“…our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord,” 1 Thessalonians 1:5-6

Yesterday, an interesting thing happened on the way to a point! For the Church service, I had asked 2 of our young folks to read Scripture. It’s a good way to teach kids how to speak in public and gets them involved. When they finished, a slightly devilish joke popped into my head. “Now Church,” I said, “let’s have a vote as to which one did the better job!” The entire church cried out, “NOOOO!” And a devilish grin came to my face! “Gotcha!”

Teaching is a difficult and tricky business. ESPECIALLY today in this ‘pandemic’ culture. Some excuses for NOT learning are pretty wild. I know because I also live with the greatest Pre-School teacher of all time! It’s one thing to hear a student say, “the dog ate my homework!” It’s another when those kinds of excuses come from the PARENTS! So what does a teacher do?

It is readily stated AND accepted that Jesus said, “Do not Judge or YOU will be judged.” Except that He didn’t MEAN it the way they say it! Surprise! In fact, without judgment and grades as means for comparison, NO one truly learns! So a methodical and deliberate process develops for the betterment of EVERYBODY!

To get a person to grow from 1 place to another demands a tactfully acceptable form of judgment to convince a change in a different direction. It is often, and to the teacher’s sorrow, that the judgment part is all the other parties ever hear! But if a person is to GROW UP…it requires they realize and accept that doing it their way ISN’T really in their best interest!

In the verse today, deeply convicted ‘outsiders’ became ‘insiders’ and lived among them differently! And SURPRISE!!!! The ‘insiders’ ultimately changed to look more like the ‘outsiders!’ They call that ‘ministry!’ APPARENTLY our Lord expects ALL of His children to do the very same thing… AND to expect the exact same level of antagonism and persecution as HE did! Welcome to Ministry!   Call out when you start to sweat blood!

“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.” Proverbs 14:27

My woman was out of Bubble Bath, which to me, became my honorable duty! Heading to the store, I was immediately warned that a mask was required if I was to enter. Snickering, I debated…but put one on anyway. Going up an isle I saw a worker there pulling a very heavy cart loaded with bins. When she saw me it was like she had spotted a ghost! So I spoke first to break the ice!

“It’s getting crazier by the day, isn’t it?” I asked. She seemed to relax and then opened up. “I have some medical conditions and wearing this mask causes me some problems.” As she pulled aside her mask I felt privileged. She went on…”I don’t want the manager to see me because sometimes I just HAVE to pull it aside to BREATH!” I felt sick inside!

The Fear of The Lord is a REAL thing. But it doesn’t mean what most people think. It means ‘Reverential Awe!” And I have that to the full! Because of that, I don’t hold frightful type fear of anything else. Not a virus.. and not even death! It is the greatest freedom in the world. But it comes with a caveat because, people who do NOT love and revere God cannot understand that kind of freedom!

Going on, I came across a woman in a mask, shield and gloves! As I got closer, she backed off. So I asked her if she went to church. Her answer was a quick, “No!” I could tell she didn’t understand where I was coming from. Protecting herself from a virus, and ultimately death (she hoped), she had no concern for her eternal state. Even though she KNOWS that one day she WILL die!

I made my way to the Bubble Bath aisle and got out of there, coming home to a happy wife and a joyful life… with absolutely NO fear whatsoever. Because I know that there is NO death snare or trap that will EVER hold ME! Not having to pretend in a mask is wonderful. Because of Jesus Christ… I am literally death proof! How about you… what are you afraid of?

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope…” Romans 8:20

It’s been going on now for the entire week! As I write the “God Morning Words of the Day,” my computer seemingly decides it doesn’t want to cooperate. I type, computer goes into thinking mode. When I open a window, it searches. This morning, in the middle of typing, the file I was working on disappeared before my very eyes!! Did you know that frustration and anger are sister emotions?

Back in the early 1980’s when computers first came out, I got a job selling them. I’ll never forget the newest computer the company brought in that supposedly ran 2 operating systems (Bill Gates had not been crowned king yet!). It SOUNDED like a good idea, until typing on the keyboard revealed a 2 second delay on the screen! Talk about FRUSTRATING! My CURRENT computer experience has only verified that, 40 years later, computers can STILL frustrate me!

