Put down that stone

We've all made mistakes and have done things that we end up regretting. It's not as important as to what specifically the mistake was (because we can't undo it), it's more about how we bounce back after we acknowledge the mistake and ask for forgiveness. Essentially, it's understanding how to apply the principle of "Lessons Learned" in order to not become a repeat offender.

True Story:
Several years ago a woman was driving in her car. Without warning her windshield exploded and something very hard hit her square in the face. The woman (I'll call her Deb), ended up undergoing facial reconstruction surgery. Deb was hit by a frozen turkey that was thrown from the rear window of a speeding car by a teenage college student out for a joyride with friends.

The teenager was indicted on a first-degree assault charge and could have faced up to 25 years in prison. And then Deb stepped in. She saw the young man for the first time coming out of the courtroom. He stopped, choking and crying as he tried to apologize to her.

For an intensely emotional few minutes, Deb embraced him tightly, stroked his face and patted his back as he sobbed uncontrollably. The young man kept saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," the woman he could have killed repeated, "It's OK. It's OK. I just want you to make your life the best it can be."

Then, at Deb's insistence, prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain for the young man, giving him six months in jail and five years' probation instead of 25 years in prison. One man later said that in his 30 years as a prosecutor "he had not seen such a forgiving victim."

* * *

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" ⁶They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

¹¹"No one, sir," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

John 8:1-11

Final Thoughts:

Many times in life we instinctively pick up that stone in preparation to declare judgment on another persons actions. One thing we must remember is that God wants us to soften our hearts and provide love and encouragement to one another. We are blessed that our Lord allows us to redeem ourselves and is a God of second chances.

There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins.

Ecclesiastes 7:20

So the next time someone makes a mistake...instead of pointing a finger at them, offer them guidance and support out of compassion for their mistake. Because one day we all will stand before the final judge and will be held accountable for all of our actions.

God bless you. And this if for His Glory!

Out of the Blue

A young women was working her way through college as a waitress (I'll call her Sally). Sally was hard working, dependable, always on time for her shift, and would even help out with other duties such as the register and hostessing when the restaurant was short staffed. One day, at the end of her shift, she was approached by the owner of the restaurant. The owner was a very savvy businessman and had about five additional restaurant chains across the state. The owner was well aware of Sally's work ethic and that she had been using her job as a waitress to help pay her way through college. Out of the blue the owner said that he was opening up a new restaurant a few miles down the road and wanted Sally to be the General Manager.

At first Sally thought it was a bad joke. But the look in his eyes told her that he was far from joking. They talked for another ten minutes and Sally was able to get most of her questions answered. Sally was very scared...it was a big step for her. The reality was that she was a waitress and she wondered if she really even had what it takes to run a restaurant?

In the end, Sally accepted the position and went on to run a very successful establishment.

* * *

Sally's story is very similar to when God sent the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth. God had chosen Mary to carry and give birth to His only son, Jesus. He picked Mary out of all the other women in the world. When Mary heard this message she was both frightened and uncertain how to respond.

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke1:28-33

Of course, we all know that Mary accepted God's chosen path for her. It would have been very normal for her to feel great joy and fear at this sudden "out of the blue" encounter with an angel.

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Luke1:38

We can only imagine what was going through Mary's head after Gabriel told her the good news. One thing is for certain...Mary was and is favored by God. It really cannot be argued that Mary is the most important female character not only the Bible, but in the history of the world.

The importance of Mary cannot go unnoticed and to this day this is exactly why many people pray the Rosary. The purpose behind the Rosary prayer is to ask the Holy Mother to pray for us. It's always a blessing to have someone pray for us and even better if that person is Mary!

Mary has God's ear and by saying the Rosary we ask her to keep us in her prayers. My challenge is for you to say the Rosary prayer at least once this week.

Final thought:

The next time you receive some news that frightens you - remember that God has a specific plan for all of us. Stay gracious, humble, and accepting of Him and you will continue to find favor in His eyes.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Knowing how it's going to end

I see many interesting things on my drive to work. This morning I saw a van with a vanity license plate. The plate read "DTH N TAX" which is eluding to the Death and Taxes quote by Benjamin Franklin which goes...

"but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Mr. Franklin got two-thirds of it right. The part that's missing, of course, is Jesus. There is nothing more certain in life than Jesus. He is our guide, our protector, our conscience, our inspiration, and our comfort. That much I'm certain.

When it comes to "Certainty" the entire Book of Revelation is based on certain events that will transpire before, during, and after the final coming of Christ. Since Revelation details these event for us the only unanswered question is when...

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.
-Mark 13:32-33

Continuing on with this thought let's say someone records (DVR, Tivo, etc.) a sports game from their television. Before they get to watch the game, they hear who wins. So, the final outcome is already known and whether they choose to watch the game is up to them.

We have an advantage that we know for absolute certainty that Christ will come again. Our DVR is the Bible. It's God's pre-recorded message to us. It gives us the knowledge to follow the path to righteousness. We know how the story is going to end...whether or not we continue to educate ourselves with God's word is up us. But one thing is for certain...Jesus is the only way.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
-John 14:6

This post was inspired by my best friend who always says, "Jesus is the only way."

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

I Have Everything

The following is by Dr. David Jeremiah:

Erma Bombeck once wrote about the subject of thankfulness, saying that when she forgot to be thankful among cancer survivors, she would hear the voice of a particular eight-year-old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system. When Christina was asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought for a moment and then responded by saying "I don't know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!"

Sometimes a momentary thought about someone other than ourselves is all it takes to remind us to be thankful for what we have and who we are. In the same way, when we turn our attention away from ourselves and upward, toward the Giver of all life, the many blessings He has poured out on us come rushing back and overwhelm us with thanksgiving.

If we find ourselves complaining about our situation or longing for a better life, we need to take a few moments to worship God and allow His goodness to wash over us until we are consumed with gratitude.

