Jesus washes our feet, too.

This is an excerpt from Max Lucado's book "The Extraordinary Story of Jesus". I was reading it this morning and it touched me so. I thought I would share it with you, my friends. Read and be amazed at who Jesus is.


Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet

It has been a long day. Jerusalem is packed with Passover guests, most of whom clamor for a glimpse of the Teacher. The spring sun is warm. The streets are dry. And the disciples are a long way from home. A splash of cool water would be refreshing.

The disciples enter [the room], one by one, and take their places around the table. On the wall hangs a towel, and on the floor sits a pitcher and a basin. Any one of the disciples could volunteer for the job, but not one does.

After a few moments, Jesus stands and removes his outer garment. He wraps a servant’s girdle around his waist, takes up the basin, and kneels before one of the disciples. He unlaces a sandal and gently lifts the foot and places it in the basin, covers it with water, and begins to bathe it. One by one, one grimy foot after another, Jesus works his way down the row.

In Jesus’ day the washing of feet was a task reserved not just for servants but for the lowest of servants…The servant at the bottom of the totem pole was expected to be the one on his knees with the towel and basin.

In this case the one with the towel and basin is the king of the universe. Hands that shaped the stars now wash away filth. Fingers that formed mountains now massage toes. And the one before whom all nations will one day kneel now kneels before his disciples. Hours before his own death, Jesus’ concern is singular. He wants his disciples to know how much he loves them...

You can be sure Jesus knows the future of these feet he is washing. These twenty-four feet will not spend the next day following their master, defending his cause. These feet will dash for cover at the flash of a Roman sword. Only one pair of feet won’t abandon him in the garden. One disciple won’t desert him at Gethsemane—Judas won’t even make it that far! He will abandon Jesus that very night at the table…

What a passionate moment when Jesus silently lifts the feet of his betrayer and washes them in the basin!

this is love.Jesus knows what these men are about to do. He knows they are about to perform the vilest act of their lives. By morning they will bury their heads in shame and look down at their feet in disgust. And when they do, he wants them to remember how his knees knelt before them and he washed their feet…

He forgave their sin before they even committed it. He offered mercy before they even sought it.


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From This is Love: The Extraordinary Story of Jesus
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2009) Max Lucado

OH Mighty Fortress is OUR GOD.

The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.

~ Proverbs 18:10, NLT

You know something I just noticed? Proverbs 18:10 above says: "THE NAME of the Lord is a strong fortress......." Got that, His NAME, Not His person, not any physical thing,but just HIS NAME. The bible tells us that just using HIS name will cause demons to tremble, to flee, Satan to run away with his tail between his legs. All we have to do is mention the NAME of the Lord and evil MUST flee. I have read this verse many times in my life, but somehow I did not focus on the NAME being a strong fortress, but I just assumed it was the PERSON of God. Wow, this really blows me away, that just His NAME is all we need to profess.

Now let's get to the real cool stuff: ....."the godly run to Him and are, and are what? Scared, shaking in our boots, hoping that the evil one will not see us, hiding under the bed or the covers, trying not to breath to heavily so no one will hear us? NO, when we run to HIM we ARE SAFE. We are SAFE, WHEN we use the LORD'S NAME.

Have you ever been in a situation that happens so fast all you have time to do is say "Jesus", not "Help me Jesus" or " Our dear heavenly Father, I come to you now, in your wonderful name asking you to intervene in this situation I have found myself in.............", BUT just "JESUS!!!!" He hears you, He sees what a mess your in, He cares for you, and He helps, He sends His angels to help, you don't have to explain the situation your in, He knows all about it. God is so all knowing, so all powerful, so all caring, so all loving, that all we have to do is mention His name, and .................whatever we need He will provide. It is not a "get out of jail for free card" to be used for whatever we WANT, but for whatever we need. God knows better then us what the difference is.

I was in a roll over years ago, I was driving a garbage truck. The truck was full of well , garbage, heavy and therefore took a little longer to come to a stop. I was heading down a long hill with a traffic light at the bottom. The light turned yellow, and I began applying the brake slowly as I knew it would take a while to stop, just a little pressure I had plenty of room, or so I thought. I pressed harder on the brake, no slowing down, I pressed even harder, just a little effect. We, ( there was one other in the truck with me, my helper, Greg) were getting closer and closer to the bottom of the hill and the cars stopped at the red light. I yelled to Greg: "Hang on we're not going to make it!!!" I had to make a decision, to plow into the back of those cars and possibly hurt a lot of people, or take the turn to the right and hope for the best. I turned right, the truck's right side came off the ground, and at that instant I yelled: "Jesus!!!!" Or maybe I just thought His name, I really don't remember. All of a sudden everything slowed down, the truck rolled onto it's left side, then onto the top and then onto the right side, all in slow motion. I do not remember hitting anything, (neither me or my helper had seat belts on), I don't remember my lunch box flying through the air and landing on me, but when we came to a rest it was on top of my head. The truck stopped, and I heard Greg screaming in pain. I had blood dripping from a gash in my right hand, it had evidently hit the drivers side glass. The ambulances came, the police came......we were taken to the emergency room. I was fine, 3 stitches in my arm, a few in my eyelid that got cut somehow in the whole mess. Greg, though, had two broken vertebrae, and is paralyzed from the waist down. This all happened about 15 years ago and I still do not have any memory of what happened between the right wheels coming off the ground and us coming to a rest on the right side of the truck. Greg does though, he told me that his whole top half went flying through the open window on his side and was crushed by the weight of the truck when it rolled over. He has memories as if slow motion also, but of our lunch boxes flying through the air, of me reaching out to try and stop him from flying out the window, of garbage coming out of the back of the truck and flying through the air........I think, sometimes he thinks I am lying when I say I don't remember any of this. He also more then likely questions why he was paralyzed and I was fine. I have not seen or talked to Greg in years, but I still remember his screams that day. I pray for him and hope he is doing well. But the point of this story is this: Just the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe, is why I am fine, barely a scratch. I have a faded scar on my arm from that day, it reminds me of the experience every time I look at it.

That day I ran into the strong fortress that is Jesus' name and I was safe.

God hears us when we call His name. Go ahead give it a try, He will hear you and He will come to you. If you ask Him to forgive you for all your doubts, sins, problems you've gotten yourself into, He will help with those to. You see, when we call His name, we are surrendering to Him, confessing that we know He exists, that He does care for us and that He is powerful enough to get us out of any situation.

Go ahead, don't wait for that "Situation" to come along where you in deep despair, facing death, or pain, call on Him now, He is waiting patiently.

Many promises, Many Yes'

2 Corinthians 1:20

For however many are the promises of God, in him they
are "Yes." Therefore also through him let the Amen be
said by our voices to the glory of God.

Montgomery

Has God ever made a promise that He has not answered? Yes, but they haven't been answered YET. If God were a baseball player his average would be 1.000, if He were a football QB his QB rating would be, I am not sure the highest here, but He would have no interceptions, and have the highest rating possible, a pitcher, a perfect game every time He pitches. I thank you get my point, God is perfect, did you hear and understand that God IS Perfect. He never lies, He never fails, He never get's discouraged, He never quits, He never looses faith in us.

I was talking to a guy the other day, who told me he thought God failed when He created Mankind. His reasoning was that we did not turn out the way God wanted us to, we failed, therefore God failed. I explained to him how God had made us with "free will". That God did not want a bunch of robots serving Him because He made us or programmed us, He wanted us to serve Him because we WANTED to, Therefore WE failed, not God.

The point is: God NEVER fails, never promises something and doesn't deliver. Have you ever made a promise and not kept it? Yes, I believe we all have. Sometimes we get to busy, we just don't have enough time, we have responsibilities that over rule our wishes. Times like this are hard, decisions must be made, do I keep my promise or do I make my boss mad at me and possibly get fired? You make a promise that you will take your son to a baseball game, or attend his little league game, and work is crazy, you cannot leave your boss is "riding" you about deadlines and such. This is life, but your son only knows you promised.

We are God's sons and daughters, He makes us promises, and He keeps them regardless. He promised us that if we acknowledge our sins, turn from them and acknowledge His Son Jesus died on the cross for those sins, He will be with us, lead us, and never go away. Does He have other responsibilities? Wow, about, what 3 and half BILLION other people on this world He has made the same promise to? BUT He keeps every promise.

Notice in the above scripture God not only says "Yes", but He says "AMEN" (so be it, I agree, said to emphasis the point) The song "God says Yes, Yes and Amen......" comes to mind. He is not only saying "Yes" to his promises, He is saying "Yes, and Yes and Yes, and Amen" I heard a sermon Sunday where the minister used the phrase: "Permission Granted". We ask God for something He says Yes and Permission Granted. When God says either of these things it puts the gears in motion. The permission has been granted, the answer is YES, so the angels start to work on that answer. God caused everything to come together he sends His angels to make things happen. The request has been approved, the planning stage is over it is time for action.

I can just see as the angels wait with eager anticipation near the throne of God, as we pray. They know God is going to answer this prayer, and they are ready to do whatever He needs them to do. They cannot wait until He orders them to take care of a situation, or battle the enemy in our behalf. I can see them standing, because they cannot be still, they cannot sit down, "I am ready Lord, send me". They have no doubt that God will answer, they just don't know how yet, but they do know they will more then likely be involved in the answer.

Why do we pray and pray and pray over and over for the same request? Is it because we thank God did not hear us the first few thousand times? No, I believe, it is because we need to. When we first go before the Lord with a request He hears us, and He sets the wheels in motion, He says "Yes, permission granted" sends His angels to wherever they need to be, and the answer is on it's way. But we, as humans, are so impatient, praying over and over helps us to feel more confident. God has the answer in motion, but He doesn't care that we keep asking, He knows we haven't seen the answer yet. But when we do, all praise, glory, honor, worship......belongs to Him who sets on the throne.

