ABSOLUTELY THE FIRST STEP...

Have you had those days when you are talking to someone--family, friend, co-worker--who ever it may be, you are telling them something important.  They need to listen, but as you speak you feel like the people at the Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:1  "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.... 5)  And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6)  And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. 7)  Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8)  So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city."

Imagine, here you have Dave and Jim, they've grown up together, played together, etc. all their lives.  They are working on this great construction project when, Wham! they are speaking two different languages, and neither one of them can understand the other!

And this is what it feels like.  Their eyes glaze over and they verbally pat you on the head and say in a placating sort of voice--there, there now, it will be all right--and soon they follow physically the path that their mind has gone.

Taking our self too seriously is a problem, but we can not take Jesus and the Word too seriously.  

2Timothy 2:15  Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.

Marketing 101.  When the building is on fire how do you encourage people to leave where they are?   Have people drunk so much of the kool aide that...

The show is a sci-fi called Doctor Who.  Their space ship has crashed and is stranded some where in the universe, and of course there are people wandering around looking for help.  People are in a daze, not because of the crash, but because someone has mesmerized them.  For some reason the answer to their problem is right in front of them, but they can't see it.  Except for one or two people and they are trying to persuade the others, all to no avail.

Many people aren't happy at their core.  They have things on the outside that should make them happy.  The increase in unhappy families, unhappy men and unhappy women, people on drugs or into alcohol show us there is a problem. 

Where should people turn?  Is there help in this world, or do we just muddle through the best we can?  There is a solution, but like the people in the sci-fi show most people wander through this life and never come out of their fog...

John 14:6  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Gotta have it!

"I want, I want, I want!"  A good many years ago I remember a woman with a small child in a cart, ambling down the aisle in a store.  The child is brainlessly chanting I want, I want, I want--when the woman with a gentle yet firm flick to the head arrested the attention of the child.  He looked around curious as to what had occurred, and then sat quiet as they continued down the aisle.

Philippians 4:11  "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.12)  I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.13)  I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.
 

Many is the time I have watched people that have nice homes, nice vehicles, nice clothes yet they need to go...maybe they need to go to the mall, or they need to go to this store, or that sale, or...
I have watched people that appear to have it all, yet they go out to bring home more.

"He who has enough of anything should be satisfied.  Do you know when you have enough?"  (Merril Speller, book one) 

Now, in my life there are things I've had enough of.  Just having enough of anything is a nebulous idea.  There have been days, weeks, months and even years that I felt as if I'd had enough trials, temptations and bad 'time and chance' to last for a lifetime.  Yes, I knew when I had enough of that!

Looking on the other side do we know when we have enough of this world's goods?  The real struggle is when we have ample, yet we have this nagging voice telling us there is still more that we need.  This is the voice that gets us in trouble. 

I Timothy 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain: 7)  for we brought nothing into the world, for neither can we carry anything out; 8)  but having food and covering we shall be therewith content. 9)  But they that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. 10)  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11)  But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Love of money, love of things, "We are supposed to love people, and use things." It is not wrong to enjoy good things that we are blessed with, at least to a point.  We don't want to let them become a snare that we drown in.

Dave Ramsey says about money, "Money isn't good or bad...it just makes you more of what you already are."  The things we 'gotta have' are very much like money--they make you more of what you already are.

The author of a diet piece was suggesting that, "imagine globs of cheese, butter, chocolates whatever you eat excessively, imagine it stuck all over your body".  That was supposed to help the over eaters to stop overeating.  That is a unique idea. I wonder how it would work if we imagined what we crave of worldly items stuck all over our self.  Just how would we look if we had a computer stuck on us, or a big screen t.v., or a fancy car, or...the possibilities are endless.

The question is, just what have you got to have?

How I could dream

And what could I dream? Many years ago a song was written titled, 'Imagine'.  Many people sing and dream about how wonderful things would be if only...  if only there was no pain, or sorrow,  no bad things that happen. 
This song erroneously blames many things including religion for killing and death in this world, and this song is a proposition that socialism is a good thing...if everyone were only free and equal, but take a look at the reality of what 'imagine' looks like:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
     First verse--no heaven, no hell, only people with nothing-- to live or die-- for.  People living as if they are animals.  Ecclessiastes 3:11 "He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end." Human beings are unique to our world.  Animals don't think about tomorrow.  They only live from day to day.  Yet, humans can think and reason into the future--just another way we are set apart from the animal world.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
     Second verse--no country, no religion, nothing --to kill or die-- for...  Killing isn't good--violent death is not good, but death comes to us all.  It doesn't always come with countries or religion.  As a matter-of-observation, without the proper religion, violent death comes more often, to more people.
Ecclessiastes 3:16  "And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there."
When our fellow man has no restraint he's no saint.  Where there is no admonition to 'love thy neighbor', we are less loving, caring, and forgiving.  True Christianity is is like that.  It offers a better life here on earth, and the hope of eternal life in heaven. We can know that there is a righteous judge and all will at some point be judged.
You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
     This is another misrepresentation of the real world we live in.  Even if the majority of the population were of a similar thought, the reality is that there is always a fly in someone's ointment.  It isn't human nature for everyone to think, act, and live the same way. Not only isn't it human nature, but often the minority is the fly that maketh the oil of the apothecary to stink...Ecclessiastes 10:1  "Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor."

 Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
     No possessions?  That is not realistic.  There has to be some elemental possessions.  How can I share in the first place if I don't have something to share?  If I'm in need how can you help me, or how can we help one another, if we don't have possessions?  We don't live in a world where what is mine is yours, and yours is mine.  A world where, since everything belongs to everyone, I can just borrow or use anything that I desire because of course it's all public property. There isn't a need for greed, but greed and hunger do exist.  Odd, that the singer of this song seems to support the communist type government, yet when you look into history, the communist elitist governments have used food and food shortages to control their citizens.  These governments are far from the peace filled fantasies offered in this ditty.  In Jamestown, Virginia the very first government was that 'all should work, and share the fruits of that labor equally'.  What happened was some worked, all shared, and eventually the 'some' decided that the system wasn't working, therefore they weren't going to work either.  The system was changed to, 2Thessalonians 3:10  "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat."

 You, you may say
I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will live as one
     Without good dreams a person has no goals, nothing to look forward to, nothing to strive for.  Nothing to live...or die for.  The dreamer here isn't dreaming for anyone, but himself.  Different countries keep each other in check.  No one seems to remember this idea.  Some, smart, educated people have at times believed a 'one world government' is the way to go.  They are not supported by history or logic.  If we lived in a perfect world, our perfect government wouldn't be needed.  No heaven, no hell?  For many in this life of trial and trouble heaven and its hope is a fair vision.  For would be evil doers a belief that someday their misdeeds would be judged and punished by a righteous God with an eternal punishment is a stong deterrent. 
A speaker was encouraging his listeners to 'trust people to do the right thing'.  "Given the opportunity people will usually do the right thing," the man said. 
I look around me, and some people are trustworthy, but...
Ecclesiastes 7:29  "Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. "

Ecclesiastes 3:17  "I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."  

No guarantees

In life there are no guarantees...the same situation that may lead to grand heights of accomplishments, may as well lead to failure.  Or at least a failure of sorts. 

When I was a youngster my cousin and I were being --youngsters.  We were running down the forest path (think Little House in a big woods) and me spying a branch hanging out over the path, and believing I could fly, I jumped up to grab the branch and swing on it.  The end of the matter was that, of course I couldn't fly, and although I was close that didn't count.  I landed with a thud flat on my back gasping for air. 

Did I fail?  In a real sense yes I did.  I made a split decision that didn't turn out well.  However, there were several lessons learned from the incident.  I learned my physical capabilities had limits, I learned that split decisions are not always good things--consider your actions more carefully, and I also learned when you fall down on the path of life...get up.

My cousin's favorite words to me during childhood must have been, 'Are you alright?' because of the numerous times I did something that left me gasping for air, or black and blue from the experience.  Being foolishly fearless is not a virtue. 

2Peter 1:5  "Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your virtue knowledge; 6)  and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your patience godliness; 7)  and in your godliness brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness love. 8)  For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

These are virtues.  Real attributes to strive for and emulate.  Many times on the path of life we encounter situations that demand we make decisions.  Most often where our focus is will determine where our future is.  Virtue is a nebulous quality that we know what it is, but it isn't easily defined.  I think of the virtuous knight, or a virtuous saint, someone above reproach.   Virtue helps us make right (irreproachable) choices in life.  We need knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love in order to make virtuous decisions, and the foundation knowledge is of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

In 2Timothy 1:7  we are told: "For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline."

There is a difference between foolishly fearless, and the fearlessness that God gives us.  So, as you run down the path of life remember strive for the virtues that will lead you to make right choices...and if you fall down on the path of life...get up.

Such a time?

1Kings 20:35  "And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.  36)  Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him."

There is a story here about a king by the name of Ahab.  He lives in the city of Samaria, and is besieged by another king, Ben-hadad of Syria.  Ben-hadad has sent a message to King Ahab and says I want everything -good- that you have; your wives, your children, gold, silver...all of the goodliest of your possesions.

