“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

“GO AWAY, I’m BUSY! I’ve got too much to do! I can’t keep up! I’m slammed… in the weeds … overloaded!” Though I don’t know why, I DO know that my life has been hectic lately. So much so, that the thoughts, things and people that are USUALLY on my mind, haven’t been! Not because I no longer care, but because BUSY-ness has taken over! And it’s all MY fault!

Cutting the grass is one of my responsibilities. My house, my yard, my job. But for some reason the duty keeps getting put off in lieu of other duties that are seemingly more important. When busy, priorities can simply shift and, before long, those undone chores can begin to look like failure. And since grass ALWAYS grows, people can easily notice.

Yesterday, I was trying to make time and muster the energy to cut my lawn. Having put it off long enough to worry about getting a bad reputation, I had to mentally determine to MAKE time to get it done. Then… a miracle took place! Since I don’t usually LOOK for them, I almost missed it! This one came in the form of a truck and trailer!

A neighbor down the street has a lawn maintenance service. As I was straining to retrieve my last ounce of energy, a thought broke through from above. I went and introduced myself to the ‘Lawn care business owner’ written on the side of the trailer and made a proposition. “You cut my lawn, I’ll give you cash!” It was a foreign thought at the time. But a GOOD one!

My lawn is my responsibility. But God has created me to do things besides lawn maintenance. Now that I was free from an obligation, I could use that time to do that for which I was called. And it felt GOOD! With responsibility met, I could focus on more important matters. DUH!!!!

I feel rather silly and embarrassed now. In the process of worrying about grass, I had forgotten more important things. Like packing the car for vacation, and forgetting the baby! Which is a sign, and a sin, of overload. And it’s a sin because I’m the packer! I’m SUPPOSED to keep things straight. Thank God HE is in charge… kind… and full of Grace.

Are YOU not doing something because you’re doing something else?  

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9

Our house is almost 50 years old! And challenges come with age. While doing laundry, we discovered water running all over the floor! “No problem,” I thought. I simply speed dialed my plumber. While I like him, I DIDN’T like his diagnosis. Trying to bust through a pipe closed off with rust, he said he’d be back to bypass the P-trap if the rooting didn’t work. It didn’t!

He told me what he was going to do, which entailed busting up some concrete floor. Since I have wooden floors over that cement, I asked if I could do any prep work. I moved all the stuff on top of the floor… then the wooden floor itself. It was a LOT of work. When he showed up, I expected a lot of work. Within 15 minutes he hollered that he was through! When He told me there was no charge… I thought I was in the Twilight zone!

I had paid him the first time and the clog wasn’t fixed. When he came back, he discovered another pipe in the wall that he could easily tie into, making busting up the floor unnecessary. But while the repair wasn’t costly, ‘getting back to normal’ WAS!

Since everything had to be removed, sweeping and cleaning was just natural. Some of the crud I discovered had to have been there for decades! With the usual headaches and unexpected difficulties that come with such a project… it took all day. Katie even admired how CLEAN it looked. But I hadn’t been shooting for clean!

In trying to save time and money, I tried to help out the plumber. His suggestion of a fix was just that. Then I remembered this Bible verse! I know my life has issues. And since my life is HIS life, I know God has continual plans to fix me where I am broken. When that happens, my natural instinct is to sometimes want to help Him out, limiting the cost to me-self!! I think I’ve been had!

The plumbing problem ended up being a HUGE frustration as EVERYTHING went wrong. After a short time I got tired of getting angry, deciding to relax and just take everything in stride. AND to Praise the Lord while doing it. The WORK didn’t change, but my attitude did! Looking back, I hadn’t set out to work on my patience. But apparently… He did! So I thanked Him for His tricky ways! The icing on the cake came with His response… “no charge!”

What’s God ultimately working on in YOUR life? 

“…if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.” 1 John 4:12-13

Needing to lift and move a rather heavy object, I looked for a tool that could help. I wrestled my floor jack from the closet and put it to work. Pumping the lever easily raised the object off the floor, which is EXACTLY what I wanted. The wheels on the jack made moving the object very easy. But leaking hydraulic fluid on the floor was not part of the plan.

This is my second floor jack. The first one was given to me by a friend who bought a new one. He told me, “it works, but leaks. All you have to do is put more fluid in it!” After I had enough of the leaking myself, I went and bought this new one. That was about 25 years ago. Now that IT leaks, I have to make a decision as to what to do with it.

