#TheImportantStuff

What motivates you? What is important to you?

 David heard what Goliath had said. It was hard for him to hear this Philistine taunt the armies of the living God. It was hard to hear this infidel reproach his nation. This giant of a soldier was belittling the living God and David would have none of it. David's desire was that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel and that desire moved him to face the giant.

Later in Israel's history, when Elijah was a prophet and Ahab was king, many people were worshiping idols and God was concerned. Rain had been withheld and a drought was throughout the land and God called on Elijah for a job. He wanted Elijah to set up a test so the known world see that there was a difference in true and false gods. God's reputation was at stake and people were doomed. The test consisted of two altars set up and two sacrifices and wood were placed on them. Elijah told a priest of Baal to call upon his god to light the fire to burn the sacrifice. All day they cried out loudly and even cut themselves to elicit a response from their god, to no avail. Then Elijah had a deep trench dug around his altar and many gallons of water poured over the sacrifice till it overflowed the trench and then Elijah came near and said, "that all people may know that You, O Lord, are God and that You have turned their heart back again." Instantly fire came down and consumed everything, even the altar and licked up the water.

Then Elijah told King Ahab to go and eat because he heard the roar of a heavy rain. It hadn't rained for three years. The sky was clear, but Elijah went to the top of the mountain and crouched with his head between his knees and asked his servant to go and look west. He saw nothing, but Elijah insisted and seven times the servant was told to go and look. The seventh time the servant came back with a report of seeing a cloud as small as a man's hand. And, shortly, it began to pour. God had demonstrated His presence and hearts were turned and the rain fell.

God is still concerned about His Name and His reputation, even today. Are you? Does it bother you when people take His name in vain? Does it hurt you when He is maligned? Do you pray that others may come to know Him? Are you interested in what concerns Him? Can you honestly say that God has first place in your heart?

#PerfectTiming

When you don't have much money and haven't established your credit, yet, a motorcycle is a good way to get around. My son decided that was the way to go when he was in his early twenties and his motorcycle served him well getting him to and from work and even giving him some fun exploring in his spare time. He developed a love for racing and practiced maneuvers almost touching his knee to the pavement. It was a lot of trial and error learning the timing for breaking and accelerating and when to start the turn. He was in the army at this time and had become a PI or Pilot Instructor and when his commander found out what he was doing on his motorcycle in his time off, orders came down from above - quit this! He was too valuable to the U.S. to continue racing his motorcycle.

Trial and error is not needed with God. He just knows the perfect time for everything. Yesterday, a verse came to my mind and I couldn't remember exactly where it was found and wanted to look it up, but got busy and it slipped out of my mind. This morning that exact verse was featured in 'Our Daily Bread', which I use as a devotional every morning. It is found in Ecclesiastes 3:1 - "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Looking back to yesterday, I kinda think God was pointing me to something and confirmed it by today's scripture. I think He wanted to remind me that He was in charge and I must wait on His perfect timing if I wanted the very best.

There are no coincidences in the life of a child of God. We are capable of misunderstanding things or taking things for granted and not giving credit where credit is due, but, when we are playing our act to God and keep looking to Him for the 'go' or 'stop' or 'wait' and for His pleasure or displeasure, then we can wait and not be anxious about anything. If we can say with confidence - My life is in your hands and I trust your perfect timing - then we can experience the peace that passes understanding.

I am working on this one.

#GrowingUp

Growing up ain't easy. There comes a time when the bottle is replaced by a cup and the pacifier is hidden away. There comes a time when your mother stops setting out your clothes for the day and even putting them on for you to mornings when you stand before the opened closet and decide for yourself what to wear. There comes a time when the tricycle is replaced by a vehicle with four wheels and you have a driver's license in your billfold. There comes a time when you stop being given an allowance to going to work for a pay check.

Each transition may cause some discomfort and at one time stomping your feet and throwing a temper tantrum came naturally, but when you are twenty you had better come up with a better idea.
We learn to start thinking about others and giving rather than being so self centered. We learn to get to bed earlier so we can get to class or work on time. We learn how to say no to ourselves when it comes to spending money and be responsible to pay our bills on time.

