Show me the Money.

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money."---Matthew 25:14-16. If, like me, you grew up in the church, you more then likely have heard this story many times. It is one of 4 or 5 "Parables" Jesus told to His disciples. I don't think He told them one after another, I think He told them over the course of His time here on Earth with His friends. What does this one mean? Well, I have always thought, "Talents" were at that time money, but today we think of our "gifts" or our "abilities", as in "He/She is so talented". Yes, I have thought of the correlation between the "talents" (abilities) that God gives us, and how we should use them to bring in others that also have "talents". I have also thought of the money aspect of this "parable" as well. There is a saying; "Time is Money", usually said by someone who is very dedicated to making more money. But, if "Time IS money,", then time could be considered a "Talent", because in Jesus' day a "Talent" was a amount of currency. So to bring this all the way home, If you say, have a few hours a week, after work, on the weekends, TIME on your hands, what do you do with it? Do you bury it under a rock to keep it safe , so you will have it if you need it later? Time doesn't work like that, you cannot save some back for use later. " I have 35 days saved up, Lord, so I would like to cash those in at this time"> The 3 servants mentioned in this parable each did something different with their "Talents"/ "Money"/"Time". The first two turned it into more, but the last got lazy and buried it in the ground were it would be "safe". Talents, Money, and Time are three gifts from God. We have no way of knowing how much we have and have not, only God determines this. BUT, we do have a say in what we do with what we have. I have not thought of how close these three things are related, until I read this scripture again this morning. Talent, Time and Money are, it seems, the three things we, as humans, HOARD, the most. We want to use two of these to make the other, and this will make us happy. What is the first thing you think of when you think of someone who is very talented and known world wide for their talent? Wow, I bet they are rich. You talk about a certain sports star, or actor/actress or musician or well known person for whatever reason, and the subject of how much money they make will come up. You see we seem to think that Talent, and Time are only there to make us rich. Who gave us these things again, oh yeah it was God. Why would God give some of us these things and not all of us? Why are some people just talented to their toes, and others don't have a creative cell in their whole body? I don't know, but I do know that YOU have a talent, and you have time to do what you want. If you really enjoy something or someone your going to find a way to find time to do that or be with that person. How do you spend your time? Remember,time is money. Are you obsessed with using all your waking hours to make money. Are you obsessed with using all your talents to make it also? The Beatles told us that "Money Can't Buy You Love". Well Talent cannot either. Fame, fortune, good looks, they all leave us were we where before we realized we had them. What, then do we do with our Talents and time? There is nothing wrong, I believe, with using your talents or time to make money to have a good life. BUT God has given each of us more time and talents (or perhaps the same talents) then we really need to make a living. One of the talents that God gave my Mom, and it was passed down to me, is the ability to talk and get to know people. I love people. Just ask some of my past employers how much time I talked, compared to how much time I worked. I love to talk to people,get to know them, find about what they think, how they live, who they love, their families..............Is this a talent? Sure it is, my Dad is just the opposite, he has a very hard time starting a conversation with just anyone on the street. But he can preach, quote the scriptures, tell you chapter and verse of just about any subject in the Bible, these are his talents, he has spent many years (time) studying the Bible and used this time and talent to glorify and praise the name of Jesus. So, how do we use our gifts the Lord has given us for Him? Well first we ask Him. Sometimes it is just a matter of want. What do we want to do, and what do we not want to do. If your spouse asks you to go shopping with her, and you were planning on watching the big game, what do you do? It all comes down to want vs. caring. How much do we want to watch the big game versus how much we love our spouse. (You can say you were "nagged" into it, but I know better, the only reason you give into "nagging" is because you care) Say they are having a "Fall Fest" at your church on Super Bowl Sunday. (I guess that would be more like a "Early Spring/ Late Winter Fest") But anyway, you know you should volunteer but who has one of these things on Super Bowl Sunday? So, after much debate you decide to do the right thing and help out. You find yourself having the time of your life, there are kids from the neighborhood, there is music, there are skits, there are families having such a good time. You fit right in, you help set up, you help serve snacks, and drinks. You help out wherever you can. THEN you realize your church did not forget it was Super Bowl Sunday, and they have set up the big projection TV in one of the big Sunday school rooms for a Super Bowl Watching party" after the "Fest" They announced this, but you only heard the words "On such and such date, and then all you thought of was "OH NO< not THAT Sunday" while they were talking about the Super Bowl watching party. You see it all worked out. God rewarded you for using your time and talents to work for Him. (This illustration actually happened to me, years ago, I believe the last time the Dallas Cowboys played in the Super Bowl, so it has been a long time!!) Sometimes when we use our talents/money/time for the things of God, He rewards us, No, my bad, ALL the time we use our talents/time/money for the things of God He rewards us. God rewards us for the things we are expected to do, BUT He rewards us even more when we go "above and beyond". Years ago my uncle and aunt gave their hearts to the Lord. They got involved in a local church and started paying their tithes. Somehow they got confused, or maybe they wanted to do this but they paid 90% instead of the required 10% of their income as tithe to the church. God rewarded them like you wouldn't believe. My uncle was healed from CO2 poising, he was a border patrol agent in San Diego for years and all the cars with running engines put allot of CO2 in the air. God blessed them financially, he blessed them in their jobs, He blessed them in their marriage..............They wen "above and beyond" what He expected of them and He blessed them for it. God gives us talent, He gives us time, and He gives us Money from our time and talent. What we do with these three things will determine how our lives will unfold. And it will determine where we spend eternity after we die. Spend your time, money and talents carefully, my friend, because they are precious gifts. Don't just bury them in the ground or bank so that you will have them safe to show God,when He returns, :"Look, God, I still have that one bag of silver you gave to me, see here it is" "Why is it so dirty?" He asks, "Because I buried it in the ground to keep it safe". "You didn't even understand what I wanted you to do, did you, how selfish you are.". There is a old saying: "It's not what you have, it is what you do with what you have". What has God given you, What are you doing with it?

Caller Rejection

I keep getting phone calls from a 1-888 type number. About the 5th time they called, I decided to answer it, as maybe it was something important and not just a "sales pitch" that I had imagined it was. After being told to please wait for the next available representative as my call was important to them and thinking wait a minute, you called ME. Anyway I finally talked to a guy that sounded like he was SO VERY excited to be talking to me, he spoke in a monotone that had to have been practiced over and over because it was perfect. He addressed me as MR. Jacob, and proceeded to tell me how much money I owed to his collection company and ask me repeatedly how I planned on repaying him. I proceeded to tell him that I WAS NOT "MR. Jacob" and I had no idea what he was talking about. He then told me that this was the number they had on file for a Mr. Michael Jacob, in Tyler Texas and then gave me a address I never heard of. Over the next 5 or so minutes I tried to explain to him that I was not who he thought I was, he keep existing that I tell him my name and all kinds of private information of who I was so that he could "verify" I was not Mr. Michael Jacob. I did not give him any information, as I told him: "That is NONE of your business, just know I am not Mr. Michael Jacobs, and leave me alone" Then I hung up. Now about 3 to 5 times a day, this number calls me and I don't answer it, what's the use, they don't listen anyway, or this is just a big scam to try and get my private information. After about a week of ignoring these phone calls, I called my phone company to see what I could do about it. The very helpful and seemingly understanding representative, she did not speak in a monotone at all, but a very practiced concerned voice, that even though practiced, made me feel like she really cared, told me my best option was just to set up my phone to "Reject" this phone number. I asked her how that worked, and she help me set it up and told me now every time that number tried to call me they would hear a recorded message that basically said I did not want to answer their call because they were jerks. (Well, that was implied, not really stated.) Wow, I thought, that is really handy, and started thinking of phone numbers I could add to that list of "Rejected Numbers":) Have you ever felt like your annoying God? I mean 15 times a day you call His number up and complain about something, or maybe ask for EVERYTHING you can think of. Do you think this may be what God says when He sees the Caller ID in Heaven: "Oh NO, not her/him again!!"? Have you ever heard a recorded message when you start praying? "Oh Heavenly Father, I come to you this morning with a heavy heart, help me in this situation, please God",,,,,,,,,,,and before you can say another word a very monotone voice tells you that " Your call has been rejected, because you have been taking up to much of the Maker of the Universe's time" Please don't call again, unless it it is something important, thank you for Calling Jehovah your call is important to us, here in Heaven, have a blessed day". Of course not, God always has time for us, ALWAYS. When we call upon Him, He doesn't need verification of who we are, He KNOWS who we are, He knows what we need, He knows what we are calling about, before we tell Him. Sure God is God, He could set up an "Rejected Call" list if He wanted to, but He doesn't want to, He wants to talk to us, He wants to answer our questions, our concerns, our problems, and yes, even our complaints. Not only that, but He is waiting in anticipation for us to call Him. Did you get that? The maker of, well, EVERYTHING, is waiting in ANTICIPATION for US to call HIM. God NEVER dreads talking to us, His children. He wants to talk to us, why would He reject our calls, thereby rejecting us? No He is not that kind of God, He loves us more then any other of His creations. What have we done to deserve this kind of love and loyalty? Not a thing, He just love us, because that is who He is. "Caller Rejection?, Not available in Heaven"

This needs Salt, Hey Who turned out the Lights?