The optimist says, the cup is half full. The pessimist says, the cup is half empty. The child of God says, my cup runneth over.
-Anonymous

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

The Fear of God

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge
Proverbs 1:7




Some redefine the fear of God for believers to “respecting” Him. While respect is definitely included in the concept of fearing God, there is more to it than that. A biblical fear of God, for the believer, includes understanding how much God hates sin and fearing His judgment on sin—even in the life of a believer. Hebrews 12:5-11 describes God’s discipline of the believer. While it is done in love (Hebrews 12:6), it is still a fearful thing. As children, the fear of discipline from our parents no doubt prevented some evil actions. The same should be true in our relationship with God. We should fear His discipline, and therefore seek to live our lives in such a way that pleases Him.

Believers are not to be scared of God. We have no reason to be scared of Him. We have His promise that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We have His promise that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Fearing God means having such a reverence for Him that it has a great impact on the way we live our lives. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe.
-Excerpt from gotquestions.org

By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for,
and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.
Proverbs 16:6

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Procrastination

When Jan and Barb moved in together, they decided to set up a joint bank account where they both deposited money to pay rent and utilities. One month, Jan ran short of money and wrote a check from their bill-paying account. She planned to replace the money several days later when she got paid.

Jan intended to tell Barb about this, but she knew Barb would not be pleased. So Jan wanted to wait for the best time to break it to Barb. The first day seemed no good because Barb had a really rough day at work and she was already irritated. The second day seemed no better because they only saw each other for a few minutes while Barb was getting ready to go out on a date. By the third day, Jan had put it off for so many days that she sank into her comfortable TV-watching spot after work and forgot to mention it.

So, Barb wrote out a check to pay a utility bill without realizing there weren’t enough funds to cover it. The check bounced, and it cost them additional fees to clear up the bounced transaction.

* * *

In the Book of Exodus, Rameses (the Pharaoh of Egypt) futilely attempts to keep the Israelites as slaves after Moses continued to warn him that God's will was for His people to be released. Because of Pharoah's hardened heart, it took God (working through Moses) 10 plagues to finally convince Pharaoh to free the Isrealites. The 10th plague was the death of every first born son (also known as the Passover). The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb and upon seeing this, the Spirit of the Lord would pass over their home. Hence the term Passover.

Essentially, Rameses procrastinated in his decision to allow the Isrealites to leave. In doing so the Egyptians paid a terrible price and it took the death of his first born son (and heir) to finally convince him.

Although the Bible doesn't mention the word procrastination, it does make mention of the fact to not delay in such things as reconciling with others. Matthew 5:23-25 Sometimes, procrastination is a form of laziness and the Bible has much to say about that as well. Proverbs 15:19; 18:9


Dictionary.com defines procrastination as:

1.To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

2.To postpone or delay needlessly.

Opportunities that we have today, may not be there tomorrow. Let's try to remember to make the most out of each day.

13 Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." ¹⁴ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James 4:13-14

I'll close this out by sharing message that I saw on a bumper sticker the other day...

"Those that seek God at the 11th hour end up dying at 10:30."

God bless you. And this is for His Glory.

Serving Others

Little Jimmy had lived on the streets since he was 8 years old and today was his 10th birthday. But, to Jimmy, that didn't really matter much at all. The only thing that mattered to him was that the local food bank would be opening it's doors at 6pm sharp. Jimmy looked forward to Thursday evenings because each week he was able to go down and get a nice hot meal for free.

Jimmy arrived at the food bank around 5pm and there was already a line of about 30 other homeless people. During his weekly visits to the food bank, Jimmy had met a wonderful older lady named Teresa. Teresa was in her 70's and came down every Thursday evening to help pass out food. She always smiled and hugged Jimmy when he came in. On most occasions Jimmy came more to see Teresa than he did for the meal itself. She was like a grandmother to him. She was always so kind and would often bring him a blanket, box of crackers, or a 6 pack of Dr. Pepper, which was Jimmy's favorite!

Finally, the doors opened and Jimmy was pushed inside by the crowd behind him. Like a herd of cattle they lined up and received their hot plates of food. But one thing was missing...tonight Teresa was no where to be found. It was then that Jimmy felt an arm touch his shoulder. Smiling, he whirled around thinking it was Teresa. Another familiar older lady named Beatrice bent down to Jimmy's height and struggled with a smile. "I'm sorry Jimmy." The women said, as wetness began to swirl up in her foggy eyes. "Teresa won't be coming here any longer. God called her home last night." Jimmy unconsciously dropped his plate. It was the only hot meal he would have for another week. He cried bitterly for the rest of that night.

* * *

Many years later Jimmy sat behind a polished wooden desk. Numerous certificates and accolades hung from his wall proving he was a well educated man. He was now the Executive Vice President of a large Fortune 200 Technology company. Jimmy or "Big Jim" as he was called across the enterprise, was known for getting teams to deliver on schedule regardless of how bad the situation was. Basically, he came in and "corrected" projects that were at risk of not meeting customer deadlines.

Today, he was getting ready to speak with one of his company's project managers. This particular young lady had been with the company for less than a year. More importantly, this particular software project she was managing was over budget, behind schedule, and the customer was very close to pulling the plug.

Big Jim was getting himself pumped up to put this lady in her place. His plan was to bombard her with several questions that she could not answer and then degrade every decision she had made on the project. Finally, he was going to fire her and take over the project himself. He had done it many times before and this time was going to be no different.

Big Jim motioned for the woman to come into his office. She sat down and smiled. Unlike many of the other times he'd done this, Big Jim noticed something strangely different in that smile that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"I'm Teresa, Teresa Myers, she said, extending her hand." Big Jim wasn't accustomed to his "victims" talking first and for the first time in many years he was caught a little off guard. Without even realizing what he was saying, he responded, "I'm Jimmy, errr I mean Jim. Call me Jim." He stated, trying to compose himself and remain in "Executive mode".