Scripture says ' when I became a man, I put away childish things' and tho it may be at different times for each of us, we, sooner or later need to put away childish things and grow up. Scripture also tells us to 'grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus'. Growing in the grace - grace can be taken as the whole activity of God toward man. This covers a lot of territory. Salvation is by grace and forgiveness is by grace and being called is by grace and serving is by grace. We are to grow, to develop the qualities of maturity in all these areas.

We are to grow in the knowledge of Jesus and I must repeat this again - this knowledge is found in the Bible. You cannot grow in the knowledge of Jesus by sleeping with the Bible under your pillow and expect osmosis to happen. Reading God's Word is the very best way to grow in this vital knowledge and regular, consistent reading will keep it flowing in your mind.

You will find that as you read and grow that the childish things will be less satisfying and will fall off as the new growth takes over, like the Pin Oak tree. It's leaves do not fall off in the fall, but in the spring when the new leaves begin making their appearance and push them off.

It is time to grow up in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus.

#BadWeather

It is September and autumn officially begins in a few days. Here in Virginia we have had so much rain during August that the trees are still lush and green. It is now seven o'clock and beginning to get to the twilight time. I am looking out my window and seeing the row of townhouses,cars parked out front and people walking with their children and dogs. The weather has been nice, mild and a little cloudy with soft breezes blowing. In other parts of our world it is not so peaceful.

South of us Hurricane Florence is churning over North Carolina and causing heavy damage and loss of life. Lives will be forever changed. We can appreciate the peace and normal here and still have heavy hearts for all those who are suffering and pray for them.

In other parts of our world battles are waging and Christians are being persecuted and killed. In other parts of our world bad weather is happening, yet here in Virginia it is calm and peaceful. I take heart that Scripture says ' the sun shines on the just and the unjust and the rain falls on the just and the unjust.' God is still in charge and I will be thankful for the peace and calm around me today and ask God to provide for those hurting elsewhere.

Corrie Ten Boom who lived through the holocaust said. "Expect resistance, but pray for miracles."
We can boldly approach God and ask for impossibilities, because He is the God of impossibilities. He tells us to seek and keep on seeking, to ask and keep on asking and to knock and keep on knocking. Are we serious? Do we care? Do we believe? Can we move the arm of God?

In January my book, "The Treasure Is The Trip" was published and in April when I was being interviewed by Hillary Givhan of the Beloit Daily News about my book, I remember telling her from Psalm 127:1, "except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." I have asked God for the impossible, a miracle. I have asked God for the success of my book. I have asked for the right people to see and want to read it and for it to help seekers find the Prince of Peace. God's arm is not short and He hears and answers our prayers for the small stuff, like my book and the large stuff like Hurricane Florence.

Father God, by your mighty arm, send help to all those in need because of the devastation of the storm and strength for all the helpers, in Jesus' name.

#TelevisionVsReading

Stuck on the shelf over my computer at work was a Post-it note to remind me of what not to do as I went through my day. There were two words written on that little piece of paper - one was assume and the other was presume. Assume means to take for granted and presume means to take advantage of. I could be guilty of both, so I wanted to remind myself to be careful.

Even today I assume too much. When I write I do not want to be superfluous and I take short cuts in my wordage and assume you will get my point. But, I have learned how good reading is for the mind and perhaps I should go into more detail. Six minutes of reading reduces stress 68% while six minutes of music reduces stress 61% and drinking tea 54% and walking only 42%. Reading increases language and reasoning. Watching TV is passive and makes it less likely to reflect. Television characters show surface levels of character and is fast paced to keep interest. Readers have to concentrate and think through concepts and are forced to use their imagination. Reading is good and may contribute to one not presuming upon another.