Matthew 5:13-15 New Living Translation (NLT) Teaching about Salt and Light 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless." 14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house." We have all read these scriptures, some of thousands of times. We know we're supposed to be Salt and Light to the world. What does this actually mean? Way back before man invented fire, I imagine they went to sleep when it got dark. I mean if they did not, they just stumbled around in their dark cave and hit their heads or toes on the rocks. Fire changed their world forever, for after fire they could stay up past dark and watch Johnny Carson. There are very few inventions that came along that were as important as fire. What about salt? I have often wondered how someone discovered salt, there are many things we have in our world that are common to us, but who was the first person to try them? Salt comes in crystal form, so someone was eating and reached down and rubbed this crystal they found somewhere, basically just a pretty rock, on their food. ""Hey, this is pretty good" they said ,"What would happen if I beat this crystal to tiny little pellets and sprinkled it on my food?". Thus high blood pressure was born,. But look at the many things salt can do. I watched a show one time about how they manufacturer salt, from mining it to it's many uses. There are literately thousands of uses for salt, from food preservation, to being put in the rubber manufacturing process of tires. When they discovered salt and then realized how they could use it as a preservative, it became another very important discovery. Jesus told His disciples that they (and we) are to be the "Salt of the World" and "The Light of the World" Wow, that is quite a challenge. Salt and Light are two of the most important things in this world, for without either, I don't think there would be life on planet Earth. Salt and Light are two things that we don't really notice everyday, we would notice them more if they were NOT present, as we take them for granted. WE, as Christians, are to be like that, we are to be ever present, to be seen, heard, noticed because of our Light, and flavor, and Joy. We are to be like these things because if we did not exist through Christ, life would not be the same. People would notice that "Somethings is missing" "It doesn't taste quite right". When you are eating somewhere, say at a restaurant or friends house, and you bite into something that doesn't taste right, what is the first thing you reach for, usually the salt shaker. Salt makes food taste right. God in His wisdom put this taste for salt into all of us for a reason, our body cannot survive without salt. Light is something our world would not exist without, also. The plants would not live, we would not survive. What is going to happen when all the people of God are taken by Him in the rapture? This world will be destroyed after Satan tries to take it over. The salt and light of us who know Christ as our personal savior and king, will be gone. Destruction, and mayhem will rule. When Jesus told us to be Salt and Light to our world, did He realize what He was saying? Of course He did, I believe , this was His biggest challenge to us. Like Salt or Light, there is always an amount that is too much. To much salt ruins food, and too much light will blind you. This is also, I believe, a lesson Jesus was trying to convey.. If your trying to tell someone about how much love and joy it is to serve our Father, God, Jehovah, and you are all "In your face" to someone, until your a pest, what good have you done? More harm then good, you have over salted, or blinded them with too much light. Salt adds flavor, lots of flavor, but it also overpowers the flavor. Jesus also told us that light hidden under a "basket" does not do much good, keep our light in a place were everyone can see. So, don't keep your relationship with God hidden, be proud of Our God, and let everyone you know SEE HIS LIGHT. Let us live our lives to complement Gods "Flavor" not over power it. Let us live our lives to help others see the way with Jesus' light, not blinding them by shining OUR little puny flashlight in their eyes. GOD'S light brightens their whole world, GOD'S Salt flavors their whole world. Everything we do, must be through HIM, not us. Here is to Salt and Light, two discoveries that God knew we would find, because HE made them and left them were we could find them. Now, let us be the Salt and Light of the world and others will notice Him through us.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Growing up we had a Thanksgiving tradition. I mean besides all the traditional food, we would grow (yeah we would GROW as we ate, but I meant GO here :) around the table and each of us tell what we were thankful for. I am sure many of you did the same thing, it's a pretty common tradition. Let's do that here, today, OK? I'll go first: I am thankful for God, becoming real in my life this last year. He has shown me how much He loves me and cares for my future. No, I am not perfect, very far from it, but He loves me anyway. I am thankful that my ex-wife's Mom, Maude, had such a long life, and was such a wonderful lady. I know her family miss her and will always miss her, but what a wonderful lady. Thank you Father for loving me and for taking Maude Whaley Graham home to be with you, and help in preparation for the soon coming of your Son Jesus Christ. OK< your turn.

God is Pleased with Me.

Have you ever gotten a "Word from God" through another person? Someone, maybe a relative, or friend or sometimes even someone you barely know, or don't know at all, will be praying and receive a word from God to tell you. This happened to me recently, my sister and I were talking on the phone, and she told me a word that God spoke to her to tell me. It was short, just a few lines, but in it He told me that:"HE Knew where I was at." That He was" pleased with me",And that" He would meet my needs from unexpected sources in ways that I could not conceive and that I would know it was from Him and Him alone." I cried when my sister told me this, she followed up with a email so I could print it out and read it over and over, which I have. Every time I read it I cry, I mean the God of the Universe sees right were I am at, He knows my innermost thoughts, He feels the emotions that I feel, and He will meet my needs by miracles, so that I will KNOW it was HE who meet them. Wow, what a God were serve. But then just this morning I re read this and guess what? There it was a line in there that I had read but not read. He was pleased with me? How? I stumble, I have things in my life that are not pleasing to God. How in the world does he have pleasure in me? All of a sudden I was so humbled, so in AWE, so grateful, so wanting to bow before Him and praise Him more. God, is pleased with ME> Yes looking back over the past 6 months or so, I have had a deeper desire to do the things of God, to serve Him more, to concentrate on Him more, this post is all apart of that. But to have Him say that "He is pleased with me" is just more then I could ever imagine. Another thing He said is that he is so glad that I have drawn closer to Him. I am pretty glad also, it feels so right. My whole attitude has changed lately. Because I made a decision, a definite decision, to seek more of Him. I will admit I did not like the way I saw my life going a few months ago, and I decided to seek more of Him, out of desperation, but it doesn't matter, I still sought Him. Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” The question comes to mind: How do we please God? The answer is easy, seek Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. But the easier answer is to just do His will. Talk to Him (pray), you don't have to use all big 5 syllable words, He understands what your saying. Just talk to Him like He is your Dad, because He is. And then the most important part, the part I forgot for many years, Listen to Him. He may talk to you through your thoughts, He may talk to you through someone else, like He did to me recently, He may talk to you through His bible as you read and study. But He WILL talk to you. BUT you have to be in a position to LISTEN. Unlike allot of TV and Radio preachers, God never yells, His voice is "quiet and still" Some have even called it a Whisper. To hear Him, you have to be still and KNOW HE is GOD. Why would you listen if you did not believe that? You wouldn't . So God told me He is pleased with me, now what? Easy I want to please Him more. When I was little and I helped my Mom do something she and sometimes my Dad if he was around, would smile and say "Thank You, Chris" you helped. This made me so happy to please them, I wanted to do it more. I am praying that I please God more, that He will send along things, circumstances, people ....in my life that I can shine His Glory, and please Him. I want to serve Him, to make Him happy, to worship Him. I want others to like me, because they see me pleasing Him. I want people to come up to me in everyday life and say: "What is it about you? You seem so happy, what's up?" "God told me I pleased Him, how can I be down?" I know there are many many people in this world that please God, I know that. But when God tells you that you are pleasing HIM, it means something. It is a pat on the back by the coach after a good play on the field. It is a promotion at work for a good job done. It makes us want to work harder, and please our Father even more. Let's all go out and please God. Let us work at pleasing Him. Others will see who we are pleasing, and who we love and serve. They will want some of what we got. I struggle with trying to please myself, more then pleasing Him, but that is what He is working on in me. And telling me I am doing a good job, is one way it is working. Now, I need to stop doing................because it will please Him some more. Remember, who is it that we want to please? Go out and serve Him today.