I am so grateful to God for answering my prayers. He answers them in His way, and sometimes it makes us think in our human condition, that He did not answer, but He always does. My Mom had prophesies of healing when she was suffering with cancer, we all thought God would heal her in a miraculously way and she would have such a testimony. He choose to take her to Heaven to be with Him, and healing her that way. I still believe God gave her the choice of healing and remaining here on this earth, or going on to be with Him in paradise. Who would want to stay here if given that choice? But see, God kept His word, her healing was done, she is dancing in front of His throne right now, completely free of any pain rejoicing in His presence.

If God says it you can put it in the bank. There is no "if's and's or but's" with God. If He has promised you something and it has not happened yet, don't worry, it's coming. It may mot be in the form of what we can imagine, but It WILL be answered. God answers many times or should I say every time, in ways that are far above what we can even imagine.


Go ahead, continue to pray for that answer, it is already on it's way, in God's timing it will arrive.

Ingegrity, what is it?

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.

~ Psalm 119:1, NLT

I believe the above verse is a great definition or maybe outcome is a better word for Integrity. "Joyful are people of integrity, (which people?, those) who follow the instructions of the Lord" (That's which people!!)

So Integrity is following the rules of the Lord? What are the rules of the Lord? The Ten Commandments. Wow, so here we are thousands of years removed from Moses receiving the 10 commandments from God, and I am saying they are still relevant? You bet your John Deere Tractor, they are. In my days in school, they , the ten commandments, were posted in every classroom in the country. They were in many, if not all courts of law. The ten commandments are what all of our laws are based on, Every single one of them.

So what is the Psalmist saying in this verse? What is this "Joyful" of which he speaks? I don't know the original Hebrew the bible was written in, I haven't gone back and analyzed the meaning of the words they translated into "Joyful". But, I DO know that when I am obeying God, doing what He tells me to do, following the 10 Commandments, I am joyful. You see, by following God's rules, you are in "sync" with the maker of the Universe. His Son, Jesus Christ will walk with you, talk with you and treat you like his on family, because you are. (What Song was that? "Walk with me and He will talk with me, and ......., I digress}. I believe whatever word they translated into "Joyful" here in this verse, is exactly right. Here is the formula: Integrity=Joy. Pretty easy isn't it? Do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and the outcome, the product, the result, the sum, the finished product, the ANSWER is JOY>

So we should obey Gods rules just so we can have Joy? Sure, if that is the angle you want to go what is wrong with that? Selfish? Maybe a little at first, but you see, when we obey all the rules, and realize the Joy we receive, it makes us WANT to live for God and His son Jesus, because of the Love we feel along with the JOY.

Remember when you fell in love? You know you are pretty sure that this was the "ONE"? (No "Matrix" pun intended here). You felt different, life seemed better, you had a spring in your step, you knew who you would spend the rest of your life with. People around you noticed a difference. Well, God is in Love with us, He would do anything in His power for us. We should have this same feeling everyday of our lives, Because the God who made us, loves us so much, He sent His Son to die for us,(The ultimate sacrifice, to lay down your life for a friend). God, Jehovah, thanks of you and me as His Friend, His Sons and Daughters, His family.


Yes there are Rules. There are rules in every part of life. God made us with a sense of right and wrong, thus rules. "Gum chewing in MY CLASSROOM is not allowed!" that is a rule. "Speed Limit 65 MPH", another rule. Murder, assault, stealing, .....yes these are all rules, and we know it,no one has to tell us. What about "coveting your neighbors wife"? That is not against the law, but it is a commandment from God. Coveting, wishing you had her instead of your neighbor, "undressing" her with you eyes, thinking sexual thoughts toward her. You haven't done anything to her, you haven't broken any laws, so what is the harm? Because it is against God's rules. Think about what this type of thinking does to a Man The thoughts can grow, you concentrate on these thoughts and the outcome could be very bad, rape, attack, sexual advances. See, following God's rules in the first place, will take care of it, as Barney Fife said: "Nip it in the Bud" take care of it right away before it has a chance to grow.

What about "coveting your neighbors "stuff""? " Wow, look at that new car Tim has, that is NICE, I want one." So it this proud for Tim, or something deeper like jealously? I used to be so bad at this I would look at something someone else had, and figure out a way to get it. I did not care if it caused my family to have less, I did not care about anything else then acquiring what I wanted.
Is this illegal? Are there people in prisons across this country that are guilty of "Coveting their friends "stuff"? Yes there are. Not the coveting, but what they did to get that stuff. Theft, murder, any crime can be brought down in it's lowest form to one thing : Lust, the wanting of something you don't have and your obsession of getting it.

Enough about this, what about Integrity? Integrity by definition (that is Man's definition)
firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility

: an unimpaired condition : soundness

: the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness

My favorite word in this definition? " Incorruptibility" We hear almost daily of the "corrupt-ness" of our politicians, sports celebrities, just plain ole celebrities, ......So the word: "Incorruptibility" really hits home with me. It is easy to think that there is not a politician alive today that is incorruptible.

But, by definition, to have Integrity, means to be incorruptible.

Remember when God decided to flood the world? He was going to destroy everything, then decided to save Noah and his family. Why? Because Noah had integrity. He was the only person on the face of the earth, at that time who was not corrupt. How many people can we say that about today? Maybe about the same percentage?

Integrity will bring JOY, Life, abundance, love, but also threats, anger, finger pointing, acquisitions, lies...People see someone who has integrity, and they know something must be hidden. No one believes there is anyone without a past a skeleton in the closet somewhere.

Yes, we are all sinners, and we all have "skeletons somewhere" But, we have a God who has forgiven us those past mistakes. Integrity is not what you did yesterday, it is what you do today and tommorow. I know the world does not see it that way. If your running for political office, and you broke a window with a baseball in 1960, somehow they will find out and try and use it against you. But God won't, He loves you, and when you ask for forgiveness He grants it, and forgets it.

Integrity, the way we all need to live. I believe the highest honor someone can say about a person is: He/She is a person who has integrity. I don't see how anyone can be this way without knowing the Lord as their personal savior.
Be a person of integrity, let your light shine, show the world that you serve a God who cares about you and them. Be the "real deal" not just another "fake" Christsian.

Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.

Most of know this verse, there is a famous song written from it, people quote it all the time. But what does it really mean?

"Cow Dung at 5 feet"--Abraham Lincoln when asked his choice of weapons after being challenged to a duel.

See? Abraham Lincoln knew when to fight and when he had more important things to do. Someone who was angry with him, angry enough to challenge him to a duel to the death, had asked him to choose the weapons. Lincoln, did not have time to play silly games, he was a busy man.

Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a "Season For Everything" and then goes on to explain the different "Seasons" of our lives. I really like how every "activity under heaven" pretty much sums up the whole thing, But "A time to tear down and a time to build up" is one of my favorites from this verse.

Lincoln knew when it was time to fight and when it was not. He put the person who challenged him in his place. I imagine there were laughs, giggling, pointing of fingers by those who heard Lincolns response. I mean "WHAT A COMEBACK" Today there would have been "high fives" all around.

"A time to tear down and a time to build up" What is there in our lives that we need to tear down? Lack of Faith, Dishonesty, untruth, waste of time, waste of talents, gossiping, anger, hatred, prejudice of anyone different from us, lack of compassion, selfishness, unconcern, pride let me repeat that one: PRIDE, .................that Pride thing covers most, I think. I believe these are the things that need to be torn down and gotten rid of. But what does God want in their place? Everything opposite of these things, Faith, Truth, accountability of our time and talents, loving everyone, compassion, sharing, concern, and what about that PRIDE? Replaced with humility.

Yes, there is a season for everything under heaven. God knows the seasons, but they are just that SEASONS of our life. That means they will pass, just as Spring turns into Summer and Summer turns into Fall.....CHANGE is coming. We will not always be were we are right now, in our walk with Christ. That means more opportunities , more challenges, more triumphs and yes more failures, we are human after all. And it means more love, more compassion, more humility, more joy, more happiness, more security in HIM and what we are doing for HIM>

Right now I am going through one of those seasons. My Mom died almost 2 years ago, and I have been taking care of my Dad. He has gotten weaker and weaker to the point that he is now in a Rehab Hospital to try and gain his strength back. For 4 years this "Season" has been going on for me, 2 years while my Mom suffered with Cancer, and the almost 2 years since. I tell God all the time how tired I am, and He sends me His strength. I complain to my Daughter, Son, and Sister, all the time about what Dad does, or says. He is not a easy person to take care of, he is stubborn, well so am I. We bang heads some, but I love my Dad I mean he is my Dad. But this is why I am close to him right now, it is a season that God knew was coming in our lives. It is challenging, but God knows me and knows Dad and know the situation. He has helped like you would not believe in me, and Dad. You see, Dad and I are very much alike, believe that, a Son and Father alike!!. So we get on each others nerves allot. But in this Season of my life, I have become the Adult, if you will. Dad takes my advice, and sometimes agrees, not always but at least he doesn't just dismiss it like when I was a kid. See a different Season for him as well? I know this season will pass and there will be another waiting for me, and I know God will be there as well.

In all of nature nothing stays the same, there is always change, time always passing, seasons changing from one to the other. Weather changing along with the seasons, the sun rising the sun going down the moon doing the same. The Earth rotating on it's axes, and in motion around our son, our solar system as a whole in motion around the universe. The universe just a part of the vast milky way........Motion, changes, seasons, all around us. God is a God of change, constant change. I love that about Him. I hate "sameness" I have to have change. The best way to clean my apartment is to change the furniture around so that I have change and that I can clean behind, and under where things used to be.

Are you in a new season of your life? It is hard, that transition, as much as I like change, I love routines. My cat knows my routine very well,
she leads me from one room to the other knowing exactly where I am going next. I like change, but not in my day to day schedule. Weird huh? But God brings change/seasons to our lives all the time. Without them we would grow bored, not challenged ,lackadaisical and God knows this.

