“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” That had been my attitudinal spirit for the last week since back from a beautiful, fall mountain vacation. I hadn’t even hit the plane when difficult news hit my cell phone. It was time to get to work, which required hitting the ground RUNNING! So being used to it, that is what I did. Little did I realize that, while I knew what I was doing, I got started a little before Jesus!

In my early years, I made my living based upon what I did. In the factory, I worked as a spot-welder and got paid based upon how many pieces I spot-welded together. It was easy to compute. 1, 2, 3 … times the amount paid per piece equaled PAYCHECK! I was fast and good at it. When commission only sales called, I could take my total sales, times it by 10% and PAYCHECK! Not now!

This week had left me in a funk and I didn’t really know why. I told Katie, I needed some inspiration, something new to give me a boost! My ‘helpmate’ was kind and sent me an email to encourage me. But it didn’t work! I was called to do a job and I was doing it by rote, operating on past experience, knowledge and power to get this new need filled. Then I hit empty! All by myself!

Being too old to panic, my spirit grabbed my surfboard as I hit the usual sources for inspiration and power. Prayer… nada! Christian videos… zip! Devotionals… nope! Bible reading…nothin’! Having been here before as well, all I could do was snicker! Obviously the problem was ME… and Jesus was going to use the opportunity to show me something. He can be such a comedian!

My last ditch effort was to go into my semi-darkened library and start thumbing through books. When my finger fell on an old one that used to be my Father’s, one I had read several times in the past, my spirit received a little jolt! I dropped the other 2 books from my hands, sat down and got reacquainted with God’s method. Shaking my head I realized… I had started working without Him!

God and I are pretty tight, but every once in a while I get too used to Him! When that happens, I make assumptions, run ahead and get started before my heavenly Daddy says ‘go!’ The funny part is that sometimes He just lets me… GO! When I fall down I sometimes turn around and sense Him laughing since, ME trying to play and work like God is simply… funny! I didn’t need new… but old!

Are YOU running ahead of God with plans and power of your own? If so, how’s that working for you? Can you find your way back to God and simply reconnect before you do anything?

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.” John 12:26

“HOLY….!” was my thought as I walked into the dimly lit hospital room. Because of so many tubes in the way, I could not recognize the person in the bed. But I knew her and thanked God she was out cold! Not wanting to disturb her, I prayed silently, then walked out of the wing, only to run into her husband on his way in to see her for the first time since her surgery. Neither of us were prepared!

When he saw her, I immediately saw the depth of his love for his bride. I held onto him as the tears came. When he touched her, she started to move… which was NOT supposed to happen! Subconsciously realizing her hands were bound, she struggled, bringing in the nurse who said, “she has enough drugs in her to knock out a horse!” The next 2 hours then became a battle of wills!

5 entities, all symbols of authority and desire, occupied the room. Nurses, husband, wife, Jesus Christ and satan… and of them had an agenda! It was readily apparent Jesus was the most calm one in that space. As she fought to reach reality, the staff followed rules, satan emitted fear and her husband and I spoke words to reassure and calm her down. What happened next… was miraculous!

The husband had just lost his mother to cancer less than 24 hours before. With 2 little boys to care for, he did! As she slowly came into reality, she motioned and her husband understood. Holding her phone while she frantically pushed buttons, she was scrolling through dozens of Christian songs for one in particular to help her. Hitting ‘play,’ we heard, “Fear is a Liar,” and she began to calm down.

After the breathing tube was removed and her hands released, we held hands and prayed. Then it was my turn to tear up because I had again been blessed to see the mighty power of Jesus Christ as He alone…prevailed. I actually felt like I was stealing…because I was! 18 months ago, this couple didn’t even KNOW Jesus Christ! Now they, through this, were living proof that Jesus is… ‘The Savior!’