You might think Ahab would take exception to this, but no, he accepts the terms, and is willing to comply...but the story continues.
  "And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
  but I will send my servants unto thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away." 1Kings 20:5-6
Ahab, the King of Israel finally decides, I think this fellow is pulling my chain.  (That's my phraseology there.) But he goes to the elders of the land and says, "Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief:" I Kings 20:7

There are so many interesting things to glean from this lesson, but we are going to skip the story of the two battles that are fought wherein God blesses Ahab with victory over the pestilent Ben-hadad, just to show Ahab that there is a God in Israel: 
"...therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah."
(1Kings 20:28)
So, after the boastful King Ben-hadad is defeated twice, and he has had to flee for his life, his servants counsel him to throw himself on the mercy of King Ahab: 1Kings 20:32  "So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother." The 'he' of the last sentence was none other than Ahab, calling Ben-hadad his brother...and in verse 34 Ahab makes a covenant with Ben-hadad: "And I, said Ahab, will let thee go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go."

God was very unhappy with him, and to prove his point he used a 'son of the prophet' to get his point across, and that is where I Kings 20:35 comes in.   "Smite me, I pray thee" he tells his fellow, but the fellow prophet was disobedient, was slain by a lion, and so the story goes on:

1Kings 20:37  "Then he (the prophet) found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him. 38)  So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. 39)  And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king; and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.  40)  And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.  41)  And he hasted, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets."
I don't know why Ahab made a covenant and let Ben-hadad go free.  The reason the prophet said he lost his prisoner was that he was busy 'here, and there'. 
Into our hands our lives are given, our opportunities are given, our time, our talent, yes, our very essence is given.  What are we doing with all of these things? 

1Corinthians 3:9  "For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building. 10)  According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 11)  For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12)  But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13) each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is."
We don't want to lose our place in the kingdom of God.  It is important to remember that being about our Father's business is our task first.  Do we forget to trust on God? 

Matthew 10:29  "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father: 30)  but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31)  Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows."

Some days... and what makes a difference--

 Philippians 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, 14)  I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 Solitaire, a game of aggravation.  Maybe you're so close, but no dice, you just do not have the right card at the right time.  In those moments you realize you just can't pull it off. Or maybe you lay out your cards, and it doesn't pan out at all... so the best thing to do is close it up. Does your life ever seem like one of those games of solitaire?

Are you like the popular saying, "I'm always a day late, and a dollar short".   By the end of the pay period I'm stretching things to make ends meet.  Maybe it's the same for you.  Maybe it's money, maybe it's time, or it might be that your life goes from one crisis to another.

During his sermon, a preacher related a situation that happened while he was attempting to counsel a family.  The mother had called him during a problem with one of her grown children.  He went a number of times to try helping them.  During one of his last visits, when he entered their living room, there they sat watching a soap opera, and it occurred to him--that's what their lives are like, a living soap opera.  They were always having a crisis.

I have witnessed the times when children come to visit, they keep their moms busy by going from one table, to another surface, then on to another place pulling items down, or off of that area.  The mother will run behind putting things back where they were, only to keep going all around the room, picking up after their child... 

What is wrong with this picture?  It is similare to the game of Solitaire, being a day late, dollar short, or even making your life into something that resembles a soap opera.

The last case is easily remedied.  Instead of following around after the child, do what they did in the old Western movies...cut them off at the pass.  That child is smart enough to figure out how to control adults, so you must be smarter than the two year old (or how ever old the child is).  First, put the child--gently but firmly-- out of commission, be it chair time, play pen time, or some form of time out.  Then put the mess aright.  There needs to be an adult in control of the situation.

In the soap opera case it would be similar.  Identify just what is causing the crisis, and cut it off at the pass.  If it is a person tell them they are no longer in control of your life; their behaviour is not going to be rewarded.  Time for them to move on and grow up.  If it's your own behaviour--tell yourself the same thing.  Time to grow up and move on.


If your life keeps turning into a game of solitaire that won't go anywhere...again analyze what the reasons may be.  Is it your own personal habits?  Is it things that happen and take you unaware?  Never have enough money?  Is your money spent on 'doodads'?  Things you want, don't need, and are counter productive...  What about not enough time?  Well, the same can go for time.  What do you spend your time on?  There are time-suckers that you don't need, and they are usually counter productive as well.  My grandmother used to say 'We work first, then we play'.   Not enough resources?  Sometimes with a little ingenuity, a little thinking outside the box even that can be overcome.  First you need to identify what is holding you back.  Sit down, be honestly critical, write down what you would like to see happen for good in your life--your analysis is a key here.  Ask yourself--in this game...what do I really need?  What do I really need to win; what do I need to be my highest self, and ultimately to be happy.
Three things I've learned this week are: decide who you are, and who you are going to be-- in all kinds of situations, aim high, don't let Satan control your life through the life of others, or through your own short comings--cut him off at the pass.