I was born into a military family, my Dad a retired Marine, so change was part of life growing up. We moved, it seemed all the time. (Maybe this is why I need change, so much, just seems unnatural without it?) But I can make friends fast, I can relate to people very well, I love others, I don't need to take 1 or more years to start to talk and get to know someone new. I start up conversations with people in elevators, on the bus, in the bathroom (and usually get a grunt of a response:)) But, I believe, this is from all the Changes or Seasons in my early life.
I am not saying quit your job every 3 years and move to a new city to start over so you can have a new season. I am saying let God bring the change, the seasons. He loves to bring opportunities your way and let you interact with others, usually when you and they need it most.

I guess what I am saying here is: Change is good. There is a season, and the seasons never stay the same (wouldn't that be boring?) Don't worry about the little things, the guy that challenges you to a duel and wants to know your choice of weapons. We have a job to do for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If someone does challenge you to a duel to the death, you could always talk to them about death. "where will you spend eternity if I beat you?"

There is "A time for everything, For everything there is a season, A time for every activity under heaven, a time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.." We are all at different seasons in our lives, where are you?

One of the coolest things about our Father, Jehovah, is it doesn't matter where we are in our lives, He is there. For every person alive today He is right beside them, ready to help them in what ever Season we may be going through. He is there. If you find yourself in a tough, hard, season, don't worry He is there with you, and the seasons will change, it will get better. If you find yourself in a good season, on top of the world, don't get used to it, seasons will change and problems will come, but He will be there.

Whatever season you find yourself in, God is there. Always.

Come on "ASK", test me......

John 16:24

Up to now you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will
receive, that your joy may be overflowing.

Phillips

I love the wording in this translation, I can just hear Jesus saying this: "Come on "ASK" you haven't asked for anything at all, test me, let me show you what I am really capable of." I read this verse and the first thing I think is: "Lord, I have asked a bunch of stuff from you and you have delivered, what do you mean?" But God doesn't see the little things we have asked for as a challenge, (of course that is our human way of understanding God, He is NEVER challenged by anything!) We limit God. This is what this scripture is all about. In the back of our minds, we limit God. When we ask God for things, it is always things that we KNOW He can do, because He has done them for us before, things like healing, help, circumstances,..........BUT God is saying, "That ain't nothing, let me show you what I CAN REALLY DO! I am pointing my finger right now at myself and saying "Stop limiting God!!"

What reason does God give us for asking Him to do bigger things in our life? "...so that our joy may be overflowing". That's all, so that we will be happy. God loves us so much He wants to do the things we ask Him to, but, I think He is tried of us asking for little things. "Up to now you have asked NOTHING in MY name............."

I remember when I was a teenager, a friend of mine had a new bike. It was really cool. It was a Schwinn, the best their was, as far as we were concerned. My buddy let me take it out for a spin. It was a 12 Speed racer. I took it down a long steady hill, and WOW could you move on this thing. Then I had to turn around and ride it back up the hill. I had a 5 speed "Banana Seat" bike, so I knew a little about changing gears to help climb hills. I was struggling with all the levers and the sprockets were making noises as the chain was trying to decide what gear I wanted. My buddy ran down the hill and said : "Get off, let me show you this baby can really do". So he got on put the bike in the lowest gear, (or is that the highest?) and pedaled like a mad man to the top of the hill. That gear (1st or 12th?) made it almost effortless to pedal up a steep grade, you had to pedal about a million times, hardly covering any ground with each stroke, but it was really easy. We took turns the rest of the day flying down the hill and riding back up. Wow, that was fun, I will never forget it. I had tried to pedal that thing up that hill in the wrong gear, and could hardly push the pedals down it hurt my legs, I was getting no where. BUT my friend came along and basically said: "Let me show you what this thing is capable of", got on and took off. I had no idea you could do that.

See? God is saying:" Here let me show you what I am capable of." We cut God short, we limit Him in His power, His Love, His knowledge, His compassion and His patience. Patience to Judge this world, that is patience. But God wants us to ask Him for the unimaginable , the unthinkable, the unbelievable, the impossible, the unattainable , the things that we never ever ever even dreamed of. No, I am not talking about winning the lottery, becoming a millionaire, having "It All" as the world defines it. I am talking about God's best. The best He has to offer, which is "over the top", "beyond our comprehension".

When I was growing up, my folks always bought appliances at Sears. They had that famous warranty, and we always had "Kenmore" appliances. We always had the ones that said "Sears Best" on them somewhere. My Dad figured if your going to buy something, make it something that would last. He felt Sears made the best stuff, had the best warranty, so why not get the best they made? I understand his feeling, buy quality that will last and thereby save money in the long run. He still has a Maytag washer in the garage that runs like it was brand new, and it is about 20 years old, I believe. See, only the best. This is what God wants for us, His best. But God is limited. What, you think I am speaking garbage, that I am a hypocrite? No, God is limited by our faith, and our wants and requests. He can do ANYTHING He wants to, But He needs us to ask Him for things. He will never ever force His way into our hearts, we have to request Him to come in. He will never ever answer our prayers if we don't pray. He is a gentlemen, and He made us with a choice, a choice to serve Him or not.

Man am I talking to myself here: "Don't limit God". I have had some real doubts, questions, had my faith tested, wondered "WHY" ....this week, so I need to hear this. I know you need to hear it as well. By NOT asking God for the things we think are impossible, we are limited God.

Remember, God wants us to have "Joy Overflowing". When is the last time you could not contain your joy? That there was so much love, so much joy, so much peace in your life that you wanted to just dance and run and jump for glory? That is what God is offering, IF WE JUST ASK Go Ahead, ASK, He is waiting patiently.

How to form into a mold.

Romans 12:2

Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold,
but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is
changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God's
good, acceptable to him and perfect.

Phillips

I love the Discovery Chanel, the Learning Chanel, the Science Chanel well you get the picture. I think I have seen every episode of "How do they do it?" or any of the show about how they make stuff. I see how things are created, it is really interesting. You can see the spinning bottles being filled with soda at it seems, a hundred miles per hour. All the different machines, assembly lines, equipment it just amazes me, I love those shows.

The "How Do they Do it" shows about making shoes was on the other day, I have seen it before, more then likely more then once. I am always amazed by the making of the shoes soles. They whip together some liquid plastic, rubber, and some other stuff pour it into a mold of the sole, and apply heat and whamo there is a sole. Wait a minute, I need to back up a bit, they what? Yeah they pour the liquid into a mold and do what? "Apply Heat". You see the heat makes the liquid completely form into the mold around it. It hardens into the shape of the mold.

You get where I am going don't you? When your trying to mold yourself into something or someone you want to be, it is hard to fit. But when the HEAT is applied, you the liquid becomes soft and runs right into the mold. This can be good or it can be bad. If your trying to squeeze into the worlds mold, any friction, heat, anger, .....will cause you to "fit right in" it seems. The question remains only which mold are you trying to form into? The world's idea of success, to be like a celebrity, to "fit in" with the crowd that you see as "it", or "the "IN" Crowd"? Or to be molded into the image of Christ? The heat is going to be applied whatever mold you have aligned yourself with and when it does, what happens next? You'll become soft and pliable and "fit right in".

".......but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed......" See in the shoe factory, if there is a shoe sole that is not right, not perfect, then they can remake it. They simply re melt it and start over. God can remake us, if we allow Him to. We, unlike a shoe sole, have free will. God WILL NOT do anything without our permission. Sometimes a shoe sole mold might just need a piece cut away, or to be trimmed, maybe it can be made perfect. But I believe it would be easier to just melt it down and start over. God does what is needed. If we need to be reworked, have pieces trimmed off, snip snip here, snip snip there, then that is what He wants to do. However, He may want to just "melt you down" and reform you in His image. In life the "melting you down" means HEAT, problems, worlds falling apart, even "Job type" tests, that seem cruel. But out of the "fire" comes a new creature in His image.

Satan supplies the heat, but God allows it. Satan thinks he is doing a good job of getting you to the "Dark Side" if you will, but God uses this for His glory. All of us experience things that we or God, for that matter did not want to experience. But these experiences go into our makeup, who we are, our whole lives. We are never the same after things like this happen to us. Our experiences, good or bad, change us always. God will use these, good or bad, to help us realize who we are in Him, and to help others who are experiencing the same type things. Yes, the ole :"What Satan meant for harm, God will use for His glory" IF we allow Him to.

Why does God sometimes need to "remake" us? ..."So that your whole attitude of mind is changed." Oh, there it is. Attitude of the mind. Arrogance, pride, selfishness, anger, resentment, revenge, hatred, bitterness, all the things of human nature, it seems. They need to be replaced with: humility, thinking of others first, freedom, love, joy, caring, sharing, ........so God WILL remake that mind and replace all the bad thoughts, attitudes with good, IF we allow Him to.

".....Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God's good, acceptable to him and perfect."---I love this last line. "prove in PRACTICE that the will of God's good, acceptable to him and perfect." My translation would be: "Don't just read, or talk about it, do it, put it into practice what you are reading. Live it, show others that He is real in your life, prove that what you say is what you truly believe."

As the rapture of the church gets closer and closer, it is going to get hotter and hotter. Don't become soft and pliable, don't start to form into the world as we live here, but be "transformed by the renewing of your mind". As we all know, the battle is in the mind, what starts in the mind can become reality, we MUST keep the mind on the things of the Lord.

The pressure, the heat is being applied, what mold have you aligned with? When that cylinder comes down to push you into that form, what form will you become? Heat, pressure, they will harden us into what we are to become. Stay close to the things of God, the Bible, a good bible based fundamentally sound church, friends who are believers, THEN you will be ready to face the pressure, Heat? Bring it on. Then we will be able to share the things of God with others. Others will be in awe of our lifestyle, our joy, our determination in times of disaster. Our lives will reflect God's love just as the moon reflects the Sun's light.

