Making a Difference Is there any use?

Most people live aimless lives. They wander here and there going through the motions of living.How do we live a purposeful life? There are many self-help books. Many writers that tell us plans and plans of how to change our lives. Yet well over half the population of the world is` not living a purposeful life. And of the few that are purposing as to what the content of their life is--many of them don't have a good purpose.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

 Where have the great people gone? Where have the people with lofty thoughts, intelligent behavior, and exemplary lives gone? Why do we appear to be living in a sea of half-hearted, shallow human beings? Many has been the time when we home schooled our children that we were castigated because 'they won't be socialized'. Thank God they weren't socialized. When you actually look at the word socialized--isn't that akin to socialist? That is what our children are being formed into. Public education has become social engineering centers.

If you like the things that are being socially engineered--in my opinion--you need your head examined, because this is what they are engineering:

Isaiah 5:20  "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" 

And the reason they are getting away with this?
Isaiah 5:21 "Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"

The second reason is we have elected officials who, instead of following the 'will of the people', and/or doing what is right, are doing what they jolly well please. In most cases they are stomping over the people they are elected by.  There are non-elected judges as well, who instead of enforcing the laws are deciding to make their own laws. To both of these problems there doesn't seem to be an answer. We need better elected officials, but where are they to be found? We need people with not just courage, but principles. 

“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

John 1:5  "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

The light has been shining for many years. It needs to be polished up in order to shine the brighter. God is still in control. We need to let Him lead us in our lives. We need soldiers of Christ to arise. Help, Lord, Save!

Ants? And Things

   "Ants?  When we first moved in I had a problem with ants on this counter.” I told an acquaintance at church. “Seemed like we had one of those science-fiction type 'trans-mat' things going here.  I would have the counter cleaned off, and no ants anywhere.  Then before my very eyes, there would be this stupid little creature scurrying around on my counter...right in the middle of the counter.  Just appear out of nowhere.  But for the last...oh I don't know...couple of years we haven't had a problem with ants."

   Ever had some of those 'famous last words'?  You've got it.  Within days after the above conversation, what should suddenly begin to appear on my counter?  Ants.  Stupid little ants that don't really want anything, except to scurry around on my counter!

   Words, famous or other wise, can some times cause us stress, and like an apparition of the night come back to haunt us. 

   "I don't know about that boy," I tell another acquaintance.  "He just opens his mouth, and things come out."  --Our youngest son had just made an interesting comment on something. However, after thinking it over, it came to me just who he had inherited this talent from. 

   Sometimes it's a tactless comment.  ('Your looking good today.  You only need to lose a hundred pounds now?'--well, it started off as a compliment)  Often it is a comment that just doesn't come out the way you mean it to, ('that shade of green goes with your complexion'--hmm) but there isn't exactly any way to make it come out any better (just different, and it would have sounded odd then as well). 

   "When God was passing out brains, you thought he said trains.  Since you weren't going any where you didn't get any," my mother used to tell me.  One of my sons used to chide me that I missed my 'calling'--whenever I had a 'blond' moment.  It is made more humorous because he is blond, even though I'm not.   Sometimes both my mother and my son are right.

   Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer."

 Psalm 5:3 "O Jehovah, in the morning shalt thou hear my voice; In the morning will I order my prayer unto thee, and will keep watch."

   How much better to begin the day with a prayer, and instead of waiting for our 'adversary to trip us up' --1Peter 5:8  Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,-- remember the Psalmist's prayer in the morning...and throughout the day.   

   As the children were growing up I would mentally chide myself with, "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue."--Proverbs 31:26 .  Children need to hear words of kindness, lest the other 'words' become self-fulfilling. 

   I know that as Proverbs 31:30 tells us, "Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman that feareth Jehovah, she shall be praised," yet some days I crave the 'grace' to say the RIGHT kind words, as well as the needful words of encouragement.  Please, Lord, just a little more grace--of the right sort.

1Peter 3:10 "For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile:"

   James 3:8 "But the tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, it is full of deadly poison."

   James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without variance, without hypocrisy. 18)  And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for them that make peace.

Stupid Hurts Isn't A Suggestion

 The human race is amazing for their creativity, intelligence, and stupidity. For beings that are capable of the most amazing inventions, the most amazing accomplishments, we are also capable of the most stupid foibles. There is evidence of this on not just one but many videos.


*Life can be painful no matter where your life is.  Even if you are doing right, not everyone is. Some lives are  more, some are less--painful.


