“Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your Word.” Psalm 119:37

Standing outside the restaurant with my family, I was focused on my youngest grandson. He has no learned fears yet, and sees a big parking lot as a place to run. NOT a good idea… for obvious reasons. As I focused on him, my peripheral vision saw movement to my extreme right. Then I heard the ‘thunk!’ An elderly lady had fallen in the parking lot and hit her head. All 9 of us ran to her aid.

As we sought to comfort her, I looked to see what might have possibly happened. And there it was! While she was watching where she was going, she wasn’t watching where she was going! A big tree root had grown under the pavement and slightly lifted it. Focusing ahead, she did not see the un-level ground below. Such is the dilemma of peripheral vision. It sees motion… but does not focus on details.

In the picture above, it is easy to see the difference between vision and peripheral vision. If you stare at it, it looks stationary. If you look off to the side, it appears to be moving! Conclusion? Your brain CAN be tricked! Another obvious conclusion? Satan knows it!

This verse above seems to be a little tricky as well. David is talking about God’s Word and asks God to turn his eyes from worthless things. While I love the prayer, I’m not sure how much GOD does the turning. From my perspective, His Word WARNS me, and it is up to ME to learn and choose to avoid ‘worthless.’ Like a little kid sees a parking lot, I can be drawn to many things that are not good for me. As they get pointed out, by teaching or actual experience, I have to learn to walk smart!

God has a whole LOT of teaching aids at His disposal. The Bible, family, friends, the Holy Spirit, angels and double vision are just some of the ways He teaches me. But sometimes EXPERIENCE is the hardest teacher. Ask a kid what he wants to BE when he grows up, he will usually give you an answer. Ask if he is on the clear PATH to reach that goal, and you likely get a different answer!

The Bible is full of stories that prove seeing is not necessarily believing. Where we WANT to go and where we ARE, are often opposite destinations. Not wanting to be tricked, I have to clearly focus on where I am and where I am headed. I thank God that He has provided me with a LOT of warnings before, AND help after, if and when I stumble. But I can trust that He will get me safely home.

“Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.” Psalm 96:2

In 30 minutes I hop into the car and drive 4 hours to officiate a wedding. The groom will be in the car with me… and so will my wife. I am not nervous or hugely anticipatory. I am joyful and calm. I am not the one GETTING married… I AM married. And that is all I need.

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and while everyone looks to a feast, time off and family, I wonder how often we drop the I, ME and MY to focus on HIM? Psalm 96 is dedicated to that very idea. As ALL of creation sings and praises their Creator in their own way… from rocks, trees, skies and seas, the ONLY one that REALLY matters to our Wonderful Savior, is the song of man’s heart!

Created things have a connection to the creator. But man is the one who holds the distinct position of the potential to be MARRIED to Him …in relationship… FOREVER. Fallen trees will not arise. Melted rock will never reform. But man will never die. And we shall either Praise Him or curse Him. It is our choice.

So praise and sing, and all the other things this Psalm says to do, in preparation for a week of Thanksgiving. Oh… and please pray for Mike and Kim. After all, marriage is the greatest symbol of our Divine Union on Earth. He wants us to be THAT CLOSE!

Praise the Lord!

“Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise His Holy name.” Psalm 97:11-12

Getting a haircut is a big deal. At least for me. Having bopped around to different people, I haven’t found a steady person I can rely on. I’m not that picky, but I know my wife will make a comment. SHE is the one I want to please. So when I told my son-in-law I was looking for a barber he said, “go to ________ and ask for _________. And use my name!” So I did!

I found the place, and I asked for _______. Of 5 chairs he was the only one available. “How lucky,” I thought. “This could be the start of something good!” We struck up a conversation and I said, “Yeah… I’m here because Todd is my son-in-law and he said I should ask for you by name!” His response was? “WHO?” “Todd,” I said. “Who again?” he asked. I began to wonder if I was in the wrong place as I said… “TODD!” He finally said, “OHHHHHHH, you mean CHAPPY!” I thought, “what have I gotten myself into?”

So there I was, draped in a barber chair, trusting a man I do not know (with sharp scissors no less) who is smiling because he apparently knows MY son in law HE calls ‘CHAPPY?’ Resisting the urge to flee I just said settled in and the hair started to fly. I thanked God that hair grows back, but was unsure my wife would give a thumbs up. I HAD to trust that “Chappy’s Barber” knew what he was doing. Because Insulting him meant insulting Chappy! AND because he had my back to the mirror and had only asked me only 1 single question, “How short?” Knowing ‘chappy,’ that question was funny in several ways!

I have often said that getting into Heaven is like getting a good government job. It isn’t what you DO, it’s who you KNOW! And I know Jesus! It is interesting that HE has a lot of nicknames as well. In the verse above, two of His names are mentioned… Lord and Holy! The really cool part is that the same verse gives ME a couple nicknames as well! Righteous and upright! If you know me, that is funny… in several ways!

