“Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5: 6-7

“UGHHHHHHHHH” The morning was NOT going as I had planned. A downspout had broken off my gutter and needed to be repaired. Since after High School I had gotten a job installing gutters, the repair was something I already knew how to do. I just needed to stop by the hardware store and pick up an elbow! ‘The job’ was going to be predictably quick and easy. Until it wasn’t!

I own over 1000 pop rivets. ‘Owning’ and ‘having possession of’ are not the same thing! Needing to buy an elbow anyway, I figured I’d cut short my 15 minute search and just buy a small box of rivets too… ‘save time,’ I thought! At the store, I asked the elderly store lady where the elbows were. She simply said. “Follow me!” Then proceeded to walk ALL THE WAY to the BACK of the store. SLOWLY!

Seeing the downspout elbow reminded me that I needed to get some pop rivets, assuming they would be near the elbows I asked, “can you tell me where the pop rivets are? “Sure,” she said. “Follow me.” She then turned and walked to the complete OPPOSITE end of the store… at the same speed! But a SMALL box of white pop rivets was nowhere to be found. I had to buy $10 worth!

Walking back to the middle of the store to the checkout gal, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just wanted to get out of there and get the job DONE! Picking up the elbow the cashier turned to the very nice lady and said, “there’s no price tag on this.” My nice lady guide responded with, “Oh, no problem… I’ll just go check.” Hanging my head in frustration, I started to pray!

Sometimes prayer can be easy. Other times I find it to be quite difficult. This was one of those times. But what was I supposed to pray FOR? Since my REAL attitude was whining, I took up the attitude of surrender, spiritually waving the white flag of defeat. Needing something, I gave up and deferred to the One who supplies EVERYTHING. He then reminded me of ‘THE ONE THING’ I ALWAYS forget!

Conversations with God are always verbal. I usually talk, whine, complain, rejoice, praise, yell and even whisper what I want Him to know – in WORDS! His answers are not with words. They’re more like an instantaneous revelation dropped into my spirit where they gently explode into non messy truth! His Truth to me was simply, “K.C., the job isn’t fixing a downspout elbow. It’s fixing YOU!”

In YOUR crazy, hectic, disrupted life, what is God trying to tell YOU?

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” James 1:14

I was HOOKED! And the horrible part was, I hadn’t even seen how I got that way! But ‘hooked’ was the proper word and, figuring out HOW I got that way was NOT going to help me in my predicament. Getting UN-hooked now became the priority. I’d have to take up the “How to NOT get hooked again” problem later! So there I was… wiggling while demons laughed!

All I did was go online, satan’s favorite tool this century. I was looking up the time the Football game started when, right there on the very same page, something caught my eye! Once I saw the time, I clicked on the words that had caught my attention, which became an image, and the hook was set! To make it worse, I turned to hook into a potential net by forwarding the ‘funny’ info on!

These modern times have made being ‘dragged away’ so easy, I don’t have to get up from my chair! And it doesn’t even have to include SIN! Each morning I set down with Jesus to work on improving my walk with Him, and each morning, searching for more information, attempts are made to get me ‘off’ track and ‘onto’ someone else’s! Even famous Bible teachers use the method.

In sales, the ‘Dale Carnegie’ method teaches that the very first thing needed before ANY sale is made, is to get a potential buyers ‘ATTENTION!’ After that comes gaining their “INTEREST.” Preachers, teachers, book distributors or ANYONE wanting to get something from me, must FIRST get my attention. So they ‘fish’ using varieties of bait. ‘Marketing is the not so coincidental term!

Jesus came along and literally placed an exclamation point on the question mark of sin. In doing so, he stated through His Word that to sin against God, I don’t even have to DO IT! All I have to do is THINK IT! This statement OBVIOUSLY makes EVERYONE a GUILTY SINNER! But it’s MY responsibility to identify MY OWN evil desires and take to Him for cleansing… PERSONALLY!

I know some might be disappointed that I didn’t include my bait and sin here. But knowing MY evil desire may also be YOURS, Jesus would rather I nip it in the bud right here and NOT spread the bait around to any other fishies. SO I apologized to the ones who got it, thanked Jesus for His forgiveness, and pledged myself to not take the bait again. Which means satan is now changing his!

What catches YOU? DO you spread it around or share your sin with others? Does that make you feel better? What does JESUS want you to do before, or after you get hooked? Are you doing it?