"Oh." Teresa replied with a smile. "My grandfathers name was Jimmy and I'm actually named after my grandmother." Jim tried to act interested and nodded as he took a drink of the Dr. Pepper can on his desk. "And wouldn't you know", she continued, pointing at his drink. "Dr. Pepper was her favorite drink also. She use to take 6 packs down the food bank every Thursday and give them to the orphans."

Instantly, Jim's body went numb. He slowly lowered the can (which now was shaking in his hand) and leaned forward. It took him several seconds to speak and Teresa patiently sat through the silence as he brought back a buried memory. When Jim finally composed himself, he looked Teresa square in the eye and said, "Let's see how the two of us can get this project back on track."

In this story, Big Jim is reminded of the kindness that the old woman (Teresa) gave to him each time he visited the local food bank. She didn't have to show him the kindness that she did, but without even knowing it she changed a young orphans life. After her death, it was then that Little Jimmy no longer had a desire to go to the food bank. Losing Teresa actually motivated him to get off the streets and make a better life for himself. Once Jim realized that he was speaking to Teresa's granddaughter, his heart was immediately flooded with compassion and he decided to help (and not fire) this young project manager.

If we look at Mark 10:35-45 James and John boldly ask Jesus to allow one of them to sit at His right hand and the other on His left in Heaven. Jesus clears up the "I want to be the greatest" attitude by saying...

whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Mark 10:43-45

The Lesson:

The word "ministry" in the New Testament translates to mean "servanthood in the service of love". We might often find more joy in ministering to the needs of others rather than to our own. It may not be an immediate satisfaction, but you can be certain it will be felt by the person(s) on the receiving end.

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
1 Peter 4:10

Ultimately, it would be very difficult to imagine a world without people like Teresa in it. Those who volunteer their time for the needs of the poor are favored in God's eyes. If the Lord Jesus Christ came to serve others, then what should our role be towards one other?

In the end, Jim learned that we all become great in God's eyes when we help other people become greater than ourselves.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

The Innocence of a Child

A small child walked daily to and from school. Though the weather one morning was questionable and clouds were forming, this child made the daily trek to the elementary school. As the day progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning. The mother was worried that her child would be frightened walking back home from school, and she herself feared the electrical storm might harm her child.

Following the roar of the thunder, lightning would cut through the sky like a flaming sword. Being concerned, the mother got into her car and drove along the route to her child's school. Soon she saw her small child walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. One followed another, each time her child stopping, looking at the streak of light and smiling. Finally, the mother called and asked, "What are you doing?" Her child answered, "God keeps taking pictures of me."

* * *

The innocence of a child is heartwarming and so very enjoyable to be around. However, it's not long before they grow up, have their own views, and become responsible for their own actions. But, before this ever happens, a child starts off life totally dependent upon his/her parent(s). This dependency is not just during a time of convenience, it's a constant dependency that lasts for many years. Children have a very pure and unfiltered way of looking at the world. They are free from malice, do not hold grudges, do not desire authority or riches, do not lust, are teachable, and provide unconditional love. But again, they are 100% dependent upon their parents.

And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 18:3

When Jesus spoke about this, His message was focused on teaching His children about how we should act if we want a chance to enter into His Kingdom. The message focuses on two key points:

1) Our hearts and minds must change like those of a child. Not in a childish sense, but in the sense of being free from hate, envy, malice, seduction, greed, and all evil desires.

2) Being totally dependent upon God and trusting Him as a child unconditionally trusts his/her parents.

3) Humbling ourselves and removing pride from our hearts

These three acts of obedience will not only change your own outlook on life, they will also change those who are influenced by you. Don't be surprised when you start to see more blessings being unexpectedly handed your way.

For the full reading click the link:
Matt 18:1-9

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Favorite Versus Part 2

I found each of these passages to have a very similar 'core' message on how we should be living. Just click the passage below and it will take you to it. Enjoy!

Doing What is Good
Titus 3:1-11

Rules for Holy Living
Col 3:1-17

Do with all your heart
Col 3:23-25

The Parable of the Sower
Luke 8:1-15


God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Pain versus Pleasure

World renown motivational speaker Anthony "Tony" Robbins often talks about a Pain versus Pleasure principle that seems to be ingrained in each and everyone of us. Basically, it goes like this...

If we ask ourselves the question "Why do we do the things we do?", it seems complicated, but actually, it has a very simple answer. The answer is to either avoid pain or gain pleasure. Think about this for a minute.

For example - If the only way that I can go to the gym and workout would be to get up at 4am versus 6am, then the question I will ask myself is "Is it worth it?" But, what I'm really determining is whether or not the pain of getting up two hours earlier is worth the pleasure of working out. Not only that, but do I want to do this on a consistent basis?

If the pain is greater than the pleasure, then I will stay in bed. If the pleasure of working out is greater, then I will force myself to get up. It's really that simple.

The same can hold true in terms of eating. For example, will I get more pleasure from eating a candy bar or a carrot...or would I rather just eat nothing at all?

The Bible talks about how Pain and Pleasure keep us from entering through the narrow gate. Many times this comes into play when people start going outside of the status quo and talking more openly about Jesus. There are many Christians "in this boat" (I should know, I use to be one of them) that don't like talking about Christ and either get embarrassed, angry, or turned off.

²⁰The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
Mathew 13:20-21

To elaborate, this verse from Matthew is basically pointing out that many hear the Word, but then tribulation, persecution, isolation, etc. occur on account of the Word and they fall away. This is where the pain versus pleasure principle kicks in. Because we are either thinking short term and trying to please men. Or we are thinking long term - standing firm and carrying forward with God's Word.