Proverbs 19:22: "Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest." Proverbs 20:6: "Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable?" Loyalty, this is a word we hear allot about in our world. We hear it in commercials for products that have been made for hundreds of years, a "Loyal" company, that you can depend upon, no matter what. They never mention, though that they took money from us the taxpayer to not go into bankruptcy. In sports the word is used over and over. I imagine there is not a locker room anywhere, from Jr. High, High School, Jr. College, College, Semi-Pro, or Pro sports that does not have the word "Loyalty" somewhere painted on their walls. What is "loyalty"? According to Webster Loyal means: : "unswerving in allegiance: as : faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government". I love movies about war, and combat, doesn't matter which century, Mid- evil times, WW1, WW2, Korea..........War between the States, Vietnam, ............you get my point, These war movies are full of action, but more importantly they show utter Loyalty. Men or women, fighting for something, a country, a belief, family, honor, and yes sometimes greed or power. They fight for their Flag, their King, their leaders, their family, their home, Pride, religion, something. They never waver in their loyalty.., and more then not, in these movies they give their lives for their cause. I tire of hearing the word "loyal" used these days,used, I might add, wrongfully. Manufacturers, Stores, .....try and 'guilt" us into buying their products. It is American Made, be loyal to your country. This product is made by a "Minority owned company", "no animals were killed or harmed in the making of this product"..............So by using these products, we feel better about ourselves, because we have "stuck to our guns" as far as our "Cause" goes. There is nothing wrong with feeling that way, but I believe it is a big trick used by advertising companies to make us feel guilty unless we buy this certain product over another. We understand Loyalty, but do we really? How do you know someone is a REAL friend? Try telling them your moving from a 3rd floor apartment to a 4th floor apartment (and the apartments are about 40 miles across town) and need their help. Do the all of a sudden remember a surgery they have scheduled for that exact day, or do they say "Sure, no problem". Of course no one is going to be complain free, but they will be there to help. What makes you loyal to a certain brand or store? Easy, not the commercials where they tell you how loyal they are, but by your friends telling you how nice, loyal and caring they are. You see, as with most things in life, Loyalty is earned. Have you ever complained about your Pastor or your church? "I do not like those fast songs they sing, I cannot understand the words" or "I wish they would sing more modern songs, those old hymns are to slow" or "It is always so hot, or cold, or the sound is SO loud, or I cannot hear them, turn up the sound, or I don't like it when the Pastor preaches about tithing, or this or that, I mean what is he trying to say, that I am cheap? " Where is your loyalty to your church? I used to be one of those that would skip from church to church just because I tired of something at one particular church, so I would try another one out. When I was going to Jr. College, many of the students would attend Many different churches. One would have a special singer we liked, so we would go there that day, another would have a certain preacher we liked, so...........or one would have a lot of attractive single women, so.........you get the idea. How can you put down roots in a church if you only go a few times a year? You can't. How can you serve in a church this way, you can't. This may have been the idea while I was in college, I did not want to serve, I wanted to be served. My Daughter graduated from Baylor University in Waco Texas Erin, my daughter, is very loyal to her Baylor Bears. Since she attended Baylor, I have been a huge fan, also. If you don't know, Baylor has not had a very good football team in quite a long time. Just over the last few years they have been getting better and better. BUT even in the bad years, they usually sold out their stadium, the fans would come to games, even though they were pretty sure they were going to lose. They were loyal to their hometown team. Why? Because the team was good, and won the national championship almost every year, NO, because this was their Home Town team. Loyalty. Where is this Loyalty today? We hear about it all the time, but where is it? Our employers are having a very tough time because of the economy and they have to do certain things like cutting our health care, or switching to another insurance company that doesn't offer as cheap co pays. To us this can feel that they are not being loyal. We feel, especially if we have been there for a long time, that they are betraying us, their loyal employees. What would you give your life for? Your wife, husband, children? Your friends? What about your pastor? What about your Mother in Law? The bible tells us: John 15:13 "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" Laying down one's life for a friend, is this Loyalty? Yes, the greatest kind. So then Love and Loyalty are the same? Yes, I believe they are interconnected. Without Love you cannot have Loyalty and without Loyalty you cannot have love? Yes, let's look at a marriage relationship. Is there Love? Yes, there should be, without it what kind of a marriage is it? Does this Love have loyalty wrapped up in it? Yes, it should, if your not loyal to the one you love, then where is the love? Loyalty and trust also go hand in hand. Without one the other is just hanging out there all lonely and stuff. So Love, Trust, and especially Loyalty, all go hand in hand. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and His father The One who made everything? If so, then you trust them to do what they say they will do. and you trust them to take care of you , because they said they will. Then your loyalty to them, is complete. You will do anything they tell you to because you love and trust them. It is OK to be loyal to certain brands and companies, because if they have never let you down, and always had a good product that you like, then they have earned that trust, and loyalty. Aren't you glad that God doesn't just yell at us through our TV's or radios how good He is, and try to make us feel guilty if we don't come to Him? He quietly comes and shows us how good He is, He EARNS our loyalty, He EARNS our trust and He makes it so easy to love Him. I was going to bring Loyalty into the Political Arena, but I think it is best if I leave that one alone, as we all know, there are VERY few , if any , loyal politicians. That is all I am going to say about that. Be Loyal to your family, friends, co-workers, boss, spouse, church, place of business, favorite restaurant, shopping stores, .............And be the person of God you should be so that those that know you will be loyal to you. Remember it works both ways, Loyalty is earned, by you, and to you.

He has heard our Groans.

Acts 7:34-35 ’Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.’
Growing up I was told that "Groaning", complaining, things like that were wrong. But here in this scripture, the Children of Israel are "Groaning" and God is hearing them. Have you ever "Groaned"? We all know our prayers are supposed to be like: " Our dear and most gracious heavenly Father, we beseech you this day to come, in all Your wisdom, to meet this most disturbing revelation of our brothers and sisters..........." But NO, when we need God, many times we do this: "GOD, where are you? We are suffering, we are at the end of our rope, what is going on?" and we start listing things that we do not like, or that we think are unfair. But, you know what, according to Peter's account of Moses before God in the burning bush, we are to : Take off our sandals, because we are standing on holy ground, for HE is in our presence, Realize GOD has seen our oppression, and guess what: HE has heard our GROANS and have come down (from His Throne) to rescue us. Then He tells Moses to basically go back to work and tell my people what I have told you.
Did you have kids that complained allot, I mean like most kids, ALLOT? As a parent did you get tired of the bickering, fighting, because things weren't exactly "Fair"? "How come she gets to stay up longer then me?" "Why is his room exactly 32 square inches larger then mine?" "Why can't we order pizza tonight, instead of having "Hamburger Helper" again? Groaning , complaints, unfairness, it is SO important to us, it seems. But God hears our groaning, The scripture does not say He liked our groaning, just that He heard it.
I remember when my kids were little, and when we headed out on a road trip, it seemed, 5 minutes into the trip, they both had to go to the bathroom. They would groan, yell, complain. Of course my response would always be the same, the same as my father's was in the same situation when I was little: "Why didn't you take care of that before we left the house?" It is irritating, we just left, you want to make "good time" (something a Father is always worried about, I know, I was). Now, you have to stop barely after you have left. It is not that you don't care that your children need to go to the restroom, it is the timing of it. The repeat over and over how bad they have to "Go". Your looking for a good place to pull over and let them, but their continuing "Groaning" is making you upset.
Is this the way God feels? I think, in my human understanding, that it may be. He hears our groaning and wants to help us, BUT, we annoy Him so much with all the drama. God loves His children, just as we love ours, BUT that doesn't mean that we don't annoy Him sometimes.
It's hard to trust, easy to groan. Do you know that the first time we ask God for something in prayer, He sends the answer right then? If we are asking for something that fits into His plan and timing, the answer is on the way. It never seems to come fast enough for us, so we ask again, and again and again, then we ask why He didn't hear us, then we ask why He doesn't care for us. (Your the worst parent in the whole world, I am going to run away and find someone who loves me!!) Praying for something one time, is usually enough, but not for us. If the answer doesn't come as soon as we open our eyes and raise our heads, we think God has not answered. But God, in all His wisdom, and power, loves us, did you hear me? GOD LOVES US> What do you want to do for someone you love? Give them everything they need, and a few things they just want. Make them happy, give them things that they like. But when you see them getting into things that will hurt them, you try and stop them.
As a parent, if you saw your toddler crawling toward an open flame, you tell them to stay away, if that doesn't work you physically pick them up and move them away from danger. What do you do if they ask you to put you back down so they can move closer to the flames? I mean the fire looks so cool to them, it is shinny and sparkly. You don't give into their groaning, because you know best, you know what could happen if they got to close to the fire. God is like that, He knows what is good for us and what is not.
God heard the groaning of the Children of Israel, He answered their complaints. Why, because He was their father, and that is what fathers do when they love their children.
God will answer our groaning and complaints, BUT He would sure like it more if we came to Him in prayer and praise. Trust and Groaning opposites? I believe so. God will answer both, but having trust when we pray to Him, makes Him smile.

Prayer: A last alternative?

