“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there’ and it will move; Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

“Do you believe it?” was the question posed to me. The subject was my health, specifically my chronic nasal congestion. Having fought this beast for a year, my acquaintance laid his hands on me and said, “be healed in the name of Jesus.” Then he asked, “do you feel better?” Failing in my ability to sniff, he THEN asked, “but do you BELIEVE it?” He hadn’t mentioned conditions before.

The number of people who have faced mountains of pain and NOT prayed for healing or victory are few, even among non-believers. “There are no atheists in foxholes” shows that when facing the impossible, ANYTHING is up for grabs. Apparently the man recently discovered this verse, or heard it in a sermon, and decided to try it out on me. When healing didn’t come, it became MY fault.

Grabbing verses from the Bible and taking them out of context, misinterpretation, adding or taking away from them to make them fit an agenda, is not uncommon. The Bible verses about ‘Faith’ are favorites. Far too often, the word ‘IF’ is laid beside it, giving the quoter an easy escape route upon failure. Sadly, I know of no other subject so misused, ultimately leading to pain and even UN-belief!

The context of this verse comes after failure by the disciples to cast a demon out of a boy. Jesus does it with ease, and then gives them a lesson on faith adding ‘IF.’ My Dad taught me that ANYONE who personally knows Jesus as their Lord HAS at LEAST that much Faith! Meaning, I already have all I need to get through ANY trial, struggle or difficulty. But even THAT didn’t set well with some folks.

Depending on the Bible version you use, you MAY find a Matthew 17:21. I say MAY because MOST versions of the Bible don’t have it. It says, “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” Which was taken out of Mark 9, where only a FEW versions or manuscripts add the word ‘fasting’ Which can lead to confusion! But as Dad said, ‘I KNOW’ Jesus, and He doesn’t play games!

There is nothing more serious than Faith. It is the Work of God (John 6), and is His JOB if you want to call it that. ‘Salvation by Faith’ alone is ‘The Plan’ of God. His promises are for my LIFE, which goes on from here and into eternity. Tricks for cold relief, gold, power or fame are not an addendum. Nor are there clauses for blame or escape if someone fails to get them! Abundant Eternal Life is in HIM!

Jesus is my Lord. He loves me and walks with me every moment. Even through that garbage I tend to drag Him through. He never leaves me nor forsakes me. His promises to me are true every time. MY responsibility is to study and follow Him, making sure I KNOW what His promises ARE! Not to make them up like a dance step. It’s JESUS ONLY. Not if’s, and’s or buts! Do YOU know Him?

“Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” Proverbs 23:12

WIRRRRRRRRRR!! I had neither seen nor heard the ambulance until I followed another car through the green light onto the main highway. Now that I HAD, it was decision time. The guy in front of me was older and moving very slowly. For reasons I did not understand, I noticed he slowly pulled into the left lane and obviously hadn’t noticed the ambulance. So WIRRRRRRR came again!!!!

Then last night, there was a horrible wreck about 2 miles up the road. The 2 lane traffic was barely moving. Even after 45 minutes, police cars were wailing to get around the traffic to get to the scene. We decided to go for a bike ride. Getting to the highway, I witnessed a police car come up behind a car on a bridge and blair it’s siren. But there was nowhere for the car to go! Interesting!

This morning Katie and I were talking about the Garden of Eden. She had seen something that made her think. Excited, she came in and shared, asking “when and where was evil in the Garden?” Knowing satan and his minions were already on the Earth before God created the Garden, the answer came, ‘evil’ was there all along!’ Obedient perfect Adam and Even just didn’t notice!

This is big! I mean WIRRRRRR big! I had just been thinking about bad attitude, sin, anger and mood and how I would like to be better at avoiding all of it. Then THIS thought came through Katie’s question. MAYBE, if I paid LESS attention to the evil things around me, MAYBE I wouldn’t be as negatively affected! Hey… it’s a thought!

Reading this morning I saw this verse and tumbled it around in my head. With all the things WIRRRRRng around in this world, getting into my head, MAYBE God is trying to tell me that if I WIRRRRRshiped Him MORE… I’d find myself WIRRRRRRRRYing less about the evil things going on around me! What do YOU think? What is it that gets most of YOUR attention?

