“Arise, LORD, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies. Awake, my God; decree justice.” Psalm 7:6

Looking back on it, I realize I SHOULD have seen it coming. All the conditions were ripe for a BAD DAY! Having lived over 23,000 of them, I SHOULD have learned that BAD DAYS have a LOT to do with my own body, soul and spirit. But all three have been experiencing ‘less than ideal’ conditions. So in retrospect, It was mostly my own fault. I thank God it wasn’t fatal.

Through the course of the day I lost my best pair of sunglasses and have no idea how or where. But they are gone! Later, I deliberately laid my keys down in a place I wouldn’t forget.. then forgot! Then that night, after going out for dinner, I got almost all the way home, when stopping for gas, realized I had left my credit card on the restaurant table. Thank goodness they were holding it for me. You might say I was hit in my seeing, going and getting. Yup! It was a bad day!

As I got to thinking about it, I realize I have had this condition now for about a month. So has my wife. Both of us are worn and weary in body, soul and spirit. The problem with that is… when your teammate is down, who will pick who up? Even my morning time with God has been affected. I have been trying to put up a good defense! But it hasn’t been working. This morning, in reading this verse, I think God it telling me it is time for OFFENSE!

This last week New York State just passed a law that allows abortion up until the baby’s due date! Having just held my brand new grandson, I became physically, mentally and spiritually ill. It is just ONE of the many ABSOLUTELY EVIL fights going on in this country. And I am tired of evil and those who propose it. God is ANGRY! And I feel that ‘The Church’ needs to be as well! Being offended.. its time for offense!

Maybe some of the evil things I experience in my own world is because of my own NOT-doing. Maybe the filth and sludge of life has over run me into a defeated state, and like David, I cry out for deliverance… INSTEAD of God’s wrath and rage against literal evil. If “I” am willing to live with it, could God’s hands be tied? What am “I” doing to right the wrongs and fight the good fight? MAYBE the enemy is winning because I have LET him!

If I believe that ‘Prayer Works…’ Why haven’t I taken the offense in prayer? Shouldn’t THAT be the best place to start? Maybe the idea of being a meek, patient and forgiving believer is absolutely WRONG. It appears David didn’t believe that. He cried out for God’s anger and wrath and vengeance FROM God, TOWARDS God’s enemies. And maybe that should be a wake up call to me. Anyone who thinks killing a baby 1 hour before it is due is a piece of garbage. And maybe God wants me to get off my wimpy hiney and call evil what it is! THAT could be the start of a GOOD and GODLY day!

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Is a true statement. No matter WHO said it. Are YOU angry yet?

“Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze!” James 3:5

I had noticed a little rumble in my truck about 2 weeks ago and made a mental note to get it checked out. It seemed to get worse today so I called my favorite car guy… my son-in-law! He had checked on the red light that sometimes indicated a possible catalytic converter problem. Resetting the computer.. the light went out, which saved me using some electrical tape. I thought…”I’m good!” But the rumble came back.

I took the truck to him and he took it for a spin. When he got back his first question was, “when was the last time you changed the spark plugs?” “Spark plugs?” I asked. He smiled because he knows me well. Loves me too! He told me to go to the Nissan Dealer and pick up a set, change them and see what happens. I asked, “how much are spark plugs these days?” “Oh about $8.00,” he replied. “WHAAAAAAAT?” He then added, “well ya get what ya pay for! Iridium is expensive?” Huh?

At the Nissan dealer I bragged about my 15 year old truck and how much I love it. “It takes a beaten” I said! “How much for the spark plugs?” “$15.00 apiece” was his reply. “WHAAAAAAAT?” “Hey… they’re good ones, and everyone knows… ya get what ya…” “O.K. O.K. I get it!” But is it TRUE? When I told my wife this story she said, how long ago had you changed them? I stared at her and she said… “so about $6.00 a year right? THAT’S not so bad!” She had a point.

It is amazing how 1 little spark can fire in a cylinder, then when combined with 5 others, can move me and a load down the highway. What a concept! The Bible tells me that THAT kind of power rests in ME as well…right in my mouth. My tongue can do a LOT of good, or a LOT of evil. Apparently the implication is that to do either requires a decision on MY part. Left to itself… watch our forest!

In today’s world of social media, we have a SERIOUS problem. The grapevine of gossip and opinion is practically instantaneous. And the damage can be devastating. Today I am going to commit to watching my tongue… again! Because it only takes a spark…. and I WILL get what I pay for with my words!

“How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.”Psalm 19:12 NLT

After living in this house for 30 years, I thought I’d experienced every known problem. From electrical to plumbing. Air conditioning to swimming pool repair… I thought I had seen it all. But a while back I noticed a dirt trail in my grass. Right away I knew what it was… but gave it no thought. I figured the problem would go away on its own. Now there are more trails than ever before. Conclusion? I have moles! And instead of moving on, they appear to have settled in!

