It’s Gonna Zorple! What happens when God uses words we never heard, before. This story is about having faith without understanding. It will 'make your boat float', as it were! < Previous It’s Gonna Zorple! I was recently thinking about Noah… I mean… in those “last days” when they were all gathered inside that boat… sitting there, staring out of that door opening… hearing the jesting and jeering from the folks on the outside… Finding it VERY curious how they could be so insensitive to the pending doom… This all got me to thinking about THAT Ark ‘from’ the outside… I mean… ME actually being there… seeing all this transpire… hearing all the noise… having lived with this ‘god awful’ “ thing ” being built in my neighborhood was bad enough, but then… all those animals… all the dog-gone pounding… hammering… sawing… the bleating of the sheep… the roaring of the Lions… and then, the smell… Ugh!! I really MUST check into the city ordinance, and see if this sort of thing is even allowed within the walls of the city… Why, oh WHY would ANYONE want to build this boat-thing SO far from ANY body of water? These people have completely lost their minds… at first, I thought they were going to just use ‘skids’ to scoot it to the water. But, they all kept saying that God was going to make it “Zorple”… and it would “Zorple” so much, that this entire land will FILL with it… it will ‘flood’ the entire area… Right!!? Do you see just how large an area this is… there isn’t any Zorple anywhere NEAR here… where is all this Zorple going to come from?? And even if there was a flooding of Zorple… it would HAVE to be SO much… that boat is MASSIVE! Those people have truly snapped…. What fools…. you can see them sitting in there… with all those animals… just waiting… what idiots… and then, there is this HUGE hole… the doorway… they haven’t even closed the door… morons!! What a spectacle they are making… they look SO ridiculous… And then, all that thinking… that ‘revisiting’ the “what must have been” stuff that was happening in those last days… really got me to thinking… You see… the Bible ‘does’ say “… as it was in the ‘days of Noah’, so it shall be in the days of the ‘coming of man ‘”… and I really got to thinking about the entire ‘scene’ of the “days of Noah”… but, more-so… I seemed to focus my attention on that door… it WAS just standing there… open. Who builds a huge boat like that… gets SO prepared to ‘go’… gets everyone and everything in there… and does NOT close the door? Something peculiar about that… And in the midst of all that… do you remember HOW that door was closed… and who closed it?? See… Gen 6:17 – says “… and the LORD shut them in. ” I guess that has really been bugging me lately… not in a bad way at all… just… putting myself in that boat… having a compassionate heart…. wanting THEM to be in here with us… those folks on the outside… jeering at us… knowing how much I trust the Lord… how much I believe he’ll do JUST as He said… and taking the jesting… and the ridicule… and knowing that soon, the rain will fall… and soon (ooohhhh, I am trusting I am NOT an utter idiot!), the Lord WILL complete this promise to cleanse the land. And yet… NO ONE on that boat took any precaution to close that door… and all of a sudden… that huge door DID rock shut… with SUCH an awesome noise… It was a noise to be heard THROUGH eternity!! No turning back… up to THAT very moment, Noah and his family were walking by FAITH!! They were trusting the unseen… They were believing the unbelievable… They were living the unlivable… They had conceived the inconceivable… in the face of the jesting… the ridicule… the discomfort… the utter ‘ugliness’ of what they were even doing… in that ark… crammed all together with all those animals… the smell. That must have been some sight, to say the very least… but, that very moment when the huge door closed… was SUCH a defining moment in all our lives… no longer was this commitment by faith ONLY… no longer was their faith “INTANGIBLE”… all of a sudden… in the twinkling of an eye… their faith was made SURE… the evidence of their commitment to their faith was SEALED!! See that?? And here is the part I just break down over… I mean… I ‘can’ get SO excited that the ‘journey is finally beginning”… but I am quickly brought back to THIS reality… remember… that huge door closed… and they ‘likely’ sat there for days and days… and DAYS!! I mean… sure… the door closed… and it SO felt like the ‘ride was about to begin’… but, now they have the folks on the outside STILL jesting… STILL throwing rocks at the ark… STILL ridiculing you… mocking… completely oblivious to the pending doom… and while your faith JUST had this burst of ‘evidence’ with the door closing on it’s own… you certainly have to be (again) wondering about the bigger picture… and just what it is God is doing… Why He takes SO long to do stuff. And now… this ark FILLED with “two-by-two” is also starting to smell… and feel SO musty… and the voices of the people outside are getting louder… makes me wonder just HOW faithful I would have been there… How trusting I would have really been…… and then…… and then…… and I do mean… AND THEN…… you begin to hear the pattering of something on the surface of that huge boat… you see… those folks had NEVER seen rain (Zorple)!! This was SUCH a foreign word to them… it did NOT mean anything to them… this Zorple warning was falling of deaf ears… and even in those days, God was ‘clearly’ saying to the people of the land “… he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying.. .”