“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.” Proverbs 1:32

“What about this?” Actually, the thought wasn’t even THAT clear, though it was clearly there! Was God trying to tell me something? I THOUGHT He MIGHT be. But not knowing for sure ‘if’ or ‘what,’ I just kept on reading my Bible, trusting that He would make ‘whatever’ clear somehow. The evidence of His urging left imprints on my spirit like a herd of elk hoof prints in mud. They were MANY and BIG!

Earlier I had heard a radio teaching on relational compromise. A point the teacher made was that ‘compromise’ is often NOT good because ultimately, one party looses to the desire of the other. That loss can produce negative feelings the next time a decision needs made. HARD-feelings can come from looking for an easy way out. Working out mutual agreements to an end is harder, but better.

Later, a lady told me that she and her husband were kind of, semi-backing out of a contract that she and her husband had considered because ‘HE’S having second thoughts.” It was clear SHE was rather bitter about HIS change of mind. “But we’re still working it out!” I remembered a discussion Katie and I are having about a direction WE might or could take. Bitterness cannot be part of the answer.

After several appointments, one being with my doctor, I got home in the early afternoon. I was tired. Though there is ALWAYS things to do, I thought the GREATEST idea would be to take a little nap, since I love naps. Lying down, my head started prodding me. “You know you COULD be DOING something. Actually you ‘SHOULD’ be ACCOMPLISHING something!” “Is that YOU God?” Finally, I just got up!

I admit to being a little bitter about losing my nap. But somehow I FELT like God was in the decision. having been complacent for too long, my garage resembled a pig sty! Lying there, the thought had hit me that cleaning it up might make me, AND MY WIFE, feel better than what a simple nap might produce. Neither decision was bad. But ONE decision was better.

God uses His Word, teachers, other people’s advice and experiences, along with internal prodding to direct me to where He wants me to go. SOMETIMES, “I” feel like I need to do something for no Godly reason at all! Frustrated from missing a nap, I asked God if HE wanted me to clean the garage. As clear as a bell I spiritually heard Him say, “I don’t care!” I guess even God has those days.

What are YOU doing and WHY are you doing it?  

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.” Psalm 18:25-26

Something was different! Pulling into the Osprey Car Wash to get Katie’s car cleaned showed something I hadn’t seen before. At least 8 men all in red shirts that read ‘Osprey Car Wash imprinted on them working. Not seeing that many workers, or a standard for clothing by anyone there before, I asked, “are you under a new owner?” He replied. “yes sir, how did you know?”

I mention the car wash by name because it is the ONLY one I go to. Along with Storage Units, Car Washes are a business that supposedly pays for themselves rather quickly. The problem is, now there are WAY TOO MANY OF THEM! The reason I still go to this old place is because it sets itself apart. Those workers actually clean and vacuum the inside FOR me. No other place does.

Walking out to sit in the waiting area, 4 women were already there. Soon, another came out with the new owner, her voice getting louder as conversation continued. I just ignored it… until I couldn’t. The owner was pleading with the unhappy woman, whose face and tone were growing uglier. Having already asked, I guessed her problem “Is this about him honoring your old punch card points.”

2+2=4! That is until someone throws a fit to get their way! The woman was wanting a free car wash and the new owner had simply asked her to buy a couple car washes ahead to offset his costs. She became indignant. “I’ve spent hundreds of dollars here!” she yelled. So I spoke! “This is the best car wash in the area and under NEW OWNERSHIP. To think HE OWES YOU something is STUPID!”

I was wearing a hat that said “Jesus Christ” on it! I remembered that before I spoke… but did so anyway. If the man in the red house borrowed $100 from me, then moved away, the new owner does not owe me $100. It’s simple! But selfishness can force 2+2 to equal 5 if it gets loud enough. The situation called for bold truth! She reacted to me like I do when ‘I’ hear it. She got quiet!

I thought it interesting when the other women chimed in, “Yea… he’s right!” Something that didn’t need to be said, but became a kind of ‘vote for righteousness’ situation. ‘Truth is,’ therefore ‘JESUS IS!’ Righteous, Pure, Graceful, Perfect, Merciful, Holy and True are titles for Jesus because He does what He is! Trying to accuse Him otherwise, because I don’t get ‘my way,’ only proves me stupid!

Are YOU mad at God, blaming Him for poor service because you aren’t getting your own way? Are you demanding and devious in your business with Jesus, or are you smart enough to know when to lay down self and receive His Mercy and Grace? He wants you to speak up so He and the world can hear you!