Having grown up in parsonages, I have battled bats, rats and bugs of all kinds. But I have never had to declare war on a single mole. Now, it appears, I have a war! Going to the store I looked and researched mole removal methods. There are traps that slice and baits that entice. They even have mole stinky stuff that is supposed to stink them on to another location. I’m not sure which one will work best, but I now know NOT dealing with the problem… is a problem!

In reading the verse today, it struck me. If I had to CONFESS every sin to gain God’s forgiveness, would I ever be totally forgiven? Would you? The Bible is clear that the answer is ‘NO!’ Being human, I am like a teabag in hot water… steeped in sin! Any conscious effort on my part to separate the tea from the water would be utterly futile. I need a sin expert.

Sins are like moles. I don’t always see them, but eventually, I see their affects. Being uncomfortable, anxious, irritable and on edge are just a few hints that something is going on down inside my heart. I need an expert to RID the problem without completely tearing up the yard of my life with a bulldozer. Thank God I have one In Jesus.

Some sins take care of themselves. Like touching a hot stove, I immediately KNOW… “DON’T DO THAT AGAIN!” God and I settle that score quickly. But some of those nasty, ugly, little sins that I don’t easily see can become VERY detrimental to my life. They may APPEAR little to me… but they are not so to God!

I haven’t execute my plan to execute the moles just yet. For some reason I seem to have a lot of other things going on that are more important. But maybe they aren’t!? Do you see how sneaky and subversive the moles of sin are? “I’ll worry about that tomorrow,” is NOT a successful battle cry! I need to call for help! “Jesus…!!!!! “

“But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.” Psalm 3:3 ESV

My newest grandson, Case, was born on Jan 17. That was 6 days ago. On the day of his birth, I got to see and hold him for about 15 minutes. Due to sickness in the house and the potential of him getting it, he was basically quarantined. We chose to let mom and dad have the time to themselves. But last night we went for a visit.

I don’t’ know why holding your baby in the hospital is different then holding your baby at home. But to me… it is. I always insist that my wife go first. It’s a mom kind of thing. I watched and listened as she cooed and talked to the newest member of our family like he understood. It immediately brought back the memories of her with our own babies long ago. She has not lost her touch. And then, it was MY turn!

Though nervous at first, I confirmed that holding a baby is like riding a bike. Once you learn, it just comes natural. Having had 4 of my own, I scooped him in my arms and held him length-ways away from me so we could look face to face. I wanted him to hear ME now. Throwing macho out the window, I cooed and baby talked to him myself. And then I gave him ‘The Speech!’ “Case, I want you to NEVER forget…YOU are SPECIAL!” He slept right through it!

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t heard or understood by him. In fact, the conversation was not for him anyway. It was for ME. By deliberately wrapping him in the context of those words, I was speaking to myself and verifying a unique declaration from Almighty God. “I” am required to remember who “HE” is in God’s eyes. Declaring it helps me live it. I was honored when my daughter grabbed her camera to record the moment. I don’t have a copy… but I don’t need one either! It’s on lock in my head.

My own father, Case’s great-grandfather, has passed. But he lived again last night as I repeated a major part of his ministry with those words… “NEVER forget…YOU are special!” He said it all the time. And so often that it became rote! But the point was made. As a person, grandfather, father, son, relative or friend, “’I’ am special… to GOD.” And with that label comes GREAT responsibility. To ACT like it!

As we readied to leave, my almost 2 year old grandson Coast, the brother of Case, was running around playing when I snatched him up and held him face to face and repeated the declaration one more time… JUST for HIM. “Never forget… YOU are SPECIAL!” He squirmed and wanted down to play. BUT… he heard me. So did God! And so did I!

Did YOU know?

“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38

It hasn’t rained a lot lately, and the plants around the house needed some water. Going out to do just that, I grabbed the hose, turned the faucet on and drug the hose behind me as I went down the line. I was reminded of ‘the curse’ on my life when all at once, the water stopped flowing. Turning around I saw 3 kinks in the line. “THIS hose was SUPPOSED to be KINK-LESS!” I thought.

I have the same problem with extension cords. It seems that EVERY time I have hold of a cord, it gets caught, kinked or tangled! Sometimes on the slightest thing! It’s a curse. I am convinced satan asked God if he could give it to me – SPECIAL! Since the only other curse available was the Lake of Fire… I thank God for His kindness and live with the kinks. But it drives me nuts!

