Change, Change, Change

Yesterday started off with a bang. I got up, all prepared to finish this week out as a technician. I had planned on trying sales, should this new job not pan out. I got to the office and the first thing that happens, things have changed since Friday. Terminix has put a freeze on any moves, including hiring. I had to ask, 'What's up with this?' My manager told me that I would continue my route, and not go into sales at this time. SHE ALREADY HAD MY REPLACEMENT IN LINE! LOL. I told Becky that if it's God's will for me to have this new job, I would tell my boss lady to get 'her man,' as she called him.
I'm thankful that God is opening doors. I pray that HIS will is done in my life, and that it is willfully on my part. Interesting to see what might go on today, huh? God is truly good. I just wished I knew what HE was doing in my life before hand. As Becky would say, "Please Lord, put in on a bulletin board." Ultimately, I would much rather be pastoring a church, but obviously it's not in God's plans right now. I am excited for Jason Sheffstall and his family, as well as his church family and how God is blessing them in West Virginia. Thank God for Godly men who seek HIS will. Have a nice day folks.

Where's the time gone to?

I can't believe that it has been 11 days since I posted a blog. I have been extremely busy, but it may slow down soon. I found out that September 1, I am to be moved to the sales department. This could be a good move, but I'm really concerned about it. I also had an interview, this past week, that seems to be promising. If they offer me the job, I will take it. It will be working in a warehouse for a company and may be a good chance for promotion. Please pray with me that God's will shall be done.
Becky is getting stronger, and the doctor told us she could go back to work on the 5th of September. She has been stir crazy around the house and it is driving her crazy. I am just thankful to God that HE decided to keep her here instead of taking her home.

It's a hottie

Today was a real hot day. It was around 104 and the a/c doesn't quiet work as good. I've thought most the day on church attendance. What does it really mean to people who call theirselves Christians? Becky has her first doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning. I pray that she'll be able to go back to work soon. The staying at home is driving her nuts.
I got a phone call about another possible job today. I hope it comes through. Have a great evening.

Life in a vapor

Life in a Vapor
Using today as there is not tomorrow.

I guess everyone is guilty of examining their life at one time or another, aren’t we? I have looked back, at times, and seen a lot of wasted time. There have been times in my life that would have been better spent doing other things. We all have these times though. We may not want to admit it, but we do have a lot of wasted time in our lives. These past few weeks have gone by extremely fast. I can remember times when my mother would tell me that the older I get the faster time will go. Actually time is a constant, but I have come to a conclusion that we loose time, because we waste time.

Men have a saying today that should really be geared toward God. The saying goes something like this; “Life is short, so live it like there is not tomorrow.” I am reminded of what James said in James 4:14 KJV. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. We are all guilty of wishing our life away at some point. I’ll give you an example of how it happened to me. I couldn’t wait to turn 16, so I could get my driver’s license. Then I couldn’t wait to turn 18 so I could be classified as a man, not to mention I would be out of school. It took me a long time to come to the understanding that you are not an adult at the age of 18, even though the law looks at you as an adult. At the age 21, which I couldn’t wait to be, so I could be legal in all other areas of my life, even though I didn’t drink, I still wasn’t a man. Then there was the grand old age of 25; which I wanted to be so my car insurance would go down. IT DIDN”T! Get the point?

What if I had spent all that time serving God? I’m not just talking about going to church and doing the right things only. I mean, what if I had really served HIM? I feel like part of that is immaturity. I was not only immature in my age, but also in my Christian life. I have made the comment before, “The older I get, the more important the things of God become to me.” This is called maturity, but why has it taken me so long to see that? It has really amazed me at how we start growing up in our physical life and we ignore the spiritual life. The reason it has taken me as long as it has is simple; Christ, even though I’ve been saved for 24 years this October, has not always been important in my life. I was too concerned about what I wanted to do rather than what God wanted me to do. James said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, because you don’t even know if you’ll be here. It’s like a vapor, here for a minute, and then it’s gone.” If there is one thing I would say we can learn from this thought, it would be, live your life fully for God and let the world do what it pleases. Allow your life to mean something for God and not just for you. If we learn to live for God then HE will make us a lot better. Let’s be concerned at what we do for God today, and tomorrow will take care of itself. Lord, please help us focus on things about you and help us to be concerned about that. Help us to always seek you first, so you can show us the true way. Amen.

Home again

This week was an amazingly short week. However, it was very busy. Monday and Tuesday were long days for me at work. I've become increasingly unsatisfied with my job, but I know that I will eventually get what God wants for me. Wednesday morning, 8/9, we flew from Shreveport to Houston and then to Columbia, South Carolina. What little bit we saw of Columbia was pretty. Everything was green. It rained everyday we were there in the evening time. Becky, her mom, and I went to Ft. Jackson to watch Aaron graduate from basic training of the US ARMY. We arrived to our hotel on Wednesday and just drove around to find the place we were to go to the following morning. Thursday a.m, we entered Ft. Jackson and saw a lot of people there for the graduation on Friday. We found out that Aaron would be one of about 10 people that would not graduate, because he did not pass athe 6 nor 9 mile hikes. This is with about 70 lbs. of equipment on them. He has three small stress fractures in his right foot. However, we did find out that he could still graduate if he chose to do the hikes with his platoon leader, or attend basic training again after high school. He has chosen to get his platoon leader to let him take it I think. He is in good physical shape. He's lost about 20 lbs and is up earlier than I am for now.
We arived at home about 1:30 a.m this morning, and we are in need of rest. We thank the Lord for the safe trip there and back. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Army has taught this young man. There were a number of positive things that has happened with him. He said he went to church every sunday morning, and is looking forward to tomorrow. If he finishes is drill with his platoon, he will then go to AIT in June to complete his training. He then will be eligible for active duty and may be deployed to the mideast. We pray that God's will should happen in this area.
All I know is; I'm glad to be back home.