Romans 8:28  And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Somethings That Just Happen

The pilot is doing stunts during an air show.  Suddenly a wing just breaks away, falling to the earth.   The audience can't believe what it is seeing--a one wing plane still airborne.  Several at the show keep repeating, 'Where's his wing?  Where's his left wing? ...they know what must happen...or will it?  My reaction was an oh,no!, and a sinking feeling of something cataclysmic about to happen.  The next few seconds passed more than quickly.  The plane had been climbing straight up--up--up, suddenly the wing is gone.  What the pilot does next was short of amazing.  He takes the small plane into a series of twists, upside downs and arounds, and brings the plane around so that it is sideways, its one wing parallel to, and skimming just above the runway, quickly he flips it onto its wheels, and-- just short of a miracle in my eyes, brings it into a safe landing right side up on its wheels.  I can't believe that it was a planned emergency, a planned thrill getting technique, but it all happened so fast, and so professional it appeared as normal as a peanut butter and jelly.  I doubt the pilot thought, 'just another day, just another show' as he threw back the cock pit cover.


I Thessalonians 5:1  "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2)  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."


I can think back on any number of times that I have gone about my daily work always assuming it was an everyday day.  On the way home one day, I pulled up to the stop light intending to stop at the library before heading home, but I keep hearing a rattling sound coming from our van.  Instead of the library I drive down a couple of blocks to where my husband works.  He examines the van and...the only thing holding the front tire on is two lug nuts.  In another incident, we are driving slowly to pull into the drive way when a back passenger tire falls off and rolls into the ditch.  And then there is the time I hit a patch of black ice, spin around a couple of times in the middle of the road before a tire catches on the pavement.  When we come about we were going the same direction we started from...as a semi and several cars are barreling at us from the opposite direction.

There have been other such happenings, narrow escapes, and some may say we have been lucky, but...

While living in this world things happen.  This life will not last forever.  Many young people think they're invincible. They are too young to die.   They have many more years so, careful?  That's for someone else.  The older people get they push thoughts of mortality away from their consciousness.  That's still for someone else.  Push those thoughts away, but there is something people of older generations knew that we apparently don't remember.

Times and seasons, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write..." 
Some things seem harsh, but at a point they set us free.  When my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, and only a year to live, my sister and I were faced with what to do?  How to approach the subject of death, funerals, of the ultimate real end?  What to say...so many things that concerned us--and mother.  A friend of my husband and I, as a funeral director before he became a preacher had seen too many people come to the end of life not prepared.  There was no one better to ask what to do.
Approach it by telling her, we know you are terminal.  Sister and I are concerned with what you want for funeral arrangements.  Tell us what are your wishes--that's all we want is to honor what you want. 
And that's what we did for mother.  We were free to be honest.  No one beat around the bush, no one changed wording in order to sound palatable, it was what it was. People used to know that life was like that, like a vapor.  Here today, but tomorrow?
James 4:14  "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. "
In our modern age our lives are no more secure than anyone else in history, yet we live as if we are cats with not just nine lives, but a thousand and nine lives.
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
Just as the pilot in the stunt plane may have thought when he started his show, 'just another day, just another show', or the many times I started out my day thinking 'just another everyday, day'-- there come those times when we are made aware that each day is precious.  The time and the season to admit none of us are immortal is today. Our times and seasons can come to an end quite abruptly, and with out warning--like a thief in the night.
People have been taught that there is no God.  We hear it often from people who believe they are intelligent, but just because they believe themselves to be smart doesn't make it so, nor does it make it right about God either.  There have been many many more (and much more intelligent) people who believe there is a God than these other self-proclaimed experts. 
They pretend that science supports their theories, but true science supports that there is a supreme being, it does not support evolution.  There has never been proof of evolution.  No fossil record, nothing to give credence to that theory--only self-important people with loud voices trying to drown out the truth.

2Thessalonians 2:10  "and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11)  And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: 12)  that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
These people don't love or seek the truth, therefore they find what they are looking for: a lie.  They are seeking unrighteousness, and that is what they find.  Their pleasure is in unrighteousness, and their purpose is to take as many souls with them to destruction as they can, because...
Because if there is a God then they will be subject to Him, and they want to be their own gods, but...
But the next thought is, what if--they are wrong?  What if, as the Bible tells us in: Hebrews 9:27  "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" there is a day of reckoning?  What happens when these sinners come to die?  What if they find themselves at the judgment?  Even the very same judgment they deny there will be, before the very same God they deny exists...what happens then?  Eternity is a very long time to spend in the company of the devil, his demons, and souls of the  people you would not have wanted to spend your lifetime with.  Whether you believe it, or not will make no difference to the outcome, and I'm very sure it is not the time in one's existence to be saying, 'just surprise me'.  We want surprises to be pleasant, don't we...

 Matthew 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
--Everlasting fire (hell), a prepared place for prepared beings.  Not some place you want to prepare to stay for eternity.