Jesus is the source of abundant, eternal life. To get it I need to connect myself to HIM. Human spiritual lives have been compared to water hoses or extension cords. Neither of them contain any life or source in themselves. They are simply a means of conveyance by which water or electricity can flow from a source to a distant needed location. Flow is dependent upon connection and the condition of the conveyance being used.

Electricity does not stop flowing if an extension cord gets kinked. But is will stop the flow of electricity if the cord is broken. Hoses can be broken or kinked. Running over them with a lawnmower can be catastrophic… I know because I did it just last week! When it comes to plants.. no flow, no grow. With electric drills… no flow, no go! I can say the same thing for me and MY conveyance-ability!

Today’s Bible verse says that he who believes in Me will have living waters flowing through him. Experience tells me that it takes more then just intellectual assent for His life to flow though mine. It often takes ME examining my life, looking for kinks, breaks and bad connections before that flow can get going again. We live under a curse in this life… and keeping His life flowing through us is a 2 way affair!

How is YOUR connection?

“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:15-16

Oh MAN… I have a busy, hectic and strenuous day tomorrow. In fact my WHOLE FAMILY’S world will be upset! It’s not like I haven’t been here before. I mean with 4 kids and 9 grandkids.. having kids isn’t new. But tomorrow morning my baby is going to deliver grandbaby #10!!! Now I am NOT the one who has to endure the wonders of childbirth. But honestly, I’m tired already just thinking about it!!

Listening to the cuckoo clock, by this time tomorrow night, it will have been long over! But that doesn’t mean that it just begins either! You see… this baby Grandson has been planned for an eternity! And God already has BIG plans! God’s log is about to be filled in reality!!

I have to confess that in my life I never looked forward, or thought about a day like this. I never imagined what it would be like to wait and pray and yearn to hear, “He’s HERE!” Now that it is upon me.. it’s kind of cool AGAIN! Like an actor stepping on the stage to play their part, history will begin recording this young lad’s days, weeks, hours and years. And God has seen them all already… before they even begin. HIS life WILL be… SIGNIFICANT! Just like yours and mine!

If God has baby plans.. and the Word says He does, I wonder how well I have stuck to them in MY life? Am I better or worse than what He intended. Can I fix anything? Can I change any part of my record to make it a better one than I have up until now? I confess that I am asking Him… because I really, really want to know!

Life is precious. So much so that God sent HIS Son to be born in the same exact way. But His purpose was to rescue me… for mine! So January 17 will be a special day. It will be celebrated as the beginning date of a very special person, knit in his mothers womb, but planned long before now. I can’t guarantee or promise much.. But I CAN promise this… as long as I live I am going to keep reminding him that he is NOT an accident. But a significant “on-purpose” child of Most High God! SPECIAL! Yup.. tomorrow is going to be a great day!  

Thank you for joining me in praying for a wonderful BIRTH-day

“No, in all these things we are MORE than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37

Coming home last night we were stopped at a red-light. When it flashed to green I moved forward and was IMMEDIATELY passed by a new model Camarostangcharger kind of thing with about an 85 liter engine! For fun, it got slightly in front of us and the guy punched the gas! The tail end ROARED to life and slid back and forth as physics did took over. Easing off the throttle and gaining control, the driver then roared on down the road… until he hit a red light. THAT is where I caught him!

I’d like to say I resisted temptation. But we were in our 2004 Nissan Murano and just had to have a laugh. Pulling up beside the car I saw it was a kid. It was obvious the car wasn’t his. That privilege had to be held by the guy in the passenger seat. They were both smiling! That is until I roared my engine to signify I wanted to race. THEN… they laughed! We did too!

The boys were kind… I punched it to the floor and quickly accelerated ahead. Looking behind, they just stayed back there! I don’t know if it was embarrassment or respect! But either way.. it didn’t last long. Soon, my rear-view lit up like a Christmas tree and here they came!!! VAAAAROOOOM!! Naturally… I was smoked! BUT… and I want you to remember this.. .for about ¼ of a mile.. I beat those boys! No excuses allowed!

Some things just aren’t right. I found this picture of a Firebird Station wagon that needs NO explanation as to WHY it never made it to the assembly line! Whoever introduced it in the first place should have been fired! But the concept obviously made it through several meetings and on to a prototype! And for just a few blips in time… the impossible became.. well!!!!

My Salvation from the lake of fire and my current position as a Child of God is kind of like that. The devil knew there was NO way the concept would fly. Sinners deserve death and death is what they get… EVERYtime. It is NOT a laughing matter! Until it became one!

Over 2000 Christmases ago, God’s son came as a little baby, implanted in a peasant girl. His life and horrific death should have signaled a REAL win for the devil. Until it didn’t! And when the God of the Universe blew past the plans of ol Scratch… Christ never looked back! Until He looked back at ME!