Floor Jacks are bulky, heavy and hard to hide. But when the benefits of one are needed, all those inconveniences are inconsequential. Now that it leaks oil, adding ‘messy’ to that list may become a game changer. Finding myself in the same position as my old friend, the options are limited. I can do nothing, fix it or get rid of… and replace it. I wasn’t looking for options!

I signed up to be on Team Jesus YEARS ago. At that time, I realized my life was broken and in need of repair. Over the years He has helped me in more ways than I can count and our relationship continues to grow. I have learned that the road goes both ways. Since I am a part of His team, I am also expected to be a tool in His hands! Strangely, LEAKING is expected!

Oil is just one symbol of the Holy Spirit. When I received the ‘free gift’ of Jesus’ Eternal Life, I was ‘born again.’ The Holy Spirit was poured into me, where He, a living personal being, now resides. As I stay close to Him, He chooses to use me as HIS tool for all kinds of cool things. And what a Joy that is. But the job can be, and usually is… messy!

I’m not a genius about hydraulics, where oil is used to apply minimum force for maximum work. But I don’t have to know HOW it works. Only that it DOES. And when I am being used as a tool by God, the Holy Spirit is SUPPOSED to be SO evident, that leakage is inevitable. That is how people KNOW it is God working and not ME.

I looked up ‘hot to repair a leaky floor jack’ online and found lots of videos. Apparently I’m not the only one with this issue. For now, I have too many things to do to be worrying about a floor jack. So I’ll clean it off and put it away to leak another day!

What I want to know is… are YOU leaking?

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

I already knew what the subject of today’s writing would be. At 2am last night I woke up to use the bathroom and, having had a thought to add, put notes into my phone. So this morning was going to be rather easy! Until, 6:49 am, when I received a text from one of the sheep!

We have been praying for Madeline, a sister to one of our sheep. Madeline is a VERY strong believer in Jesus Christ. I met her when she visited us, with sister sheep, at our church. What a firecracker for Him! A couple weeks ago Madeline got Covid. This week she went into the hospital. This morning, the sheep’s text indicated things are really bad.

It happens that fast! Like the POP of a balloon. Life is flying high and the view, like a balloon, is breathtaking! And while, thank God, it doesn’t happen all that often, it can and does happen. When it does, the feeling of uselessness makes matters feel even worse. That feeling gave me a reason to not call, which God used to nudge me to dial the number.

I had to admit that when the news came, my human side looked for an out. A reason, cause or answer that would make the enormity of the situation not so enormous. How old is she, does she have other medical conditions? STUPID questions really! Like it matters! EXTREME pain is visiting one of our flock, and I already KNOW there is NOTHING I can say, even in a prayer, that can make that pain more bearable. But that’s not the point.

We Christians have a power and position that is neither explainable nor measurable. Just looking to Jesus Christ in times of crisis is like attaching a string to a balloon. The 2 become inseparable. Even if the balloon breaks! Life, like breath, may escape it’s container, but it is NEVER lost or gone. THAT is where the part where “MORE than all we ask or imagine” lives.

Jesus NEVER asks me to explain the unexplainable or prove He is there. He asks me to live my life like a big balloon on a string… with and for Him. No matter the conditions! What I prayed didn’t matter. THAT we prayed… did! That prayer put a great big ‘Jesus asterisk’ over the whole situation. We both KNEW it!

Please keep praying for strength and comfort for Madeline and Lydia. Healing is inevitable, whether here or there. But pray that no matter the condition of the balloon, that they, and the people around them, will take BIG notice of ‘The String!’ To Him, NOTHING and NO ONE is useless! Not when there’s Glory to be found!

Are YOU connected?

“Consider him (Jesus) who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:3

We’ve had a Black & Decker coffee pot for about 5 years. In ‘gettin’ old years,” it’s more like 20! It’s the best coffee pot we’ve ever owned and just keeps chugging along. Last night, while preparing coffee for this morning, a tiny incident caused my ‘Hulk’ side to peer out from behind some crevice in my mind. He was being incredibly stupid!

In order to make coffee, the coffee has to be placed INTO a filter to separate grounds from the drink. Every once in a while I get moving too fast and bump the scoop of coffee against the maker, spilling grounds all over the inside of the machine. It takes nanoseconds to make the mess. But quite some time to clean it up! I don’t like cleaning up messes! Especially my own.