²⁸Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28

Sometimes we may think that people are driven away from God by pain. I'd argue that more people are lured away by pleasures. Earthly pleasures are very unlikely to push people closer to God. When things are going well, we tend to forget who is pulling the strings and even when things are not going so well, we often lose faith and may not try as hard as we should to rectify our situation through prayer.

There are always going to be perils in life. The temptation to receive praise or acceptance from others will remain a constant challenge. Especially if it means that you have to take sides. It's only through faith and prayer that courage is granted and perseverance will win.

³³But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Matt10:33

In my humble opinion, a little bit of pain now is worth an eternity's worth of pleasure. What do you think?

God bless you. And this is for His Glory

The Tenth Percentile

Parents know that kids will say anything in order to get what they want. One example of an age old promise is when a child asks to get a dog for a pet. The child makes promises to walk the dog, clean up after it, feed it, let it sleep in their bed, etc. But we all know that when it comes down to it that the parents end up taking care of the dog. But that's okay...they're just kids.

Even as adults we think that we need certain things and even promise ourselves that if were to get it, that we would be grateful. Another example of this is when someone decides to buy a treadmill. Treadmills are bought with the best of intentions, but they usually end up turning into a coat rack within a few weeks. This is typical human behavior that we all experience. We yearn for something and once we get it, the elegance of it seems to quickly diminish. Either that, or we convince ourselves that it was never that great to begin with.

Let's take a look at a similar example of this from the Book of Luke.

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

¹⁴When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" ¹⁹Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well.
Luke 17:11-19

Isn't it amazing how quickly the lepers forget about Jesus and went about their merry way?

All except for one. That's one out of ten. Only one returned to Jesus to thank Him. To put salt on the wound and make it worse, this was a Samaritan, a foreigner, whom at that time was looked down upon by the people around Jerusalem.

So, the next time that you really yearn for something and end up getting it...will you fall into the tenth percentile?

God bless you. And this if for His Glory.

Unanswered Prayers

A man got off work really late one Thursday evening. He had tried everything that he could to get off earlier because halfway across the country, his son was playing in a Thursday night college football game that was being televised on ESPN and he didn't want to miss it. On top of already being late it had been storming outside with rain, thunder, and lightning over the past several hours. The drive home was slow and not only did he have to be cautious driving in the current conditions, he also had to navigate around the other drivers. As he was driving, he said a prayer to God. He asked God to allow him to get home in time to watch his son on television. The storm continued to rage as waves upon waves of lightning flashed nearby.

Finally, after a drive that normally takes him twenty minutes, he arrived at home after an hour commute. He arrived just in time to see a group of his neighbors standing with umbrellas in his driveway. They were pointing and looking at the second floor of his house. The man froze as he stepped out of his car and understood what had happened. A very large tree had been struck by lightning and had fallen onto his house. The tree had fallen directly over his living room where the man would have been sitting watching the game. The tree had caved in half the roof and knocked the top floor down into the living room area. It was easy to see that if anyone had been sitting in the living room they could not have survived.

The story above has similarities to when Jesus predicted His death to his disciples. Jesus told them that He would suffer, die, and rise from the dead. Peter was not able to accept those remarks and took Jesus aside and rebuked him. Peter was in denial and had no idea about God's master plan.

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Mark8:31-33

If Peter ended up having it his way, Jesus would have never died for our sins.

We all wish and pray for things that don't come to fruition. We must trust in God's plan and have faith that He will see us through difficult times. Forcing or going against God's plan only seems to worsen the situation. Have patience and accept the situation you are in with thankfulness and reassurance that there is a greater lesson to be learned.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Unforeseen Opportunities

Have you ever been asked or told to keep a secret? I think it's safe to say that we've all been in a situation like this at one point or another. What if it was something that you knew to be true, but you were told not to say anything to anyone else about it? This happens to kids in school all the time. Perhaps they witness a bully picking on another kid. Or notice a theft or some other wrong behavior, yet they keep quiet. Typically, the secret is kept out of personal fear for retribution...fear surrounding what could happen if the secret gets out. Consider the situation with the guards who guarded the tomb of Christ in Matthew 28:11-15. To add more context to this, let's first jump back to the event leading up to this in Matthew 28:1-10.

The Resurrection

¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

²There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

⁸So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

The Guards' Report

¹¹While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹²When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' ¹⁴If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." ¹⁵So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Can you imagine what must have been going through the minds of the guards? They personally witnessed at least one angel appear before them (for there were two, but it is unclear if the second spoke or was even seen by anyone other than Mary Magdalene at that particular time). Later, they ran back to chief priests and elders to report what they had seen. Then they were either bribed or likely even threatened not to tell anyone. Basically they were told to lie. So the guards accepted the bribe and went away. What happened to those particular guards after the resurrection is unknown. Perhaps they turned into believers and became followers of Christ. Or perhaps they just tried to forget that it had ever happened. Either way, they witnessed and heard the voice of God's angel.

In the end, this is a story about opportunity. It's obvious that the Roman guards were not expecting to have an angel appear before them. But, they had an opportunity as direct witnesses to change the beliefs of their family and friends. What would we do if we were placed in that same situation? Would we have kept quiet or spoke out? If they had kept silent as they were ordered, I wonder if they were able to sleep at night?

The point is that we never know when we'll have an opportunity to speak on Christ's behalf. Normally, opportunities are not foreseen in advance and one might suddenly present itself at a very unique or uncomfortable time. This is why we need to be ready to speak on behalf of Jesus at a moments notice. We never know when an opportunity will present itself. So speak up! Because else someone might just need to hear what you have to say. Follow Peter's advice as a guideline as the Holy Spirit speaks through him in the following verses.

