TODAY'S PROMISE

"In my distress I cried unto the LORD,
AND HE HEARD ME."
(Psalms 120: 1 KJV
Emphasis mine)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

MESSENGERS WITHOUT A MESSAGE

In the time of king David of Israel there was a man named

Ahimaaz.  His name was almost as funny as some of our names.

But his actions were much the same as ours.

A very important battle had just been won.  Ahimaaz wanted

to be the one to run and tell the king the outcome of the battle.

But some else was sent.

Ahmaaz kept insisting that he should run and tell the king.

Finally he was allowed to run with the news to the king also.

Ahmaaz out run the first runner and delivered the following

message to the king.

"Sir, when your officer Joab sent me,

I saw a great commotion,

but I couldn't tell what it was."

(2 Samuel 18:29 GNB)

Now what kind of information is that????

How informed did the king become from this message?

  

I love the ease of finding information on the internet as vs.

buying a book or card files in the library.

But I have learned something.

If you really want to learn something - stay away from forums.

Some of the people who post on the forums have no concept of

what they are talking about.  They simply want to say something.

Many others are only guessing, but also only want to say something.

And a few - very few - know what they are talking about and

have useful information.  That is, if you can be patient enough

and keep digging through the rest of the postings.

Forums have become a last resort for myself.

If you watch videos you have found much the same thing.  A

lot of the videos were made by people who do not know what

they are doing.  They just want to make a video.  I have even

seen some that have never even done the task they are trying 

to teach you about.

Should we even mention Facebook and the stupidity that is

posted daily there?   

Yes, there are some good posts even on Facebook. 

But you will have a warped mind by the time you get to it.

Those of us that try to blog are sure that blogging is much
different.  Isn't it? 

Should we leave the use of these things alone?

"You can be sure that on the Judgment Day you will

have to give account of every useless word you have ever

spoken.  Your words will be used to judge you - to declare

you either innocent or guilty."

(Matthew 12:36,37 GNB)

OUR TRUE PURPOSE IN LIFE

"I will exalt you, my God,

O king; and I will bless your name

for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless you;

and I will praise your name for ever and ever.

Great is the LORD, 

and greatly to be praised;

and his greatness is unsearchable."

(Psalms 145:1-3 AKJV)

BRAIN DEAD

Have you ever wondered why people do the things they do?

It is simple.  

On their part there is no thinking.  No thoughts.

Have you ever seen a thought?

Of course not.

Even with your best pair of glasses on you cannot see a thought.

You cannot see a thought with binoculars or a magnifying glass.

In fact, you cannot take a picture of a thought.  Try it.

Scientist using the very best microscope or telescope have never

seen a thought.

So, thoughts are simply a myth, fable or legend.

Ask your friends if they have ever seen one of your thoughts.

If there were such a thing as "thoughts", certainly you could

measure them, or weight them.

How deep or wide is a thought?  You do not know because

there are no thoughts to measure.

Pressure and vacuum gauges cannot measure thoughts, because

thoughts are nonexistent.

Testing so far only shows that thing we call a brain is simply

a vacuum chamber.

Get out your ohm meter.

Your volt meter.

Or your amp meter and measure a thought.

Can't do it can you.

Because there is not such thing as a thought.

You might hear your stomach growl.
Or one of your joints pop.
But no one can hear your thoughts because there are none.

So what do we do when someone's action seem to indicate
they may have given thought to something.

Simple.
We do what "scientist" do.
We create a hypothesis that suits our thinking.
Then spend the rest of our life trying to prove it.

Speaking of things we cannot see, touch or measure
with all our fancy test equipment;

"Fools say to themselves,
'There is no God!'"
(Psalms 14:1 GNB)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Great peace have they which love your law:
and nothing shall offend them."
(Psalms 119:165 AKJV)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

STRENGTH FOR THE DAY

"but they who wait for the Lord
shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint."
(Isaiah 40:31 RSV)

It has always seemed to me that the Lord did this backward.
He has a descending order.  And we humans want an ascending order.
You know.
Crawl, walk, run.
Up, up and away.

Years ago Armin Gesswein coined an expression
regarding this portion of Scripture that helps me.
He said this is the three speed Christian.

As a retired auto mechanic and ex car nut -
that speaks to me.

If you are over forty years of age.
you know that all of life is not soaring on clouds
nine to thirteen.

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

Whether you are a Christian or not,

there are high points in life.  Mountain top experiences.

Few and far between.  But they are not life.

Most of life is more;

Another day, another dollar.

Ho hum.  Or as some used to say,

"Same O, same O."

Or just plain old boring.

Just another boring highway.

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

And by now most of us know that the road of life can be much 

worse than this Australian outback road.  In some parts of our 

area, that looks like a super highway.

Photo courtesy of: www.bigfoto.com

Life often is more of a steep climb with a heavy backpack.

An uphill experience that requires a lower gear than out vehicle has.

So, how do we get this "renewed strength" for today?

The Scriptures say to "wait" on the Lord.  

Some versions say, "trust in" or "hope in" the Lord.

But to myself the help comes from dear old brother 

James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D.  He says this comes from 

the Hebrew word "qavah". [Now that's Greek to me.]

And that it is "a prim. root, to bind together

(perh. by twisting), ..."

Waiting on the Lord for strength is not sitting on a park

bench waiting for help.  That could be part of it.  But

waiting on the Lord is binding myself to the Lord.

Involving God in my life to the point that his life and

mine are twisted together as one.

When my "rope of life" consists of several strands,

God the Father,

God the Son,

God the Holy Spirit

and me.

My rope will have all the strength I need

and, the Devil himself cannot break it.

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and 

purify your hearts, you men of double mind."

(James 4:8 RSV)

ROUTINE, RITUAL OR WORSHIP?

God through the prophet Isaiah said to the people of that day,

"Because this people draw near to me with their mouth,

and with their lips honor me,

but their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is taught

by the precept of men: ...."

(Isaiah 29:13 AKJV)

And Jesus Christ said of the people of his day,

"This people draw near to me with their mouth,

and honor me with their lips;

but their heart is far from me.

In vain they worship me,

teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

(Matthew 15:8,9 AKJV)

What would God say about you and I today?