Being a goal oriented person, I don’t have patience with things that interfere with what I am doing. Which, come to think about it, might not really be a BAD thing! After all, according to today’s Bible verse, God SUBJECTED CREATION (and therefore ME) to frustration. “Now DOG GONE IT GOD!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING INTERFERING IN MY…“ And I think He just got my attention!

God likes to use opposites for teaching purposes. For example, to get you gotta give. To live you gotta die. To lead you gotta follow, etc! It is clear here that frustration is MEANT to have it’s own goal of ‘HOPE!’ And God’s goal is clearly stated. He wants me LIBERATED!

I have blamed Bill Gates, the computer techies and software writers for controlling my computer for their own purposes. And that is true! They ARE watching! But then…so is GOD! And while THEY want to track my web surfing to design ways to market to me, GOD wants me LIBERATED from this whole world system of futility! Because as I have just experienced… MAN wasn’t created to live by 2 operating systems either!

“O sons of men, how long will my honor become a reproach? How long will you love what is worthless and aim at deception?” Psalm 4:2 NASB

At my shooting lesson yesterday I was surprised when Super Instructor Dan put up a LARGE target with the entire center cut out of it. When he saw my surprise he said, “today we are going to aim at nothin’!” It was a totally new approach and a different way of thinking. I remember thinking, well how easy is it to hit NOTHIN’!?” Turns out it’s harder than it looks.

I’m used to lining up on a target and focusing on hitting my goal. It was unnerving to line up the sight on nothing! You’d think aiming at a big hole of the stuff would be easy. Until I brought the target in and saw I had hit the paper 9 times out of 50! The NATURAL question might be, well how far away WAS the target? Turns out ‘NOTHIN’ is a LOT closer than I thought!

I am living at the most frustrating age I have ever lived. Don’t get me wrong, I have had harder TIMES than this, but through it all, God and Country have been the stabilizers in my life when everything else goes wacky or fuzzy. These days, being anti-Christian and anti-American seems to be the norm. And I can’t help but think that this ‘hitting nothin’ is completely on purpose!

Being ANY kind of dedicated teacher these days is HARD. Even my wife, the best ‘little kid’ teacher in the world, comes home with stories of how parents out there are just not getting it! We are losing our children, and thus FURTHER generations, because we have allowed OTHER things to come before our own children’s education. I can tell you, God isn’t happy about it!

Am I REALLY dedicated to Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior? He SAID that HE was the ONLY way, Truth and Life…then laid out seeds of promise “if I follow (or aim)!” Am I following? Am I reading, applying and DOING what He says? If I am, I can look around at my life and SEE the fruit of what was planted. Or lack thereof!

God has a Family Business and that is to have ME looking like His Son! It is a HIGH Aim! But one He promises He can help me reach, IF I will simply ‘quit aiming at nothin!’ So here’s the question… “What are YOU aiming for?”

“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17

“Living in Florida is a Tropical Depression!” That is what the bumper sticker used to say years ago. I was reminded of that slogan yesterday, as the days of a predicted hurricane were upon us. No…there was NO hurricane! But 1 minute it was sunny…the next… a pouring deluge! All day long! What kind of weather is THAT called?

Predicting weather is a (so called) science. But OBEYING the prediction can be FOOLISH! Thankfully, I had no pressing outdoor plans. I CAN tell you that we experienced EVERY kind of weather imaginable with any given hour! Except for anything related to cold since…it was a scorcher out there! Kind of like the weather of our country!

Surfing through the channels just before bed last night, we landed on the Republican National Convention. If you know ANYTHING about the liberal media, you’d know why I walked out of the room! The commentators and news casters turned EVERYTHING sour and spun the words to literally PREDICT a coming crisis! ‘Blowhards’ is a term that comes to mind! It made my mood foul!

Going through an old Bible this morning, I found this paper on Bible Character Songs. It made me smile at the reality of so many lives written about in there! ALL had faced storms of magnificent proportions. Their character and legacy being defined by how they responded. It was good to laugh and sing along as I remembered the stories and songs.

It is SOOO easy for me to adjust my mood to reflect what is going on around me. Up…then down! Bright…then gloomy! From cheerleader to fatalist, I can go there in lightning speed. But RARELY with ANY accuracy! The verses today helped me focus on what GOD expects me to use as my ‘MOOD’ Report!