If you assume something because you haven't taken the time to, lets say, read up on the subject, you can presume or take advantage. We often assume notions about God by taking what others say about Him and not checking it out. We then might presume upon Him and be out of line. It is interesting to note in Psalm 103:7 that the sons of Israel knew God's acts. They had seen the Red Sea parted and eaten the manna provided by Him. They knew His acts, but Moses knew His ways. You have to be close to someone to know their ways. You have to spend time with them and listen to them and watch how they work in order to know their ways. We don't have to assume about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There are 66 books we can read and study to get to know more about God and we can spend time talking to Him and watch Him work. Just think about it. Even six minutes spent reading the Bible will not only give you information about God and His ways, but it will increase your language and reasoning and enable you to think through concepts and even reduce stress by 61%. You might enjoy a cup of tea while reading and reduce stress another 54%. What benefits there are in reading the Bible.

I may have assumed that you knew about the little boxes just below each post, so, I am going to mention this, just in case. A post might speak to you or you might know someone that would be interested and you can share by hitting a box. There is a Facebook box and a Pinterest, a Google and a Twitter and an E-mail box and that post will be sent off through that vehicle.

#CreateInMe

There are many thoughts on the sovereignty of God, sovereignty, meaning rule. Admitting God is sovereign is the starting place of acknowledging His ruler-ship, but to what extent does this control go is the question. I, truly do not know where His control stops and ours starts. I do believe His will will be done and I admit that I do not know His will. What I do believe is, that we have a will and it is a free will or a will that is free to make choices and I also believe that the character of God demands that He will not impose His will over ours. So, we can oppose Him and many have and many do.

Why does God tell us to pray? Could it be that He understands man's free will to the point that His respect for it added to His desire that none should perish made Him ask us to assist Him by telling us to pray, thereby getting Him more involved? He is always involved, but so much more results when people are praying. When prayers are answered, praises go to Him and those praying are changed seeing the answers and sharing this with others. Where does His rule stop and our rule begins?

We are held accountable, by Him, for our choices. We cannot blame God for the choices we make. We are told to guard our hearts. It is understood by scientists that human skin absorbs stuff. The sun shinning on exposed skin will create vitamin D in the natural oil in your skin and given a little time, the body will absorb that vitamin and be able to use it for good in your body. The soul absorbs stuff, too. You may play in the dirt and get your hands dirty and there may be substances, dangerous substances in that dirt that will be absorbed in your body. The longer you put off cleaning the dirt off you skin the harder it is to remove it and given time, the dangerous influences will be absorbed in your soul.

You may pray for God to cleanse your heart, but you bear some responsibility to do your part. It is up to you to recognize dirt as dirt and not play in it. It is up to you to remove it from your life. God will not over ride your will, but He loves you enough to prick your conscience, by His Spirit, to let you know that you are dirty. Then, you can decide what you must do. If you chose to 'clean up your act', it will be to His glory because He prompted you and is there to give you all the help you need to accomplish this.      Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me."

Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little hands what you do, be careful little feet where you go, be careful little mouth what you say - because you are responsible.

#Discovering

It is so easy to get turned around in Virginia. The streets and roads in the mid-west are, most usually, straight and when you reach a stop, it is a 90 degree angle for you to turn onto the next street. In my area the streets and roads are all curvy and you find yourself going the opposite way in order to get where you are going. My guess is that these winding roads were originally made by horses and later wagons with horses pulling them and the town fathers just paved them and later broadened them to accommodate cars. I am thankful that my rear view mirror has a compass display so I can know which direction I am heading.

The Bible speaks of two different roads or paths, one is wide and one is narrow. The wide one would be easy to locate and therefore heavily traveled. Whereas the narrow one takes some searching for and is not so traveled. The broad road leads to destruction, the narrow one leads to heaven. Many times I have heard people say that God sends people to Hell. Well, I take issue with that statement.

My dear husband used to say that God has put many stumbling blocks on that broad road to prevent people from going to destruction. One of the significant blocks is the creation. It is not easy to try to imagine something coming out of nothing or laws just making themselves up. Another big block is the Bible which has so many prophecies coming to pass exactly as predicted and so many facts about the Savior's life and death and resurrection and so many eye witnesses to these happenings. Then there are churches with steeples pointing to Heaven and preachers proclaiming the way of salvation. You can't ignore the books and tracts and movies and believers sharing the good news day after day.

No, God doesn't send people to Hell, they intentionally go there by their own choice.

"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." 2nd Peter 3:9

"In this new life one's nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and He is equally available to all." Colossians 3:11