TODAY'S PROMISE

"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put
a new spirit in you.  I will take out your stony,
stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive
heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that
you will follow my decrees and be carful to obey
my regulations."
(Ezekiel 36:26,27 NLT).

TODAY'S PROMISE

"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put

a new spirit in you.  I will take out your stony,

stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive

heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that

you will follow my decrees and be careful to 

obey my regulations."

(Ezekiel 36:26,27 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

Jesus Christ said;

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God,

believe also in Me.  In my Father's house are many

dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told

you for I go to prepare a place for you.  If I go and 

prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive

you to Myself, that where I am there you may be

also."  

(John 14:1-3 NASB)

WHAT IS YOUR VALUE?

It started of by my making the mistake of trying

to think.  You know, thinking is hard work and it

hurts to think.  That is why so few of us bother to

think.

But while thinking the thought went through my 

mind how I am not compassionate like God is.  I

want to be a help and kind to people etc.  But also

I tend to not want to be bothered.  [You are not that

way, I'll admit.]

Then when thinking of my lack of compassion, I

could just see some poor homeless person or a 

begger in their need.  You know, a cast off from

society or a parasite just getting in the way.

But, which is the most valuable or important?

A poor homeless person or perhaps a bagger?

Images courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com.   

Or an invalid totally incapable of taking care of 

him or her self.

Or perhaps a highly decorated person in an important

position?

Or, maybe even a successful business person

or investor?

Well, none.

We as people only see the outside of a person and that is

what helps us form our opinions.

But God looks at it differently.  Consider when God was

speaking to Samuel he said;

 "Do not look at his appearance or his stature,

because I have rejected him.  Man does not

see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is

visible, but the Lord sees the heart." 

(1Samuel 16:7 CSB)   

The truth of the matter is that in God's sight

that poor cast off person is just as valuable as

some one who is rich or perhaps famous.

Even the disciples of Jesus Christ fell into the

trap we do.  They began to argue among themselves

as to which one was the greatest.

He attempted to correct their thinking by pointing

out that the most important person in the Kingdom

of God was the one who was the youngest, like a

child, or the humble person, a servant.  And that

he himself [Jesus Christ] came as a servant to us.

"But God proves His own love for us in that

while we were still sinners Christ died for us!

(Romans 5:8 CSB)

Yes, we nothings are just as important to God

as a rich person or a celebrity.   Just as important

to God as a president or a king.

It is your heart that God treasures.  Not your

body, money or prestige.  Give him your whole

heart, strength and mind.  Then in truth you will

be away ahead of the rest of the world, even if

you are a nothing to everybody else.

DON'T LIKE YOUR LOOKS?

Do you like your looks?  I don't like mine.
And I would bet you don't like your looks
either, unless you are an ego maniac.

Years ago I read how even most actors are
not satisfied with the way they look.  They
would change some little thing or other.
And after all these years I have found
nothing to make me think differently.

It seems to be a problem to all human

beings.  Consider the these statistics.

In the year 2016 world wide there was

61.5  billion U.S. dollars spent on

color cosmetics.   You know, paint,
putty, wood filler or what ever it is
that women use trying to look like
something different.

And we fellows did not do much better.

We spent 48.5 billon dollars on men's
grooming products trying to look better. 

But I noticed something IMPORTANT.

When God came down as a man - Jesus

Christ - so he could die in our place if

we will accept it.  You would think He

would come as the most outstanding person

of all time.  But He did not.  Notice the 

thing of the appearance of Jesus Christ 

in the prophecy given about Him.

"For before him he grew up like a young plant,
like a root out of dry ground.  He was not well-
formed or especially handsome; we saw him,
but his appearance did not attract us.
People despised and avoided him, a man of pains,
well acquainted with illness.  Like someone from
whom people turn their faces, he was despised;
we did not value him."

(Isaiah 53:2,3 CJB)

Did you catch that?
The very one who created the Universe and
gives life to you, when he came to be one of
us, He came as the plainest of the plane people.

Don't you think that we put way to much
emphasis on our outward appearance?

"God sees not as man sees,
for man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart."
(1 Samuel 16:7 NASB) 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Delight yourself in the LORD;

And He will give you the desires

of your heart."

(Psalms 37:4 NASB)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight."

(Proverbs 3:5,6 NASB)

HEART PROBLEMS

Image courtesy of: www.Pixabay.com   

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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"When you pray, rather let your heart

be without words, than your words

be without heart."

-John Bunyan

TODAY'S PROMISE

"My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever."

(Psalms 73:26 NASB)   

TODAY'S PROMISE

"And you shall seek me, and find me, when you

shall search for me with all your heart."

(Jeremiah 29:13)

WHEN SHE PUTS HER FACE ON

"Put on my face"

That is a statement I have heard a number of times.
Generally by a woman, I think.  You know, "I have
to go put my face on."

I have never had the courage go watch and see what
it is that happens - or why.  What does it mean?
And why do they do it?

Do they do it to hide their identity, like hide behind
a mask?  Or perhaps just to confuse us fellows?
Or is it a mood thing?