I am living in GRACE! Wonderful, extravagant, amazing GRACE! The Law no longer even APPLIES to me! So predictions of my demise can only enter my world if I DRAG them there!! I am NOT a LAW liver but a GRACE Guarantor! And as God reminded me, His expectation of me is to LIVE like storms do not exist! REGARDLESS of the scene and activity all around me!

I have covenanted with God AND my wife…to laugh and sing more! How about you?

In preparing for a sermon about Heaven, I discovered something.  Now.. Please pay attention…

 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;  Revelation 9:9-11

And further….

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.  Revelation 21:19

Then I discovered THIS.. 

In the past century, it has been discovered that gems can be classified as either anisotropic or isotropic, and only recently have scientists discovered “cross” polarized light, which can be used to identify whether a gem is anisotropic or isotropic. When viewed in crossed-polarised light (similar to “pure” light), anisotropic stones produce a colourful array- reflecting all the colours of the rainbow, whereas isotropic stones lose all of their colour and appear black.

It’s interesting that, in Revelation chapter 21, there are 12 gems mentioned to be inlaid for decoration of the New Jerusalem, and ALL of these 12 gems are anisotropic gems, i.e., gems that can show colourful patterns under pure light…

Interestingly, neither diamond, rubies or garnets are mentioned, despite the fact that these group of gems are very very common! For instance, the precious stones are generally considered to be diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, with all other gemstones being semi-precious. It turns out, it’s because they are isotropic, when pure light passes trough them, there is no beauty at all…  They actually look BLACK!

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.  Proverbs 8:11

So what are the odds? 

Of the 28 stones that are normally regarded as gemstones, only 16 are anisotropic. Since anisotropic behaviour has only been discovered in the last century (and John wrote Revelation almost 2000 years ago), the odds of 12 stones picked randomly being in that one group, is about 1 in 1,000! In fact, this analysis assumes that all gems have the same probability of being included, but this is not the case (as some gems are considered more precious than others). Hence, the actual probability is much much lower than 1 in 1,000 for naming all the 12 gems, that are all anisotropic gems, in the book of Revelation! 

Keep in mind that there are a few assumptions being made here, i.e. the stones are a literal description of heaven (which I believe are) and that the light in heaven will be like “pure” light, which emanates through the gems…

Could it be possible that God, in choosing the stones for the foundation of the new temple, deliberately avoided stones that would lose their colour and instead chose stones that disperse light to produce brilliant rainbow effects? 

And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.  Revelation 4:3

Now… I started this with the words of an angel saying, “Come hither, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.  Since we KNOW that the Bride of Christ is The Church.. YOU AND ME!!!  Just WHO is doing all that shining???

You’ve got it!!! YOU..

So get on with it will ya??  YOU have been “CROSS” polarized by Jesus Christ and YOU are the LIGHT of the World!   Blessings!

What are the odds???

“…no eye has seen…no ear has heard, and… no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Driving down the road I was listening to music on the radio. I drive my wife nuts when she is with me because I am a button pusher. If I don’t like the song or commercial that’s on, I push buttons until I find something I do. The song, “I Can Only Imagine,” by MercyMe, came on and I listened. Later, as I was pressing, John Lennon’s “Imagine” came on. I quickly hit another button! Then I began to imagine…

At FLAP last night (our Church Bible Study) we were discussing questions you might ask God, if you could secure just 2 minutes with Him now. It is ALWAYS interesting! Over the years, I swear I have heard it all…”Will there be pets in heaven, marriage, ice cream, dancing, beer (and once from an elderly lady) SEX!?” ALL the questions lead to the inner desires of the person asking the question. Which, as you might imagine, can cause some issues.

Larry Gatlin had a song years ago that had this chorus;

Will they have Mogen David in Heaven?
Dear Lord, we’d all like to know
Will they have Mogen David in Heaven, sweet Jesus?
If they don’t, who the hell wants to go?

You can now UNDERSTAND the issue. If MY thing isn’t there.. why bother??

The Bible is clear. If I find myself imagining what heaven will be like, and take time to mentally approve ‘only’ the things ‘I’ like, I can get into trouble. In fact, the verse today tells me that when it comes to imagining what Heaven is like, ‘DON’T BOTHER!’ It’s impossible!

