How Loyal Am I?

The older I get the more I realize how much my dad really knew.  In my mind I can still hear him say, “When times get hard you still have the same friends, only now you know who they are.”  What he was really talking about was loyalty.  Scripture tells us if we are to have friends we must show ourselves friendly.  Scripture also tells us there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.  That is a description of loyalty!

Each of us might have a little different definition of what it means to be loyal, but all would agree that we want to surround ourselves with those who will be loyal. I reminded of the words of the old farmer, “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”  I have to say a hearty Amen to those words. ”I want people in my life I can count on to be there.”  ”I do not like people who straddle the fence.” We have heard all these words at different times in our life.  Maybe we have uttered some of them.  The truth is nobody wants to be around someone who can’t trusted to be loyal.  This brings me to the question we all need to ask, “How loyal am I?”

The Most Important Event Ever Known

There have been some great events since the beginning of time.  To think about Moses parting the Red Sea inspires awe in the minds of us all.  How exciting it would have been to have seen the walls of Jerico fall!  Can you imagine the excitement of those on the Mayflower when they first spotted land after all those weeks on the ocean?  The power released when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan changed this world forever.  As a young man I still remember hearing the words of the astronaut as he stepped onto the surface of the moon.  All of these were great events but none of them had the power to change destiny like the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Death couldn’t keep Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.  By the power of God Jesus was raised from the grave!  The resurrection of Jesus changed the desiny of all those who place their trust in  Him.  No longer did sin control the future of our souls.  Now there was forgiveness for man and the restoration of relationship with God.  The resurrection of the Christ made this day the greatest day the world will ever know.  Praise God for resurrection of the Jesus!  Thank you God for giving us hope!

Do You Really Know God Or Do You Just Know About Him?

As children we learn the books of the Bible.  We learn the judges, the kings and multitudes of other facts about religion.  We have certain verses we  go to  in order that we might prove our religous beliefs.  We go to God in prayer and know in our minds how we expect Him to react to our requests.  If God’s response doesn’t fit into our beliefs of how we think  He ought to respond does that make God wrong?  Of course it doesn’t, God isn’t wrong.  We are the ones who have misunderstood. 

For much of my life my concept of God centered around what I knew and what I understood.  If you understand the facts about God correctly and perfectly applied your understanding of those facts you would be  saved, maybe.  If you misunderstood God or misapplied that understanding you could not please God.  Simple,  straight forward, easy enough.  Just one major problem,  this places our salvation in intellectual ability rather than  the cross of Christ.

 Could it be that God is more concerned with molding our hearts rather than our intellectual abilities?  Instead of putting your understanding of God into your intellectual box allow God to put you in His.  The next time God answers your prayer in a way you don’t believe possible maybe we ought to ask, “Do I really Know God or I do  just know about Him?  God bless and keep preaching Jesus.

So Nice to Meet Old Friends

I had reached that point in a trip we hate to reach.  It was time to go back to Arizona, leaving behind children and grandchildren.  I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to leave.  As I was sitting at the gate I saw a gentleman who looked very familiar. Tall, distinguished but I couldn’t quite place him.   We both spoke and as soon as I heard his voice I knew the face.  It had been 30 years since I had seen him.  He had been  a professor I had in college more than 30 years ago.  It was Harvey Starling.  I had enjoyed sitting in Harvey’s classes.  It was at his feet that I first heard about  assurance and grace.  Coming from my background I knew very little about these subjects.  I could hardly believe that one could actually know they were saved.  The things he was teaching were music to my ears.  I will ever be grateful to Harvey for the things he taught me.  I remember something that Harvey would do at the end of his message.  He would say “do all the good you can to all the people you can all the time you can and for the sake of our Lord do no harm at all.”  Harvey is now preaching and teaching in Romania.  It is so nice to run into old friends in the Lord.  One day there will be a great family reunion when we all God’s family will meet together for eternity.  God bless and keep preaching Jesus,

Do We Really Know the Mind of God

This past year has taught me many things.  Among  them is the truth that God is so superior to us that even though we are created in His image we really know very little about His will or direction for our lives.  I grew up with a very small understanding of God.  I had a neat theological box I had put God into.  Everything I knew about God fit into the box.  My mind was made up concerning how God was going to react in every set of circumstances.  How arrogant was my concept of God!  So many things didn’t fit into my understanding.  Things like:  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Why is Satan allowed to tempt good servants of the King?  When we pray to God why do we already have in mind how God will answer that prayer?  Man’s concept of God is usually determined by what someone who has told us how  it should be. WHY DO WE LIMIT GOD TO OUR FINITE MINDS? If I have learned anything  it is the fact that God does not always give us what we expect nor in the way we expect it.  Spiritual growth requires that we allow God to determine His own box.  Instead of making God fit into our concept of how things should be we ought to consider allowing the size of our ”box” to be determined by God.  Consider this warning:  when you dare allow God to set the standard there will be many who will try to destroy you.  If you let God determine right and wrong rather than mankind to make the determination you undermine the self-righteousness and comfortable positions of many of this worlds most religious.   Consider this;  when you make up your mind as to what God has in mind you close the door on many opportunities and blessings He might otherwise bring your way.  God bless and keep preaching Jesus.