People who say they don’t believe in God obviously don’t KNOW God. Claiming He is unjust, cruel and absent prove they have no relationship with Him. I KNOW Him… He NEVER gets out of my hair, is ALWAYS on my mind and has NEVER failed me! Even when I THOUGHT He had!

I liked Chappy’s barber. Lots of folks commented to the affirmative. Which is interesting because I didn’t have a say about how my hair got cut! He just cut it the way he saw it! Jesus does the same thing to my life all the time and over the years, He has earned my trust!

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11

Visiting folks at their work in the industrial part of town, I parked ‘off road’ and headed in to say hello. On the side of the road I noticed an old nickel laying there, so I stopped and picked it up. Upon inspection it turned out to be a plug from an electrical box and not worth a penny. Coming out, I went the opposite way to get into my truck, and as I rounded the front and looked down, I was facing a beggertick plant. And yes… I KNEW what I was facing!

I’d like to say I was smart enough to go around the truck to avoid the weeds. I KNEW that walking through them came with the certainty of picking up hitchhikers – those annoying, stabby, little plant stickers that so easily latch on to socks and shoelaces. I actually paused to think about it (yea me)! Then I ‘pranced’ right through them! Do you now have a mental picture of me ‘prancing?’ I paid the price for prancing as, all morning long, I picked those things out of my socks!

The point is this. I didn’t KNOW that the nickel wasn’t a nickle. I only wasted 3 seconds of my life choosing to pick up something the was worthless. But I KNEW what that plant would do to me if I stepped in it. I actually FIGURED that it would only take a few seconds to pick them off! BUT… it would save me time in backtracking. I figured wrong!

My wife loves butterflies, and she once actually wanted to BUY and INSTALL this plant in our yard. She read somewhere that butterflies LOVE the flowers of this prickly plant! When she proposed the idea, I did a quick figure and said… “NO!” NO WAY was I going to live WITH that irritating bush. I could not calculate the time I would waste picking prickers as the plant grew bigger in my own yard! Even if it brought a MILLION Butterflies. It wasn’t worth the price!

Why do we KNOW what is bad for us, and yet proceed? Notice I said ‘WE.’ You see, it helps to include YOU into my sick, unreasonable mind, because then I don’t really FEEL as bad if I was dumb all by myself! See how that works? But the bottom line is, I AM responsible for my OWN decisions. And blaming YOU for previously stealing a cookie out of the cookie jar, AFTER I have been caught, just somehow makes my bad choice seem not SO bad! But that logic doesn’t work either!

One more time I think I will let the butterflies have the briers. I’m committed to learn from my ‘prancing’ and avoid prickly plants. BUT… I’m 63! Somehow I have a feeling that I’m PROBABLY going to prance again! Yes… I am that dumb!!! Thank GOD I have a Savior! Now, will you please erase the prancing image from your mind? Because God did! Thank you!

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:6–7

It was the second game of a double header and the team I was rooting for was down 2 runs. The batter looked small compared to the VERY large pitcher. The wind up, the pitch… the small batter made a small move with a perfect bunt and got STILL got on first base! “Nice move,” I thought! But the next batter hit a fly ball and that was 3 outs.

Standing behind the home plate I looked at a giant, the former pitcher, who was now the batter. He had earned a fierce reputation, having smacked a homer in the very first inning at bat. Coach called timeout and brought in a new pitcher. “WHAAAAAAA?” I thought. Lil’ bunt guy was being put in to pitch??? It was like David and Goliath all over again. Only Goliath had the bat and David had a ball. One…. Two… THREE…. & YER OUT!!!!!!! I went nuts and screamed as the ‘struck out’ batter kicked the dirt in disgust!

OK… I am not a baseball fan. But I had a genuine interest in this game. You see, the bunting batter and the now-smiling pitcher was my Grandson, Isaac! And I was PROUD! He showed poise, control and self-discipline facing a giant. And he had prevailed!

I met a gentleman today who has experienced a LOT of hard stuff lately. I knew he attended church regularly and we chatted about his life. The more we talked, the more concerned I grew. He had answers… and seemingly good ones. But something wasn’t sounding right. Figuratively, the ball was in my hand, so I pitched it right at him… “If you were to die today do you know FOR CERTAIN you are going to heaven?” He was bold and forceful, and without missing a beat he answered, “NO.” Strike 1

Sizing him up, I wanted the next question come across clear, and force him to do more than simply swing. I asked, “If God were to ask you, ‘Why should I let YOU into my Heaven,’ what would YOU say?” He responded with, “well, I think my good has outweighed my bad, so that should do it.” Strike 2! Now the series became VERY – serious. Digging in, I shared facts about sin, death, sacrifice, Grace and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then wound up and pitched THE QUESTION! “Would you like to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and KNOW for CERTAIN you are going to Heaven?” His answer? THHHHHHWHACK!!!!!! YES!! HOME RUN!!!!!