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Colossians 3:5, 8

It’s happened before… many times! My neighbor will, or I will see and ask him, “is today Trash Day?” The reason for the question is not really as mysterious as it may sound. Over the years the dates and actual pickups have been moved around so often that it’s hard to really know. Usually looking out at the road to see if everyone else on the street has set out their garbage will suffice. But not always!

Thursday is ‘Official’ trash, recycling and yard waste day. Three separate trucks run around to pick up those items. And while it would be inconceivable for our ancestors to imagine, ‘when’ and ‘how’ are critical criteria when it comes to collecting and hauling away my trash and garbage. Confusion arises when a ‘Holy-Day’ appears since, sometimes, that shifts ‘Trash Day’ to a Friday. But not always!

I have a ‘trash can’ and a separate ‘recycling can’ to dispose of my garbage. The regular ‘garbage can’ must be set separate from the ‘recycling can’ and the two must never mix! When a renter decided to throw it all together in 1 can, the trucks simply drove by… picking up neither! But when I separately set out recycled oil in a proper container, they decided not to take that either! Trash is confusing!

I could go on about the rules for ‘how’ and ‘when’ to take out my trash, but I would need a LOT more space than I have and it would still be confusing. I’ll admit to cheating! Once, when a 4’ florescent light bulb crashed to my floor, I swept it up, threw it into a separate bag and then hid that bag in with the regular garbage. ‘They’ don’t take fluorescent light bulbs! Go ahead… call me an Earth polluter!

According to the Word of God, as confirmed by my conscience, my life contains a LOT of garbage! It is no surprise that Jesus provides ‘CANS’ for that Trash. In many ways the God of the Universe is even more accommodating and kind than my County! Jesus doesn’t care about the HOW I package it, He simply cares about the WHEN and today’s verse makes it clear. So when is Jesus Trash day? NOW!

I have found that, unlike my garbage picker-uppers, God has an assistant to help with ridding me of my unwelcome, stinky garbage. When I am in step with Him, The Holy Spirit points out where garbage resides in my life. As I walk with Him, He will continue to urge me to get rid of the stuff that makes me stink. If I don’t get rid of it, He’ll step away for a while until I get with His Trash program!

Where do YOU stink and what does God want YOU to get rid of? What garbage are you holding onto and what is holding you back from putting it into His Can?

“As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—eternal life.” 1 John 2:24-25

DING, DING, DING! As many times as I have heard it, you’d think I’d not be surprised! But I was. Having started the car, backed out of the driveway and moving down the road, the seat-belt alarm went off at the same point it always does… because it’s supposed to! Someone, somewhere, wrote a program for our car computer to do just what it was doing…  WARN me! I buckled my seat belt.

Being a male human comes with some predictable consistency. Men typically focus on 1 thing at a time and have a knack for disliking rules. Driving 25 mph in my subdivision posed no threat to me. When I get in the car I just want to GO! Someone, somewhere decided that my penchant for focus and disobedience needed a reminder before the OTHER man thing kicked in… stupid forgetfulness!

Henry Ford didn’t invent the seat belt. His goal was to make money. Somewhere down the line in some room somewhere, an accountant started crunching numbers concerning the cost of car wrecks on society. He came up with an idea to SAVE money and lives if he could ‘pass a law!’ The DING in my car, looking out more for an insurance company’s wallet, reminded me too, life is important!

In looking for a picture for this thought I discovered this handy little device that costs only $3! It is a seat-belt alarm silencer. That it is shaped like a skull is actually ironic. Anyone who spends $3 to silence an alarm meant to save their lives in a potentially fatal car crash SHOULD have 1 more final reminder. The skull is appropriate! 1 John is loaded OFTEN with a similar warning… the word ‘IF!’

God commands that I study His Word. His reasons have NOTHING to do with Him and EVERYTHING to do for MY benefit. Being a male Christian can bring a lack of focus and dislike for rules into my walk with Christ. Often, when searching the Scriptures, I look for loopholes. The statement, “once saved always saved,” is merely an attempt to eternally secure someone who isn’t ‘buckled in!’

Today I am going to buckle up BEFORE I get started because I have had some close calls in my travels. I know God enough to know that His rules are for MY benefit, not for my harm. So when I read in His Word, things like “go, show, do, remain, love, and don’t,” it REALLY IS in MY best interest to not be a bonehead and ignore His dinging! Walking WITH Him is the fun part!

Are you?

“Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.” 1 John 1:4

“UGHHHHHH” was the sound I tried to quietly make as the Doctor skillfully shoved a very long tube up my nose and into my brain! At least it FELT like it. He said, “I need to get past the old and go for the fresh, gooey stuff.” “Stuff” I figured, was his code word for ‘snot.’ I didn’t have to have a PhD to know that for what’s been hiding up there to come OUT, Doc had to first go IN!

The subject is gross. But after living with an unnamed infection for almost a year, it’s way past time to get specific! A ‘culture’ is supposed to take a snotty sample and grow it up big enough to actually see and know what’s ‘in me.’ Randomly shooting at the target with guesses, various antibiotics and hope have just not gotten what’s in… out! I’ve been ‘snot me’ for far too long!

For the record, lying around feeling awful is neither ideal nor fun. For some fun Katie turned on the National Championship College football game. A ‘Christian’ college was the underdog for whom we were rooting. Katie then said, “I know, I’ll start taking down the Christmas decorations while the game is on.” Whoda thunk that snot, football and Christmas would lead to Jesus thinking!

Feeling, wanting and stuff have a way of affecting how I look at things… AND how I am seen. Not feeling well makes me grumpy. NOBODY likes grumpy. When the team we WANTED to win was getting destroyed, letdown crept in and left its impression, even though we don’t really have any investment in that team! And putting away Christmas stuff isn’t fun or encouraging either.

The simple truth is that what is IN me, eventually finds its way OUT of me. And how I look on the outside matters to God. A Christian is someone who identifies with Jesus Christ, which I do! That means I have ‘consecrated’ my life to Him and have pledged to, like His disciples before me, DO what HE commands. Today’s verse says that NOT DOING what He commands makes me a LIAR!

Jesus Christ has made many serious promises to me. If I exchange lives with Him He promises Joy, Peace, Love, Hope and Abundance! And THAT is just for starters! But to GET all that stuff IN I have to get snotty me OUT! Getting what He says ONLY comes after DOING what He says. So this new year I’m looking AGAIN, to get more JESUS CULTURE. Cuz life is SNOT supposed to be about me!

How snotty are you and are you following His orders?  

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

Yeah… those are mine! Had it been just my shoes, it probably would not have been so tragic. But the shape of the shoes had somehow morphed into an image of my body, soul and spirit. Weeks later, I found I have been fighting a war that I didn’t know was already long in process, and one I have been losing. Having been led by the Spirit to this verse, I realize I had failed to follow the first part!

It was a miracle of sorts. I don’t make it a habit to climb up on my roof and check it out. But after a small leak in the ceiling had been pointed out, I begrudgingly got a ladder, climbed up and found… you guessed it… MORE work to do! The flat part, made up of rolled roofing material, had degraded to the point where it was a miracle it hadn’t failed. And the only one to do the work was ME!

The Elastomeric roofing material was about $100 for a 5 gallon bucket. I bought 2. My neighbor graciously offered to help, since he was retired and wanted something to do. I was just tired! By the time we rolled about 10 feet, he pointed to our feet where the splatter had made an impression! It was a good thing I had worn old shoes! Bad, cuz I had to wear them to the store to buy more material!

Sometime early in the Merry Christmas Holy-days I subconsciously realized I have not really been very merry! And not that I don’t have good reasons! Having never been this old or in this physical condition, I am still tackling everything that comes out of a sense of duty. Sooner or later, with burning the candle at both ends, SOMETHING had to give! So Merry just sort of moved out!

Over these weeks I have read the Word and the locations and subjects have pointed more to a Jackson Pollock painting than a Leonid Afremov. Making no sense, it was easier to simply close the Bible and move on. And somewhere in a silent light, with my spirit down… I called and He answered. One of those verses pointed to this one where I COMPLETELY missed the main point!

Having been involved in Church all my life, I have seen tough times, desert times, hard, sad, difficult and seemingly empty times. If my calling were to make everyone’s day, including my own, miserable… I could close here, having done a wonderful job! But it is not. The Spirit wants love, Joy and Peace to abound from my heart and Spirit. That means NOT LOSING HEART! I missed that!

So on this official ‘everybody back to work and school day,’ it is a Joy to be reminded and remember that I am supposed to operate in HIS Spirit and strength! Not my own. And to remember that, as an old preacher said, “Friday may be here… but Sunday’s a comin!” Jesus never called me to be a Superman. He called me to be HIS man and to look forward to a Merry Merry New Year in HIM!

Have YOU forgotten, or been beaten or worn down? Maybe, like me, you might consider changing places with Jesus and let Him live THROUGH you! I’m going to give it a go!