Have you ever felt so helpless, that ALL you feel you can do is pray? My kids Grandmother had a stroke this last weekend. My ex wife, Mary, went up to Norman Oklahoma to be with her family. My kids are going up in a few days. I am the ex husband, the ex son in law. I feel so helpless. Mom, (as I have always called her, and think of her as my second Mom), is not doing well, she may not live to much longer. What do I do? How can I help? ALL I can do is pray. Prayer, that is it? That is all I have, just prayer. Why do we feel so helpless, at times, when all we have is prayer? Don't we trust in the power of prayer? Can't we see how powerful our prayers are? Because of my Mothers prayers, I am alive today, I believe. I had a very bad accident years while driving a Garbage truck, and nothing happened to me. My friend and helper in the truck will never walk again, having broken a vertebrata in this same wreck. But my mom, prayed for me at this same instant, because she felt the Holy Spirit telling her to pray for me.
Why is our faith so little, that we seem to think that as a LAST RESORT we will pray? When we hear news like a family member having a stroke, the first thing we should is fall on our knees and seek God in behalf of those. We should be praying for the families, the friends, and of course the individual that is ill. Where is our trust, where is our faith, where is our belief that God will and can do whatever we "ASK AND THINK" in prayer? Psalms 66:18-20 tells us:
"If I had not confessed the sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But God did listen!
He paid attention to my prayer.
20 Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
or withdraw his unfailing love from me. "
For God to answer our prayers we must not have sin in our hearts. Looking back I see, through this scripture, why it seemed God, at times, did not hear me. He heard me, but He did now answer me because I had unconfused sin in my heart. Now, don't get me wrong, that is not the only reason God, sometimes does not answer our prayers. God is God, and He has His plan, that has been in place since before He formed Adam out of the earth. I do not know why He took my Mom through cancer last year, I mean SO many prayers went up in her behalf for healing. But God took her home to be with Him. I DO NOT believe it was because some of us who prayed for her healing had unconfused sin in our hearts. BUT in the above verse, let's look closely at verse 19: But GOD DID listen! He paid attention to my prayer!!
IF GOD, the maker of well everything, is going to pay attention to my prayers, then why do I feel that prayer is the last alternative? God, who can do anything, is standing by to hear and pay attention to MY and YOUR prayers, and we sometimes treat this as "if all else fails, I'll pray"
I have texted my ex-wife, Mary a few times offering whatever I can do to help the family at this time, but she keeps asking me to pray. Why do I feel useless? Prayer IS powerful. I don't know if God in His infinite wisdom, will heal Maude, my mother in law, He may take her home, she is 89 and has had a wonderful life. BUT I do know I will pray for her healing, because that is what I want , more years to spend with her family. If God decides to take her, like He did my mom, then so be it. I cannot question God's decisions, I can only petition my wants and desires.
Prayer, it changes things, circumstances, people, weather, lives, families, you name it GOD does answer prayer. It is not a "Last Alternative" it is not a "I can't do anything else, so I GUESS I'll pray", it is not "One of our many options" it is the Only option. Prayer can guide a surgeons hand, prayer can make any illness disappear, prayer can create parts of the body that are not there anymore, or where never there. There is NOTHING prayer cannot do, so WHY, again I ask WHY do I feel so hopeless right now? I can and will continue to pray for my ex mother in law. I WILL NOT limit what God can and will do.
It is so easy to "put God in a box" " OK God, I guess there is nothing left to do but to take you out of the box, and see if , after all else failed, You can do anything." "The doctors have tried and failed, the test all look very bad, What 'ca got?" I don't think God likes being treated like that, I wouldn't.
IF WE REALLY BELIEVE OUR GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS, THEN WHY DO WE NOT ACT LIKE IT?
Why are we surprised when a prayer is answered? Sometime we act like a answered prayer is the most exciting thing in the world. It is exciting when God shows us His power, BUT it should NOT surprise us, we should expect it. He told us He would answer our prayers, do we not believe HIM? Are we calling God a liar?
Years ago there was a song I loved, by "Petra",(Yeah it has been a long time) It was titled "Get Own Your Knees, and Fight Like a Man" I don't really remember much of the song, just the title. That is were the power is, on our knees before the maker of the universe, talking to , praising, and asking Him to meet our needs, our desires, our wants. He wants to, but believe it or not, even the maker of the World has His hands tied until we ask. He cannot forgive our sins unless we ask Him to, and He cannot heal, perform miracles, do whatever needs to be done unless we ask Him. He is the one who set things up like this, because He wants us to ask Him for what we want, need desire.......He could do anything without us, if He wanted, but He doesn't want to.
Prayer, it is not just a last alternative anymore. "In ALL things Pray."

Second Chances - Max Lacado (from the book: "No wonder they call him savior")

I read this in a Max Lucado book, "No Wonder They Call Him Savior" (1986, so it is a older one, but wonderful, as usual for Max> Please read this, and reread this and listen to what the Lord is saying. I am so glad we get second chances.
Thank you Max for these wonderful words the Lord surely gave you.


Second Chances

It was small enough to overlook. Only two words. I know I’d read that passage a hundred times. But I’d never seen it.

But I won’t miss it again. It’s highlighted in yellow and underlined in red. You might want to do the same. Look in Mark, chapter 16. Get your pencil ready and enjoy this jewel in the seventh verse (here it comes). The verse reads like this: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.

Did you see it? Read it again. (This time I italicized the words.)

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.”

Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure.

If I might paraphrase the words, “Don’t stay here, go tell the disciples,” a pause, then a smile, “and especially tell Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.”

What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again. “Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left out. Tell him that one failure doesn’t make a flop.”

Whew!

No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance.

Those who know these types of things say that the Gospel of Mark is really the transcribed notes and dictated thoughts of Peter. If this is true, then it was Peter himself who included these two words! And if these really are his words, I can’t help but imagine that the old fisherman had to brush away a tear and swallow a lump when he got to this point in the story.
It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.

It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.

But in Jesus, Peter found both.

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Heaven

I saw a little bit of Heaven yesterday. There was a christian concert here in the Austin area. "Spirit Fest" There were christian artist that are new to me, there were life long favorites, and there were a couple of my absolute favorites. The place was packed, tight. It was held at a Minor League Baseball stadium. I showed my age by singing along with some old (ancient) songs. There were families everywhere, there were Christians enjoying the music that praised our Lord, People were raising their hands and praising Jesus. It felt so good to sit among those of like faith and worship, listen, and enjoy. I believe this is just a little taste of Heaven. But now it is over, time to get back to work.
Work? Reflecting/sharing Jesus Christ to others, telling them about Him, letting them know what the words of these songs of Praise and Love to our savior are all about. Yes, Heaven will be wonderful, fantastic, a place I and you cannot imagine (Sorry, "Mercy Me" was not there to sing their fantastic song: " I can only imagine") BUT Heaven is not here for us yet. We cannot sit back and enjoy the music for to long. We can when we do make it to Heaven with God, but not yet. There is work to be done. There a millions of others out there, that need to know His love, His forgiveness,His mercy, that He died for them. They need to see that there is a family waiting for them to become a part.
It is wonderful to have a day like yesterday, and see the other Christians that attend other churches and serve the same God we do, but it can only last for an instant. Time is at hand, Jesus Christ is at the door, just about to come again. He is taking that first step right now, looking at His Father and waiting for the sign to come. It is THAT close. Look around you at the shape of this world, it is ripe for the Anti Christ to take over and rule. Jesus wants NONE to perish, but ALL to come to Him.
Revelation 14:15
Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.”
Christians, the harvest is ripe, the Holy Spirit has been working for a long time, bringing those that feel conviction to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is NO Other by which we can be saved, then by Jesus Christ.
I thoroughly enjoyed the concert yesterday, especially two of my favorites: "Third Day" and "Peter Furher" (Newsboys}. They make singing praises to our God fun, and rhythmic, and exciting. All that were there (Close to 10,000, I heard one official say) praised, worshiped, and clapped, and enjoyed each other and the atmosphere. God joined us in the fun, I believe, He looked down and smiled, clapped and laughed with us, don't forget, He is our Father .
Take moments like this and enjoy our family. Refresh yourselves,love on each other, encourage each other, sing praises to our Lord and King. But don't stay too long, because you have brothers and sisters out there that have lost the way, and Heaven will not be the same without them.