The Bible says that all heaven rejoices when 1 sinner believes the Gospel. I swear I could hear. sitting there with a smile on my face, just like I did with my Grandson. I resisted the urge of a derogatory comment toward the opposing dugout…as I sensed the devil kick the dirt in disgust and walk away!

When it comes to God’s Kingdom, I have learned that little things are ALWAYS Big ones! A simple answer makes all the difference!

OOOOOOO I just heard YOUR name called & yer up! Here comes the pitch!!!!! “If YOU were to die today… do YOU know FOR CERTAIN you are going to heaven?”…..

“For He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.” Psalm 72:12

Running to and fro with a lot on my mind, I was trying to get things done for my home, the church and both families. I wasn’t grumpy, sad or down. In fact, I felt no sense of failure, overwhelming duty or spirit crushing fatigue. That is until I distinctly heard, “Pick it up!” It was then, when my vision caught sight of the paper cup, that my head dropped, eyes closed and my heart fell! And just that quickly, I knew I was in trouble!

The voice was not audible, but it was loud and clear to me. I have told the story often enough, but I’ll say it again… I hear God! Some folks look at me strange when I say it, while others get jealous. “God talks to YOU?” Yea…I get it! Shocking, right?! He does! But unlike Daniel, Ezekiel or John, He doesn’t give me huge apocalyptic visions to pass on to the masses. “Pick it up,” was what He said. And the 1 lone piece of trash on the ground was what I thought He was referring to. But it wasn’t.

I WAS shocked, but not by His voice. It was my reaction. Like you, I know what it’s like to be VERY busy and overwhelmed! But I thought I was juggling the balls rather well. Trying to please the Master should be an easy thing to realize. One piece of trash was not a huge task, but it was enough to break this camel’s back. It made me recognize that I had been performing instead of relying. It was a strange lesson, but I got it!

Jesus wasn’t telling me to ‘do’ one more thing, He was telling me to STOP! Apparently, without notice, I had run WAY ahead of Him and was doing the things “I” thought were important for HIS work to be successful. But without listening to His instructions first, I became my own foreman!. My internal ‘sigh’ was a sign that I had, unknowingly, changed places with the Master!

Psalm 72 is about Jesus, Messiah, and His Glorious future kingdom. It pretty much describes Him like the Superhero He is. I have needs and afflictions and areas that need a Superhero. He reminded me that He NEVER asks me to do HIS job! Sometimes the most important thing He asks me to do is to Stop and LISTEN. To ‘pick up’ my heavy load, place it in His hands and Let HIM be HIM! Did you know that there are no rewards in Heaven for picking up trash?

“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:25-26

It was dark as I pulled up behind the car at the red light. And by dark I mean that no headlights were coming from the south OR the north. There was not a car in sight! The ‘powers that be’ created a permissible rule for cases just like this. It’s referred to as ‘right on red.’ It basically gives permission to a driver to proceed through a red light, after stopping, if traffic is clear. And it was… CLEARLY!

When the horn is pressed on the steering wheel, it makes a sound. That is what it is SUPPOSED to do. The horn does not indicate emotion in any way. TOOT! It can be a notice, a warning or even a hello! Press…. TOOT! Setting at that dark light… waiting…with NO movement from the car in front of me, I gently pressed… toot. I guess what the woman, in the Volkswagen, in front of me, heard was… TOOT! Because she stuck out her arm and waved 1 finger at me!

How long does it take to murder someone? I mean really? I KNOW I have used the illustration before, but I haven’t graduated yet! Jesus says that when you call someone a ‘fool’ in anger, you are guilty of murder! In retrospect, I can tell you that the timing from a ‘finger to rage ‘can be measured in NANOseconds! Let’s just say, ‘Lightnin’ fast!’ But the reality of feeling like a jerk, exacerbated by the reaction of the woman setting beside me… my wife…lingers long! “WAY TO GO, PASTOR” she said! So I killed her too!

How long does it take to sin? We were all stuck at an impersonal red light. But within a second, EVERY ONE of us earned ‘Hell!’ It CAN debated as to who went first! But the end is the same! The woman in front of me had the RIGHT to go on red… but nothing says she HAD to exercise it. So I exercised MY right to ‘toot!’

“It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” That verse has a LOT packed into it. Most often, in man mode, I have a tendency to ‘rush loudly.’ But I am not alone! Lamentations was written by an unfortunate prophet named Jeremiah. He was stuck in History at a LANDSLIDE caused by the sin of the nation Israel. When God called him to go warn them, the Almighty threw in, “no one is going to listen to you!”