"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into it's mold.." but rather change the world.

Pay NO Attention, Don't fear.

Mark 5:36

But Jesus paid no attention to what they said, but
said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid,
just have faith."

Goodspeed


Read this whole chapter (Mark 6) and you will find out what was happening here. Jesus had just felt healing power go out of Him as someone had touched Him, and their faith had healed them. Then as they were all standing around marveling about this, someone told the "leader of the Synagogue" that his daughter had died. Those there in the Synagogue said,"Don't bother the Teacher, she is dead and there is nothing you can do". Jesus overhead this and then the above scripture comes. Notice the first line? "But Jesus paid no attention to what they said, but ....." The leaders "friends" were telling him to give up, to move on, she was dead, there is nothing that can be done, just bury her.......But Jesus ignored them and told him to not be afraid, just have faith.

Let's put this into perspective shall we? Everyone there had just witnessed a miracle of healing simply by a woman touching Jesus clothes. Jesus had felt it, and knew someone had been healed, that their faith had made them whole. The very next thing is the leader of the synagogue being told about his daughters death. What do you think the leader thought about? Sure the same thing any parent would have, "Could this man do anything?" I can see him start to approach Jesus, and his "Friends" filled his ears with doubt. There is nothing you can do, she is dead, even this man can not do anything now, just leave him alone.

I have learned that the time to doubt Jesus' power is never. What part of "nothing impossible" do we not understand? This leader had just seen someones faith, and nothing more, no words, no praying, no money paid, no touching nothing but faith and the mere feeling a piece of cloth, and healing occurred. It wasn't about the cloth, it wasn't about the woman, it weren't about the street it wasn't about the stones in the street, it wasn't about that particular day, it WAS about this woman's faith, and Jesus.. This leader more then likely thought to himself, I can have faith if it means my daughter will be OK> But then the doubt voiced itself through these "friends".

So there we are two choices: Believe that this Man can bring my daughter back to life by my faith and His Power, or believe that I am out of my mind and this is ridiculous. The question we all must face: Faith or Doubt? Faith can move mountains, heal the sick, raise the dead, cause us to do seemingly impossible things like walking on water. Doubt causes us to stop moving forward, sit down, surrender, waste away, fear, tremble, fail. Go ahead bury your daughter, give up, don't take that chance. But why not? What do you have to lose? If you go home and fine your daughter is really dead, then bury her, have her funeral and mourn. But if this Man really does the things He seems to do, your daughter could be alive when you get home, alive, healthy and full of joy.

What did Jesus say in the verse above: ............Do not be afraid, just have faith" So, I believe, you cannot have one and have the other. If you fear, if you doubt, if you question, if you are faced with many times in our lives: if you give up.............you cannot have faith. Remember all those "Science Fiction" movies about time travel? You know "Back to the Future, parts 1-3, The Terminator parts 1-however many they made. Anyway one of the "rules" of time travel was something like : not seeing yourself in another time, because two people cannot occupy the same space at the same time, or something like that. This is true of Faith and Doubt or Fear. You either have one or the other never both. If you say you have faith for something yet you constantly worry about wither it will happen or not, what are you doing? Doubting, in other words not having faith.

Remember that good ole definition of Faith that used to be put in songs, poems....? "Things Hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things NOT SEEN"? CSI could never solve a crime if they could not see the evidence. Where does unseen evidence come from? Heaven. God gives us the assurance that what we cannot see is there. The "I can't see it, but I know it is there" feeling. Not Ghosts, not spirits but KNOWLEDGE of the unseen happening. Ever seen someone get healed? I have heard of people actually seeing a missing limb grow back or a twisted body part become straight, but usually we don't see the healing. We may get confirmation through X-Rays or other medical test that there is no longer any problem. This is another example of the "things not seen". I am sorry Gill Grissom, (he's the CSI guy), but you'll never figure this one out, unless you conclude it was because God said it and it happened.

.....Jesus paid no attention to what they said.........sounds like a good idea. We hear the doubts, the "are you nuts", the "why try, you'll never get it done" the "that is impossible" comments all the time. But what does Jesus say? Do not be afraid, just have faith"

Pay no attention to them (the world), but do not be afraid, just have faith. It sounds so easy, yet we make it so hard. Do not be afraid, just have faith.

No matter what life throws at you...."do not be afraid, just have faith"

Waiting Quietly for Victory?

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.

~ Psalm 39:7, NLT

Ever watched a war movie? Do the soldiers "Wait Quietly" for victory? Of course not. They do everything they can to take over the enemies position, so that they can advance and hopefully take victory. They kill, destroy, harm, do whatever it takes. What do we do when "war" or problems rain down on us in our lives? As humans, we want to do the same thing as these soldiers We want to kill, destroy, harm, attack, defeat our enemy.

Now, look at Psalm 39:7 above: "I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes in Him". How "Normal" is that? How much against human nature to wait, and do nothing, let someone else do our fighting for us? Well, think about how powerful God is. He made the whole universal, and all that is. He destroyed the Earth with a flood, He caused DEAD people to come back to life, He caused a river, a mighty large river, to separate and allow His children to walk across on DRY, not muddy, land, and then destroy, drown their enemies when they tried to cross. He sent "Plaques" upon the Egyptians when their Pharaoh would not let the Children of Israel go, plaques of frogs, darkness, ALL water turning into blood........until Pharaoh got the idea that God, Jehovah had POWER to do what He said He would do. Of course, Pharaoh hardened his heart, and got really stupid and went after them. My point here is this: God does not need us to help Him fight OUR battles. He is perfectly good at doing it Himself, thank you very much.

The first three words of the above scripture, Psalm 39:7 are, I think, the three hardest things to do as a human being, and definitely a Christian, the are: "I wait quietly..........." We don't want to "Wait quietly", we want to act. What do you want to do if you find out your child has been bullied at school? What do you do if you find out there is a guy at your wife's office that is making advances at her and won't stop? You get angry, you want to hurt someone. (This is usually the male reaction, I being a man, only know about this one, ladies, you as a rule are usually much more level headed at times like this, and try and think these thing through,and come up with a better solution, but we men just want to Pound some heads.}

Have we gone mad? God is in the "head pounding" business, not us. God knows when it is time to pound heads. He is VERY patient, sorry ladies but even more then you. He gives many many chances, and does NOT pound heads until that is the last resort.

When your mother is dying from cancer, is it easy to "wait quietly before God"? When you lost your job and have no money left in the bank and may lose your home, is it easy to "Wait quietly before God?". When you get the news that your child has been in an accident and is in critical condition and may not make it through the night do you want to "Wait quietly before God"? No, we want to cry out to Him, make a bunch of noise, have snot running down and out our nose, cry to HIM ask Him why this happened. We don't want other people to come up and tell us how sorry they are, we want to "Pound some heads" But whose heads do we pound? Cancer is not visible, not a person not physical we can't beat it up. The guy at your wife's office who has been making advances at her, well you could go down and pound, but what would be the outcome? He might be bigger then you and pound your head. And to what end? What about the bully that has been messing with your kids? Pound their heads and you could go to prison for child abuse. The car accident that put your child in a coma? Find out who was responsible and look them up and pound their heads? What if it was your child that was responsible? We want to "Get even", to get our eye for an eye. Someone or something hurt someone we love, and we want revenge, now. This is exactly why we need to: "...wait quietly before God, for our victory comes from HIM"

Ever been through a divorce? Was it calm? Did you and your ex, just come to a decision, and everything went well? No such thing, you and your ex can be civil about the whole thing, but there are resentments, there are accusations, there are hurts, and if you don't verbalize them, they eat away at you for years, maybe the rest of your life. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying schedule a meeting with your ex, and get all these feelings out in the open. I am saying give them, your battles, to God and "....wait quietly before, for my victory comes from Him".

God is a God of action, but more times He is a God of patience. He is SO patient at times, we get angry. We want the situation we are going through taken care of NOW, especially if it concerns a loved one. It is easier for us to go through an ordeal, then have someone we love to face hard times.

If we "wait patiently before God...." what happens? WE grow, WE mature, WE see that God does love us, and that He will take care of us in HIS time. We see that we are puny little beings that cannot take care of ourselves, that we rely SOLELY upon Him.

Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth! Where does our help come from? What are His credentials that He can do anything?

I love putting these two scriptures together: "I wait quietly before God, because, My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth, and victory comes from HIM"

The two hardest things to do in almost any situation: "Wait quietly" and God ask us to do them all the time. It has to do with trust. Who do we trust? Ourselves? Wow, we will let ourselves down 100% of the time. Our family? They love us, but are still human beings and are limited in what they can do. God Jehovah, our provider, our creator, our deliverer? With out a doubt, He can do ANTHING, and He will. Just, "Wait quietly before Him, remember where our victory comes from? Yeah that's right: Our God Jehovah, our creator, our provider, our deliverer, our FATHER.

I hope you read this.

Psalm 39:7

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you. NLT

Hope. What a word, there are SO many uses for this little 4 letter word in our world. Webster says : to desire with expectation of obtainment ;to expect with confidence : trust


Here are a few examples of how the word is used in our everyday life: No one knows yet if anyone survived the crash. At this point, we can only hope.
I hope you're feeling better soon.

That's what she hoped would happen.

Let's hope that the strike ends soon.

I hope I haven't bored you.

Everyone in your family is well, I hope

Hope is thrown around so much in our world, it is sometimes just another word. We have a President who used the word to help get him elected, we hear Hope mentioned all the time by just about any politician. When I was growing up my Dad used this sentence a lot: "I hope so, but I don't know". Yeah my Dad was and still is a "Worry wort", but don't worry, I am not even leaning over to pick up a stone. ("He who is without sin, cast the first stone"}

Children Hope they get what they want to for Christmas or their birthday. Young men and women Hope that the right person for them comes along quickly so they can fall in love, get married, have kids and grow old. Why the hurry? Hope, it is used all the time, I Hope that I make it through this light before that yellow light turns red. Bob Hope sure was a neat guy, and so funny, The USS Hope, a hospital ship, arrived in the civil war torn town of...........today.