Awe Shucks

I hear the word "AWE" allot, mainly in worship songs, talking about our Lord. But what is "Awe"? When I was a kid, I got "AH" and "AWE" confused, I thought they were the same word. "Gomer Pyle said "AH, sucks sarge", and in church we were told to be in "Awe" of the Lord. I didn't really understand it, but I also thought "Bringing in the Sheeps" was kinda weird too. So what is being in "Awe" of something, someone, ...The first time I saw my ship I was being stationed on while in the Navy it was moving through the tall buildings in downtown San Diego looking like one of them except MOVING with the numbers 63 painted on the side. It was the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)a very large Aircraft Carrier, coming back to port after a time at sea, as it traveled to the dock at Coronado Island across the bay from downtown San Diego, I was in a cab heading to meet it. To say I was in "AWE" of the size of it is an understatement. How can something that big move? The Grand Canyon is worthy of our "AWE" as it is so beautiful and big. The Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Mt. Rushmore, and many others.
What is the difference between "AH" and "AWE"? When you see a pretty cute kitten what do you say "AH" or "AW" because it is so cute. When you hit your thumb nail with a hammer, what is one of the things you could say? "AH, MAN, that hurt" Jesus Christ died on the cross for YOUR and my sins, "AH, how sad, or happy that HE did that"? Or I am in "AWE" that someone would do that for me?
To me the word "AWE" means not having another word to describe something. To be speechless because of beauty, or someone actions. When my kids were born I was in Awe of that moment. When I was married I was in awe when I saw my wife coming down the isle towards me. When my Mom died, I was in awe, just in another way, a sad way, the loss of life. We usually refer to things that are good, happy, inspiring as Awe, but I don't think that is always the case.
OK, let's look at the definition of "AWE" :
: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime
So there you are, according to Webster "Awe" can be used to describe dread, or wonder. The scene in the movie: " Saving Private Ryan", of the destruction on Omaha Beach on D-Day with all the death and destruction leaves me in awe, every time I see it.
Exodus 14:31
When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Mark 9:15
When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him.
See? The word has two different meanings, one with destruction, power, vengeance, the other with Majesty, Love, Reverence. You see God is both, He will destroy His enemies with His power, might, and vengeance, BUT He will protect, love, and care for us, His children
AWE is not to be confused with AH or AW. You see "Awe" is the only way we can express our reaction to what God is. The song by Michael W Smith, comes to mind: " Our God is an Awesome God" There is no way to describe Him, He is, was, and is to come. I am "AWED" by the things He does for me, the amount of Love, if you can measure love, He has for me, and the lengths He goes to so that I will see Him. His patience, His Love, His Mercy, His Grace, His acceptance of me, His leading, His wisdom, His presence ... I am in Awe of Him. I have never seen Jesus or God His father in the physical, But I am in AWE of Him, because of my relationship with Them.
If you have never felt the "AWE" of God, test Him, let Him work in your life. Just ask Him to come into your life and see what happens. You don't have to do anything else, just ask and listen. If your sincere, and want Him to take over your life, then ask, and give it to Him, if you still have your same problems the next day, then your not giving them to Him, not that you may not have the same ole problems, but that they will not be yours anymore. Give God everything, especially those things you worry about the most. Yes, He really wants them. Let Him AWE you, He will, I guarantee it.

If it's H-E-B, it must be Thursday.

I just discovered the TV show "The Big Bang Theory". I have fallen in love with this show. It is about nerds, very smart nerds with, as you would expect, lots of quirky actions, thinking, and "phobias" . If you have seen the show then you know Sheldon, the worst of all these traits. Sheldon has a schedule for everything, the meals they eat, or go out to eat on specific nights, the video games they play after eating, or the Movies they watch on what days, (They have seen the Star Wars movies at LEAST 529 times, by Sheldon's account, and he would be the first to tell you, he is never wrong.) Anything that deviates from this schedule makes Sheldon uneasy. I mean he has to sit in the same seat, he has to eat the same food, he has to have the same friends, (anyone new to their group, is very upsetting) You see Sheldon is a human being taken to the extreme.
Do you have a routine? I am stuck in a rut so much, that my cat follows me around my apartment from the front, she knows were I am going before I get there. I take my Dad to the grocery store every Thursday, I buy the same things, I see the same people, I talk to the employees about the same things, (usually sports, there are so guys in produce that love sports as much as I) There is one lady that shops on Thursday as well, she is very friendly and I see her every week. I have started conversations with her that have lasted for 30 minutes or more. She is a widow, and seems very lonely. I am lonely also and love to talk. I forgot her name she told me a thousand times, but I told her I was so bad with names, I would more the likely forget it, which I did.
I ran into this lady again yesterday, Thursday, and the first thing she said was: "If it's H-E-B it must be Thursday" I just realized, that not everyone knows what H-E-B is. It is a large grocery chain here in central Texas. It stands for the man who's mother started the business years ago in Corpus Christi, I believe. The named it H-E-B his initials, because their last name is "Butts" and I guess "Butts Grocery" would not have been their first choice.
This lady and I talked about everything in the world, it seemed. It started with her telling me she wanted to make "Bean Tamales" , she said she watched those food type TV channels and they always had such good recipes.
But back to my point,. Is this the way your life, like mine, goes? Get up, have breakfast, coffee (No, it's Coffee first?) Then brush your teeth, make the bed, get dressed for work, head out. Work for 8,9,10,20 hours rush home, eat dinner, watch TV for a hour or more, go to bed and start again? On weekends it changes a little, you get a little more sleep, you watch more TV, you clean, do the laundry, go to church on Sunday sit in the same place you have sat in for the last 20 years, hear a sermon you forget by 3 pm, and go out to eat with friends or family, or both. Go home, watch a little TV and start the whole thing again the next morning? Sound like a boring life? It is, it is my life, and , I imagine it is yours as well. Is there anything wrong with this life? No, not really, "If it's Church, it must be Sunday".
This can be a very depressing life, why? Because there is no fulfillment, no purpose, no inspiration. This is not the life God wants for us. He wants us to share with our family (everyone) His love, He wants us to care for others, He wants us to be truly happy. How do we do that? Listen, very closely, because He will whisper in a still small voice, to Him. He will lead us, sometimes , most of the time, away from our rut, our routine, our comfort zone to someone or some circumstance where we will find fulfillment, and be able to serve.
Serving is the best way to get out of that "Rut" felling. Help at church, help at a homeless shelter, give away some of that time that your hording. When we give unconditionally, we receive unconditionally. Some of the nicest people I have ever met are asking for money on street corners. They live wherever they can, under overpasses, or behind stores. They have nothing, they smell, they look bad. But they, usually, are very honest. There is no "rut" for them, they are barely surviving. Sure, they would appreciate you giving them a little to help them get something to eat, but just conversation is appreciated. I recently gave an old blanket I had in my truck to a lady I see all the time near my house. I told her I knew the cold weather was coming and hoped this would help. You would have thought I had given her $1,000.00. She reached into my open window and hugged me. It was an old dirty blanket that had been riding around in my truck for years, but it would help keep her warm when it was cold outside,
Breaking away from routine is the best thing you can do. I am not saying be late to work because you wanted to sleep longer to break your rut. I know we have obligations. But talk to people, yes even the ones you don't know. Get to know them love them let them see that you care. (Not just say you care, but SEE, show them by your actions>)
Galatians 5:13
"For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love."
See? We have been called to live IN FREEDOM< what do we do with this freedom? Serve one another in love. Don't use our freedom to satisfy our sinful nature.
God is telling us, through His servant Paul, that we are free, but with freedom comes responsibility. Love others as ourselves, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. We show our love by serving. They will know we are Christians by our love. Are we supposed to love those that don't live the way
WE think they should? Yes, we don't agree with how they are living, but we love them in spite of it. Note: I don't think it is a very good idea to "Love" someone you consider a sinner, and continue to tell them how wrong they are, that is the job of the Holy Spirit, to show them what they are doing is wrong, not ours. We can tell them if they ask, but our first job is to love them unconditionally.
Shouting from the house tops that "You are all going to Hell, if you don't change your ways" is not a good way to love someone. This comes across as judgmental. and just plain hateful. Yes the way they are living is wrong, but we are told to "Love them anyway." Who has the job to judge? Not you and not me, (Thank you Lord I don't have that job).
If it's Tuesday this must be the homeless shelter" I think that is a better rut to fall into. I know I have rambled today, sorry, but this is just my heart right now. Step out of your comfort zone, it feels pretty good.