It always amazes me at how Mondays go for me after I've had an opportunity to preach. Bro. Dale is out sick, again, and really needs prayers. I was notified Saturday morning that I was needed to preach on Sunday morning. The day really went well. However, when I've had a good Sunday, the old devil sticks his head up on Monday. I am reminded that I've got control though. The Lord gave me that control when I accepted HIM. After lunch I told Satan to get behind me and that my Lord was in control of my life. The afternoon went better, but I would appreciate prayers from everyone who may read this. I know that the old devil will be right back to work on me today.

Thank you

What an amazing God! Becky is recouping her strength daily. After the week of July 24th, I'm thankful she is still with me. I thank God for the Godly people who prayed for her. Truly, "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
I must say that today has been short lived. I got up early and after doing some things around the house, going to the hospital to visit my pastor, and finding out that I'm preaching in the morning, my day was spent fast. I often wonder what it would be like to pastor again. I look at the blogs of serveral men that I have utmost respect for, who are pastoring, yet I never talk to them anymore. I miss the fellowship of other preachers, and wonder at times what has happened in my life. I believe that God gives us a desire to fellowship with other Christians and when that fellowship seems lost at times, I feel alone. For those of you who prayed for my wife, I want to say thank you. Please remember us both as we go through tough times.

The Pure Gifts of God

The Pure Gifts of God
How wisdom plays the part
James 3:17 – 18

The week of July 24th was a tough week that I won’t soon forget. The more I think about it, the more awed I am about my amazing God. HE is the most amazing God that a man can serve, and better yet, know. I also am thankful for a church family and the friends who show sincere concern and love that has been shown to us. There were some things that happened during my wait in the waiting room that showed me how God really speaks to us, if we will only listen.

On Thursday, while I was in the waiting room of ICU, as days before, I was reading God’s Word and meditating. As I prayed and thought of how God was so good to me and Becky, I came across a scripture in the book of James, which I focused upon, because it really stood out to me. James, who was Jesus’ brother, wrote a book that is very harsh at times and has a tendency to bring a reality check to Christians. James 3:17 caught my eye and I just couldn’t quit reading it.

James 3:17 – 18 says, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” Now, true enough, these scriptures say a whole lot, if you meditate upon them. Except for a couple of visitors, before this time I had been spending most of my time in the waiting room totally by myself. Of course there were some other people in the area, but they had their families with them and they were focused upon their situations.

I was sitting in a chair and really talking to God and meditating upon these scriptures when a man, whom I had never seen, comes directly to me and asked, “How are you today?” I answered that I was fine, knowing that down deep inside I wasn’t that great. I was concerned about my wife’s well being, and at that particular time, it still wasn’t that great. The man proceeded on by looking at my Bible and said, “So you’re reading God’s Word huh? I said, “Yes, I’m doing a little reading and a little praying.” This man then said, “I couldn’t think of a better thing to do right now. You know what I was just thinking? I was thing about the gifts of the Spirit.” I just looked at him and smiled. He then said, “You have a nice day,” and he left. I haven’t seen the man since. He came, he went, and he wasn’t there a total of 60 seconds.

I started looking in 2 Peter 1, and reading another passage. In verses 4 – 9 the passage says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

As I continued to dwell on the Word of God, which had been revealed unto me, I thought about how interesting, or you might think, ‘weird,’ it was for this man to come speak to me. I thought of the scripture in Hebrews, where it talks about, “entertaining angels unawares.” Of course, it may have very well been that this was an ordinary man, but God sure got my attention. It took me a few minutes, but I think I got the picture of what the Lord was saying to me through HIS WORD. I was studying James, yet I was now in 2 Peter. How interesting is that?

Every one of these things mentioned in 2 Peter 1:4 – 7 are gifts. Paul said that there were three gifts; faith hope and love. However, we need to understand that all the other gifts hinge upon these three, and they all point toward our God. What does wisdom have to do with it though? The fact of the matter is that we obtain wisdom from God and James said, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him, (James 1:5.) There is a condition though, according to James. He tells us in verse 6, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” The key to the whole thing is faith. Faith come by hearing and hearing by the WORD OF GOD. We need to understand that everything God sends to us is pure. It really fits what James said; first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality, and without hypocrisy. I would challenge us all to look at these pure fruits of the spirit and allow God to speak to us. As Solomon would say, "A wise man will hear." Let’s just listen. A wise man fears God, and if he really does fear God, then he listens, right? Wisdom is a great free gift. Lord help us to always hear YOUR still small voice as you show us YOUR pure LOVE. May we always know that YOU are our only HOPE, and may we always seek YOU by Faith. Amen.