Having made the mistake often enough, you’d think that I’d ALWAYS be careful when getting to that stage. But hey…it’s ME! Sometimes I wonder if Jesus SAVED me just for the challenge… since He’s got PLENTY to work with! To this day I STILL haven’t learned to SLOW DOWN when putting the coffee into the filter! And my Hulk side STILL hasn’t learned to simply STAY PUT! It’s the same problem I have with my spiritual life!

I am on the winning team! Team Jesus! He gave me an INCREDIBLE playbook filled with techniques and expectations. They are so detailed as to be predictable. The enemy (satan) doesn’t stand a chance! But my fleshy side hasn’t completely learned to stay put and to put on the ‘I win’ smirk! When ridiculous happens, the Hulk in me never fails to predictably arise!

This verse today is my medicine. As with most Bible verses, it points to Jesus… the object of my salvation. Thinking about what HE endured for MY sake makes this coffee issue smaller than the loss of a penny! And the ONLY way to get better at managing ‘the Hulk’ is to continue to look to Jesus. And like making coffee, that means EVERY DAY… ALL day! The coffee goes INTO the filter… Just like Jesus goes INTO my soul.

How do YOU filter life and it’s messes?

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15

It’s only been about 6 months since we had pavers put down around the pool area. I probably wouldn’t even have noticed the problem, had it not happened below the only door into the place. When the door caught on something, I bent down to investigate. Unfortunately, doing so brought me trouble.

Before we decided on pavers, Katie wanted to have a little more privacy on that side of the pool. So, she planted some ‘Ookie Bookie.’ That’s not the name of the stuff, but it’s what WE call it. And it is PROLIFIC..sending roots out and spreading like wildfire. Unchecked, it can grow 40’ tall!

I found the infracting paver and easily lifted it out. Under the paver, yet above the cement, lay 4 roots that had made their way under and through the pavers… lifting them just enough to stop entry through the door into our house. I know, I know.. NOT a third world problem! But still, something requiring work to repair.

It’s a fact! Roots can cause trouble and problems. ESPECIALLY when they are from a BAD source and make their way into my heart. No matter how old I get, bad roots CONTINUE to find a way into the door of my heart and mess me up. It takes careful monitoring and work to keep them from growing and pushing up. I don’t always see them until damage is done.

I’ve been told it’s from my heritage and that, being of Scottish descent, I have a natural inclination toward anger when things go wrong. The excuse sounds both noble and valid. But not to God. James 1:20 makes it clear that my anger does NOT bring about ‘the righteous life that God desires’ for me.BOTH verses make it clear that preventing or eradicating the bitter root of anger is MY job. And I’ve got some digging to do.

I wish I didn’t have this root and door problem. But wishing or ignoring is not going to fix a thing. They will neither fix the problem with the door to my pool…NOR the one to my heart.

So… what’s rootin’ around yours?

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

My life is blessed beyond anything I could ever have imagined. Katie (my MAIN blessing) and I have owned a rental house, on a canal, leading to the Gulf of Mexico, that has been paid off for years. Both blessing and heartache have come with the sweat the equity required of ownership. Mostly mine. Lately, my blessing has become VERY expensive!

Now I’m not talking about ‘money’ expensive! It’s WORSE! Being October in Florida, the summer heat has gotten to me. As it always does this time of year, I’m tired of sweating! But my rental house is demanding even MORE of it! Unhappily, I really do NOT know what to do about it. Honestly, I have simply become worn out, tired and irritable! What’s worse… I don’t like this guy living inside of me because of it.

With any house, and especially with a rental, there’s always work to do. Seeing houses all over town selling at phenomenal prices, we decided to see if WE could ‘cash in big time!’ We called our dear friend, also a real estate agent, and told her, “we don’t know if God wants us to sell or keep this blessing. So let’s see!” With houses flying off the market in hours at WAY over market prices, ours has been on the market for 3 months! I’m beginning to feel like an idiot!

I have NEVER learned ANYTHING the easy way. Having owned 6 properties in our marriage, NONE of them were easy. Money, sweat, time and tears tore me apart on a regular basis as I continued to ask God, “WHY did we buy this again and WHY is this SO HARD?” As with my working career, I should have learned to accept the hard fact that God does things the HARD way!