Painting

In the past few months the owners of my apartment complex have spent quite a bit of money to make the place look much better. They have had all the buildings painted, they have had all the trees and brush trimmed, they are planning on having the parking lot resurfaced. The manager said that they were going to buy all new appliances, but that will happen slowly. My building has been painted and looks much better. It was a little annoying as the workers worked preparing the building for painting, caulking, sanding, preparing the metal stairway rails and supports with a primer...........But today I look at the finished product, and it looks very nice. A new roof was done about a year ago. I have just signed a new lease, last week, and of course the rent went up, I expected it with all the money they were spending on the property.
The other day I talked to an inspector type guy who was inspecting the apartment across from mine. This apartment has been empty for quite a while, because the floor had started to sink so bad, the sheet rock on the apartment below, also empty, had started to crack and fall onto the floor. The inspector told me as we talked that when they had made these apartments, they had used "heavy" concrete instead of "light weight" concrete, because it is cheaper. He pointed out how much the floor rose at the entrance to the apartment, (about one inch, he said it would be about 1/4 of an inch if "light weight" concrete had been used). So I asked him how long would it be before the floor gave way to the weight of this concrete and all of them crumbled. "Well", he said, " This place was built in 1989 and it is just now starting to show, so who knows?" That didn't make me feel much better, but all of a sudden the paint job wasn't so pretty.
You know those TV reality shows about makeovers, or losing weight, or stuff like that? I am not into reality shows at all, but I see the commercials and hear others talking about them. These shows concentrate on the outward appearance of people, and try and help them change, while at the same time hoping we will watch the progress. There are the shows about remodeling someones kitchen or complete home. ( "Move that truck") But once again the outward appearance is all they concentrate on.
With my apartment, they really made the place look much better, in hopes of attracting more residents, and keeping us that already lived there. It has worked, to some extinct, I have seen more U Haul trucks with people moving in much more lately. But there is a dinosaur in the room, the floors/ceilings of many of these if not all of these, apartments, will someday start to crumble under the weight of the concrete.
What is more important, the look of something, or how it is made. My Ex-wife and I years ago had a brand new Chevrolet Cavalier coupe. Great car for 3 years. Then less then 100 miles after the warranty expired, the camshaft decided to bend, but not break, either way a Very expensive fix. We appealed to General Motors, I mean it was less then 100 miles over warranty. But they turned us down. With advice from our mechanic friend, he fixed it as cheaply as possible, and we traded it in. I felt bad, because someone would buy this as a used car, thinking it would last a while, but, according to our mechanic, there was no telling how long the "fix" would last.(That is why he suggested we get rid of it.)
I have never or will never buy a GM product for that and other reasons. Why, I feel they let me down, with cruddy workmanship, and they would not stand behind it.
Have you ever gone to church, just to make yourself feel better? To be seen? Because it was "Tradition" in your family? If so your more worried about outward appearance then what is on the inside, where it gets "Real".
There is a Comedian who is a christian and he tells a joke about hoping the people in his church don't judge him because he doesn't drop anything in the offering plate. His church offers On line giving, which he participates in, thereby not being seen giving anything. This is all done in fun, but it leads to a good question: "Why do we give, why do we go to church, why do we say, raise our hands in worship? Is it because we love our God so much, we want to praise Him, Honor Him obey Him, or is it because we want to be seen as a "Good Person"?
Are we painting our exterior, but ignoring the "heavy" concrete that may cause our floors to crumble and come crashing down?
2 Timothy 2:19:
"But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”
There it is: "Truth is our foundation", not just any truth, but God's truth. Stop worrying about your outward appearance
so much, give your life, Your whole life, to God, and let Him fix it. He may have to tear the whole thing down, and start over, but that is OK, He has done it many times before, and He knows exactly what He is doing. Talk about references!!!
When our foundation is solid on the Truths of God, then there is nothing to worry about. Losing a little weight, or a lot, getting a haircut, wearing make up, working out to stay or get healthy, these things are fine, but when we concentrate on our appearance more then our relationship with God, and try our best to "Look" like were fine inside, this is wrong.
My Mom used to tell me "Don't worry about what other people think of you, I love you for who you are, and God made you for that. He will guide you, not People" She was right, The master re builder is in change of this project, regardless of how big the project is. He has the blue prints of our life and He is following them to the letter. You can get a glimpse of these blue prints just check out His word. Hey here is an idea, why not read His word more, and get an insight into how our inner self needs to be refreshed, remodeled,remade,...........
But don't worry, the master re-modeler will do it right the first time. No one but us can mess it up, and if we do He is available to come back and fix it again. He doesn't mind.

What is Deipression?

Have you ever been depressed, I mean REALLY Depressed? You go through life, without reason, without thinking about anything, no joy, feeling nothing? I have, and I will tell you it is not fun. What is Depression? The feeling that nothing matters, that there is nothing you can do to change your circumstances. But where does it come from? Dwelling on mistakes, circumstances that seem overwhelming, the feeling that everyone and everything is against us.
Psalm 143:7
"Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die."
See depression is not new, David suffered from it. The book of Psalms is full of him crying out to God. It really shows the human side of David. It shows us that when we feel depressed, God can and is willing to help.
I was thinking about depression recently, and if you bring it right down to the bone, Depression is Not trusting, not trusting anything. You feel that you have been let down, and cannot or will not put your trust in "anything". Have you ever met someone who was hurt by someone, I mean really hurt? They put up a barrier and No One gets in, maybe family, but no new friends, that cannot happen. Depression is like that, the wall is up, the guards are on alert, and NO one gets in, I mean no one. Depression deepens as we go along, we tend to stay home, not talk to anyone we don't have to. It starts to control our lives. We sit in the dark and watch TV, and not really watching it. Our minds are numb, not thinking about anything, because thinking about something means remembering things that started this feeling in the first place.
Is being depressed a sin, or a illness? Is it not trusting in God, or is it a form of mental illness? I believe it is a state of mind. We get sad about the circumstances we find ourselves in, feel hopeless, and instead of going to God with our problems, we continue to dwell on them, thereby falling further and further into depression.
What can we do when we find ourselves in this state of mind? Dwell on the things in our lives that God has given us, our family, our friends, our church people that care about us. Find good praise music, and think about the words that praise the Lord. Read the scriptures, especially the Psalms, David, let ALL his feelings show in these writings, both "Good" and "Bad". We can do the same, we can tell God exactly how we feel and why. We can shout at Him, yell at Him, blame Him for all our troubles. He is Big enough to take it, he does not have a problem with self worth as we do. You see, sometimes we continue to be depressed, because we want to be. Change doesn't have to happen because it is to hard, it is easier to just stay this way. It is comfortable, it is what we know. But it is not what God wants for us.
Lets look again at what David says in Psalms 143:7 "Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don't turn away , for I will die"
....Don't turn away, for I will die?" So what happens if we allow depression to continue? Death. Death of our relationships with our friends,(they will eventually tire of this, and won't know what to do, so they will give up) death of our relationship with God, (by not letting this go into His hands, we are basically saying we don't trust Him to help us) Physical death,( Depression eats away at us, and shortens our lives, physically)
Did you know that Satan loves us in our depressed state? He knows that when we are feeling this way, we have less faith, less, spiritual power, more doubt, more despair, that we feel hopeless, lost, and more prone to temptation. He wants us to be depressed, because then it is so easy to take charge of us.
If you have ever been depressed, and felt guilty for feeling this way, you are not alone. We all, I believe, at one time or another have felt this way. Satan wants you to feel like your the only one who has ever felt like this. This will make you feel like your a freak, like no one else can understand you. Your wrong, I have felt this way, I know exactly the feeling of depression. The feeling of "why go own", the feeling that " nothing you do matters", the selfish feelings of "no body loves me "(I'm going to eat this worm", sorry old silly song I used to sing with my buddies in college)
When your depressed, you want to be by yourself, to dwell upon your problems in the darkness, with no one else around, I mean they might make you happy, make you feel better, make you see the better side of your problems. They might even come up with a solution. Can't have that.
Don't play these games, don't give into these wrong feelings. The God who made, well EVERYTHING, loves you, cares what happens to you, and WILL help you, BUT you have to want Him to. You have to ask Him to.
Depression, just another weapon in the enemies arsenal. Don't frett, if that is all he's got, were more then OK, were victorious.

No, I don't think your car is the best

There a few commercials on TV that I get so sick of seeing, that I usually mute them or change the channel for a few minutes until their over. Most of these are car commercials. There is one that just the announcers voice "irks" me. There is the one where a certain automobile company tells you how long they have been making cars, so you should buy one from them. There is the one where a certain popular singer, reality show judge, drives her new car into the neighborhood where she grew up and dances all over the car, in an effort, I assume, to show how durable the car is.
The tough guy announcer doesn't make me want to buy a car, he just needs to use his regular voice, that would impress me more. The 100 year old car manufacturer
needs to stop wasting money, and "borrowing" if from people like me, taxpayers, and do business like all other companies, make a product that people want, the rest will take care of itself. The Singer/reality show judge, needs to stop telling me all about where she grew up, and dancing on her car, to be quite honest I really don't care, There those are my opinions.
Now, what does all this have to do with anything? We all hear the same things in commercials, the claims, the facts of how this did so much better in taste test then that. It has gotten to the point that their claims are not even heard by us, the consumer. My Dad, for years has always "muted" all commercials. This bothered my Mom, sometimes, when she longed for actually hearing commercials.
But I understand why my Dad does this. He got tired of the Announcers yelling about how good their product was, and how stupid we were for never trying it, or taking advantage of this "Fantastic Deal". Words like "Fantastic" "Money saving"' "Deal of a lifetime"' "One Time offer"' "Will never be this cheap again"'2 out three dentist choose.........", Means nothing to us, we have heard it before, again and again............
This leads me to the question: "Why believe God?" We hear preachers making outrageous claims on TV, the radio, or in books. "Come to the service tonight, and you will be healed." "Just send me $1000.00 And I will send you this rag from Israel, and you can use it to heal your sickness'" Yeah, we have heard this before, you know the guy with the "tough guy" voice that yells at us in our living room. What has happened?
When are you going to try a new product? When someone you know and trust tells you it works, or when some guy on TV yells at how stupid you are for not wanting to try it? When you came to Christ, was it because someone on TV yelled at you, or because someone you know and trust, who lived a good life, with good morals, and good judgement, told you why they were so happy all the time? You saw something in their lives, that you wanted, something REAL, not phoney.
Mark 6:12
"So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God."
So, there it is,"Repent of their sins, and turn to God" What does "Repent" mean? Listing the things you have done wrong, and asking God to forgive you. What does "turn to God" mean? Obeying Him, and not doing "wrong" (sin) anymore. But first things first, "Repent" that is the first step, just telling what you have done wrong,(God already know these, but there is something about you admitting them to Him, that is "freeing", "Glorious" "Joyous"). All you have to do is Repent. The rest will take care of itself, if you were sincere.
God doesn't yell at you, He does not ask for one thing to change in your life, to come join His family. There are no prerequisites, no "one time maintenance fee", no "Don't pass this deal up, or your the stupidest person alive".
God ask for one thing, and one thing only: "Honesty" In a world were Honesty has all but vanished, it seems, that is the one thing He is all about. Sometimes being honest gets us in trouble. But the freedom of truth, honesty is overwhelming. The question from your spouse: "Does this (whatever) make me look fat?" comes to mind,sorry your on your own there :) (But be nice, tactful)
So the next time you see one of "those" commercials that drive you nuts, mute the sound and thank the Lord He does not come across like that. Then go out and "Tell everyone you met, to repent of their sins, and turn to God" The best way to do this? Let them see HIM in your life. No shouting, no manipulation, no outrageous claims, no begging for money, just honesty. Believe me, you will feel so much freedom, love, and get respect from people for your openness and honesty. Try it.