When the husband spoke, principalities, powers and dark kingdom forces recoiled at his simple words. “If I didn’t have Jesus, I’d go crazy right now!” Last night, in a text, after I asked her how SHE was doing, she texted, “I’m a pincushion in the Hospital with a colostomy bag, a 10” incision, missing appendix and a piece of my colon, yet on the other hand, I’VE GOT JESUS SO I AM DOING GREAT!”

No sermon on earth can top an experience like that! Because seeing IS Believing!

Are YOU honored to have Jesus Christ as YOUR calming Savior and Lord? Do you Follow, Serve and Show Him to the world?

“..my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

“Are you ready?” It was the question the “Technologist” asked me. Technically speaking, he was an ‘MRI Technologist’ who was about to send me into an MRI scanner; a round tube that many find claustrophobic. Guessing he was trying to determine if he was going to have any problems with ME, I asked HIM a question. “Are you a Jesus guy?” He responded, “Nope, and I’m not interested!”

Since he was about to probe me, I felt compelled to do the same to him, “why aren’t you a believer in Jesus Christ?” “I don’t believe in religion,” he said. I replied, “then what about physics? You want to talk physics… because physics PROVE God exists!” “No,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it!” And with that, he went into the other room and sent me into the tube! I prayed, “Well Lord, I tried!”

Technology is amazing! After a blood test over a year ago, certain chemicals indicated a need for more info by an MRI. The MRI used technology to send radio waves into my body to re-align the hydrogen atoms inside me. As hydrogen atoms return to their usual alignment, they emitted different amounts of energy. The scanner captured and created a picture using that information.

The Bible verse today clearly gives me the technical specifications for what ‘I’ am supposed to do with my life in Christ. I am called to be a scanner and emitter of His Word, sent out into the world, to do HIS work. The image I present is meant to match His! The information gathered in that work is meant, like an MRI, to form a picture of the soul of the person receiving the probe by The Holy Spirit!

Doing God’s work does not always go well! Sometimes the receiver is defective beyond repair. Other times, the transmitter (me) is affected, whereby the signal may not be sent or made clear. The world, the flesh and the devil are infamous for trying to foul out and distort the message and messenger! But the technical facts NEVER change! They, like the mission of Christ in the world, ALWAYS work.

An MRI is NOT a HEALING machine. It is a picture taking technical wonder. I STILL must go to a Doctor, who will scan the images for a diagnosis and treatment. It is MY responsibility to follow HIS instructions if I want to stay healthy. But it’s MY choice. Just like it is MY choice to stand firm and do the work of The Lord, or to be moved in another direction. There WILL be powers trying to move me!

Are you bearing the Image of the Savior and doing His work… no matter what you see or experience? THAT is why you are here!

“…just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” 1 Corinthians 15:49

Today, many in the world celebrate Halloween. A time of innocent fun as children of all ages dress up in costumes and go door to door seeking treats. Providing threats of ‘tricks’ if treats are not provided have been gone for decades. But the Harvest Festival still exists, though brewed in controversy. Looking into the mystery of death has been placed ‘off limits,’ and sort of made safe!

The ancient Irish festival of Samhain (pronounced saw-when or sowin) is rarely practiced because of its mystical properties. Instead, harmless fun and parties are proposed to fill in the gap. It seems something keeps calling people to this kind of special day of rememberance. And I sometimes wonder that we may have gone a little too far in sweeping it under the rug! Because ‘death’ is still very much alive!

I have a Christian brother who is, right now, facing the untimely death of his mother. She is still young, so statements like, ‘this isn’t supposed to happen’ and ‘life isn’t fair’ become fair game… along with the biggest question from the lips of men, “Why God?” They are mortal attempts at making an extremely difficult situation, somehow a little more bearable. They always fail.

My friend is in a hole! Having been there several times myself, I have attempted the impossible. Which is to say or do something to try and make his situation a little better than it really is. Pitifully impossible is a better description. Looking again at death actually makes me relive ‘my’ times in the hole. And while never cause for celebration, it provides a needy reminder for my soul.

