, preparing myself for that day thats coming
when I stand before God and give an account of myself.










Tuesday, November 27, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


"The Christian life is not a constant high.
I have moments of deep discouragement.
I have to go to God in prayer with tears in
my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or
'Help me.'"
- Billy Graham



Thursday, November 22, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE



"For the LORD God is our sun and out shield.
He give us grace and glory.
The LORD will withhold no good thing
from those who do what is right."
(Psalms 84:11 NLT)  







Wednesday, November 21, 2018

THE STOVE


Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com  

My wife cleans houses by choice.  At her age  I wish
she  would go ahead and retire.  But she wants to continue.
Her claim is that it makes her get up and go where she 
would be come a couch potato other wise and truly she
enjoys doing it.  [I do notice that she also loves to shop.]

My wife is a woman who has a personal relationship
with Jesus Christ.  Not just religious, or churchy, but
a real vital relationship with Jesus.  The result is that
she prays about every thing, and especially trouble.

A short time ago she was cleaning house for some 
people up by the country club.  When trying to put
a pot or pan away above their kitchen stove she 
dropped the pan on the stove.  You guessed it, it is
a stove with some type of glass top.  It broke a small
place in the glass.  She said the Devil tempted her to
not tell them.  But being a woman of God she prayed
and decided to tell them what happened and offered 
to pay for the damages.

She went and got the husband and wife telling 
them what happened.  Both the husband and wife
just begin laughing.   The stove was obsolete and had 
several problems that parts could not be acquired for.
 So, they were planing to get another one anyway.

My wife came home thanking and praising God.

The next time she when to this home to clean
they met her with a hug.  It had prompted them
to go ahead and do their stove shopping.  By
going shopping when they did they came across
a stove they were very happy with that had been
ordered by someone and never picked up.  They
were able to get it at the dealers cost and saved
a large amount of money.

You can bet my wife will continue praying to 
the one who gives her life and help in times
of trouble.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE


Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com  

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home."
- John Newton




Thursday, November 15, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE




"Greed causes fighting;
trusting the Lord leads to prosperity
Those who trust their own insight are
foolish,
but anyone who walks in wisdom 
is safe."  
(Proverbs 28:25,26 





Wednesday, November 14, 2018

MAKE ME LIKE GARLIC



I have a garlic bed that I want to convert over to something
else.  That is, a bed of something else.

You gardeners can laugh at me all you want.  I cannot hear
you from here.  But my futile efforts go something like this.
I first took the rototiller and went through the bed tilling it
up real fine and throwing out all the garlic bulbs I found.
Thinking I was ready to plant the next crop something delayed
me a few weeks.

Ha, ha, ha, ha.  
In that couple of weeks a whole mess of garlic started
growing again.  So, I hand dug them up, and,threw them 
in a bucket.  I did not want to let them grow somewhere 
else resulting in my simply dumping them on an old 
out side work bench about October the sixth or a few days
 before. That is the image above.

In the mean time I have done nothing, nothing, nothing,
to help the unwanted garlic.  They were left there on the 
bench to die.  In the image below you can see they have
gathered some fall leaves, but look, they are growing 
there on that wooden bench on November the ninth.


Back to the bed.
I thought I had it taken care of this time.  WRONG.
Small garlic plants began coming up about the size of
grass.  I tried raking them all out, or so I thought.  It
looked good - for a few days.  Then more small plants.

You guessed it.
I have not planted anything else in there yet.

What is my point?
God put life in a garlic plant that can be real hard to
kill out.  Because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ
I have the life of God in me also.  And I want that life to
be as tenacious in me as garlic's life is in it.

But garlic stinks.
If you smell it on someone's breath, yep.
But if you smell garlic bread being made,
you get hungry.  And, garlic is good for you too.

Regarding a Christian.  By that I mean a real 
Christian, somebody who has whole heartedly
turned to God and taken Jesus Christ into their 
life to be their Lord and master.  The Apostle 
Paul has this to say; 

"For we are a fragrance of Christ to God
among those who are being saved and among
those who are perishing; to the one an aroma
from death to death, to the other an aroma
from life to life."  
(2 Corinthians 2:15,16 NASB) 

May God help me make my life a pleasing fragrance
or aroma to God even if it "stinks" to the world.









Tuesday, November 13, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE


Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


"In Proverbs we read: 'He that winneth souls is wise.'
If any man, woman or child by a godly life and example
can win one soul to God, his life will not have been a
failure.  He will have outshone all the mighty men of his
day, because he will have set a stream in motion that will 
flow on and on forever and ever."
-D.L. Moody









Thursday, November 8, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE




"For the LORD God is our sun and our shield.
He gives us grace and glory.
The LORD will withhold no good thing 
from those who do what is right.
O LORD of Heaven's Armies,
what joy for those who trust in you."
(Psalms 84:11,12 NLT)








Tuesday, November 6, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   



"The sweetest lesson I have learned in God's
school is to let the Lord choose for me."
- D. L. Moody







Thursday, November 1, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE




"Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
They weep as they go to plant their seed,
but they sing as they return with
the harvest."  
(Psalms 126:5,6 NLT)






Tuesday, October 30, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE

Image courtesy of:www.Pixabay.com    


"When we believe that God is Father, we also believe
that such a Father's hand will never cause His child
a needless tear.  We may not understand life any bet-
ter, but we will not resent life any longer."  
-William Barclay







Friday, October 26, 2018

WARPED VALUES


Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


WARPED VALUES.