Are there two hopes? One is hope and the other HOPE? One is a noun, and one is a verb? One causes us to say: "I hope......." and then sit around and wait hoping, but doing nothing, because you feel that hope needs no help, it with either happen or it won't. Then there is HOPE, the one that says: "I have HOPE in the Lord Jesus, I KNOW, He hears my prayers and answers, I KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt the He is coming back for me, and taking me to live forever with Him in Heaven". That is HOPE, not hope. HOPE takes action, it is exciting,, it moves us to tell others about our HOPE. Hope is the last thing we do, when there is nothing else to do. The line: "all we can do is have hope", is used by doctors after tragedy has struck. With hope there is room for doubt,it is the last straw, the final appeal, we are waiting for the call from the Governor for a "Stay of Execution" But HOPE, OH such HOPE>

Our Father has told us that He will take care of us, that He will provide, that He will come and take us back to our new home with Him. This is exciting, fantastic, Good news, it is not hope, not the last straw, maybe He will come back maybe He won't. Maybe He heard my prayers and cares enough to listen, and help, maybe not, I hope so. NO< NO< NO. HOPE tells us YES HE has heard my prayers, YES HE has answered and YES He will do what He says He will do. No doubting, no last straw, no wondering, no hesitation. Excitement, hunger, longing, HOPE. In Psalms 39:7 above, the last line says: "My only hope is in you." But it should say: "My only HOPE is in you." This HOPE is all we need. Webster tells us that one definition of hope is: "To expect with confidence, trust" So HOPE is trust, where hope is what? Doubt, grabbing on to something even if it is JUST hope? " I sure hope I win the Lotto tonight, I paid $100.00 for my special numbers, they have to come up this time" What is your hope in here? Odds of winning? We can have hope or we can have HOPE> Not of winning the lotto, but of where we will spend eternity, how we will live while here on earth. Who will provide, Who will love us, Who will lead us, who will take care of any situation that arises because of Who our HOPE is in? So, who is our HOPE in? Jesus Christ the Son of the only true God who made the world, and each of us, the God that NEVER lies, NEVER let's us down NEVER uses us, that's who.

HOPE is a verb, an action word, we are excited about it, trust it completely, tell others about it, to HOPE is to run around like it going to happen, because it is.

I hope you read this, but I have have HOPE, that this world will end, and soon, and God's Son Jesus will come back for me to live forever with Him. HOPE is what separates Christians from non believers.
They put their hope in things of this world, chance, the odds, possibility........But they do not put their HOPE in anything. Let's tell them of our HOPE in the Lord Jesus Christ, let them see ours, that we do not have hope, but HOPE. Then they too can know of HOPE in God.

Mankind is NOT God, just as God is NOT Human.

Numbers 23:19

God is not man that he should speak falsely, nor human,
that he should change his mind. Is he one to speak and not
act, to decree and not fulfill?

NAB

Does this verse surprise anyone? Basically it is saying that "....God is NOT human..." and then goes on to list some of the shortcomings we humans have, yet He, God Jehovah, does not. Things like: lying, changing our mind, or talk about the big things He is going to do, having no desire to do them, just wanting us to believe Him in time to vote. You could say : God IS NOT a POLITICIAN. Wow, that is a relief:)

We humans have many drawbacks, or to put it another way: "SINS". God does NOT SIN, He can't, it is NOT possible. Sin is a part of THIS world, brought here by Satan, Lucifer, who tried to take God's place in Heaven, and God, Jehovah, the ruler of the Heavens and all that is, said: "Are you kidding me? Ge away from me you jerk" and threw Lucifer and all his demons (One third of all angels) down to Earth, (I have a feeling that when he landed it was with a thud and hurt his ego, and his back side:)) Why couldn't God, in His wisdom, sent Satan somewhere else? Maybe Saturn, or better yet, another Galaxy. Because God, knowing Lucifer was going to doubt Him, had all this planned millions of years ago. God wanted a creation, us, Mankind, to choose Him, and thus needed another choice for us. Thus Satan became that "Other" choice.

We see movies all the time about Satan, someone is "taken over" by a demon, or Satan himself. They do all kinds of bad things, they are supernatural, they speak with a very scarey voice...........But Satan, Like God is not human. There are very BIG differences, though. Satan has decided to lie, and he is very good at it. He has decided to manipulate us, and is also extremely talented. Satan tells us the "Big Plans" he has for us, that we will be rich, have everything we want.............he is the master politician, if you will.

Enough about that slimy guy, Satan, let's talk about our God, Jehovah. God does not lie, He doesn't tell us His future for us, and then say He changed His mind, that we aren't going to be that important as He first said in the kingdom of Heaven. He doesn't say: "You know what, I changed my mind, I am going to give that assignment I told you about to Henry, over there, you just need to do your own thing, good luck.

If, at anytime in your life, God made you a promise and it has not been fulfilled yet, it WILL be done. It may have been years and years and years ago, and you may have almost forgotten about it, but He has not. God fulfills His promises, always. God cannot lie, it is against His very being, He cannot tell us something and then forget about it, it's in His thoughts, He WILL do it , because He told you He would, end of story, enough said.

Have you ever known someone who doesn't believe this? Sure, the guy at work who argues with you every time you bring up what God told you about something. "You actually think God talks to you?" "God doesn't care about that situation, He has other things on His mind, like how He is going to destroy the world". "Yeah, He told me 20 years ago that He wanted me to be a missionary, and nothing ever happened, why should I believe Him?" Ever hear anything like that? Maybe you have said something like this. I have. God never makes a promise, a statement, a word from His mouth that He does not keep. Many times, He keeps them in a much different way then we expected in our human understanding, but He will keep those promises. My Mom died almost 2 years ago, she had cancer and suffered terribly. God spoke through many in our family, and friends, of how He was going to heal her. She did not receive a healing here on this Earth, But she IS HEALED in Heaven, talking to Jesus and worshiping, dancing, praising Him at His throne. God has His ways, and in our human state, we see things from only one perspective, ours.

Have you ever told someone who does not believe in Jesus, that if they are wrong and Jesus does not exist, that the whole thing was a fairy tale, then by serving Him, what have you lost? BUT if He is real, as you are saying, and you turn your back on Him, and do not serve Him, you lose everything, your very soul. Play the odds, I tell people, serve the Lord Jesus, make Him the center of your life, what ya got to lose? If I am wrong, you'll just live a good life, and raise a family in church, what is wrong with that? But if your wrong, well , there will be no way out of hell.

We just do not understand who God is. If your serving Him, and know He loves us, then you understand a little, but still we cannot comprehend His "Self" People who call themselves Atheist, or Part
Atheist, or Just Don't know if there is a superior being or not" are really just trying to make themselves feel better. All they want to do is Prove to you, with man made science, that God does NOT exist. That is where they fail, the "man made science". You can throw all kinds of studies, numbers, statistics.....at me, but I WILL not change my mind, I have NO Doubt who made me, and all in this world. You can tell me a zillion times how the monkeys came from the trees and turned into my great great great grandfather, but I DO not believe it. Why? because "God is not a man that he should speak falsely, nor human that he should change his mind. Is he one to speak and not act, to decree and not fulfill?" God has told us through His word, and through millions of other ways, that He made all there is. According to this scripture, If I believe Him, then there is NO WAY that I would believe anything else.

Satan tries so hard to convince the world, that Humans are the smartest, that we have the answers to everything. When has mankind cured the common cold? Yes medicine has made tremendous strides in research, coming close to curing cancer soon, BUT what about that common cold? I believe God, in His wisdom, has left that one uncured to show us, that He grants us our wisdom, education, and knowledge and that He and He alone gives us the know how that we have. We praise our self's for our accomplishments, but who gave them to us? Acknowledge Him or not, He is the reason we have done anything.

It's going to get worse in our world, we are going to put Mankind above everything, including God Himself. We are going to worship our own accomplishments, we are going to become so much more arrogant toward anything Godly. It has already been happening for years. The things of God are made fun of, mocked, put down, been made "illegal". It will get worse, but God has promised He will prevail, and He will help us. And remember, What He promises He keeps. End of Story.

Condemnation or Rebuilding?

John 3:17

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.

NIV

You ever think about "Condemnation" when you read this verse? What if it said "For God sent His Son into the world to condemn the world, so that He could start over with His creation and see if this time, the sinners would be perfect"? Did God have the "right" to send His Son, Jesus, into the world to condemn us? Of course, look at the shape of the world when Jesus became human, look at the much worse shape of it now. God, Jehovah, had many thousands of years before, tried to destroy the earth with a flood. Have you ever thought about how He felt after the floods destroyed all mankind except those on the Ark? Yes, those destroyed where living in sin, BUT they were God's children, He made them, He loved them. I think this is why He made the statement that He would never again destroy all mankind, it hurt Him to much. You see, God loves us, He loves you, regardless of your feelings toward Him, He loves YOU>

What is "Condemnation"? Webster says: : censure, blame. So if you condemn someone you not only blame them for a act, but you "censure" or never talk, visit, share the same space with them. Basically you turn your back on them and try and act like they never existed. Has God done this? Of course not, He could have, though. Does this mean we "Got Away with it?" No, it means God is our father, and although He still loves us, we disappoint Him at times. How much that hurts, that word, my Mom used it when I was caught doing something I was not supposed to be doing, and it hurt to hear. But if it was really bad and my Dad used that word, then it cut me to the bone. The last thing I wanted to do was to disappoint my DAD. Dad would not "condemn" me, turning his back on me, and erasing me from his life, although there were, more then likely, times he wanted to if only for a minute:)

I remember several years ago, I got home from work and there were these notices posted all over my apartment complex. "This property has been Condemned by the blah, blah blah association." These signs were posted on almost every building in our complex. Yes I know my complex is old, and isn't the nicest looking from the outside, but is comfortable inside, and I love the low rent. But bad enough to be Condemned? I don't think so. What was going to happen? What was I going to do? Of course me and a few hundred other families went straight to the Manager's office demanding answers. It turned out to be a over zealous Inspector who was new and had not taken certain foundation readings correctly. But for a few minutes, I pictured my apartment being "Condemned". You know, a big demolition crane with the huge steel ball swinging into my apartment and destroying it, forever. Because you see, "Condemned" means you have given up on something, you don't believe there is any hope to save it. No amount of repair will help, it is a lost cause.