Can sinners be healed?

Matthew 4:23-30

New Living Translat
23 Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 24 News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—HE HEALED THEM ALL. 25 Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

OK, according to Matthews account, Jesus healed anyone who came to Him for healing. Does this mean He healed those who were living in sin? Is being a believer a prerequisite to being healed? Notice the things listed that He healed them from: ....whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed, HE HEALED THEM ALL. I don't see how a demon possessed person could know the Lord. And being epileptic would certainly scare people of that day, they might think they were demon possessed.
My point is: Is our faith shown by coming to the Lord to heal us of our diseases' enough, or do we need to "pray through" first? Jesus spoke to the "Woman at the well" told her how she was living, and then said..."Go and sin no more"....He had forgiven her without her even asking, because he read her eyes, felt her heart and knew she was sorry. I am sure she prayed to the Father, soon after that to forgive her, because of the guilt. (Her story can be found in John chapter 4.)
Jesus Christ did not go around advertising for a certain preacher that was coming to town that they needed to hear. He did not set up "Revivals" across the country at churches or halls. He did not advertise on the radio or TV about His "Mega Church" were "All that come will be healed". No,Jesus went to the world, and one by one talked to, and healed people everywhere. "HE HEALED THEM ALL".
Is "Healing" also "forgiving" I think so. You see when we have faith to ask God to heal us from a sickness, disease, habit, infliction, whatever, He sees our faith. You can be healed, and forgiven all in one step. No it is not like: "Try this super new wonderful elixir, it will heal you and save you with one gulp, come one come all, only 2,000 Dollars per sip" If you have the faith and trust to believe He will heal you, then you also have the faith and trust to believe He will forgive you.
Do you think any of those "ALL" that Jesus healed, thought about their sins that may have caused their afflictions? I think that they were just concerned with the pain, and suffering they were going through. They wanted relief, they wanted not to suffer anymore. Sure, there were, more then likely, those that went right back into whatever they were in to before they got sick, and got sick again. But they did not have to, that was their choice, Jesus forgave them, they could have continued following Him, and worshiping Him, and their lives would have been much different.
God is ready to forgive us, heal us, surprise us, bless us, reward us, meet any needs, ............He will do anything we "Ask or think" when we come to Him.
You do not have to change anything, just come to Him and ask Him what you need. Tell Him your hurts, your problems, tell Him your tired of trying to fix everything, you can't, but you know He can. Tell Him your sick, your hurting, your depressed, your angry. The coolest thing about God and His son Jesus, is they not only listen, they act, they care, they have the power to change our circumstances thus change us.
So does God forgive us at the same time He heals us? You answer this. I believe He does, but that doesn't mean you have to believe it. If you have the faith and trust that He can heal us, doesn't it make sense that you can also have the faith that He can forgive us? If we trust Him with a illness, that no one else it seems can do anything for, then why can't we trust Him with our lives.
If there is one thing I want to leave with you this day it is this; God cares so much for us, we cannot even fathom it. Go ahead, ask Him how much He cares, He will tell you, trust Him, He will lead you, ask for healing, He will heal you, turn over your past, present, and future to Him , He will reward you. He CARES.

Black Ice

I was talking to a guy that has just moved down here to Texas from New York. "Talk about a culture shock", I said to him, "New York to Texas??" He laughed and told me some of the many ways New York differed from Texas. He said that he missed having street vendors all over down town (which is anywhere in New York, it seems) that had Fantastic hot dogs, pizza's, bagels, you name it, it was good, fast and cheap food. He said all you could get down here, it seemed, from "Roach Coach's" was tacos. I told him there were some food trucks with great food that were popping up all over, but you had to be lucky enough to know where they set up, and I had never tried them, just heard they were really good.
Then the difference in the weather came up. He asked if we ever got snow down here in Texas. I told him, "Texas, yes, Austin very very rarely" He said he wouldn't miss snow. I mentioned that in North Texas they got a few "Ice Storms" during the winter, and that was scarey to drive in, I thought. He said: "Oh yes, Black Ice' I have TRIED to drive in that once, biggest mistake of my life." We started talking about "Black Ice" and how dangerous it is.
Have you ever found some "Black Ice" when you least expected it? First of all let me explain to any of you that do not know what "Black Ice" is. First of all the ground including the highway, of course, gets covered by some sort of precipitation, usually light rain, or sleet or snow. This leaves a thin layer of water on the road, which freezes up and forms a thin layer of ice. The ice that is on the roadway, is very clear and you don't see it, because it is "black" showing the black roadway underneath. Thus it looks just fine, a black highway that is safe to drive on. But "Surprise" it is super slick, and you cannot get traction, because it is ice. Thus the term : "Black Ice".
If you have ever driven on, say I-20 between Dallas and Abilene or even Odessa during January or February in a very cold winter, then, more then likely you have been surprised by this ice. If your not extremely careful, you'll spin out of control and end up in a ditch or worse. The ice is basically invisible, because all we see as we are driving down the road is the asphalt under it.
Satan is trying to make sure we do not get to Heaven, why, because he is not going, and he doesn't want to "not go" by himself. He wants company in the Lake of Fire, so he won't be lonely as he suffers for, well , ever. So, what does he do to try and trick us up? He puts obstacles in front of us to try and make sure we don't obey God. Sometimes, as we are traveling down life's highway, doing good, in a good relationship with our family, our friends, and our God, "Surprise" Black Ice. All of a sudden we feel ourselves spinning out of control, no traction, we start to swerve, moving sideways, the guard rail is coming up fast, and beyond it ? A drop off, straight down for 1000 feet. Why didn't we see the trap? We weren't paying close enough attention.
1 Peter 5:8 (New Living Translation)
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Notice what Paul is saying here: "Stay Alert........." Why? because satan is sneaking around looking for ways to "devour" or trick us.
So as we drive down lives highway, we must "Stay Alert" be careful, look closely at the roadway before us. One of the worst causes of accidents annually on American highways? It is distraction, not paying attention to the road in front of you, not concentrating on driving. Now, what do you think is the number one reason people go to hell? Distraction, not having a relationship with God. Not concentrating on what you are doing in your walk with Him. Satan will do whatever he He will place whatever obstacles he needs to to distract you. Sometimes e has to do to keep you from focusing on God, (the road ahead).
Even your own family can be a distraction your young daughter of son in the backseat is screaming, or your kids are fighting, or your wife is telling you she needs to stop at the next bathroom...........and your trying to concentrate on the roadway before you.
This is life, but it can also be our death.
Satan will put "Black Ice" in all it's forms in front of us, and it is up to us,with God's help, to navigate through it without crashing the car.
Be careful,, concentrate on God, He will help us, but only if we are listening to Him. There is a path, that will get us through this mess, but there
are so many distractions trying to keep us from seeing it, or Him.
In life, but not on the highway, we can stop, get out of the car, and let Jesus in behind the wheel. If we allow Him to drive us, where He knows we need to be, then ALL is safe. That is one of the hardest things to do, turn over our lives to Him, and NOT be the one driving. I wish we could do this in this world also, I mean by letting Him take the wheel in our cars when we are nearing a city we have never been in, or it is starting to snow and freeze up, "OK, Jesus, you got it. But sometimes just saying the word: "Jesus" is enough to save us from sure accidents.
Remember, that "Black Ice" is out there, Winter or Summer, doesn't matter, Satan wants to see us mess up. BUT God wants to see us achieve Heaven. Who do yo think will win, but only if WE listen?