*We can learn lessons through pain that we won't learn any other way. Much of the pain happens due to our poor choices.

Proverbs 22:3 "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."


*Things do happen over which we have no control, but that doesn't mean we have to have a victim mentality. We do have the option to choose how we react in most situations.

Several years ago now there was a small book that went 'viral' as they call it now-a-days. It was based on 1Chronicles 4:9 "And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow. 10)  And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

No matter how obscure a scripture might be we can find some real jewels. How often do we think to ask God's providence in 99% of our lives? And we become angry when He doesn't answer unasked prayers?

*Stupid does hurt, especially when we could avoid it, but as it says in Proverbs 22:3 we pass on and suffer for it.

1Peter 3:10  "For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: 11)  And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it."

 Hallelujah, What a Savior!

From This Day Forth...

 I walk into a writers' conference for the first time, wondering what things--if any--in my life will change. I preferr sitting in corners— out of the way corners— just listening and watching things go by. This is not my comfort zone, but I'm here to listen and learn—and meet new people.

Isaiah 28:10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.

How many different ways, and in how many different modes does God teach us? Are we open to those ways, or are we bent on ourselves and how much WE know?

Lamentations 3:26 It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.

In daily life most people today would say they are too busy. Rushing in all sorts of directions, attempting to do numerous things...all at the same time.

A wise person told me years ago, before I knew what the word 'busy' really meant, that—'to do more than one thing at the same time, is to do nothing'.

Being a perfectionist, I am often disappointed in the outcome of things I attempt to do for that very reason. I am doing one thing with the right hand, and something else with the left hand, and neither task is done well.

Multi-tasking:
 In the past multi-tasking was touted as the 'way to go'. Now, however, experts are saying, no, not good, too stressfull.

Did I learn anything at the conference? Yes. Has anything changed? I met people I hadn't know before, sat in lectures to learn, and moved out of my comfort zone.

Sometimes things are set in motion that we cannot see at the time...things that maybe only can be seen in heaven...ever. So, we work and continue. We continue to believe that God is working in and through our lives.

Lamentations 3:27 " It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28)
Let him sit alone and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him."

Young or old, we need to wait in quietness, with patience, for wisdom, and answers from the Lord.


James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall exalt you.


Some things we need to remember:
*Any journey begins at the beginning—make a conscious effort to chart your beginning in order to end up with the end you want to arrive at.
*Be open to what and how God is teaching you. The school of hard knocks teaches us things that the path of ease never does.
*Being too busy causes sorrow and stress. We can be 'too busy'.
*Don't be discouraged from doing the right and needful things.
*Not everything clamoring for your attention is a needful thing for you to do. some of those things are really 'wantful' things. (They want you to do them.)
*God is good. Anything that takes you away from God is wrong.
Hallelujah! What a saviour!

When This Day is Done

I walk out the back door. The smell of wood smoke permeates the fog that hugs the earth like cotton stuck to wet fingers. A few days ago the lawn looked like a garish 1960ish shag green carpet laden with with gruesome glumps of gold patches.

Some people see days without the sunshine as dark and dreary. I, on the other hand, tend to view these days that smell like a primitive settlement, as a primeval adventure. Or, perhaps with an element of--Sherlock Holmes mystery--mystery about them.

The sun is finally shining again, its golden light filling the world. What riches we posses and we seem to be unaware of. The grass still reminds me of a shag carpet, but the leaves, instead of gold are a salmon colored brown, and they have broken down a bit into lesser glumps.

"Isn't that depressing?" a friend is relating an episode in which city folks were viewing a farmer's field. "All that corn just rotting in the field!" the city folks said.

You see, the way with farming is, in the spring you plant the corn, it grows tall and green--the ears of corn grow and ripen. In the fall the stalks of corn and the leaves all turn brown, but the corn is glorious gold in its brown sheath.
When I was young, my grandpa and I would walk beside the 'wagon' and 'pick the corn' by hand. We had a pair of common draft horses, not fancy ones like Percherons, or Belgians, just common ones. The first team I remember was an old black stallion named "Dick" and an old grey mare named "Nellie".
Grandpa would always pick at least two rows to  one of mine. I don't remember how he 'opened' a field, but once we got the row opened, and the horses were started on a row, he would wrap the lines around what I remember as the brake, and begin picking corn. Note here, in the old movies the stage coach driver had long reins -2 per horse-which conected to each horse. These are called the 'lines'.