Because I am a Believer in Jesus Christ, sin and death were the very first subjects I had to learn to become a Christian. The world doesn’t like to talk about such subjects, but God insists! AS an unsaved human, I’d more like to give God a fun slap on the back and say,”don’t take it so serious, I was only kidding!” I forget that sin is serious business, and it’s cost is even more serious. Until!

For all humans, the wage of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But the mystery of ‘Life’ is even bigger. These mortal weak and temporary bodies, when given into the nail-pierced hands of Jesus Christ, WILL bear the image of the Heavenly! From dirt to Glory! And while death is uncomfortable to talk about, keeping quiet about it is a dirty trick never meant to be covered up by a mask.

Will YOU share the real ‘treat’ of eternal life with someone who is lost?

“Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling.” 2 Corinthians 5:2

“OH WOW… look at THAT!” If I said it once, I said it a hundred times! And so did she! The trip to our mountain retreat was much needed, and before we even hit the ground, we could see the evidence of fall from the window of the plane. Beautifully colored leaves covered the mountains and seemed to proclaim, ‘Welcome!’ As the sun shined, the colorful leaves danced. Fall was in full bloom!

The timing was in perfect contrast to what we had just left. In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, fatigue and debris muddled my thoughts beyond simply physical exhaustion. We needed a boost! Thank God I had made arrangements to fly to the mountains months ago. And there we were! Transferred from the tropics to the mountains, and my attitude changed with the altitude!

It wasn’t until we were there for a few days that Katie reminded me WHY the leaves change color. It’s not that the red, yellow and brown hues aren’t existent beforehand, Those are truly their natural color. It is the living green chlorophyll that overpowers their normal state. It is only in dying and being cut off from that living substance, that the earth tones are revealed. Interesting!

It is also interesting that we call the season of leaf dying ‘Fall.’ When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they were naked and didn’t know it, because the Glory of God, and the relationship with Him, covered them. We call the act of their deliberate choice to go their own way as ‘The Fall’ of man. The time when God’s life stopped flowing into them and death became their natural end.

As I write this, some of our own are facing the untimely death of a loved one too young to be going. The situation is hard and awkward. But nonetheless, it is very real. Why is it that when we see the beauty of the changing leaves we cry out ‘Wow!’ but yet when facing physical death, we ‘groan?’ The answer lies in today’s Bible verse and is intended to provide us with purpose and a calming joy.

When leaves fall, we admire their beauty, then curse the work of raking them together. In the mountains, folks just burn them! Which is exactly what satan wants God to do with us. But hiding under the surface, unseen by natural man, is The Spirit’s call to Life Forward! A living invitation from God to be clothed with His Glory to LIVE as intended from the Beginning! Where the Son shines!

Are YOU living and looking forward, allowing The Son to shine on and through YOU? If so, groaning is natural!

“…in Him (Christ Jesus) you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22

“For Rent.” Sounds simple enough, right? But having been blessed with more than 1 property for more than half my life, my experiences have NOT been simple. Having a seasonal rental when Hurricane Ian hit, I thought I could help by offering it for a month to ‘Disaster Workers Exclusively,’ even lowering the rate. Little did I realize the problems and time that decision would cost me!

Almost immediately I began getting desperate requests from displaced families claiming they had lost their house and “would I show compassion and break my rule of ‘workers only.’” Wanting to help the most people, and having had bad experience in reacting to sad stories, I stuck to my original intent. Then my phone started blowing up with ‘workers’ who claims… proved NOT to be true!

Last night Katie and I sat in a restaurant and she overheard a woman bragging about how she had so easily deceived her landlord. When he had allowed her a pet, she snuck in 5, after she got the keys. When they made a mess, she covered it up! After all, it wasn’t fair that HE had property and she didn’t. So her actions became justified in her own mind as she laughed about her own deceptions.

