“Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave?” Psalm 6:4-5

WIRRR-kink-WRRRR-k-WRRRR-k-k! The sound was coming from my garbage disposal! It was ever so intermittent, but there. I willed it to be gone and it stopped! When I was satisfied it had only been my imagination, the little ‘kink’ made its sound again. Upon closer inspection with a flashlight, I found… NOTHING! Remembering rule #?, I replaced the strainer and put the flashlight away!

It’s hard to remember the rules, and I’ve never numbered them. In the original TV show NCIS, the character ‘Gibbs’ had his rules memorized and numbered. To work with him, everyone had to learn what they were. Having encountered intermittent kinks, dings and chinks in my life, I usually just let them go. The ‘experience’ rule says it will either get worse or go away. Time is the deciding factor.

Reading the Psalms is like looking into a mirror. I just know that David and I are going to be pals in Heaven because he finds ways to say what I often feel. We’re brothers in the mountains and valleys of life. Jesus is our Lord and the one who handles our garbage. That was the deal He made me and I had accepted. But once in a while, a k-k-kink makes me notice that there might be something wrong.

When I want to get someone’s attention, I can whistle or holler ‘HEY!’ Jesus has another option at His disposal. Sometimes when He wants me to do, or not do something, He gets real quiet! So quiet, that I have to pause or stop, lean in and then go looking to see IF there is a problem. If there is, I need to find the source. Sometimes it’s my garbage. Other times, He simply wants me to go deeper.

Being His, ‘I’ have an option at ‘MY’ disposal as well. When I can’t find the ding, I can remind Him that ‘I’ am not my own and that it is in HIS best interest to remember the fine print of our deal. I bring my garbage to Him and HE handles it! If He doesn’t, He won’t get what HE wants. And yes… He wants a clean name and a functioning vessel he can work with. Dead people can’t sing His praises!

Are you clogged? Do YOU hear silence or kinks from God sometimes? Do you continue to look for and seek His answer, or do you just let it go and give it time? What might God be trying to tell YOU?  Have you reminded God of your willingness to do whatever it takes to fix whatever it is? Are you?

“For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11

“Go!” It was the strangest request, but I was SURE I heard it from above. Having parked my old truck in the lot, I was preparing to cross the road and go into the grocery store. The white lines before my feet indicated that I had the ‘right of way.’ But looking to my right I saw a bright red Corvette moving toward me. To my left, a bright ORANGE Corvette! Both were approaching where I stood. “GO!”

It was one of those divine appointments, and I knew it. What were the odds that 2 shiny Corvettes would approach each other, right when I was ready to cross. And BOTH were still moving toward where I was about to be! I may have had the ‘right of way,’ but how could I be sure that they would actually yield and let me pass? But the word “GO!” demanded MY movement. So I went! By Faith!

Standing in the middle of the road, I couldn’t help myself. I raised my arms, clenched my fists high in the air, showed my muscles… then smiled at both drivers giving them the thumbs up sign. Thankfully they caught my attempt at humor and laughed. Having the power to literally kill me, they yielded instead. All 3 of us had trusted in the Traffic Laws – by Faith. Me for safety. They, to keep their toys!

It is time to confess that I have not really listened to God’s command to “GO” very well. Sitting on the curb with a little fear and doubt, I have not trusted God as much as I should. The ‘not so sure’ and ‘what if’s’ mix together and cause pause! Then, looking around, the ‘I just can’t see it’ stops me dead. Knowing God yields to my free will, ‘what I see’ causes me to “NOT GO!” And Faith dies.

‘What I see’ scares me because I don’t know how to get through it. I’m just a little guy who doesn’t understand big things. That scares me. This morning I was nudged with the thought of, ‘that is EXACTLY HOW I’m SUPPOSED to feel!’ God is calling me to a deeper level of DEPENDENCE upon Him. If I COULD do the impossible, I wouldn’t need God at all. Wanting Glory, HE wants ME to have FAITH!

Is God asking you to do something that scares you? Do you see that fear is exactly what you’re SUPPOSED to feel, just before you put your trust in Him? Do you hear Him hollering ‘GO!”

