GOD TO THE RESCUE - AGAIN

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own insight.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths."

-Proverbs 3:5,6 RSV

I use eBay sometimes when there is something that
cannot be acquired locally, or I do not want to pay
the new price.

My habit is to keep track of the item I'm interested in. Then if the bidding

is to my liking, jump in at the last minute.If I win the bid, I want to pay as

soon as I win. Then I "Owe no one anything," and can forget the whole

process until the item shows up at my door step.

My last purchase was not quit that simple. ( Yes I had prayed about it.

And possibly, like yourself, it was more to get the Lord's permission than

to find his will.) After winning the bid I tried to pay. And tried to pay.

And tried to pay. The seller's system simply would not except my input.

What should have been about three clicks of a mouse and a password

had grown to forty-five minutes of frustration. (Yes I'm an old, OLD

man.) I finally gave up in total exasperation.

Later in the day while burning trash I sat on a log and prayed even more

fervently. The Lord put a thought in my mind. So I went up to the house,

pulled out the lap top, and tried the idea.

You know as well as I do what happened. First time it went right through.

I had been relying on my insights instead of properly acknowledging HIM.

We have a great, wonderful, loving God who wants to lead us aright - if we

will but let him.

ADMONITION TO PREACHERS

Hey "Preacher"! Can you

stop talking long enough

for some advice from old

men? It will only take a

minute.

A short time ago a church within driving distance had a series of meetings with a renowned teacher
preacher. This brother had enough degrees, titles and experience to satisfy the most discriminating. Due to the distance, and personal circumstances, I decided to attend only the first meeting. Even the offering for him was decided before hand. [This was something between the Lord and I over another matter. It simply needed a recipient.]

The renowned brother was extremely interesting. He was a very learned Bible teacher, and presented the teaching of the Scriptures in a most persuasive way. Although I had decided to attended only the first service, after about thirty minutes of his teaching I begin to consider coming to the rest of the meetings, despite the distance and personal circumstances. In fact after an hour he was still holding my interest [That is a miracle.] and I was still of the same persuasion.

However. By the time one hour and forty-five minutes had elapsed, the pendulum had swung the other way. No way was I coming for three more meetings. And I was giving serious consideration to giving the offering somewhere else - any where else. I'm weird. I know it, I confess it. But I'm in good company.

"Mark Twain is credited with a story about an overlong sermon. At the end of twenty minutes he was so favorably impressed he decided to put in five dollars when the offering was taken. Twenty minutes later, he decided that two dollars would suffice. After another twenty minutes, the proposed contribution shrank to one dollar. When eventually the sermon ended, Mark Twain awoke from a doze and placed a dime on the plate." -Speech: DYNAMIC COMMUNICATION by Milton Dickens pp. 318,319

The apostle Paul said, "For the kingdom of God is not

a matter of talk but of power.

- 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV

Brother James said, "Everyone should be quick to listen,

slow to speak,..." - 1:19 NIV.

"If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not

keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and

his religion is worthless." - 1:26 NIV

"... but no man can tame the tongue." - 3:8 NIV.

Just the thinking of some old men.

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ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A MINISTRY?

"You will never be short of ministry -

evangelistic or otherwise -

as long as you are full of the Word of God."

-Reinhard Bonnke

Charisma

Dec. 1993, page 26

HOW TO GET WISDOM

"How I love your law!

I think about it all day long.

Your commandment is with me all the time

and makes me wiser than my enemies.

I understand more than all my teachers,

because I meditate on your instructions.

I have greater wisdom than those who are old,

because I obey your commands.

I have avoided all evil conduct,

because I want to obey your word.

I have not neglected your instructions,

because you yourself are my teacher.

How sweet is the taste of your instructions -

sweeter even than honey!

I gain wisdom from your laws,

and so I hate all bad conduct."

-Psalms 119:97-104 TEV

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Would you like a free download of

THE HOLY BIBLE

Go to the link below for a free

download of the

Updated King James Version.

www.oocities.org/updatedkjv

LEARNING FROM MOTORCYCLES

When it comes to motorcycles, we do not all like the

same thing. You are glad of that. Right? Otherwise

everyone would want one like yours.

Years ago I bought an old Honda Goldwing with the

intended purpose of stripping it down. The reasons at

this point are not important. I call it my Hebrews 12:1

Motorcycle.

It started off looking like the motorcycle below. Many

people just love it that way. But to my self it looks too

much like a moving van coming down the road.

It was stripped down in stages. About the first week end I had it, I took of the barn door in front. Both linen closets on the sides. And the kitchen sink off the back.

That was a loss of 71 lbs the first week end. It went into the next stage as my work bike for many years.

But that still was not were I wanted it. Being retired now and not needing it for work every day it could be stripped further. The Lord helped my get it to the point of the picture below. It's almost were I want it. Some more
to go, or you could say it is still under

construction.

Why is it my Hebrews 12:1 motorcycle?

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud

of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin

which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance

the race that is set before us, "

-Hebrews 12:1 RSV

I want all "the dead weight" off the motorcycle. The less weight, the faster. Or if you prefer, less dead weight burns less gas.

Now you may never get your motorcycle into a race.

But if you are a Christian you are in a race. AND, the Lord wants us to remove all the dead weight from

our lives. For us dead weight comes in many forms.