¹⁵But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit

1 Peter 3:15-18

Appearances of Christ after the resurrection:

1. Mary --- John 20:10–18

2. Mary and women --- Matthew 28:1–10

3. Peter --- 1 Corinthians 15:5

4. Two disciples --- Luke 24:13–35

5. Ten apostles --- Luke 24:36–49; John 20:19–23

6. Eleven apostles --- John 20:24–31

7. Seven apostles --- John 21

8. All apostles --- Matthew 28:16–20; Mark 16:14–18

9. 500 brethren --- 1 Corinthians 15:6

10. James --- 1 Corinthians 15:7

11. All apostles --- Acts 1:4–8

12. Paul --- Acts 9:1–9; 1 Corinthians 15:8

You yourself must first believe, before you can convince others. So if you decide to speak on Christ's behalf - do so with passion. Don't sell yourself short by missing out on what was an unforeseen opportunity.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

The Journey

The record of the oldest person in the world to receive a college diploma is Nola Ochs. She received her Bachelor's degree in general studies and history from the Fort Hays State University, which is in the state of Kansas. It was a wonderful moment when the Governor Kathleen Sebelius awarded the degree to Nola Ochs and the crowd of 2176 graduates broke into a standing ovation at her achievement, which included Nola Ochs' own granddaughter Alexandra Ochs (the 21 year old graduated with her) . The ovation was actually against the rule as according to the rule no one would applaud or create any sort of mayhem in the graduation hall until the entire class was awarded the degrees. Nola Ochs was 95 years old when she received her Bachelor's degree on May 14th 2007. But that does not seem to be the end of her educational career. If things go right, she is even planning to pursue a Master's degree.

We've all had something that was really important for us to complete. Can you remember the last time that you wanted to achieve something and put everything you had into it? It might have been studying for a degree, training for a marathon, working toward a promotion, building something by hand, etc.

Whatever it might have been - you put everything you had into it. Perhaps it even consumed your daily thoughts and you even scheduled activities around it.

Yeah, we've all been there at least once.

That's the journey...and the journey is the part that we remember the most. Because once we achieve our goal (the destination), we feel relieved and proud of our accomplishment. Ultimately, it's the journey that molds us into the person that we needed to be in order to achieve our goal.

Think about how this translates in our relationship with Jesus. What if we put everything we had into following and obeying His word? How do you think you would change as a person? If we are going to be consumed with something, let's get consumed with the Holy Spirit. It's only then that we start to appreciate the challenges and difficulty of our journey. Then the Lord will reward us when we reach our final destination.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life^"will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:34-36

Each person has their own unique journey through life and not all of us are blessed with longevity. So, the question is...are we doing the things that we need to do now, in order to reach our final destination?

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

God is our Catcher

Picture yourself as a baseball player.

But you are not just ANY baseball player, you are a pitcher! It's your job to stand tall on the mound, throw strikes, and get opposing batters out. Being a pitcher, you are proud, because you have a superior arm and are always the center of attention. However, in order for you to be successful you must have excellent non-verbal communication with your catcher. The catchers responsibility is to give you a signal, (telling you what type of pitch to throw) then once he catches the ball, he'll throw it back to you. Being the proud pitcher that you are, sometimes you listen or agree with the signal your catcher gives you and sometimes you disagree and "shake him off", because you want throw an entirely different pitch.

Let's stop here for a minute...I'm going to pick this back up again, but want to briefly change gears for a moment...

How many times have worries kept you up at night?

We all experience stress in our lives and sometimes the daily struggle of life can take a toll on our bodies - spiritually, mentally, and physically. We might worry about a thousand-and-one different things ranging from...money, relationships, career, being late, children, weather, food, illness, etc. and we all handle these situations differently.

I get told by my wife all the time that I'm too laid back. She's right, I am laid back. But, I also try not to get worked up over things that might be outside of my immediate control. Worrying about something does not make the current situation any easier. In fact, it makes it more difficult because now your body is attempting to compensate for the added stress, along with trying to think through the particular problem.

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus speaks to a gathering and tells them they should not be concerned with their daily needs. He is basically telling them that worry and anxiety are fruitless emotions that cause more harm than good. He also tells them that worrying will not extend their life, so why bother?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life
Matt 6:27

When you have worries, pray to God and allow Him to deal with your worries in His own way. Transfer your worries to Him. God wants us to be dependent on Him. Remember - we are His children and He is our Father.

Now back to the pitcher story...

Since we've already established that you are the pitcher, now let's say God is your catcher. God gives you "signals" (Holy Spirit) in an attempt to tell you what type of pitch you need to throw. When you do throw it, God always catches it. Do the same with your worries, throw them to God. In your life the "bases might be loaded" and He is signaling for us to toss away our worries and He will catch them. That's how much He loves us. But, before He can take away our worries, we must first be willing to trust that He is giving us the right "signal."

Trust in the Lord and allow Him to catch your worries. He is constantly signaling us and trying to get our attention. Let us seek and find Him.

Here is the passage from Matthew that inspired this posting:

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matt 6:25-34

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

The belief and obedience connection

I believe in many things...

But, either by choice, happenstance, or lack of intention I may not always follow through and do what I'm supposed to do. Here's a short Q&A to expand upon what I mean...

Q1. Do I believe that if I drive too fast I might get pulled over by the police?
A. Yes. But, do I always obey the speed limit? Certainly not all the time.

Q2. Do I believe that I should to do what my boss tells me to do?
A. Yes. But, I may not always follow his/her line of thinking and sometimes feel that I should do things differently.

Q3. Do I believe that if I exercise and eat better, that I will be heather?
A. Yes. But, I don't always follow through and do it.

Q4. Do I believe that ignorance of the law is no excuse?
A. Probably in some cases.

Q5. Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?
A. Yes. But, do I always obey His word? No. I am a sinner.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
Romans 3:23

When we talk about belief and obedience as it pertains to God's word, it's nearly impossible to separate the two. I hear many people say, "I believe in God," then actions portray something entirely different from how the bible illustrates we should act.