And, is putting on their face something like hanging
wall paper?  Or is done with a paint brush or roller?

Now I have seen faces with so much stuff on them
it makes me think it is done with a putty knife just
like a man would put "bondo" on a car fender to
hide a wrinkle or a dent.

[In those cases I do not know whether to laugh
out loud, or cry.]

Or, do they make a selection from a "Facebook"
of the face they want for that day.

Have you made your choice of face for the day yet?

AND THE WINNER IS,

Sorry.

The temptation to do something like

this was just too much.

But I would offer you a thought.

The Scriptures say;

"A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,

But when the heart is sad, 

the spirit is broken."

(Proverbs 15:13 NASB)  

Perhaps it would be better to forget

about paint and goo to put on the face.

But instead to work on the attitude of 

the heart.

TODAY'S QUOTE

Images courtesy of:www.Pixabay.com  

"Whatever your heart clings to and 

confides in, that is really your God." 

-Martin Luther  

TODAY'S QUOTE

Images courtesy of':www.Pixabay.com

 "You have made us for yourself,

O Lord,

and our heart is restless until it

rests in You."

-Augustine

A CLOSER WALK WITH GOD

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Do you want a closer walk with God?

Most Christians I know want a closer walk with God.

And, most Christians I know relate it to a knowledge 

of God's word - The Holy Bible.  And that's very, very

important.

Frankly I am appalled at the lack of knowledge of the 

Bible by most Christians.  They would claim that it is 

the most important book in the world.  Yet it seems the 

only knowledge they have about spiritual things is only

the things they have heard some preacher preach.

BUT IS THAT THE PROBLEM?

Consider this.

Shortly after God created mankind, in about the 

sixth generation, was a man named Enoch.  Enoch

walked with God.  In fact, Enoch walked so close to

God that God decided to just take Enoch on up to 

heaven with him.  So, God "translated" Enoch to

himself.

But, Enoch did not have a Bible.

After a lot more years mankind had gotten so rotten

that God decided to just wipe them out.  But, there 

was one man who "walked" with God.  His name 

was Noah.  So God preserved the human race through

Noah, because Noah walked with God.

But, Noah did to have a Bible.

Years latter again there was a man who walked with

God.  His name was Abraham.  Abraham was known

as "The friend of God".  And God made a covenant 

with Abraham that resulted in a race of people we 

call "Jews".  Because Abraham walked with God.

But, Abraham did not have a Bible.

Many more years later another man named Elijah

walked with God.  Elijah walked so close to God 

during his life time that God sent a fiery chariot to 

take Elijah to heaven.

But, Elijah would have only had a few of the books

we call "The Old Testament" available to him.

My friend,

the problem is not how well we know the Scriptures.

The problem is in our want to.

We get what we want.  That is why you owe money

for some things that "you wanted."

When we WANT to walk closer with God bad enough,

then we will.

"But from there you will seek the

Lord your God, and you will find

him, if you search after him with

all your heart and with all your

soul."

(Deuteronomy 4:29 RSV)

BROKEN

"The sacrifice acceptable to God

is a broken spirit; a broken and

contrite heart, O God, thou wilt

not despise."

(Psalms 51:17 RSV)

God cannot use us until we are broken.

It will save us a lot of grief if we will

just submit to God, rather than wait

until he has to break us.

HELP. I'M UGLY

That's my little old ugly truck.

I must admit, it does not have the words,

"RUST BUCKET" on the sides.

They are only in my computer.

That picture was taken several years ago.

Only the rain has washed it since and the 

rust has grown. A lot people would be ashamed 

to be seen in it because it is so ugly.

But, Hey!  

It is not a trophy.  It is a tool.

It still runs very good and does everything

I want a truck to do.  In short, I'm still

very happy with that ugly old truck and

have no desire what ever for a newer,

nicer truck.

What's the point?

As a person I think of myself as "ugly".

How many a time I have wished that God had

made me different than I am.  There are things

from top to bottom that I would change if it were

up to me.

I have been having a hard time to think that God 

made me the way I am because this is the way that

God wanted me.  (Well! Other than what I as a person

have messed up.  You know.  Over or under eating

or other things that are my fault.)  However, at my

age I am beginning to see the point.

Years ago there used to be a beautiful women come

into the shop with her car.  She was young and usually

when she came in, about half of the guys working 

there found some excuse or other to go by and 

see if they could "help" or what ever.

One day the boss ask me if I would that her to work

the next morning and bring her car back to the shop.

You bet I would.  (I was not in my eighties then.)

When she came early the next morning she happened

to have her kids with her.  And the way she treated her 

kids in the few miles to her work totally turned me off.

Since then, I have seen many a "lovely" lady that I

would not want to put up with as a wife.

One time God was having the prophet Samuel

pick out a king for the nation.  But Samuel was

looking on the outside and God said to him;

"But the Lord said to him,

'Pay no attention to how tall and

handsome he is.  I have rejected him,

because I do not judge as people judge. 