One man’s words against a nation, written down forever, can easily be picked apart. Jeremiah places blame on Israel, but doesn’t mind throwing a little dirt in God’s face. The surprise is that God let him! So WHO caused the suffering of Israel? Was it God? Jerry puts the blame on Him in Lamentations 1:12-13. Or was it Israel… like It says in Lamentations 4:13? Go ahead and look it up and see what YOU think.

I THINK the rightful response is that NONE of us have rights! I am not the creator, police, judge, jury or executioner. What I AM, is a man in a heap of trouble. But thankfully, this verse verifies that salvation is on the way! AND… that my case would be best served if I just sit at the light… quietly… and WAIT for it! Now…. can I?

“I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’ The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” Psalm 116:3-5

I thought it was Thursday and it was getting late. You may remember my issue with garbage day, so remembering caused me to jump into ‘hurry’ mode. Grabbing a half-filled trash bag I thought of all that wasted space!!! So I opened up the refrigerator and started scrounging for trash to fill up my bag! (Does anyone else do this????) I hit pay-dirt!

In the back of the shelf was a container of mystery! How long had it been there? What did it hold? Heading to the sink, I opened it up… and the smell hit me before I could make out what it was. Holding my breath, I poured the ooozy goo down the garbage disposal, rinsed and repeated SEVERAL times! Feeling a sense of accomplishment, I headed to the street with my garbage, only to discover that I was the only one! It was Wednesday!

It is UNusual that I am that prompt. When a nasty or unpleasant job awaits, I usually put the PRO in procrastination. It is a character flaw. In English, placing PRO in front of a word usually makes it different. It means to ‘put in front’ or ‘take care of in advance.’ There is NO such word as ‘crastinate!’ I looked it up BEFORE I started writing this because… well. You know!

WHY is it man’s natural inclination to wait for distress or sorrow to strike BEFORE we call on the Lord. WHY do I continue to search for ways to get myself out of trouble instead of giving it to Him right up front? The last 100 times I tried to be my own superhero, all I found was that my own efforts were smelly and useless for my own rescue. But since David wrote that Psalm, I guess I am in pretty good, but messed up, company.

Learning to lean on and trust the Lord with my heart and life is a long term lesson. Like ‘garbage day’ trouble seems to have a schedule and it ALWAYS shows up. But then… so does God! The longer I know, love and trust Him, the more I realize that he WANTS my garbage. EVERY BIT OF IT! IN ADVANCE! In fact, He has a word for doing just that. It is called TRUST… or FAITH! He promises HIS graciousness and righteousness as the reward He gives me when I QUIT analyzing and START the Trust process.

I have a LOT of ooozy goo in my life that needs to be disposed of. But little by little, as I trust Him, I find it is easier and SMARTER to hand it over NOW… and to stop finding ways of putting it off.

I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:2

Getting ready to pull onto the highway, I hit a perfect block. As one string of cars had just passed from the east, another string of cars began to block my way from the west. After several minutes, I pulled out. The first light I came to turned yellow, the car in front of me stopped. So did I. The next light I hit did exactly the same thing. THAT was when I heard God (or GOD) speak!

I have learned, and forgotten, a LOT of things in my life. Being a goal oriented guy, I usually set my sights on something to be accomplished and hammer-on until it’s done. Along the way frustrations and blocks become objects to remove, leap over or push out of the way. Most of the time that is how things get done. But SOMETIMES!

I have learned, forgotten, learned and forgotten that SOMETIMES the LORD… or the Lord… is the one throwing (or USING) the red lights in my path. SOMETIMES I get so busy DOING, that I simply forget about BECOMING! And there is a difference.

The secret code in the Old Testament is easily missed. Sometimes the Bible reads ‘LORD,’ All caps. Sometimes it is ‘Lord.’ Or GOD and God. I am not a Hebrew expert, but my understanding is this (Please correct me if I am wrong). Lord or God means Elohim. It is the Big, Overall, Powerful, Creator God WAY up there. The word LORD or GOD is His PERSONAL name and means Yahweh. It refers to His Personal, up-close involvement in my life as He loves me and gets involved with me on a father-son level.

It took a little more than a couple of lights for me to hear Him. But I finally got it! GOD my FATHER wanted to have a loving ‘one on one’ moment with me.. simply out of His Love for me. He cares about EVERYTHING I do and go through. And he wants to be part of it all.

This morning I was the one looking for HIM. I opened my Bible to this verse and smiled. Because I don’t need a job, stuff, a schedule or green lights to be complete. My Daddy God (and GOD) is where I get my whole life’s joy. ESPECIALLY at a red light when He wants my attention. Are you paying attention?