I just read on the internet how a woman vows to teach
her youngest child how to properly open packages
and boxes so it will be unnecessary to use zip lock bags. 
Her concern is not adding plastic to the environment.

Now that is a noble vow.  We have far too much 
human trash in the environment now.

BUT, BUT, BUT.
I also happen to know this woman and her family quit
well.  There is also an older sibling.  And the older sibling,
well simply put, is a lier and a thief to the point most of us
simply do not want them around.  [A point you will understand,
this is one of those "Mamma's little darling can do
no wrong".]

Would it not be better to spend some time teaching these
kids (children) some morals and ethics?  With a good 
moral or ethical grounding the kid is going to have some
concern about other people and the environment they
live in.

Is it any wonder that the whole world is turned upside
down?


Thursday, October 25, 2018

TODAY'S PROMISE




"Therefor dear brothers and sisters, you
have no obligation to do what your sinful
nature urges you to do.  For if you live by
its dictates, you will die.  But if through the
power of the Spirit you put to death the 
deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.  
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are
 children of God."
(Romans 8:12-14 NLT)  



Wednesday, October 24, 2018

THE WAY THEY WALK


Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


You have noticed it to.  The way he/she/it walks tells
you what it is.  For example, in the distance you see an
animal but you do not know if it is a dog or something
else.  When it starts to walk, trot or run, you know that
it is a fox.   Because that is the way a fox walks or runs.

You see a very small animal where you cannot get a good
look at it.  When it moves, if it hops, it's a rabbit. etc.

In this day and age it often is difficult to tell whether a
person walking down the side walk is a male or female.
But if you will observe for a little bit you usually can
tell if it's a male or female because there is just something
different about the way they walk.

I am finding a lot of confusion about people today.
In days past the way some people walked, i.e. lived,
and talked did not match up.  Or we would say that 
their walk did not match their talk.   They talked a 
real good story.  But their life showed and entirely 
different story.

I am not a real social person.  I have a few good solid
friends and am content with that.  But lately I have 
been involved in the so called social media, i.e., Facebook
in particular.  Wow!  What an eye opener.  It seems that
there are a lot of people out there that can talk a real good
talk.  They will say something, or share a post that could
have came right out of the Holy Bible it's self.

Then the next six posts from the same person could have
come right out of the pit of Hell it's self.

Jesus Christ said,
"For whatever is in your heart determines
what you say"  
(Matthew 12:34 NLT)  

 Now which talk or walk am I to believe?
Something seems hypocritical in this.

I suppose the answer is found the Holy Bible.
Be patient with me.  I will include a long portion
of Scripture to make my point.  See if you do not think
these are the days we are living in.  The last sentence
is really the one I am after so I will capitalize it.

"You should know this, Timothy, that in the last
days there will be very difficult times.  For people
will love only themselves and their money.  They
will consider nothing sacred.  They will be unloving
and unforgiving; they will slander others and have
no self-control.  They will be cruel and hate what
is good.  They will betray their friends, be reckless,
be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather 
than God.  THEY WILL ACT RELIGIOUS, BUT
THEY WILL REJECT THE POWER THAT 
COULD MAKE THEM GODLY."
(2 Timothy 3:1 - 5 NLT)   

With God's help I want to seek the power from
Him to live a "godly" life and walk the walk that 
would match  a godly talk.



Tuesday, October 23, 2018

TODAY'S QUOTE


Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   


"I am not what I ought to be.
I am not what I want to be.
I am not what I hope to be.
But still, I am not what I used to be. 
And by the grace of God,
I am what I am."
  
- John Newton



Friday, October 19, 2018

THE CAT


Image courtesy of:www.Pixabay.com  

One of the things my wife does is pet sit.  It works well
for her and pays well also.  For about the last week she
has been taking care of an elderly lady's cats.  In this case
the wife just drops by once a day and takes care of all the
cat needs.

Earlier this week my wife stopped by to take care of the
cats as we were on our way to a funeral.  The old lady
lives in a large expensive house in a gated community.
One of the things that got my attention was that there was
lots of room in the house.  It was vary spacious.  Not packed
with furniture or filled with all kinds of stuff.  Just very 
simple.  I loved it.

In the process of getting me in [and out of her way] we
accidentally left the kitchen door open to the garage and
one of the garage doors was up about eight or ten inches.
The lady has six cats and a number of them had found their
way into the garage.  But one of the cats could not be located.

My wife has hunted for that cat for four days now.  All to
no avail.  We both have been praying over the matter.  It
is a serious matter to us to take care of peoples pets and 
then loose them.  So a lot of prayer and hunting has gone
into finding that cat.

My wife left a note of apology to the lady who was to 
come home today.  The elderly lady called my wife to
tell her she was home and ALL of the cats were there.

We do not know if that cat was hiding on a chandelier,
or if God opened the front door and pushed it in.  But as 
far as we are concerned, God answered our prayers.

PRAISE GOD FOR RETURNING A CAT.