In our day the Lord's comment comes as a real warning.

"but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches,

and the desire for other things, enter in and choke

the word, and it proves unfruitful."

-Mark 4:19 RSV

Cares, riches, desires all can become weight that

holds us back, presses us down and makes us lose

the race.

Like the motorcycle above. We will always be under

construction in this life. The Lord is shaping us up

for himself. But if we are serious about living for

Christ, it is up to us to remove the dead weight

from our lives.

STRETCHING THE GAS

A few years ago I rode one of my motorcycles

out to the west coast to visit with my kids. This

particular motorcycle has only a five gallon gas

tank on it. It's not like that land yacht you drive

around town with a huge gas tank. With only

five gallons you learn to measure out your gas

stops, and often. So I worked on about

one hundred and fifty miles between gas stops.

This gave me a margin of safety.

I left the Ozarks the last day of February. So

it would have been the first day of march that I

was out in west Texas. It was a Sunday afternoon.

In that part of Texas it can be a loooooong way

between towns, and the wind was blowing like

crazy. When I went through Pecos on Hwy 20,

it was so windy I had to lean the bike into the

wind just to stay on the road. Now if you drive

anything other than a golf cart, you know that

can be real hard on gas mileage.

I was getting low on gas. But seeing a sign that

another town was only about fifteen miles or so

ahead, I decided to push on to it. That would

leave me a little extra gas for that real long

stretch coming up.

When I pulled into that little town I found two

gas stations. One was boarded up. The other

was locked up. Ouch.

So I pulled back up onto the Hwy. looking for

a sign to see how far to the next town. Ninety

miles - almost out of gas, and no place to turn

around.

By now I was praying at about the same pace

I was breathing. I needed to go back to Pecos.

But could I make it?

The Lord let me see a small side road that went

back to the last small town. Then He let me find

a place where I could ride on the dirt over to that

small road.

As I was returning on that small road I noticed

something. The sun had come out. AND the wind

had quit blowing. Praise God. So I continued to

ease - as in eeeeease very carefully - back to the

small town and back up onto the return side of

Hwy 20.

All the way back to Pecos the sun shone. There

was absolutely no wind. It made a beautiful

Sunday after noon (but slow) ride, with lot's of

prayer.

The Lord let me get back to Pecos and find a

gas station. While the gas nozzle was in my

tank filling up - the wind returned so hard it

almost blew my bike over just setting there.

Praise God. He even controlled the weather

to help this little old guy.

MULTI-TASKING CHRISTIANS ?

It began several decades ago. Some friends

declared that talking while they work did not

effect their work. So I began to watch.

I noticed that when they were working and talking, they had to begin again and redo
things a lot more than when they were not talking. Maybe it's just in the definition!!!!

Today it has become very popular to "multi-task".

But does it work? Consider an article from the

Los Angeles Times back on July 19, 2004.

"Multi-tasking, for most Americans, has become a

way of life."...

"But researchers peering into the brains of those

engaged in several tasks at once are concluding what

some overworked Americans had begun to suspect:

that multi-tasking, which many have embraced as the

key to success, is instead a formula for shoddy work,

mismanaged time, rote solutions, stress and

forgetfulness. Not to mention car crashes, kitchen

fires, forgotten children, near misses in the skies and

other dangers of inattention."

It comes as no surprise that there are a huge number

of articles about multi-tasking not working, at least

well. Each time we add a task to the one we are doing,

we are distracted to a greater degree from the task at

hand. The solution is obvious. FOCUS.

A couple of quotes from the business world. Their

interest is success in business, or finance. But the

trues apply in the spiritual realm as well.

"The secret of success is focus. It is the one secret

that ties everything together. According to the law

of attraction, what you focus on is what you get."

-Enoch Tan in Dream manifesto.

Terri Zwierzynski in Solo Entrepreneur states,

"O: 'How to stay focused?'

A: One easy way to get and stay focused is to

have less to focus on!"

The girl is right on. It is so obvious it is almost

funny.

What does all of this have to do with living for God?

A Christian wants to get close to God. As it were, to

walk hand in hand with Him through life. (I hope.)

So God tells us how.

"Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

Cleanse our hands, ye sinners; and purify your heats,

ye double minded."

-James 4:8 KJV (Emphasis mine.)

See that "double minded". Dear old brother James

Strong tells us that double minded is,

"Two-spirited, i.e. Vacillating (in opinion or purpose)"

Hey. That's multi-tasking. That's unfocused.

The apostle John says's it a little different.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in

the world. If any man love the world, the love of

the Father is not in him."

-1 John 2:15 KJV

When we have divided interest; money, ambition,

success, enjoyment, toys, honor, entertainment,

more things, fun etc., etc., etc. And trying to live

for God. We are multi-tasking. AND IT DON'T

WORK.

Jesus said,

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his

righteousness;"

-Matthew 6:33 KJV

The apostle Paul was such an outstanding success

in living for and serving God because; his attitude

and example was,

"... but this one thing I do..."

-Philippians 3:13 KJV

Yes, I had to follow Terri's advice. Drop some things

so that there would be less to focus on. I do not need

every thing my little heart or mind desires. I do not

need every comfort or convenience there is. BUT I DO

NEED JESUS.