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:21-23

Being obedient to God means obeying His word. In order to obey His word we first must know what His word says (and understand the meaning). In order to know what His word says we must read the bible. How else are we to understand God's word if we don't read it? His words are not hidden from us, they are very easily accessible. Just as it is with today's legal system, I believe it will be the same at the day of judgement... "Ignorantia legis neminem excusat" meaning "Ignorance of the law excuses no one."

Many people become both delighted and surprised when they begin reading God's word. The Holy Spirit begins to penetrate and suddenly a whole new perspective on life and faith come rushing in.

Remember - we are responsible for seeking the Lord and gaining knowledge of His word.

Author, Betty Miller sums it up quite nicely when she illustrates how a change must occur on our end, not on God's end. Here is a small snippet from her book titled Extremes or Balance?

"If we are not receiving the answers to our prayers, we need to allow the Word of God to change us. The Word of God never changes, and Jesus never changes; so if there is any changing to be done, it must be on our end."
-Betty Miller

For I am the Lord, I change not
Malachi 3:6a

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and for ever"
Hebrews 13:8

Remember - The Lord wants us to seek Him out and find Him.

So, let us go out and find Him.

I love those who love me,
and those who seek me find me.
Proverbs 8:17

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

10th Commandment

You decide to take a leisurely drive one evening. You feel adventurous and you go out to drive through a few towns that you've never really been to before. You enter into a nice neighborhood that slowly winds back further away from the heart of the town. It's not long before you start passing some very nice homes. Now these aren't your typical 3 bedroom, 2 story homes. You pass some lots that are a solid 2 acres deep with driveways anywhere from 50 to 150 yards long. The homes are just magnificent. Most of them are 7,000 plus square foot with at least 1 swimming pool and 4-5 car garages.

You can't help but to feel that little tug on your conscience. It's saying..."These are nice, I'd like to have one of these." In fact, the longer you drive down the road, the more you begin to do a self-evaluation. You begin to think about why you don't have the luck, brains, fame, or money to have something like this.

All of your inner thoughts are swirling because you are totally entranced by the enormity and beauty of these small mansions. You begin to think, "Wow, these people are really lucky, I wish that I could have something like this."

After you turn back toward home, you generally might have one of three reactions.

1) You are upset or depressed because you feel that you've been slighted
2) You feel thankful for the things that you have
3) It motivates you to work harder

For the purposes of this posting I'm going to focus on Option 1, as it correlates directly back to the 10th Commandment:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. Exodus20:17

The word "covet" means - "to wish" or "to desire"

In a nutshell it is Envy.

The 10th commandment is arguably one of the most difficult to follow in the times we live in. Our entire world revolves around money and materialistic things. Somehow it's gotten to be the "in thing" to have nice cars, a big home, fancy clothes, or the newest tech gadget. All of these things might be nice in the eyes of men, but I'd ask how are they used to give glory to God?

I'm not saying that having any of these things is a bad thing. But, it's something that we must carefully manage so these things do not consume our lives and become our priority. There is not a single item that a person has that God doesn't allow them to possess. All of our possessions are 'on loan'. We don't own them, God does. And in the blink of an eye and by His Will, He can take them away or multiply them tenfold.

Let's try to remember to give thanks everyday for the things that God has blessed us with. I promise you there are so many people in a far worse situations.

To put things into perspective:

Approx 3-5 % of the worlds population have internet access. And only about 25% of the worlds population sleep in their own bed at night and only about 30% of the worlds population are rich enough to have a bank account.

Final Thoughts

In retrospect, the 10th Commandment is really the first stop on the "sin express". By the word "express" I mean that it will take you down quickly...and once you hop on board, don't expect to get off anytime soon. Envy will lead to greed. Greed could lead to lying, selfishness, or theft...and these could lead to far worse things.

The next time you are in a situation where you start to feel envious, stop for a moment to tell God about the top 2 or 3 things that you are most thankful for.

Let's remember to have patience and enjoy the gifts that God has given us. We never know how long He's going to allow us to keep these gifts, or when He will ultimately call us home to final judgment.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Never judge a book by its cover

A older man pulls into a car dealership in his 12 year old Hyundai. Like hungry sharks, the always eager salesmen look over the potential buyer. The man is dressed in old sweat pants, a v-neck undershirt, and sneakers with an emerald stain (no doubt after years of cutting grass).

Quickly, the group of sharp dressed salesmen lose interest and go back to their water cooler discussions or start surfing ESPN.com on their iPhones.

The old man enters the dealership and literally has to tap a salesman on the shoulder in order to get his attention. As the salesman turns (we'll call him Dave) he offers a half-hearted smile, and can hear his buddies snickering in the background. This is going to be such a waste of his time he thinks to himself.

Just then another man pulls into the parking lot in a 2 year old Lexus. Before he even steps one foot out of the car, Dave feels a rush of wind as his associates sprint to meet the potential buyer. They are literally fighting over this guy.

The old man smiles at Dave and asks to see some of the higher end vehicles. Dave sighs and waves his hand for the old man to follow. After 15 minutes looking over various cars (Dave had finished giving the old man the revised version of his sales pitch 14 minutes earlier) the old man stuns him with a sudden remark.

"I'll take 3 of these." The old man says. "1 is for my daughter, the other is for my grandson, the other is for my wife of 35 years."

Dave is shocked and pauses for a minute just to make sure the old man isn't pulling his leg (these are $55k cars for crying out loud, is this guy serious he asks himself).

"Is cash okay?" The old man asks. "I'd like to get this taken care of before the end of the day. I'd like to surprise them before they get home."

Later that day, after the old man had left, Dave is finishing up his paperwork and he notices one of his buddies, Ralph, (the one who was lucky enough to get to the Lexus driver first) comes over, sits in the chair across from him and just stares.

"What?" Dave asks.

"I didn't sell a darn thing today," Ralph replied, as he tapped his lips with his finger, eying Dave up and down. "But you Dave, you get this old nobody who comes from nowhere and he buys not 1, not 2, but 3 cars from you...like that! (snapping his fingers). Dave just sat there, shrugged his shoulders, and marked it up to dumb luck.