Constant He is we aren't

Quite a few years ago I drove a truck for our local newspaper here in town. I was one of the ones that brought the paper to the carriers so they could deliver it to your house early in the morning. This job had real weird hours, I reported most nights at 9 pm and was off by 5 am. This , of course, changed on Saturday nights, in preparation for the busy Sunday paper day, I would work from 11 am to 5pm on Saturdays. 3 nights per week, I would drive to smaller towns delivering. On one such occasion, I was driving out in the middle of nowhere at about 3 am, heading back with an empty truck to Austin and more importantly, home. I was driving at about 60 MPH, along a two lane highway. It was a foggy night, and I had to slow down a little, as I couldn't see to far ahead of the truck. I suddenly realized that the fog was only a layer just above the ground. It covered everything for about 25 or so feet straight up, and then above the fog the night was clear and you could see the stars. How do I know this, being tied to the ground by gravity? As I said the fog was a layer, but it was not following the contours of the ground. It was at a constant height just above the ground. It did not rise and lower itself as the hills and valleys of the the road. So, as I , being trapped to the laws of physics, went up and down as if a roller coaster, below, and above the fog layer. There were times I was lower then the fog, there were times,(most of the time in fact) that I was in the fog, then there were times I was above the fog, sometimes way above.
I have thought about this many times since. I mean it was such a neat experience, rising above the fog and seeing the clear night sky, then being thrust into and even below. While below the fog, I could see the highway, the grass and the base of the trees, not much else. BUT when inside the fog, I could see nothing but the cloud of water vapor and the white of it.
I wrote this same story years ago, but never did anything with it. It was in the days before "Blogs" were available and more then likely before most of us had computers.
Yes, this was a very interesting experience, one that I will never forget. But is that it? NO> God has revealed to me, and a little common sense, what this shows. The highway is our life, we rise and fall through our circumstances, our faith, our emotions, our physical strengths, our relationships, our jobs, our mood, our self worth, .............BUT the fog represents God, He stays constant. When we are above the fog, we see the shinning stars, the bright night, we feel secure we think, "Oh, no problem, I can do this. Then when we are below the fog, we feel insecure, not worthy, we can hardly see anything except the ground the bottom of the trees, the grass. What if a car is coming around the corner in the wrong lane, a drunken person, I wouldn't see him.
But what happens when we are in the fog? We can see absolutely nothing. Wow, what about that? That would seem to be the most dangerous not being able to see at all. Well with God, that is the safest place to be. You see, when you are driving through fog, or some other reason you cannot see, you senses are alert, you are concentrating. But most important, you have to trust in God, because He sees everything, and we see nothing.
God is constant, God never changes, God's mercies never change, God is new (refreshed) every morning, He is a solid rock.
Psalm 18:31
New Living Translation (NLT)
For who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
There is a certain insurance company out there that uses the symbol of a rock as their trade mark It is the "Rock of Gibraltar " or something.
When I was in the navy, there were certain landmarks all over the world, that we used to know exactly where we were. We were told, let's say, that we were headed home to the port of San Diego. We were all happy to be headed home, but when we saw the tip of "Point Loma' a long peninsula dipping south from the city toward Mexico, with a small rise on the end coming to a "Point" we KNEW we were almost home. I was a radar operator, so we would see the "Point" a long time before anyone on the radar scopes. I imagine sailors in long ago days, felt so relieved when they saw a rock, point, or other landmark that they recognized as near their destination. These "Rocks" don't move, they have been there for millions of years, and if we see them, we use them as guides to show us were to go.
"Who but our God is a solid rock?" EVERYTHING changes, change is a constant, except with God. He will change you, He will change your circumstances if you believe in Him and ask, but HE WILL NEVER CHANGE. You know the saying: "Change is good?" It is good for us to have change in our life, BUT not in our God. He is the one we look to when we are trying to find a safe harbor. He is the one we rely on when the storms are rising, and we don't know where we are. The waves are pounding, the wind is blowing hard, the waves are coming in over the deck, the ship is rocking. But look, up ahead, through the clouds and waves, I think, no I did there it is the ROCK. I know where we are now, we are close to the harbor, we'll make it. Jesus Christ is that rock, He is that harbor of safety He is constant never changing, always there. We may turn our backs on Him, but when we turn back around and realize how stupid we were to leave, He is still right there. We can run, and run and feel like we are so far away from Him, but when we turn around there He is right were we left Him, about 2 feet behind us. We thought we ran a long ways away from Him, but no, we are still in arms reach.
Like that fog that night years ago, God is constant. The trials of this world mean nothing to Him, like the ups and downs of that highway. Just focus, concentrate, you'll see Him in that fog. See, there He is, look into those eyes, those wonderful all knowing wise eyes. Relax, He knows the way, your almost safe in His harbor.

The Sabbath

Then Jesus went over to their synagogue, 10 where he noticed a man with a deformed hand. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Does the law permit a person to work by healing on the Sabbath?” (They were hoping he would say yes, so they could bring charges against him.)
11 And he answered, “If you had a sheep that fell into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you work to pull it out? Of course you would. 12 And how much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Yes, the law permits a person to do good on the Sabbath.
13 Then he said to the man, ”Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored, just like the other one! Matthew 13:9-11
The Pharisees were hoping to catch Jesus in their crossfire. They were trying to trick Him. They knew the law about doing basically anything, on the Sabbath, and here was Jesus about to heal a man on that very HOLY DAY> They could care less about the man Jesus was about to heal, they had an agenda, and it was to catch Jesus looking bad, to ruin His reputation. (The Pharisees would make great Politicians today, I think.) Jesus answered their questions with another question, which is a great way to get them to shut up. He realized the stupidity of how far they had taken the "The Sabbath Day, keep it Holy" law. They had taken it so far that you weren't supposed to cross the street, unless you were going to the Synagogue to pay your tithes. (More money, sure you can do whatever you want on the Sabbath, if it involves more money for us.)
Jesus knew what was important, and what was not. There was a man who had a dis-formed hand, and Jesus was going to heal it, regardless of what these "Politicians" thought.
Legalism, ever heard of that word? Basically it is taking rules, and laws and applying them to the extreme. I had a pastor one time who would not preach the word out of anything except the King James Version of the Bible. This, in itself, is NOT so bad, but he would not allow visiting preachers to either. It seems he was of the belief, that if it was good enough for Jesus, then it was good enough for him. (As we all know, the King James Version came out during Jesus life.!) This, in my mind, is "Legalism" Growing up we referred to this as "Clothes line preaching" (If it doesn't fit under the "Clothesline" that I put up, then it is not of God).
"Legalism" can destroy a church, it can turn away Christians, it can cause friction, it can turn away those that would come to the Lord.\
I recently had a conversation on line with some friends about what is sin for one, is it sin for all? There are the basic 10 commandments, but what about those "Grey Areas"? Is it wrong to dance, to attend movies, to drink carbonated beverages, or alcohol? Will you go to hell if you smoke? What about eating to much, is this a sin worthy of banning us from Heaven? I don't know, but I have ask the Lord this very question. He always says the same thing: "Whatever keeps you from a relationship with Me, is a sin". If you believe drinking a glass of wine with dinner is wrong, and you do it anyway and feel so guilty that it is hard to pray , then it is a sin for you. If you drink moderately throughout the week and have no problem with your relationship with God, and there is no guilt, no awkward feeling or silence between you and the Lord. It does not hinder your walk from Him, therefore, I believe, it is not a sin. Now, I didn't say go out and steal, as long as you don't feel guilty, it is not a sin. Remember, the 10 Commandments.
I was raised in a certain Pentecostal religion, that had MANY rules and regulations regarding what I could, and could NOT do. Through the years, these rules have softened up, and the powers that be realize that they are not that important. What IS important, above all, is our relationship with the Father. But because of these past wrong beliefs, there are many local churches of our denomination, that still "Judge" others based on these old teachings.
I sought out a church, that is a member of this denomination, but does not advertise that on their Church sign. We call ourselves a church for all who seek God. You see, denomination is like religion, it does not matter, they have hurt Christianity more then anything else in this world, I believe.
Talk to a non-believer about church, and usually what is the first thing that comes up? Money. All they want is my money. Why does the church have this persona? Because, it seems, that is all they see,. On TV, on the Radio, maybe at churches they have gone to, it seems, to them, that money is the focus. "Give me all your money and you will be healed" God asks for nothing, but ourselves. He demands nothing. He already paid the price. I believe in "tithing" (10% of what we get, given back to the church , that is how churches pay the expenses. This would sure make a good idea for Washington DC, wouldn't it? Flat Tax, 10% of everything everyone brings in, no more no less. Easy,and fair. Sorry, I digress)
" Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." Matthew 22:38-40. See the 10 commandments can be summed up in only two. Love the Lord, with all your heart,soul and mind, and love your neighbor,(friends, acquaintances, enemies, co workers, associates, loved ones, family members, in other words, EVERYONE you know,) as yourself. Wow, that is not easy, especially the love everyone you know as yourself part, I mean I REALLY LOVE MYSELF!!!!! Putting others above ourselves will make us love them. IF we do just these two things, Loving the Lord with ALL we are, and putting others ABOVE ourselves, everything will fall into place. You do not have to stop doing anything, not one thing your doing now. Just do these two things and it all will work out, because WHEN we do these two things, God will help us see what things are important and what things are not.
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Good advice, it is supposed to be a day of rest, so rest, but don't ignore those who may need your help, just because it is the Sabbath. Love your neighbors, help them, support them, be there for them. And above all, Love the Lord, your God, with all...............