“And David was greatly distressed… but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” 1 Samuel 30:6 KJV

“DAD-GUM-IT! There it is AGAIN!” I don’t know about you, but I HATE hearing those ‘D’ prefixes ‘De’ and ‘Dis’! Though they can show up in a visual way, like when paired up with the word cover… Discovery or ‘Delight.’ most often they do damage when stealthily connecting to a feeling, producing an unwelcome, negative mood. As in ‘Discouragement’ or ‘Despair’ for an example.

When I think ‘Courage,’ I think of a mighty warrior like figure standing tall and brave against a larger, ominous foe. In my mind’s eye, the warrior has a look on his face that says, “bring it on!” With a steely glint in the eye, the warrior shows resolve and determination to defeat whatever has come to meet and stop progress. When ‘D’ shows, discouragement and despair change the mood!

Because of my vocation, I get LOTS of varying information from people. Yesterday I was absolutely over the moon when I received a picture of our niece and nephew with a brand new baby! Such JOY! Later, I was notified that an elderly, dear friend was not physically well, possibly needing to go to the hospital. Dis-couragement was knocking at the door. But then, I received a friend’s text.

Always driving between 0 and 120 mph in my life, it is easy to get worn down. But my boss does not WANT me to be worn down. He wants me filled with joy and peace! That said, He gives me His Word to read, and fellow Jesus people to encourage me along the journey through life. Suddenly, along the way, He asks me to become an encourager to the discouraged! Life is like a windshield wiper!

I read in the Word that David, when in a distressed time, ‘encouraged himself in The LORD his God.’ Which makes me smile. Because that means if there is no one around, I don’t have the excuse of staying discouraged when I have Jesus. Soon, the Text I received from a friend made me smile with his encouraging words. That incident reminded me that, in Christ ‘I’ have that super power too!

Are YOU encouraged? Will you plan on helping or making someone else’s day by being an encourager for Jesus? Doing just that will make you a Super-Hero in someone’s eyes. Even God’s!

“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” Galatians 5:17

Rats!!!! They’re BAAAACK! And this time, they aren’t just passing through! THIS time, they have overstepped their bounds by eating holes in the screen of my pool cage! So I’ve been a little more serious about their ir’rat’ication. Hollering out warnings into the dark at hidden rodents to ‘stay away or else’ hasn’t worked. So the process of ridding myself of these pests has become more serious.

Upon discovering the first evidence of their return, I thought it humorous. Having celebrated the victorious catching of all the evil interlopers in the past, I was looking forward to a swift reprise. Digging out the old weapons, I loaded them up. Then again… and yet again! NOTHIN’! THESE rats were SMART! Taking the bait without setting off the trap made it clear! This was no game!

Determined and needing more wisdom, I went online to research and sought advice from other victims of wise rats. One friend told me to sprinkle cayenne pepper all around the outside of my house. “They’ll HATE the smell… I mean would YOU sniff around with that stuff going up your nose?” “Good point,” I reasoned! Tried it… Nada! It appears cayenne pepper is rat cocaine!

Having upped my game I have caught 5 PLUS so far. The plus was rather unfortunate because it turned out to be a squirrel! In all my years of trapping rats, I have never caught a squirrel! It was a traumatic first for me. Seeing the big bushy tail made my eyes bulge and a thought appeared. ‘WHY ON EARTH would a smart squirrel stick its nose into a trap set for a rat?’ Today’s verse baited me.

I, like all living creatures, was born with instincts. But being human, I have even HIGHER instincts than animals, having God’s image stamped on my soul. I instinctively KNOW that God exists, what lying, murder and theft are, and that there IS judgment awaiting me because of that knowledge. So WHY would I go sniffing around in areas I KNOW can only hurt or kill me forever? Hmmmm!

The Bible says my ‘flesh’ is evil. It CAN’T be caught, trained, improved, cleaned up or made respectable. It is, and always will be, ‘The Tombstone’ around my neck, ‘until death do us part!’ I know God is trying to tell me something by the squirrel. I am a child of God by Faith in Christ Jesus. I am to RATify that truth by avoiding fleshy bait, following Him and feeding on His Word daily!

So… what’s that around your nose and where have YOU been sniffing around???

“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?