Later that night Dave was cleaning out his bookshelf. He had just bought a $95 book titled, 'The Wine Connoisseurs Encyclopedia.' It was a nice thick hardcover book that he had been wanting for quite some time. After today's sale, the commission gave him the flexibility to purchase it. As Dave wiggled the book into the shelf he accidentally knocked over another book. It was an old bible that had been passed down from his father. Dave had never really opened it, mostly because he felt that he couldn't really relate to any of the stories. The bible was lying page up and as Dave reached down he noticed the page had opened to a chapter in book of Romans. For some reason that he could not understand, Dave began reading the page starting at verse 9.

⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. ¹⁰ You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. ¹¹ It is written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.' "
¹² So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Romans14:9-12

Then and there Dave got on his knees and began to weep. He knew that he had unjustly judged the old man at the dealership earlier that day. And for some reason that he could not comprehend, God blessed him with the sale of 3 cars.

Dave spent the remainder of the night reading his fathers old bible. God had taught him a valuable lesson to never judge someone by their appearance...

Let us remember to do the same.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Road Trip

Do you remember the last time you went on a long road trip in your car? At some point along the way you had to make the decision whether or not to get gas. Depending on where you live and where your going, chances are that you can find a gas station with little difficulty.

For this example, let's say that you are going on a cross country road trip....

You fill up your gas tank and hit the road, your tires are smoking as you wave goodbye. Throughout the trip there are several places you could stop for gas; however, you decide to pass these up for now under the certainty that you'll come across several other gas stations sometime down the road.

You are just having too much fun in your new red convertible to take the time to stop for gas. The top is down, the wind is blowing through your hair, your sunglasses look cool, the sun is out, people are waving and admiring your sweet ride.

After a few hours you notice that the thrill of the ride has zoned you out and you suddenly realize that you are lost somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert. That's 25,000 square miles of sand, rocks, and blistering sun. Immediately you realize that your flashy convertible is not very good at keeping the sun out. To make matters worse you look down at the gas gauge and it shows near empty. The plethora of gas stations that you passed are now no where in sight. You are lost, alone, low on gas and no ones going to hear to hear your cries for help. So what do you do?

You turn to the only person that can help you...God. And so you begin to pray.

The story above is an example of when some people decide to pray. Why is it that the situation has to be serious or even life threatening before people suddenly "change their tune" and turn and toward the Lord?

This is a classic example of using God as a toy. In other words, the toy is always there, if you want to play with it you can, but most of the time you don't use it. It's exactly the the same way that a desperate act of prayer works. We use the Lord as a "God-in-the-Box" toy. Winding him up when we need him and then suddenly He pops out of the box and comes to our rescue. Do you think this is how God wants to work in our lives?

God looks forward to us praying to Him everyday. He expects it so that He can help us understand our daily direction. If we don't pray, then we will mostly likely pass up all those opportunities (gas stations) and some day realize that we've been "zoned out" for years and are suddenly in immediate and desperate need of Him.

Don't wait until the desperation sets in to pray and ask God for direction. Pray daily for the wisdom, patience, love, and guidance that only He can deploy into your life.

Seek Him daily and you will never get lost.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Ever Vigilant

There is an old native American (Cherokee Indian) legend about a youth's rite of passage into manhood. His father takes him deep into the forest one evening, blindfolds him and sits him on a stump. The boy is required to sit there all night and cannot remove his blindfold until the sun comes up in the morning. He also cannot cry for help and must persevere any encounter. If he survives the night, he will become a man.

As night comes the boy's senses scramble in his mind and his ears are on full alert. He hears the rustling of leaves, the howl of the wind, the beats of heavy wings, and footsteps of unknown creatures. The boy is naturally terrified and wild animals must surely be all around him. Perhaps even another human being might do him harm. But, he must sit there stoically, never removing his blindfold. It is the only way he can become a man.

Finally, after a night that seems to have lasted a week, the sun rises and he removes his blindfold. It is then that he discovers his father sitting on a stump next to him. He had been keeping watch throughout the night, protecting his son from harm.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 (NIV)

We too, are never alone. For our Heavenly Father is consistently watching over us even during our lowest times when we feel lost, depressed, and alone. Even the times that we pray and do not think that He hears us...He does. Remember that even Jesus felt alone and abandoned on the cross...

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Matthew 27:46 (NIV)

God will not forsake us. What we need to remember is that everything is working according to His master plan. We may not know the reason(s) why things happen the way they do, but we must maintain our faith in His plan and stay faithful to His words.

May you walk in faith even during your most troubled times.

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Come Home

The following short story was posted by Nancy Leigh DeMoss on her site: http://www.seekinghim.com/

(I added the 2 passages from Ephesians)

Lorna Wilkinson had just left her alcoholic husband of twenty-one years when she came across our radio program, Revive Our Hearts. There she learned about the forgiveness God is willing to extend to us. Soon she came to faith in Christ.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

Right about that time she also received news that her husband had suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital. She was convicted to go there and forgive him for the pain and chaos he had brought to their home.

“The Lord spoke in my heart and said, ‘Go and whisper in your husband's ear that he doesn't have to worry about a place to live, to come home.’"

Lorna’s life and marriage were miraculously transformed. Four months later her husband had another heart attack and was suddenly taken home to be with the Lord.

Now Lorna says, “I can’t imagine where I’d be today if I hadn’t made the choice to forgive.”

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)

Final Thoughts and remembering 911:
Sometimes forgiveness is the one of the hardest things for us to do. Many times we devote "lip service" to the act of forgiveness, but in our hearts we may not truly mean it.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Psalm 139:23 (NIV)

God makes it very clear that if we do not forgive others their trespasses that He will not forgive our own. (Luke6:37 & Matt6:15).