The Bible tells me what GOD the Father thinks of me, now that I belong to Him. My Heavenly Father says that because of what Jesus did, and because I received His free offer to become His son… I AM untouchable. NO condemnation. EVER! He even calls me MORE than a conqueror! Which is something I don‘t know how I can be. But God said it! And that’s all that matters! And NOTHING will EVER change that! Take THAT.. devil!

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. “John 14:12

I was a personal witness to a miracle today. A bona fide, absolute, guaranteed miracle of God. Have YOU ever seen one of those feeding the 5000 or the raising the dead kind of miracles like Jesus did? Well… me neither! But I tell you again! I saw a miracle today. And it didn’t surprise me one bit!

Now you might think I am crazy. And you might be right. But I tell you I have never put a whole lot of substance into the healing of Cancer, flu or the growing out of a limb! I am NOT saying I do not believe it if you have experienced it yourself. Not saying He DOESN’T do that either! I am just saying I do not put a whole lot of stock in it… being as rare as it is. You can quote me that when THAT kind of miracle takes place, the recipient need be nervous as to what comes next! God typically doesn’t do the impossible without a requirement. But the OTHER kind? Well… let’s just say it happens every day!

The occasion was a meeting with a bunch of teenage kids. About 300 of them would be a good guess. The speaker wasn’t very good. In fact, as speakers go, I’d have given him a C- for presentation, content and delivery. As he wrapped it up, he asked if anyone would like to come and receive prayer and the gift of eternal life. And right there.. about 80 kids came rushing to the front! I stood there in absolute astonishment with a SMILE on my face! But NOT in disbelief!

I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I know God’s hand when I see it. And I LOVE when He does that kind of cool stuff! All I could do was shake my head and praise Him. Later, I had an opportunity to talk with the speaker.. and I told him.. “you know, that really wasn’t very good!” He looked at me with a grin and said… “tell me about it! I was exhausted! But JESUS showed up, right!?” And we just laughed together. Because… Indeed He did!

If you’ve ever seen God’s miracle hand of salvation touch a life and make it whole right before your eyes, you know EXACTLY what I am talking about. You understand that the REALTY of TRUTH doesn’t exist in what is seen with the eye.. but what is seen in by the Holy Spirit.

God is STILL in the saving business. And He is making people alive for eternity even NOW! If you are waiting around for one of those other miracles, I can’t make any promises. But if you want new, eternal abundant life that sets lives free… well… all you have to do is step up, grab it and keep walking with Him. After all – He does THAT kind of thing.. EVERY DAY!

“Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2

I have a floor jack for jacking up a car. I also have a son. Well… 2 sons AND 2 daughters! My oldest wanted to borrow my floor jack. I also have a garage. You know… a place to park a vehicle. I have 2 vehicles AND a motorcycle. I can only fit 1 car and the motorcycle in the garage. Right now it is a squeeze to do even that…since I ALSO have 2 truckloads of Christmas stuff piled in the garage… blocking the door… that holds my jack.. that my son wants to borrow! I guess you could say I am a blessed man!

You’ve heard the saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins?” It is a facetious statement about the STUFF men collect. Another saying puts that one into perspective…. “You’ll never see a Hearse pulling a trailer!” I have been evaluating my life lately, and I can honestly say that I am a VERY blessed man. But NOT because of my ‘stuff!’

I know lots of people… miserable, unhappy people… who have WAY more ‘STUFF’ than me. I do not envy them and have learned, the hard way, that stuff can be VERY distracting! In fact, it can be a downright curse! Ever hear of a White Elephant? If so, then you understand the point.

This Psalm is the very first one in the book of Psalms. It CLEARLY tells mankind what we SHOULD be striving for and how we should be living our lives. The BLESSED person is NOT one who has a bunch of STUFF… but the one who delights in God and His Word. Who loves to spend time thinking, pondering and applying His Word to their daily lives. It is ‘The Proper’ collection for every man, woman and child. Yet… sadly… it is the one most ignored.

Stuff comes with its own set of distractions. Where to put it, how to organize it, and how to get to or find it when the need arises. All require time and focus, which steals time and focus from the most important thing… GOD and HIS stuff! Which is the REAL reason no hearse pulls a trailer. God doesn’t NEED our stuff! So He’s made it impossible to take it with us when we go!

The older I get the more I love God and the less I want earthly stuff! Lately I have been thinking about what to do with all my earthly blessings. Do I give it all away, sell it or just leave it for my kids to sort through? While I ponder the answer, I am dedicating my time to focusing on God’s stuff instead. For THAT is where my REAL blessing lies. And THAT”S the stuff I can take with me when I go!