Ephesians 2 is a VERY powerful Chapter. It describes the lengths God went to make ‘us’ humans a worthy habitation for Himself, His Son and the Holy Spirit. The cost and labor were out of this world! But having finished, He not only offered you and I (us) the keys, He went on to make ME a co-owner WITH Him. Which makes ME responsible for what I allow to enter His, and my, mutual abode!

Being in the rental business had never entered my mind growing up. It just sort of happened. When God’s blessings turned into, “What do we do NOW?” renters, along with a HUGE learning curve of blessings and curses, started coming our way! Along with them came cold hard lessons blurring heart feelings with hard legal reality. Holding keys required discernment and responsibility. GREAT!

I admit it… I didn’t WANT to be responsible. I wanted to turn over the keys, sit back and rake in the blessings of ownership. But what I got was headaches and life lessons. I learned that evil exists and it wants my stuff. It will insist on it’s own way and justify itself to get it! Being a Key holder, I am called to be a responsible partner with God, following His lead in the business of sharing His domain!

Are YOU being responsible to the Landlord and being a good tenant?

“The fruit of (the Lord’s) righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.“ Isaiah 32:17

“HOOOOOLEEEEEEE COWWWW! LOOK AT THAT!” Kate and I were heading south bound through a busy 4 lane section of 4 lane, U.S. 41 when he caught my eye. Though texting on is not legal while driving, he was doing it anyway! But I couldn’t decide if he was being heroic or crazy, because I had never seen ANYONE do it THAT way before. Paying to see him would have been worth it!

I was glad we caught the red light, since it gave us a chance to stop and stare at the approaching sight. The man was driving on a narrow path heading north, facing the 50 mph south bound lane. While cars zipped by him, he didn’t even notice! An old school wire ran from his phone to a set of earbuds. He was jamming as he held his phone up to his face… peddling a BIKE.. with no hands!

Looking back and analyzing the scene, I can say for certain that the man was experienced. There is NO way he could perform such a dazzling feat otherwise. Like everyone, he had to start at the beginning and learn how to peddle a bike, keep it upright and steer. There’s no doubt he had fallen many times, but he must have kept going because riding with no hands had to come next!

Becoming skilled at anything takes time. Falls and failures are a natural condition to learning, Bumps and bruises become a big part of the process. Becoming a Bible believing, Jesus following, fearless, confident warrior for Christ takes both time… and scars. And while lots of folks might think it crazy to identify as a ‘Warrior’ for Christ, ‘The Word’ is clear… that is EXACTLY what we are called to be!

It seems to me that back when I was a child, the old folks used to tell stories of how THEY did it to teach kids how it’s supposed to be done. “I used to walk 5 miles to school, in the snow, uphill, both ways!” Those stories taught me that perseverance and hard work were a necessary part of life. Today, I look at the world, dazed and confused at where it’s headed. And have only 1 thing to say.

I’m glad I’m not raising kids today. If I were, I’d be tempted to sell everything I own, find a big chunk of land, throw the cell phones and computers in the trash and simply isolate! But then… how would my kids survive when they ultimately faced the dangerous traffic of real life? So I look at that crazy bike rider and tell him the same thing I tell everybody… “You’d better have Jesus!” Bike on brother!

So… do you ride, walk or bike with Jesus everyday? If you do, it will be evident by your peaceful confidence!

“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” Proverbs 17:3

“Wow!!!! Look at THAT!” Driving down to the beach to see how it fared after Hurricane Ian, that sentence was on auto-play, as each street proved the event more powerful than man. Whole streets were lined with debris stacked taller than me! The scene did not help my cloudy mood, as a sense of dreadful helplessness filled my soul. That is, until this morning! Today? I’m feeling Son-ee!