If God says ‘X,’ I want ‘Y’! And if I DON’T get ‘Y,’ or a ‘WHY,’ I have a terrible habit of whining, conniving, negotiating and HUMPHING until reality REALLY hits! Sadly, this attitude can slow my spiritual growth substantially. Not a good thing for a preacher! It’s a good thing I was saved early in life!

So me and God have an issue. Or at least ‘I’ do. Because ‘I’ was the one who set the terms for this ‘deal.’ And I think I already know what you’re thinking. Maybe I should have just flipped a coin!

Are YOU trusting, leaning and submitting? Or are you ‘negotiating’ with God?

“‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go!’” Acts 1:11 NLT

The hype was absolutely over the top, and was what immediately caught our attention. Dubbed “The Return,” the event was played up as the football game of the year. Tom Brady (Tampa Bay Bucs Quarterback) was going BACK to New England to BATTLE his old team and former coach. And EVERY commentator had SEVERAL insights as to how it would go. Katie and I made plans to watch!

Katie likes watching football even more than I do. There’s just something about the sound. Our boys played it all through school and our girls were cheerleaders. To us, there’s just something about the sound and season that brings us joy. Fall, the anticipation of the coming Holidays and cooler temperatures, make it my favorite time of year. “The Return” was just a bonus!

There is no doubt that politics has invaded the football world. I know lots of people who won’t even watch sports anymore. Even casual interest can spark controversy like, “what should Christian parents do on Halloween?” But Katie and I are adults and can see past the political attempts to sway and change people’s views of things. Our focus on “THE REAL Return” has made it easy!

Mention Tom Brady’s ‘return’ and people’s strong opinions erupt to the surface. If you’ve ever mentioned Jesus Christ and HIS return, you probably weren’t surprised to see evidence of what ‘unbelievable’ really means. Scowls, eye rolls and subject changes are the lateral moves the world seems to take when considering the coming of God’s Son to earth… to victoriously right all wrongs and to rule and reign the planet! It just sounds too far-fetched! Or is it?

I’ve never met anyone who didn’t realize this world is a mess! Inside all hearts, even unbelievers KNOW that we were not made for this. And that right, fair, love, joy and perfect relations among people and God HAVE to exist. And while NO human has provided a lasting answer for ANY of it, we ALL just KNOW that there HAS to be ONE who DOES! Enter Jesus!

And that’s it! Enter Jesus… PLEASE! It is my mantra and ultimate Hope. Maranatha…’even so come’ Lord Jesus! And HURRY! Cuz it’s getting pretty messy down here and I’m getting tired of the games!!

Are YOU Ready?

“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 16:25

Looking at tires is not a normal thing for me. So I don’t know how I actually noticed that Katie’s tire was so low as to almost be un-drivable. Since we had to go right back out, I fired up my 40 year old used, rebuilt compressor and pumped ‘er up! Occasionally and over 2 days, I’d give it a quick glance. It APPEARED to be ok. Yesterday, after 2 days, it wasn’t looking very pumped.

I KNEW simply pumping it up was probably not going to last. Tires just don’t simply leak air unless something is wrong. So last night, I pulled out my tire patch kit and proceeded. Now I’ve patched many a tire in my day. But it wasn’t going so well. So I called my friend, who also happens to be a top mechanic, and asked, “if I can’t get the reamer to go into the hole, can I use a drill?”

I was laughing when I asked the question, because I already assumed the answer. “WHAAAAAAAA? Ya gotta make it go in the same direction as the nail.” Right then I knew that, even if I didn’t get the tire patched, I had a topic for the ‘Words of the Day.’

This Bible verse today is found in Proverbs… TWICE! So, like Katie’s tire needing air, it MUST be an obvious truth. But for me and my brain, it wasn’t. Lately EVERYTHING has been difficult. What should be easy, seems hard. Simple things go wrong so easily. I changed my broken cell phone case this morning and got jabbed…leaving a bloody thumb as a consolation prize. 3 pens in a row simply quit writing! And I WANT to SCREAM!

Ya’ll, screaming doesn’t help. I SEEMS like it SHOULD. But it only releases built up pressure and then seals off for another build up. As Katie heard me hissing, she paid attention and listened. Then suggested I sing to the Lord and praise Him in SPITE of my leak. Words I have said to SO many people…SO OFTEN! Now ‘I’ need a fill up!

This morning I reluctantly took a look at the tire and it held up. So going in the right direction was good advice. Now, I’m going to apply that same lesson to the leak in my spirit. And thanks for your prayers too!

R U Pumped?