Is that what God thanks me and you? A lost cause? NEVER. Remember: "...God DID NOT send His Son into the world to CONDEMN the world, BUT to save the world through Him." God, in His wisdom, KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt, that mankind, if given a chance, would turn around and acknowledge Him. We just needed a little help. So, God provided one, Himself, becoming a human, with all our problems,limitations, emotions, hurts, habits, SIN and die so that we would have another chance, and another, and another................if needed. This is how He "Saved the world through Himself".

I have often wondered what I would do if I were God. You ever thought about that? I would be alone in the universe, I know, because I would have destroyed all these sinful humans long ago. My patience would have ran out long before the flood. I would have given Adam and Eve and their family the boot about 5 minutes after they ate of that apple. "Disobey Me, huh? Your Gone" I am SO Glad I am not God. Aren't you?

God does NOT Condemn. He rebuilds. He is that carpenter that sees the building we can become, yes it will cost a lot, it will take a lot of time, but the outcome will be worth it. Don't destroy it, I'll rebuild it. We look at others through our human eyes, and wonder when they will finish killing themselves? They are addicted to alcohol or drugs and slowly killing themselves, it is such a shame. But God looks at them and sees the man/woman they can become if only given the chance. He sees the future, the lives they help lead to Him. We see the present, the past, and the many times they have let us, their families, or God down. We condemn, God rebuilds.

Put away the stapler put away those "Condemning" notices, look at that person, notice their smile, there zeal for life when they aren't High or drunk. See them as God does, His vessels, His handy works, His children.


We, in this world, are to easy to condemn when something or someone seems "Worthless", We condemn, God rebuilds.

Everyone deserves, not earns, not because of our skin color or our place of birth or our financial condition, but deserves because we are the children of the living God, only for that reason, a second chance, a third chance, a forth chance..............however many it takes for us to see that God loves us so much He died a horrible death just for me, just for YOU>

Don't condemn, help rebuild, because, you see, We CONDEMN, GOD REBUILDS, so we can also.

"Give thanks for THAT?"

Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

~ Ephesians 5:20, NLT

I don't think that Ephesians 5:20 says to ..."Give thinks for some things..........or "Give thanks for only the real good things.........." or "Give thanks only for really really big things where you get a bunch of stuff or money..."........It says: "Give thanks for EVERYTHING to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." What about the "bad things"? Can we gain anything good from those? Remember that God works ALL things together to him who loves the Lord. So, if like me, you have made some pretty stupid choices in the past, God will take the outcomes of those choices and make something wonderful happen. I have known guys that were lost in addictions all kinds of addictions, and are now substance abuse counselors, leaders in 12 step type recovery groups, or just friends to the addicted of all types. When you go through something like that then it is easy to understand what is going on in their mind, lives, body......God uses your experiences, bad or good to help others. I have a nephew in prison, Shawn., I have mentioned him before, he has let his life shine, holding nothing back about his past, befriending other inmates, talking to them about his experiences while in jail. God is using Shawn in a mighty way while in prison. He has grown so much in there. He feels that God may be leading him to be a counselor when he gets out. To help those, like himself, that have been addicted to things of this world. I am in awe of my nephew, he is letting his past, through God, form his future. So what am I saying here? Thank you, Father, for the addictions that I gave into in my life, so that I may use those experiences to serve you? No, not really, but "Thank you Father, for taking me out of those addictions, forgiving me, allowing me to come back into your family, and letting me work for You, sharing my experiences so that others with the same problems can see, there is a way of redemption."

Thank You Father for................? Just all the good things? The nice car, the nice home, the love of my life in my spouse, my children, the money in the bank, my wonderful job...........? Is that all there is? Of course not, and if your like me, you don't have all those things, BUT you do have Jesus in your life, and you have the lessons you have learned thus far in your walk here on earth. Think about Paul for a minute. Look at what he was doing when God became so real to him, that he literately became blinded. Paul had to become physically blind, to be able to see what he was doing. Jesus Christ and anyone who "followed" Him, ie: Christians, Paul was hunting down and killing. It took a physical handicap for Paul to see who Jesus was. But now look at what Paul became. A writer, a starter of churches, a pastor, a minister, a lover of all things God and His Son Jesus. What a leader, what a Christian. What a example. Remember Paul's "thorn in the flesh"? You know the one we can put anything into, things that we suffer with? I think this is why we never really know what this "thorn" is, so that we can "fill in the blank" if you will. But thinking about his background, I believe his "Thorn" could have been regret, pain, remorse, sorrow, for the things he had done to Christians. Yes, God forgave him, but as a human being, it is very hard to forget, we dwell on our past mistakes. He had killed Christians, how could he not forget this? But look at what Paul did for the Christians of that day, and his writings still to this day. Paul had God given abilities that He used to talk and write and share like no one else. I love reading his writings, they are so easy to understand, they cut past all the stuff, the get right to the heart of the matter. Paul, though quite educated, comes across as someone normal, a "Man's Man", a average Joe, someone who understands the common man, he "gets us" type of guy. The type who would sit down and watch the game with you, and share the love of God with you at the same time. The guy who would do anything he could do to help you, help you move from a 5th floor apartment to a 6th floor apartment both with no elevators, just because you were his friend. I can see Paul with a big smile on his face, celebrating a touchdown with all the guys, and then after the game sharing prayer requests and victories with you. He carded,so much for people, he was a real people person. Is it any wonder that God went to so much trouble to get Paul to believe in His son? But how much trouble did He go to to get you? As much as it takes. There is no limit to the pain staking ends that God will go to to ensure you go to Paradise to spend eternity with Him. It wasn't just Paul, though he does seem like "quite a catch". Paul is no more important then any of us, and I believe, he would be the first one to tell us that.

OK, here is the deal. Yes, we should thank the Lord our Father, for all the good things in our life, I mean He gave them to us. But we also need to thank God for the way our lives have lead us to see things like no one else on this earth can. I have been told that my writings are different then anything else people have ever read. I have decided to take that as a compliment.:) I have a perspective that is uniquely mine>. I am looking at life from right here . see that is my spot. No one else is right there at that spot, just me. My view is from there, the angle that I see a certain events is from right there. Your spot may be close to mine because you are right next to me .. see? But there is a small space between us, we see things just a little different. God wants to use your perspective also. Why, they seem so close? That is just it, "They SEEM so close". Our different backgrounds, our experiences, our sins, our victories, the places that we lived, our jobs, our churches, our thoughts............all make up our perspective. All this makes up our outlook on life. Everything we have gone through in life up until now influences how we see life, right now.

So, get to the point!!OK here it is, "Give thanks for EVERYTHING to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ>" Does that mean: "Thank you, Lord, for all the sin I have committed in my life, for without it I could not be the man I am today"? No, God never wants us to fail, BUT He will use our failings to help others. God NEVER wants us to sin, BUT when WE DO, He will use those mistakes, if we ask for forgiveness and turn from them, to help others facing the same temptations. THAT is what we should thank the Lord our Father for. That He will not only forgive us our sins, but will use them to help others facing the same thing.

What is the best way to learn how to get somewhere? Someone drawing you a map, telling you how to get there, giving you landmarks, "Turn left at the ole crooked tree", or by getting in the car and giving you turn by turn directions. I used to drive a trash truck and had to learn new routes all the time. How did I learn them? Repetition. Driving them over and over, until it became second nature. But the first time I drove a completely new route they would send someone who had been on the route and knew it very well, they would show me where to go. If you are going through a divorce and are really having a hard time, who best to talk to then someone who was recently divorced also? Talking to a newlywed would be of little use. The same goes with ANY temptation we have, who better then someone who has had the same problems and has overcome them with the help of Jesus?

Give thanks for your past mistakes, for they can and will be used for God. But try and stay away from any more. Don't get the idea that you can sin a little here and there, because your going to ask for forgiveness and then help those that are tempted by the same things. I have tried that excuse, don't work, it's just that, an excuse to make yourself feel better.

Thank you Lord, for ALL my experiences, both good and bad. Help me to use them to help others who are being tempted. Let me realize that you did not want me to fail, but even though I have, you have forgiven me and will use me. You , Lord, were tempted while here on earth, and know EVERY temptation satan can and does throw our way. This makes you our ally, our friend, our counselor, our leader, our savior. You know what we go through, you know exactly what it feels like to be a human and be tempted with things that seem so fulfilling, and yet cost our very souls. Thank you Lord, for your Love, your understanding and your patience. You send help, even when we think we are OK. You know us better then we know ourselves.

Let's give thanks for ALL the Lord has done for us, even the lessons that we did not like learning, and God more then likely didn't like giving. You know, those "hard" lessons, the ones we learn from our mistakes?

Thank you, ouch that burns my head!!

Romans 12:20

Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty,
give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire
on his head."

NKJ


I read this verse this morning, and saw it in a whole new light. I have read this before, concentrating on the doing good to your enemies part. But what about those "coals of fire?" Is Paul saying that we need to treat our enemies nice, just so we can get them trusting us, and then "WHAM" pour hot coals on their head, thereby killing them, or severely burning them? No, I don't think so.