On this 8th anniversary of the Sept. 11th 2001 attacks, take a moment to stop and pray for the families of those that lost friends and loved ones. Then pray for those that selflessly came to the rescue of those in need (firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and all volunteers). Finally, take another moment to pray for those that committed that terrible act. There cannot be any room in our hearts to say "never will I forgive them for what they've done". The Lord will judge each of us and He alone will have vengeance.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back,”says the Lord.
Romans 12:19 (NIV)

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Obedience

In the book of Genesis, God places what could be called the "test of all tests" upon Abraham. God tells Abraham to journey into the land of Mount Moriah. There Abraham was to build an alter and kill his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God.

"Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Genesis22:2

Without hesitation Abraham left the next morning with his son and two other servants. After a 3 day journey he came to the place where the Lord told him to go.

Then Abraham took his son up the mountain, built an alter for the Lord, bound his son, and set him on the alter. Before Abraham was able to deliver the death blow an angel of the Lord called out to him...commanding him to stop.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis22:12-13

Does this selfless act sound familiar?

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John3:16

Just like Abraham was willing to do, God offered up His own son to die on the cross in order to wash away our sins. Jesus paid the ultimate price in order for us to be cleansed and have an opportunity for eternal salvation. God was willing to do this out of love for us, even though man was consistently disobedient to Him.

How many times have we decided not to give our our time and efforts to God? How many times have we decided to either skip church, not pray before a meal, go to bed without saying a prayer, or be selfish when we know we shouldn't? God doesn't ask us to sacrifice a loved one in order to prove our love for Him. All He asks is that we obey Him. How do we do this? We do it by following Gospel. Some might respond to that by saying, "Well the Bible is a big book, how do I know where to start?"

Start with refreshing your mind with the 10 commandments. See Deuteronomy 5:6-21 to review the Commandments.

The following quoted excerpt was taken from gotquestions.org and explains the difference between the 10 Commandments and the new covenant that Jesus gave us.

"Many people mistakenly look at the Ten Commandments as a set of rules, that if followed, will guarantee entrance into heaven after death. In contrast, the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to force people to realize that they cannot perfectly obey the Law (Romans 7:7-11), and are therefore in need of God’s mercy and grace. Despite the claims of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16, no one can perfectly obey the Ten Commandments (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The Ten Commandments demonstrate that we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and are therefore in need of God’s mercy and grace, available only through faith in Jesus Christ."

"Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law of Moses (Matthew 5:17) and create a new covenant between God and His people. The old covenant was written in stone, but the new covenant is written on our hearts, made possible only by faith in Christ, who shed His own blood to atone for the sins of the world. Luke 22:20 says, "After supper, [Jesus] took another cup of wine and said, 'This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you – an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you.'"

Final Thoughts:

In the days to come, let's try to free ourselves from the heavy pressures and stale promises of the world. Instead, let's revisit the 10 commandments and really think about how we can obey/apply each commandment in our daily lives. If we don't know God's laws then how can we obey them?

You've probably heard the old saying... "The only thing certain in life are taxes and death." We all know that 10 out of 10 people will die. But, will 10 out of 10 people enter into eternity? Not likely if we don't read, repent, and release ourselves to follow God's laws.

On the day of judgment how will you respond if God asks you if you wholeheartedly followed His commandments?

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Revelation 22:14

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

The Wisdom of Hesitation

Please bear with me on the formatting for this post. The preview looks fine, but for some reason I am unable to get it to post in the proper format.

The following story is provided by Jim Shaver from West Virginia!

"On a cross-country journey in the summer of 2009, I stopped at a rural
New Mexico freeway rest area. I noticed an elderly gentleman with a
small dog climb into his pickup truck and leave. Moments later an
elderly woman approached the parking space with a confused expression. I
asked if she was looking for the man in the white pickup.

She confirmed and I explained I'd watched him drive onto the highway. It
was her husband; she asked to use my cell phone. When she dialed his
number his phone rang in her purse; she was unable to call him.

For nearly an hour, I and several truck drivers patiently waited with
her. Quite a crowd gathered. At times, she appeared angry and
frustrated, other times more confused and worried. Finally, a truck
driver and wife escorted her to their rig for coffee, while he used his
CB to notify other drivers to be on the lookout.

Then I saw the white truck pull back into the same parking spot. A
frantic elderly man jumped out. I let him know where his wife was. I let
his wife know her husband had returned.

They both hurriedly approached each other from across the lot until only
a few steps apart. Suddenly, they both stopped and just looked at each
other. The standoff lasted several seconds, neither uttering a word.

Then the man began to weep. He ran to her arms and sobbed
uncontrollably. After several attempts of his unintelligible attempts at
speech, she gently took her husband's cheeks into her hands, forcing him
to look into her eyes.

Over and over she said, "It's OK." I looked around through my blurring
eyes to see numerous tears flowing in the nearby crowd.

After a few moments of tears and hugging, he regained enough composure
to explain he'd realized his error within seconds of merging onto the
highway. However, there was no safe place to turn around on the divided
highway until the next exit, 12 miles away. Needing to backtrack again,
he'd driven 48 miles to return.

The wife is the real hero in this story. When the couple both first saw
each other, she had every right to unleash her anger for being
forgotten. She had every right to chastise, and belittle until her heart
was content. Most people would have vented anger on first seeing the
perpetrator.

But at that moment, even though she had every "right" to lash out, she
hesitated. By delaying her tirade, she transformed a situation of anger
and bitterness into one of unforgettable mercy and kindness. Even though
only observers, those of us who witnessed this event were graced by her
demonstration of forgiveness and genuine love.

To this day, whenever I feel slighted and ready to lash out, I think of
this experience and hesitate. Just because I have every right to be
angry, doesn't necessarily mean it's the best choice."

-Jim Shaver

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matt 6:14-15

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!