To pick corn (and shuck it at the same time), grab an ear at the shank with one hand, and about mid-ear with the other hand and give it a snap. Out the ear would com, then with a quick throw the golden ear flies at the bang board. Bang! It hits the board where it falls back into the wagon.



When we got too far ahead of the stationary wagon, he'd call to the team, "Get up!" and they would pull up to where he wanted them to stop, "Whoa!" he'd call, and they would stop and wait till he repeated his command.

Of course now-a-days we have combines that can do in a day what it used to take Grandpa and I days to accomplish. And that's the way it is, but the brown corn fields bring back golden memories to me.

"That's not rotting corn..." and Brother Waymon goes on and explains to the city folks what happens and they feel better when he's done. But later he uses his tale to illustrate just how much difference a person's point of view makes. To the city people it started out as rotting corn. To a country person it is a crop in the field, it's their livelihood, their past...and their future.

Some days our world is covered with sunshine...some days our world is covered with clouds. Some times it seems the more things change--in this world--the more they stay the same.

2Corinthians 4:16 Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day.

Perspective...when we look around us what do we see? Do we see sunshine...or do we see cloud?

Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

A Sweet Aroma

Ezekiel 20:41  “As a sweet savor will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.”

Lest I be thought to take this passage out of context, please bear with me for a short while. 

Many times in the history of God dealing with humanity, we see God becoming disgusted, or worse as in the case of Noah’s world angry, that he sends a punishment on people. There are some people who take exception to God’s anger, but in reality as a righteous judge he has the right to be angry. In looking about our world we occasionally think that we've seen it all.  Nothing new (better/worse) can top what we've seen or heard. Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 1:9 "That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."

But God’s people are supposed to be light and salt in this world.

Matthew 5:16 “Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Mark 9:50 “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another.” 
                                                                                         Yes, God’s people are to be both salt and light. Light to show the way to heaven, and salt to help preserve this present world.

Ephesians 5:1 “Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; 2) and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.” 
                 Praise the Lord. 

Psalms 106:1 "Praise ye Jehovah. Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; For his lovingkindness endureth forever."

A Friend

   Obadiah 1:11"...even thou wast as one of them."

   'A friend in need, is a friend indeed.'  That is to say when you are in need of something—anything—and someone reaches out to comfort and help you--that is a friend indeed.

   But what about the person who is maybe a 'fair weather friend', or in some other way 'lets you down'? 

   Obadiah 1:11 "In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem,..."

   Edom, descendants of Esau, stood on the other side in the day of 'Judah's' calamity.  Judah, of course was a descendant of Jacob, Esau's twin brother.  God pronounces a 'woe' on them for not only standing on the other side, but helping against Judah (and even enjoying) in their time of trouble.

   Several things happen when we have difficult situations.  We can find out who our true friends are.  Psalm 41:9 speaks of: "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."

   And John, in chapter 6:70, shows how it came to pass as Jesus says: "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?  71)  He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him,..."

   Judas Iscariot, one who had eaten, walked, lived in Jesus presence for three years, learning from the Master--then betrayed him.  Jesus knew this would happen.  Still, it was difficult to bear.  Difficult as Jesus tried to teach him, tried to encourage him to do right, difficult as he saw him making wrong choices, wrong turns in his life.  Difficult when he slipped away, making the final choices from which there was no turning back. 

   But wait, what did Jesus die for? He died, as a sacrifice, that we would all have a friend, an advocate with the father. Today, in our  society people allude to the idea that we are all going to heaven just taking different paths, but"If we can all find our own road to heaven," a talk show host said, “(implied here is the thought that 'we are all going to heaven, just taking different routes.  This used to mean 'all who professed to be Christians', but now means everyone who practices 'a religion' of any sort.)  "if we can all find our own road to heaven, it would be like Jesus went through the agony of the cross for nothing.  God had his son die for nothing.  Why, if I was Jesus I'd say, 'Thanks alot Pop.  I hung on that cross...and bled to death...for nothing.  I was spat upon, and beaten...for nothing." 

1Timothy 6:12 "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)"

   It is popular to believe that we are all finding our own way, but that talk show host was right in what he said.  It is popular because then you can 'do your own thing' and it all comes out right.  The problem is--it may be popular...but it isn't true.  Other wise Jesus died...for nothing.  So, when we get to 'the pearly gates', will we have been a friend to Jesus, or will he look out at us and say, "Who are you?"  Or as the scriptures put it: Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

  Let us lay hold on life eternal, let us make Jesus' sacrifice worth every drop of blood...let's make it worth what it is...everything.   Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!