They look at the outward appearance,

but I look at the heart'".

(1 Samuel 16:7 GNT)

I notice something of interest to myself 

regarding the prophecy of God himself

coming down to us in the form of Jesus

Christ.

The prophecy of his coming says,

"He had no dignity or beauty

to make us take notice of him.

There was nothing attractive about

him,

nothing that would draw us to him.

We despised him and rejected him;

he endured suffering and pain.

No one would even look at him -

we ignored him as if he were nothing."

(Isaiah 53:2,3 GNT)

Lets face it.  

When our time has come, it is not a man or

woman that we will stand before in judgment.

It will be God himself.

He is not going to looking at our hair do 

or fake smile.  But at the our heart.

We can do something about our heart

or attitudes.

And it does help to realize that God had a
reason for making me the way I am,
even if it does not suit me.

"Clothes make the man"

Photo courtesy of:www.bigfoto.com

Back possibly in the 1990's my wife and I were camping

in one of the local State Parks.  It just happened that was 

the week end of a large Mountain Bike Festival.  There 

were Mountain Bikes all over the place, you know, 

swarms of them.

It was almost unbelievable what those kids can do on 

their Mountain Bikes.  They would hop them from rock

to rock.  Jump over logs and maybe even climb trees with

them.  O.K.  Scratch the tree climbing.

I think it was at an intermediate event that I saw a man who

I would guess was a young family man.  Probably with out 

kids yet to be able to spend the money he did on his bike and

outfit.  As I remember he had a very expensive bike.  And all

of his clothes and gear looked to me like professional attire.

So, I was watching to see this star ride.

Lol.  Lol. Lol.

The clothes just had not finished making the man yet.

He did about the worst of all of them.

I admit.  This is not quite what I want to talk about.

This is "Gunner" on one of my motorcycles in the

church parking lot.  But that is really all I need for 

a picture and it helps you know we are shifting gears.

I live about twelve to fifteen miles from the city that now

has the fourth largest motorcycle festival in the United States.

The attendees are measured in the hundreds of thousands.

Now you are getting closer to my kind of thing.  I have been

riding motorcycles on and off for years.

So for the first three or four years of this festival I was right

down there to see what was going on.  Now I'm not too 

bright.  So it took me a while to figure it out.  This thing is

nothing more than a huge costume party.  Most of these guys

are not "bikers" or even "motorcyclist".  They are nothing more

than party animals.  They are the kind that spend more time 

washing and polishing their motorcycle than riding it.  It is only

a trophy to them that they haul in on a trailer to the party.

They keep nice new motorcycle costumes on the shelf to wear

to the party.  Then go to the party and drink lots of beer while 

throwing around even more B.S.

The clothes just do not turn them into a real "biker".

It is easy to stand here and point my finger.  But when I start

trying to be honest before God, am I any different.  Am I only

trying to look or act respectable or like a Christian. 

How do I stand before God.

"But the Lord said to Samuel,

'Do not look at his appearance or at

his physical stature, because I have

refused him.  For the Lord does not 

see as man sees; for man looks at 

the outward appearance, but the 

Lord looks at the heart.'"

(1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV)

THE WAY TO A MAN'S HEART

This little girl taught this old man something.

She is one of my great grandchildren.

At the time this picture was taken -

grandpa would have done anything in the world 

for that girl.  Well! if he could, and it was not
bad for her.

That is why I am still taking care of the rabbit.

Was it because she was pretty?  

No.

Was it because she has red hair?

No.  I don't care for red hair.

Was it because she has freckles?

No.  I don't particularly care for them.

I do not know how to put it into words.

But it was something about that helpless, trusting,

submissiveness that would just get ahold of

my heart.  And I could not help my self.

She was about nine years old at the time of the 

photo.  Today, she is several years older.

And today - she would have to pry it out of me.

All because of her change in attitudes as she is

nearer to being a teenager.

And perhaps, because I am catching on.
[Yes, we still get along fine and sometimes
do things together.]

When I begin to think about the difference,
it gave me a whole new understanding of a
passage of Scripture in 1st Peter.

I must first confess that like some other guys,
the more paint I see slopped on a woman,
and the more shinny stuff I see hanging on
her, the more I realize - she is trying to
hide something.
[I just wish my wife would catch on.]

With this in mind consider the passage of
Scripture that I am now understanding better.
1st. Peter 3:1- 6 TEV.

"In the same way you wives must submit yourselves
to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe
God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe.
It will not be necessary for you to say a word, because
they will see how pure and reverent your conduct is.
You should not use outward aids to make yourselves
beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the
jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear.
Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner
self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is of the greatest value in in God's sight.
For the devout women of the past who placed their
hope in God used to make themselves beautiful by
submitting themselves to their husbands.  Sarah was
like that; she obeyed Abraham and called him her master...." 

BEYOND UNDERSTANDING

"Who can understand the human heart?
There is nothing else so deceitful;
it is too sick to be healed.
I the LORD search the minds
and test the hearts of people.
I treat each of them according to 
the way they live,
according to what they do."

************

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