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24

“UGH! I did it again!” I had made that comment to a friend of mine who has the same problem I do. Clark Kent can walk into a phone booth and emerge as Superman! I have a kind of UN-super power that does the same thing! All ‘I’ have to do is get behind the steering wheel and I change into ‘Psyho’ the Road-Rager! And I know it! But Jesus and I are working on it. Kind-of! Well… Jesus is!

I can appreciate Paul’s ‘head-in-hands’ feeling in Romans 7 where he talks about the thing he does over and over, making him feel ‘wretched.’ In fact, I’ve called Paul a liar and the Bible MOSTLY without error over 1 verse… where Paul calls himself ‘The CHIEFEST of sinners’ (1 Tim. 1:15). I KNOW I have Paul beat in that department! I was watching the KC Chiefs beat the Bengals when it hit me!

The AFC football Championship was tied with only seconds, and a LONG way to go. The KC Quarterback, with an ankle sprain, ran to gain distance and get out of bounds. Once there, a Bengals player hit him HARD, sending them both into sideline personnel. The 15 yard penalty put KC in field goal range and they won. The end showed that player, head in hands, weeping like a baby for losing the game!

I can empathize with that fouling player. Like him, I know better, but still find myself doing, and thinking, things that have NO place being part of me. As a player on Team Jesus, Paul, a fellow occasional fraudulent teammate, tells me to run my race to win. When I don’t, I know it! But feeling bad doesn’t win prizes either. THIS race is a marathon AND a relay! Running WITH Jesus is the goal.

So if you, like me, are prone to a split personality, it’s O.K. to be down after doing something stupid. But it’s NOT O.K. to STAY down. Jesus is still calling me to get up and run! How’s YOUR race going?

“He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber.” Psalm 121:3

When I saw my grandson, he was limping. Having been around boys all my life, I made no judgment because I needed more information. “What happened?” I asked. He had fallen, and gravity did what gravity does and he came down on his foot, turning his toe underneath. Telling me the story, I could tell he WASN’T just faking it! Well, maybe a little! But Duncan was clearly in pain and it showed!

Parents do what parents do, and plans were made to take him to a clinic to see what damage there might be because… when you don’t know what to do, you get more information. So off to the Clinic went mom, dad and son. It was a few hours later when they came back to say it was just sprained and he’d be ok. Duncan limped, milking it for all he could, then went to play with cousins.

A phone call came after we had left. Someone told mom that there were some troubling lesions that COULD be a sign of cancer, and that they needed to see a specialist. Plans were made immediately, and 3 days later the Doctor saw Duncan, he told them that “No… the lesions were nothing to worry about, BUT… Duncan’s foot WAS actually broken!” I told him, ‘Awesome cast Dunk-man!’

This Bible verse is comforting. Kind of! Upon immediate diagnosis, it can easily appear to be a promise that God will never let anything bad happen to me. In fact, satan used this very verse to tempt Jesus to doubt when things weren’t going very well. It didn’t work. Because Jesus knew His Father’s intention with the verse in the first place. Sadly, bad diagnosis too frequently happens.

Once the diagnosis of a sprained foot was given and Duncan was on the playground playing with his cousins, he had actually started RUNNING, laughing while doing it! ‘Since it isn’t broken, what could go wrong’ MAY have been his mindset. I get it. It’s easy to take God’s Word literally… believing what it literally doesn’t. Like ‘ once saved – always saved, so I can do what I want… right!’

I have problems with running ahead and stretching God’s Truth sometimes. Sometimes it’s because I haven’t dug deep enough to know it well enough in the first place. Other times it’s to get away with doing WHAT I want, WHEN I want! But back in my mind I get this gnawing sense of a bad diagnosis whispering, “but are you really SURE!?” THen run on anyway! After consequences, I remind God of this verse!

Do YOU question God, His Word, or His seeming absence when bad things happen? Do you REALLY KNOW what and where God is in your life right now? Or are you running broken? I’m going to try to study harder to know Him better. Want to join in casting your cares on Him? He wants to clear up that bad diagnosis!

“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!