“…they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:12

The only one who drives my truck is me. Not being a vehicle guy, I am completely unconcerned about how it looks. As I see it, a truck is a tool to get me from 1 job to another. That said, tools and things have a tendency to store up in the cab behind my seat. This is not a problem because nobody sees back there anyway! Which recently proved to be an eye opening revelation!

I had a reason to clean out the back of my truck last week, and cringed at the thought. Removing each item, 1 at a time, I had to decide, “save” or “pitch?” With a trash can beside me, each item was either deposited in the trash or onto the garage floor for sorting later. Strangely, the trash can was not filling up as fast as I thought, as treasure after treasure was found!

Over the last few months I have had the need for Duct Tape but could not find any. Cleaning out my truck, I found 4 rolls of the stuff! I had lost my garage door opener about 6 months ago when voila’… there it was! Right under the pile behind my seat! Which begs the question… since they remained in my possession, were those items ever LOST in the first place?

These thoughts may signal I am losing my mind… or that I just need a vacation! But as I lay in bed last night, a serendipitous thought broke through the clutter of my mind, and it concentrated on this verse today. I figured it was God trying to tell me something, since I hadn’t had a thought about angels since before I lost the garage door remote!

Being a man with flaws and failures, I don’t really feel like a wonder. In fact, much of my time I spend fighting off satan’s attempts to bring me down by the remembrance of my failures. But this verse suddenly SCREAMED something at me I had never realized… the ANGELS in Heaven are actually JEALOUS of ME! It appears that I possess something they cannot even begin to treasure! Hmm!

It’s a fact that Good News can’t come until Bad News settles in. That all of us are sinners destined for the eternal trash bin should be common knowledge. That lost trash could rule the heavens is a treasure greater than anything I can fathom. But is it true? Could God be cleaning me up to prepare me for something so BIG, that even the Angels are mystified???! I’m gonna look into this!

Could it be that God is trying to prepare YOU for something eternally big???  

“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

The whole McCay fam was at the Birthday party when it happened. But with so many weans and excitement, it went unnoticed by everyone but me. My son Colt was helping unwrap a large toy for his nephew by cutting the zip ties that held it to the box… snip, snip, snip! Speechless, I asked to see the box when he was done to confirm what I thought I saw, then smiled!

Upon examination, I saw he had cut all the zip ties without even thinking, then was discarding the packaging, cut ties and all! What made it initially shocking to me was that the zip ties were LONG ones and, if cut carefully, could be used again! But not now!

My father was born a year before the Great Depression of 1929, and my whole life was affected by his experience. He didn’t throw ANYTHING away! Teaching me to be frugal came naturally since, being the youngest, he was the last to get what could be got! Dad taught me to depend on my own wits and resources for success. But over the years, I made other plans for my 2 sons.

Being poor means you make do with what you have. And if a job needs done, you do it yourself. If you don’t know how, you learn… hands on! Early on I committed to a goal for my boys, that they would NEVER have to own a tool, unless they WANTED it. I wanted my sons to be so successful, they could just pay a company to do work for them.

Owning tools for most any kind of job around the house, zip ties are just part of my necessary resources. I have discovered that with so many items wrapped with them, if I carefully cut a zip tie, I can reuse it again. As I stared at the ties Colt had just cut, I realized the thought of saving them for reuse hadn’t even crossed his mind! Because he was successful!

I was born poor, wretched, pitiful and blind! In need of salvation, my heavenly Father already knew there was no way for me to save myself. So He made other plans. He paid the price for my sin HIMSELF and WANTS me to be in His family… SUCCEEDING in the family business.  He doesn’t want me trying to save myself. I buy neither zip ties, nor salvation! My God, MY Father, already did!  

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” Romans 8:1

“HAPPY 4^th OF JULY!!!” That is what someone said to me yesterday… on the 3^rd! This year the 4^th actually falls on a Monday, turning the HoliDAY into a WEEKEND! Which, for people who like to drink and party, extends celebrating to days on end without having to make up an excuse! As I wrote those words, I realized I did so with some serious jealousy!

While a teenager, I discovered that alcohol gave me PAINFUL hangovers that hung on for days. And it wasn’t for lack of trying! It took a while, but I finally accepted bad hangovers to be a gift from God! Had I not been blessed, and with my personality, I’d probably be dead by now. But I have to be very careful, because it is easy to become judgmental with such a gift.

This year, the timing of the 4^th is unusual because we’re getting ready to go on vacation. And though we do it every year, it never gets easier. For weeks now my brain has been overloaded with anxiousness due to ‘things I have to do’ before leaving! To top it off, I feel guilty for not getting things done well. All in all, I’ve been feeling guilty and bad about ME! I need some FREEDOM!!!

Guilt is a terrible thing. Being in the business of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ is similar to partying and vacationing because there are 2 sides to each coin! On 1 hand, Jesus Christ died for ALL my sins so that NOW… there is NO condemnation, or hangover, for me to face. EVER! BUT… His gift of grace ALSO expects me to live and act LIKE HE does… PERFECTLY! Since I don’t… GUILT!

So, as anyone can see, I have a problem! Taking my vocation seriously calls me to encourage and lead people to walk like The Savior, while NO one… including myself… DOES! Add to it the fact that satan has a field day playing on this field called Earth, we ‘ALL’ could use a ‘mighty pac’ of Christ’s freedom… which comes with permanent ‘stainlifting power!’ Just drink it in and rest on it

Are YOU free from ALL your guilty stains? Happy Independence (dependence) Day!

“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” Isaiah 65:17

Having a 4 wheeler to ride in the mountains is an absolute blast for me. I’ve had an older one that was gifted me by my kids for my 60^th birthday, but it’s gotten older as I have. Unfortunately once, the brakes gave out and sent me down the mountain… backwards! After I became conscious, I realized how close I came to seeing Jesus… an event which I look forward to. Just not in that manner!

I’ve spent lots of money and time to fix that old stopping problem. Finally, I took it to the Honda shop to let a certified factory rep take a look. Going to check progress, I walked into the store and toward the service area. But RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME sat a brand new shiny 4 wheeler on the showroom floor. Casting temptation aside, I headed to ‘Service,’ only to get bad news!

The things I have done to fix my old 4 wheeler actually caused more problems than helped. Swapping brake types and using aftermarket parts to make it run LIKE new SOUNDED creative and cheaper at the time. But as I asked the Service manager questions and offered suggestions like “what if?” and “how about?” he politely shook his head in wonderment! Then I remembered ‘The Crash!’

It didn’t take long, since I’m not a fool! As I walked back out through the storefront, the owner was standing beside that new shiny 4 wheeler, when I just blurted out… “how much?” Within a few moments I made my decision! And for pretty much the same reason that I took Jesus up on HIS offer of a New Life decades ago. Crashing through life with no brakes was no kind of life! So I got His!

Pain, always unwelcome and inconvenient, is often the greatest teacher of all. Having experienced the nightmare of a terrible crash made me wake up to a possibility I don’t EVER want to experience again! Which is why I like sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who are living lives full of bad news. Since trying to fix the old life to be good enough… just leaves Jesus His head shaking!

Do YOU possess the New Life of Christ? Cuz matey… thar be mountains ahead!