I Had to Share

I stopped blogging last August with no intent to blog again. I have learned to never say never. We usually find ourselves breaking our word when we make definate committments about the future. In a few days I will share why I initially stopped blogging. It is a painful thing to admit and share. With God’s help and your prayers I want to share my past year in hope that none of you will make the same mistakes.
This week paw-paw has been visiting his grandsons in Alabama. My daughter Karla allowed me to take Drennen, my oldest grandson,  to a concert. We went to hear the Gaither Vocal Band in their homecoming series. For two hours Drennen sat glued to the music that was being made. Not too bad for a seventeen month old. He had to be taken home after two hours. Toddlers do still have a bedtime. When we left he was still singing with the groups. It’s never too early to expose our young ones to the praising of the name of God!
   Pray for me, I intend to share this past years difficulties with those who read this blog. My intent is to do this in a post within the next few days.   As for now I will enjoy sharing with all of you the time I spent with one of my grandsons. Drennen is on the right in the picture and Jaxon is on the left.  God bless each of you and continue to preach Jesus.

Thanks for reading

This will be my last post. I appreciate your interest and following. To all my readers and friends if we don’t meet again here we will become aquainted again on the other side. Trust friends, hold them close, look to God and continue to preach Jesus.

Do We Really Need Friends?

I had a couple of things happen yesterday that made me ask this question.  An old friend called I hadn’t heard from in a while.  It made me realize how much I had missed him.  There is nothing that compares to being able to pick up a friendship where you left off with no need to get reacquainted. A few friendships are that strong. Very few in our lives are but when one is we need to treasure if for what it is, pure gold.

This has been a hard week, sometimes we call it crunch time. For the last few weeks I have been working at a frantic pace.  Too many hours and not enough sleep.  A second friend called today, my best new friend.  (When your my age anyone who has been a friend less time that your oldest shoes is new).  We strongly disagreed over an issue.  Before long frustration builds, tempers flair and things are said we couldn’t be forced to say under any other circumstance.  In time we cool off, apologies are issued and all the right things are said.  This is direction real friends take if they are real friends.  When we do this we can’t keep from wondering in the back of our minds, “What have I done?  Will the friendship ever really be the same?”  We really do need good friends.  There aren’t many friends who will be there regardless.  As important as friends are what can we don’t need to lose any. What do we do to strengthen the relationships?  Let me offer a few suggestions:

• Never take a friend for granted. Friends are treasures that need to be guarded.  Make sure nothing takes them away.
• Guard you tongue. Sometimes a word spoken in anger is not easily forgotten.  Be careful what you say to those you treasure most.
• Take special care to guard trust. When we lose trust in relationship we no longer have relationship.  Be careful not to do or say anything that would destroy this foundation.
• Talk to God about your friends. We often ask God to bring special people into our lives.  He will answer those prayers.  Take the time to thank God for those special friends and ask him to guard those He has given to you.
• Don’t be afraid put things at risk for a friend. Real Friendship costs. It isn’t free.  To have good friends we have to be good friends.

In the last few years I have lost some good friends.  Some to death, some to misunderstanding, some to Satan himself.  I wish I could tell each one of them how important they were to me, how much a part of my life they were, and how much I miss them.  Take a few minutes to tell those God has given you as an answer to your prayers how much they mean to you because we need our friends.

We Need a Little “Sunshine” in our Lives

Karla, my daughter was the sweetest child I have ever known.  Her disposition was laid back, she was always happy.  When she was small I would sing a song to her. The Statler Brothers were always one of my favorite groups.  They sang a song called, “Do you know you are my sunshine?”  This became a song I would sing to Karla.  She had wrapped her father around her finger and was indeed  sunshine in my life.

It is very seldom we have anyone in our life we can call our “sunshine.”  It takes a special person to qualify for this role.  It is not likely we would ever know more than one or at the most two people who could bring sunshine into our otherwise unhappy lives. Could it be we look in all the wrong places for the things that bring happiness? Certainly a special person will always bring sunshine to our lives.  Are there other reasons for us to find happiness?

Jesus talks about real peace and happiness not being found among the things of this world. Scripture tells us that in Christ exists a peace that passes understanding.  Is it possible we have been looking in all the wrong places for the things that really make us happy, the things that qualify as sunshine in our lives?  When you look for the sunshine in your life, look to the Son for he is the only one who consistently shines the light of hope to an otherwise dismal world.

Self Control

Life isn’t always fair. Have you ever been mistreated? Have you ever dealt with individuals full of arrogance and with a total lack of concern for what was right? Have you ever wanted to respond in kind with every fiber of your being? Did you lose control? Did your lack of self-control help the situation?

Think about Joseph. Initially his brothers sold him into slavery. This would have been enough for some of us to have given up, but not Joseph. After he had been taken to Egypt he became a servant in the house of Potiphar’s house. Joseph was making the best of a bad situation. Potiphar’s wife took notice of Joseph. Joseph would not be party to this sin. As a result, Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph and he was put into prison. Did Joseph deserve his fate? How easy it would have been for Joseph to have lost self-control. Joseph maintained his integrity with the world closing in from every direction.

Self-control is important even when life isn’t fair. There will be unfair events in our lives. There will be times when we lose things important to us. In times like these we must maintain our self-control.

Why does it matter? First, God commands it. I have seen those who claim to be followers of God who use their temper as a tool to get their way. They become loud and boisterous. This stands in opposition to God. When we allow our self-control to be lost it damages our influence. It takes away our opportunities for the Lord. We cannot walk in the footsteps of Jesus without maintaining self-control.

How do we maintain control in our lives? The following ideas may help. These aren’t a complete list by any means but it is a start for all Christians.

• Humble yourself before God. If you can realize that without God’s help we are a mess, then we can deal better with those who mistreat us.
• Allow the Holy Spirit to Dwell in You.
• Realize God is better able to deal with those who mistreat you.
• Trust God and lean not on your own understanding.
• Put the situation in God’s hands.

This will not solve all your difficulties but it does point us in the right direction.