I smile now, sitting with Jesus in my living room, and think about the question some more. I can imagine myself asking Him, “Lord, with there be ___________ in Heaven.” But before I ask, I already KNOW that if it isn’t in His Word, I WON’T get an answer. But I CAN hear Him say to me, “But ‘I’ll’ be there! Is THAT good enough?” It is at that moment I realize, I have no more questions!

“Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.” 1 Chronicles 22:19

Wirrrrrrrrr.. WIRRRRR! Last night I HEARD the fire engines on the main road, but paid no real attention. When I realized they had turned onto MY road I took particular notice as they passed my house! Running outside I saw it… 4 houses down. The house was enveloped in smoke and fire was shooting into the air. Soon, it seemed the entire world was parked on my street.

I am neither a trained fire fighter nor EMT. I know enough to stay back out of the way to let pros do what pros do! As neighbors found each other, natural questions started to flow. ‘Are the owners OK? What started the fire? Who called it in? What were YOU doing when you heard?’

I can rejoice that the house is not mine. But some fear slipped into conversations of other neighbors when they realized that it COULD have been. Fire, like bad news, has no boundaries. As I reflected on the day, it was a solid reminder… we are living in difficult times.

I have several personal things that are peaking right now. Things I have prayed for, some for a long time, that just don’t seem to be moving like I have been praying. As I shook my head at the organized chaos last night, I could feel my soul reaching for its running shoes. It was like a siren jolt…I simply HAD to force myself to STOP.

When bad news comes, it is natural to want to run… flee… hide! ANYTHING to get away from the smokey darkness that seems to find its way around every corner. BUT GOD! The Word tells me OVER and OVER THIS ONE THING. “NOW devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.” As I have said before, this uncertainty is like a railroad crossing. And the requirements are EXACTLY the same. “STOP, LOOK, LISTEN!”

Whether it is an election result, a medical condition, a job change or even a fire! God’s has a rule for dealing with it. Look to Him and trust! Only HE knows what is coming and I just need to know that… WHIRRRRRR (NEWS FLASH!!!) my God is rather fond of me!!!

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:16

When I saw cherries on sale at the store, I bought a bag. Yesterday I noticed I was going through the bag with my EYES before my fingers. What I had discovered is, the darker the cherry, the sweeter it is. And the darkness is determined by the kind of cherry it is, AND how long it is on the tree.

Today is Voting Day! The day we get to utilize our collective ‘Right’ to vote to elect our government leaders. I ‘stump’ all over this day because SO many people DON’T! Since we are a republic we actually have the privilege of CHOOSING the kind of government we want. Unfortunately, there is a negative side to the process!

If more selfish or cruel people show up at the polls to choose a candidate than good and honest people, then the process can be flawed. Which is all the more reason GOOD and HONEST people need to make the effort! But the verse today has something BIGGER in it than just selection! And it may surprise you!

I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD!. That is a WONDERFUL thing. But if that was the end of it, then “I” become the prize in the process! That is NOT what God intended. The verse goes on to say that I have been chosen…FOR A PURPOSE! To Bear LONG LASTING, SWEET FRUIT that HE wants! And if I get with His program, I can even get a say as to HOW MUCH!

Cherry picking is a term used in basketball as well. It refers to one player (the cherry picker) NOT playing defense with the rest of the team. The picker remains near the opponents’ goal as a quick means to score if the defense steals the ball, and passes it to the cherry picker. But note…the CHERRY PICKER is NOT THE FOCUS. THE FOCUS IS THE SCORE!

I have been picked by God. NOT because I am very special. But because God sees, in me, a willingness to play on His team, to isolate myself from some of the action, and always be prepared to receive from Him to make the GOAL! He even goes on to say that the more time I spend focused on HIS goals, the more “I” may get the opportunity to actually ‘call some plays!’ If I ask well, that is!

I am a chosen cherry picker for God. I have to remind myself of that honor regularly, and prepare my actions and focus on Him more and more. I know my place and what He expects from me. I have a track record of DOING what He tells me, which has ONLY come with time and commitment served.

So… what kind of picked picker are YOU?