I heard about a civil war in a small country years ago, African country,I believe. This "war" was very "civil", as they would not have "it" before sunrise, or after sunset. There was no "warring" on Sundays, Saturdays were OK< but not after lunch. At noon each day, the two warring sides would sometimes come together and share their meals. before returning back to trying to kill each other.
Sounds like killing each other wasn't in there hearts. It makes me wonder how many people were actually killed in this so called "war"? As I read about this, I also noticed this "War" lasted over 10 years, and finally came to a "draw", with neither side winning. I don't think the solders were mad at their enemy, and were just going through the motions of war. A 9-5, 1 hour for lunch,(Here, enemy, try my wife's soup), kind of war.

In today's world,(well in the USA, anyway), we don't run across our enemies with guns trying to shoot us as much as long gone days. So who is our enemy? Is it easy to pinpoint our enemies? Are they the ones that we differ with about politics? "I am a Liberal, you are a Conservative, therefore I hate you." "You live a "Gay" lifestyle, I can have nothing to do with you, you "Heathen" "You have a criminal record, don't you dare come into my church, and if you do, don't sit anywhere near me or my family". Enemies? We may not agree with their lifestyle, their sin, there past, But they are not our enemy. Ever had someone, at work, or another place, that just gave you such a hard time? You know, the guy who you really didn't like? The one who is always telling jokes about the Christian? You tend to ignore him, because he is a jerk. Have you thought about asking him if he wants you to pick up something to eat, because your going out for lunch and you heard him say he was working through lunch? How about not making "good comebacks" when he says something about your belief? Being nice to the guy. You don't have to invite him home for supper with your family, unless God wants you to, but show him what a true christian is, Love.

So...."If your enemy is hungry, feed him: If he is thirsty, give him drink, FOR in doing so you will heap coals of fire on his head"? What does that mean? In my humble opinion, I think it means that your fighting back at them with love. You become the "bigger man" here. You show them love, when all the show you is disrespect. You could get angry, but how does that make you any better then them? That is what they are trying to do, make you angry. I know I know, this is really been used in the past, But the saying here "WWJD" comes to mind. What would Jesus do in this situation? He never got mad at sinners, just "religious" people, trying to make a buck off of the poor. Jesus never argued with anyone, by raising His voice, trying to make His point, pointing His finger at someones face, saying things like: "You pervert, your never going to go to my Father's house, your such a sinner" "WWJD"? He acted in love to sinners, more so then He did to the religious of that day. He despised the religious leaders, who were living a lie. I know a lot about living a lie, and there is hope, but you have to change your whole life, admit your wrong. Those guys did not do that, they continued to shout THEIR "GLORY" so the whole world could hear.

I knew a guy a long time ago, we seemed to follow each other around from job to job. I drove a trash truck for 3 different companies, and eventually he got hired on also at each one. His experience was driving a pick up and large trailer and delivering trash carts to new customers, and picking up carts from newly dropped customers. I really did not like this guy. He talked all the time about how he knew everything, it seemed. I would be telling a story about what I did on vacation and he would interrupt and try and "one up" me, with his vacation to Europe, or Australia, or some place, always better then mine.
We did not get along very well. I wish I could say, that I treated him nice, made him feel uncomfortable by not letting him get to me, but I did not. I just ignored him to the point when he walked into a room I walked out. What kind of "witness" for the Lord did I have with him? Not any. If I had treated him nicer, not made fun of him, which I did a lot! Invited him to my church, just talked to him and shown some interest in the things he was talking about, I could have shared the Lord with him. But I didn't. The last time I saw him, he was working at Walmart. I chatted with him a little, and then excused myself fast. Is this what Jesus would have done? No, I am sure it is not.

How can you "heap hot coals of fire" on someone, this way? Like I said, become the bigger man, show them you care, regardless of their attitude toward you. People notice how we treat other people, they make opinions of us in a few minutes. How do we treat others, especially the ones that "rub us the wrong way"? What about the guy who is a Washington Redskin fan, or worse the one who actuality wears Oklahoma Sooner' s stuff? (Hey, I live in Austin Texas the home of the Texas Longhorns, so this is how it is). I do love you Oakies, but not when UT-OU plays, No really I would watch a game on TV sitting right next to an OU fan, argue with them about our teams, and in love console them when the sooners lose. OH this is hard, I am sorry, Lord let me love even OU fans, thank you:)) Please note this is all in fun, I have many relatives in Oklahoma and love them dearly. I would share my lunch or drink with them any-day. I hope you don't think I am serious, but there are sports fans out there who do take their rivalry way to far, and actually hate each other. Fights, deaths even result. OVER SPORTS? I love sports, but it will not change my calling to tell others, in love, about my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Just remember our actions are noticed by those that watch us. Confess to be a christian and you will be watched. They are looking for any flaw so they will feel right when they talk about those "fake Christians" Show them we really do care, we really do serve a God who loves them and we do to. Don't come across as " Holier then thou", everyone can see right through that, because no one is "holier then anyone", only by Jesus' death on the cross are any of us anything. Only through Jesus are any of us free.

Take some time today and be nice to someone you normally would ignore. Surprise them, give them a reason for believing, not accusing.

"

Now you Know.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud.

~ 1 Corinthians 13:4, NLT

OK, I am one day late with this kinda Valentines Day sorta thing. Sorry.

This is going to be a hard one for me. The Lord has laid this on my heart, and I must be very transparent here. I don't want to be, in my flesh, but I must be obedient.

I hate Valentines Day. Why? Because I have been divorced for about 5 years, and still have feelings for my ex-wife. Without a doubt, I realize we would still be together IF I had not done some of the things I did. So actually I don't hate this day, I just hate the fact that because of me, I don't have anyone to celebrate it with.

OK here comes some of the hard parts for me. Mary and I married in September of 1980 in Oklahoma City. I was in the Navy stationed aboard an Aircraft Carrier home based out of San Diego. I loved my new wife, very much. It was hard leaving her for our times at sea. The upcoming 6 month or so "Western Pacific" (WestPac) cruise was approaching, it seemed very fast. I, in my stupid selfish nature, decided that I did not want to go and leave my wife without Me, for the next 6 or so months. So I made up a story. I decided that Mary and I would move back to Oklahoma/Texas, that I would be discharged. So, I told my new wife, a great story about how I was being discharged from the Navy, and we could move back "home". She had no reason NOT to believe me, she was my new bride,and loved me why would I lie to her? (Step one: Did I really Love her? Was I lying to everyone, just because I did not want HER to be without me? The Selfishness,looking back, SUCH selfishness!!) We moved back and stayed with my folks in Silsbee Texas where my Dad was Pastor at the time. It took awhile, but the Navy sent a letter to my folks, telling them I was missing and wanted to know if I had been in contact with them.

I flew back to my ship, now in Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines. I was disciplined, busted in rank and spent the next 5 months or so on the ship. (Step 2, I now had put a nail in my marriage, a nail of mistrust.) I did this same type thing, basically a year or so later, and was sent to "Captains Mast" busted again and punished again. (Step 3: One more nail, less trust, more selfishness>} During the "Mast" I lied to the Captain and told him the reason I went AWOL was because my wife had just had her second miscarriage in a year, and I just "freaked". I thought this would give me a little pity. Over the next few years, Mary, my wife had 2 miscarriages. God was punishing me and my wife from MY own words. words of lies. (I have NEVER told anyone this, until right now).

Then the day finally came and I really did get out of the Navy. I had the real paperwork and everything. We eventually moved back to Texas and stayed with my folks for a bit. Austin, this time. We got jobs, settled in and had kids. Over the next 15 years or so, I went from job to job. I would always have a great excuse for why I was "let go", but the truth was I got tired of these jobs, and just quit. I could always lay around at home and watch TV, it would be OK,Mary had a decent job. (Steps 4,5,6,7,8,9,19.....Less and less trust, How could Mary believe a word I said?)

Over the next few years, I started stealing computer equipment from my employers, including my church, where I was employed as a maintenance worker at the time. This is the same church I still attend, that is how loving they are. I feel no judgment, or anger from anyone who knows about this. Not everyone knows, but the leaders,(Pastors, Deacons.....and a few people that were close to Mary and I). I brought back everything when this was found out and paid payment to the church for the pieces I had discarded or the ones that were out of date. My Pastor, Vic Schober, asked me to name a price I thought I should pay, what was the worth of the stuff? I always loved him for this, he showed me such love, he let me decide what was fair. I estimated $ 1,000, and paid this over the next few months.

OK I have gotten ahead of myself. About a year before all this came to light, I had stolen the stuff from the church, but had not been caught yet. I found another job, through a friend of mine from years earlier. I got hired as a large Plumbing/Air Conditioner company in Round Rock, a suburb of Austin. (Yes, Dell IS located there). I was in charge of the "Tool Room" and had a company credit card with a budget of 1% of the total income of the company, which was quite a lot. Now, knowing my background you can more then likely tell where I am going. Yes I stole from this company, stole computer equipment, stole via the credit card, stole basically anything I wanted. I got caught, because they put up a camera and saw me. I was sent to jail for about a week, my folks bailed me out, paid for a very good lawyer, and I ended up with 6 months in jail. After I was caught at the plumbing company, the church's missing computers case was pretty easy to solve.

Jail was no fun, But there was one thing I learned while there. Jesus forgives, and loves me. They had a great Chaplain, great services, great christian classes, and I devoured the word of God, I mean what else did I have to do, nothing but time. My wife, who was almost ready to divorce me saw a change in my letters to her, and in me. She took me back, picking me up when I got out of Prison. Once again life was good. I had committed myself to live for the Lord and never get in trouble again. I wish I did not have to put a BUT here, BUT it didn't last long, maybe a year. I'll save you the details, but I began wanting those things again. I began using the excuse that I was missing out by not having everything I wanted. I played Mary like an instrument and told her we needed to pay our tithes regularly, which we had not done in years. She, thinking I had changed agreed, but I must have thought she was stupid, why would she believe me? I would make a big deal out of making sure she saw me put the money in a tithe envelope, but then I would put a empty envelope in the offering plate. I then told her that I had found a part time job working for the local cable company making good money, and I would use the tithe money to buy what I wanted.(Trust? What trust?) Mary, by now could not trust me one little bit, why then would she believe such a story? She followed me to my so called job on a few Saturdays and found out what the Holy Spirit had been telling her in her spirit ,that something was not as it seemed. The story about the job was pretty unbelievable also.