Katie was the one who wanted to go to the beach. The scene at the beach before dusk is USUALLY spectacular! After all, it’s hard to beat a good sunset on the Gulf of Mexico! I know she was looking for a spark, a ray of hope among the litter. When we got to the beach, a bunch of yoga folks lay on the sand under a gray sky listening to machine produced tones! I humphed, we left!

Being human, I can appreciate all things human. We all get down, sad, blue and discouraged because ‘Stuff Happens!’ When it does, I want fixed. I want peace. I seek a permanent, solid rock to stand on. I’m smart enough to know that drowning my blues in a sea of self-manufactured peace is both temporary and stupid! Looking at God’s creation, they still refused to see! We didn’t!

Bad theology irritates me. There are folks who believe that God causes calamity, and those folks point to this verse to prove it! I know better. In a world created by man’s sin, God doesn’t need to cause a stir. Death and destruction are a natural part of the terrain! But God can, and does, USE calamities to shake my self made world of security. I won’t search for a rock until I’m sinking!

Metallurgists have tests to determine how strong a metal is. That process always starts with putting the metal under stress… until it fails! And failure is not an option! The stress will continue until it the metal breaks. I’ve discovered that God’s habit is to hang out in calamity because, it is when men break, that they truly may seek the strength and security only He can provide!

When the metallurgist puts the metal under stress, he watches it closely. This morning, I realized that process is a 2 way street! God always watches me to see if I’m am looking for Him! Only when our eyes meet can I recognize His Mercy and Grace, and His Love for me. Nothing can actually happen until I recognize that HE is God and I am not! Looking at His Son Jesus is better than any sunset!

What are YOU looking at?     

“When I felt secure, I said, ‘I will never be shaken.’” Psalm 30:6      haaaaaa… right!

“I am SOOOOO sorry!” It was all I could think and say… after feeling like a failure! It’d been 2 weeks since Ian stormed through here, and folks are on edge. But me? “Oh, I’m fine!” Yesterday, my head swarmed with things to do, people to talk to, LED sign messages to create, a church and a lesson to prepare for Bible Study. I thought, “Yup! I’m ready!” And last night, during the lesson, I crashed!

The idea was a good one, suggested by a church member… ‘How to share The Gospel with people in our world.’ While pulling resources, writing notes and even coming up with a fun activity, distractions came and I didn’t even notice my brain had stalled. At the last minute, the printer didn’t work, the choir song was terrible and a surprise phone call took longer. Then I fell into a hole.

To say ‘things didn’t go according to plan’ is an understatement. Having been a Bible teacher for over 50 years, I think I have it down. ‘Holy Spirit Inspiration, Bible study, creative strategy while following God’s lead’ usually comes naturally. Having run at high speed trying to take care of so many things, I’m ashamed to admit that the macho guy got ahead of God… God stopped and watched me crash!

The Psalms have always been the place to run when I am feeling out of sorts. Strange that I hadn’t noticed I’d been reading them for the last week. What should have been a clue to my personal mental state, I took for ideas to encourage others in this storm torn paradise. Last night I had to admit it. I’m a mess! I have hit a wall and I can’t go on like this any more. A lesson from David!

Katie told me years ago that I have a heart like David. David was a warrior and a man of Faith. But David was MOST often a WHACK job! If he wasn’t running toward some trouble, he was running from it! And His notes reveal he was almost schizophrenic in his emotions… up then down! But he wasn’t afraid to fall apart and cry out to God when he did! But God ALWAYS heard David.

I don’t want to sound a downer or a failure. Rather I feel like God has placed His hand on my heart, telling me to stop and let HIM be the fixer. My security, strength and peace are ONLY going to be found IN HIM! Even when I think ‘I’ve got this!’ I’m reminded by failure that He doesn’t call me to be a Super-man! He calls me to be Humbly HIS! As Forrest Gump said after a run, ‘I think I’ll stop now!’

Are YOU running on empty trying to save the world? Why not join David and me in running to God, letting go and letting HIM be Him? I thank my Church people for their patience with me.