Not long later my wife confronted me with my lies we were divorced. I told my wife for all our 24 years and since that I loved her. Look at the above scripture and put it into the story of my life. Where is the Patience? Only from Mary to me, Where is the kindness? Only from my wife to me. Where is the Boastfulness or the pride? Only from me to her. What was I showing to my wife and children? Selfishness, dishonesty, to do whatever you have to to get what you want. Divorce, how could my wife do anything else? What kind of a marriage did we have where she could not believe a word I told her, but only wonder what really was up? She showed me nothing but Love for 24 years, what had I showed her, besides dishonesty, lies, manipulation, greed, and selfishness?

Do you see why I waited until after Valentines day to tell this one? This is NOT a story of a love of a man for his wife. This is a story of a woman who, instead of quitting on a marriage even though her husband was a horrible person using her all the time she showed nothing but love and patience,(a kind of Love, according to the above scripture.) There is more to my story, these are only the low lights. I have struggled with Porn addiction for most of my life, and the internet has done nothing more then make this problem so much worse. Not long after Mary and I divorced I used her name and information to acquire some credit cards on line and went on a spending spree. She found out, and fought the charges and they never have found me out, I guess. I have never heard a word from anyone regarding this. More, selfishness, more deceit, more lies. I am an awful person in my self, but God loves even me. He loved Judas even after what he did, NO ONE is beyond His love. No act is over the line and can never be forgiven.

I do not want to leave at this stage, I want you to know what God has been doing for me lately. Mary and I have been divorced for about 5 years or so, and in those 5 years I have done MUCH soul searching. You know what I have found? That REGARDLESS of my past mistakes, regardless of how I treated my family, friends, co workers, .......Regardless of the fact that I stole from God's house, I stole From God himself, regardless of the fact that I used my wife, manipulated her everyday, God forgives me. Why? Because I asked Him to. How? I have NO idea. When? almost everyday, although all it takes is once, regret raises it's ugly head almost every day, and I feel the shame, the guilt, the turmoil all over again, and I ask the Lord to forgive me again. And He does.

This Valentines Day, yesterday:) You can have a love like this. One that doesn't care what you did yesterday, one that is based just on what you do right now. Jesus is waiting to forgive you, regardless of what you have done. I can say that with all truth, because look what I did, and yet He forgave and forgives me. Just talk to Him like you would talk to anyone, go ahead ask Him to forgive you of whatever, and to come into your heart and make you who He wants you to be. That's it, Just Ask, AND HE WILL>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I am in awe of my church, that I feel comfortable enough to attend there, even after what I did. BUT I am more in awe of God, that He will still sit with me, talk with me, put His hands around me and accept me as His own, even after what I did to Him. Thank you Lord.

This was very hard for me, but I know beyond any doubt, someone reading this needed to hear it. I felt God telling me to share my complete and honest story, everything everything hold nothing back. Transparent. Now you see right through me, but you can only hopefully see Jesus.

I hope you still love me, after all I have done. This is the first time I have been this completely honest, EVER. I have shared some of these things with certain people, but never all of them to everyone. I want to be an open book. Now you know.

I want to dedicate this my lives story, to my nephew Shawn, who just recently shared his honest transparent story on line for all the wold to see. Shawn you gave me the courage to do the same. Thank you for listening to Him, regardless.

If you would like to read a young man's struggle with sexual addiction, go to " www.breakingthehush.webs.com" and read my nephew's Shawn's story. If you can read it and not praise the Lord, you need help:) It takes courage and trust to be as open, honest and transparent as he has been. What Satan meant to destroy us, Jesus uses to help us reach others. Out of the ashes of our lives, comes something beautiful. Thank you for reading this, it is truth. It is what He asked of me to be, honest, so I have been. I struggle with honesty, it is harder for me to tell the truth then to make up a lie. I have lied so long, it is second nature for me. Please pray for me to be free of this bondage.

Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known to God;

I have never liked this verse. Yes, I am always anxious about something. And here is Paul, a instrument of God, telling me that I am totally doing it ALL wrong. Isn't Anxiety the way of the world? Aren't we supposed to "Want", the latest thing? Doesn't society tell us it is OK to "lust" after the things of this world? If I don't have the same truck that a celebrity drives, with 4 wheel drive, more torque then the other guys, more payload then the other trucks out there, more handling, better gas mileage..... Then I need to find a way of acquiring that truck. I need to stress over it, be anxious about it, make it happen, then stress over how I am going to make the payments. Isn't THAT the American way? Why would I need 4 wheel drive anyway, I live in the city and the roughest terrain I drive over is the speed bumps at the shopping center?

I remember when I was about 13, my folks were in the market to buy a new car. This was about 1970 or so. We test drove several cars, one, in particular I remember because it was a Cadillac. My sister and I loved that car, it had so much room in the back seat, four doors, automatic locks, even cup holders in the back seat. We ended up getting a more practical car, because that was the smartest move. At least that is what our folks told us. Years later, my Mom mentioned to my sister, that she had asked God to help her decide what to do. He told her that whatever she could trust Him for, was the right move. So, she realized, the less stressful decision for her and my Dad, was to get a car that got better gas millage and was not as expensive. About a year or so later, gas prices rose like never before, in my lifetime. Looking back, I know God would have provided even if we had bought the Cadillac, but it was easier to not have to be anxious about it.

It's really easy to be anxious for things these days. We see the condition the world is in and headed, and are anxious to get outta here. "Please Lord, come quickly". There is a reason Jesus Christ has not come back for us yet, and only God knows the reason. He has everything planned out, every detail, every life. You see, when Jesus does return for His children, it will be glorious for us, but terrible for those left behind. (Why do I always think of Kurt Cameron when I hear that phrase?) Many people will have just set there destination, and it is forever. God, although, happy to have us in Heaven with Him, will mourn the loss, and eternal separation of those that have made their choice. Yeah, I know, there will be those that will die for Jesus during this time and come to Heaven. But this percentage, I believe will be very small. I mean, if you cannot live for Him before, what are the chances your going to do so after the Resurrection?

OK, Anxiety, one of the main contributors to heart attacks, strokes, and many many illness' in our world. And thousands of years, before we had any idea about high blood pressure, high cholesterol, good or bad, calories, ................Paul tells us through the Holy Spirit, to stop being anxious. God knew this would make us sick, kill us if not stopped. So what was Doctor Paul's prescription? ..."in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." In the "Chris Version" of Philippians (available in the lobby for only 29.95 :)) "Don" worry about anything, just bring all your needs and wants, make a list if you want, to ME, and thank me for answering in advance as a act of trust on your part, and then sleep peaceably knowing that I will answer." I used the term here: "Needs AND WANTS", this does not mean be selfish and tell God your Christmas list from a seven year old. You see, when we start to grow in the Lord, our wants and our needs, start to line up.

Another thing, I believe, Paul with the anointing of the Holy Spirit, is trying to tell us is this: "How can you completely trust the Lord your God, if you worry over things that He will take care of by just asking? If your so worried about things, then how can you trust? I don't believe trust and worry can occupy the same brain at the same time. You either trust, or you worry, not both. By worrying, are you doubting? Yes, your showing God that you do not trust that He can do what He has said He will do. You have NO idea how much that last statement has "stepped on my toes".


I come from a long line of "worriers" not "warriors", but "Worriers". My Dad worry's about everything, literately everything. He knows this goes against everything God stands for, but it seems he can't help himself. Our family has "Put up" with him for our whole lives, but we have not prayed for him to have peace from worrying, nearly as much as complained. My Mom, did, she prayed for her husband to feel God's touch, and KNOW HIM so deeply that he could not worry. And through the years, this has helped, until another bill came due, and Dad fell into anxiety again. I believe Worry,for my Dad is an addiction, it is someplace familiar, safe. My Sister and I say all the time that if Dad has nothing to worry about he will make something up. I feel this is a bondage he has gotten into over years and years. I pray for my Dad to be released from the bondage of worry right now, Lord Jesus. And I pray that anyone who is reading this right, and also the writer, me, will not worry, but in "thanksgiving, with prayer and supplication let OUR request be known to, THE ONLY LIVING God"

I believe the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (In God) would apply here. You can do one of two things, Worry or Be Happy. Worry, or anxiety robs your joy, your happiness everything that God wants to give you. How can we have a Hope in God, if we are worried about the fact that there is a thunderstorm forecast for tonight, and power might go off? Where is our hope when there is enough money to pay God's tithes, or the car payment but not both? What do you do? You ask God, and I have done this, He told me to pay Him what is His, and He would take care of the rest. He did, I paid my tithes, and got an unexpected bonus at work for making "Employee of the Month, (The only time I ever made "Employee of the Month.) From our blessings He expects US to bless others.

It's hard most of the time, to not worry about stuff, But it is honoring God when we don't. To completely trust the Lord, is to Praise Him. To trust Him, though, is to listen to Him. How can He answer our needs if we don't follow His lead? AND, this is important: Listen for Him to tell US when someone else has a need, and He wants US to help them. God uses US to help each other. So He will bless us, help us, show us that we are loved by Him. Then He expects us to pass it own by helping others in need, or "Just Because">

One Last note here: To my fried Kurt, Please notice there is not ONE reference to a TV show, or movie in this entire blog:) I am making progress:) Love ya brother. I appreciate anyone who reads these blogs, I know without a doubt, they help me, and hopefully you too. Thanks guys.