!! See… they did NOT know what it meant to have water ‘falling from the sky’… up to that moment in time… the earth was just “ watered with the dew of the night “… and they had not ever REALLY been able to experience the ‘rain from the heavens’ (Zorple – it is a word “I” invented to emphasize how ‘they’ must have felt when ‘they’ heard it too)!! And when the water began to fall… it had to have had such an impact on everyone… to be experiencing something SO new like that… and then to have it raining SO hard… that the ground can finally no longer absorb it all… it has no other place to run off… Again… God was using a mechanism to cleanse the earth… cleanse our lives of the sin… He was telling them that it was going to RAIN 40 days and 40 nights… right?? Well… they had NEVER seen rain, or experienced it’s passion, it’s fury… it’s ability to ‘flood’!! Therefore, this ‘threat’ was SO foreign to them… It SO didn’t mean anything… in so many ways (faith in the unseen)… getting us SO close to just how consistent the Lord is throughout the ages, in that, even in those days He was saying “ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying “!! And still… the Bible says, “ As it was in the days of Noah…. so it shall be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man “!! The people are SO unrighteous… He was going to cleanse it of EVERYTHING… but he found Noah to be a righteous man… and spared his family… if they obeyed. See… God ‘chose’ Noah… God had mercy on Noah… And God will also use you, in these last days… just before that huge door closes… those fleeting moments passing…. God calling on your heart… Please answer! Just when WILL you believe? Do you really need to see the ark being built? Do you really need to see the people and animals all getting in? Do you really need to see that huge door close on it’s own? Do you really need to feel that pitter-patter of Zorple on your face? Do you really need to feel the exhaustion from treading the zorple that has risen… higher than you could EVER comprehend? Do you really need to be brought SO close to death, to accept such a rich life? To accept such a wonderful gift of grace, mercy, and forgiveness? For we ‘all’ have come short of God’s glory. So… now, I am sitting on the inside. Finally feeling more relief that this journey has actually begun, yet very trepidatious for the future. I too have never been in a flood. I too have never known rain… have never seen so much water cover the land. And, I notice that the jeering and the rock throwing and the ridicule has changed… in fact, there seems to be a lull in the crowd that has been gathering around that ark. Still, I can hear them chatting amongst themselves, and still ‘some’ jeering… a few rocks… a few shouts of ‘save yourselves’… but, generally, it’s much quieter. And it is raining now… raining like I have never seen or heard. And some of the people are beginning to pound and scratch on the side of that ark… no longer throwing rocks, or jeering… in fact, there’s a sound of desperation in their voices… a sound of begging… a sound of pleading…. For us to open the door, and let them into the ark… I certainly would, if I could… but, I didn’t close it… that door is way too big for anyone but God to open or close. Still, I do give consideration to how to ‘save’ these people…. How to get them into this ark of safety… Nothing? It appears as though their only salvation was to have believed, as we did… when chosen to have answered the calling. It appears that NOW it is too late… faith is something that occurs BEFORE seeing…. Not after. And the noise of these people’s begging… their clawing and screaming at the side of that boat… it has begun to shift off it’s footings… the props we’d used to hold it upright, while we were building it… and the water is splashing around all on the outside…. And the noise of their screaming…. Crying…. Pleading for us to let them in… to save them…. NOW they believe…. They are claiming they didn’t understand then… they were too busy to REALLY listen… to really notice…. Yet… they are still on the outside of that great ark of salvation…. Such a painful thing to hear, to live through… for these screaming, drowning people, were my best friends… my next door neighbors… my club-members… parents to my children’s friends…. Yet, they choose to NOT listen… to NOT follow the Lord…. and remain righteous in His eyes. See… that’s actually what started this whole cleansing process. God had finally gotten tired of the reprobate minds… tired of the unrighteousness of it all… tired of YOU, not following Him. Sure, other’s are not following… but YOU are responsible for YOU! No other. Not even your children, your parents, or your dear loved one(s). YOU!! Behold, NOW is the day of salvation. Please… Please… get into the ark with us…. Quickly… before that great door closes. Please… look around you… it will soon begin to Zorple… and then, it will be too late. I want you there, with me… with us. Please…. Please, come in!!

Gonna Need a Bigger Cup When God is blessing us, does He see just how big ‘the cup’ actually is? Why does He keep on pouring to overflowing? I mean, isn’t enough, enough? Now as a problem solver, I quickly figured I was either going to need a bigger cup, or there is just too much blessing being poured. < Previous Gonna Need a Bigger Cup No, this is not a story about the whole ‘glass half full’, or ‘glass half empty’ debate. In fact, the late George Carlin once observed, “ Maybe the glass is just twice as big as it needs to be! “… he then proceeded on a tirade of how we overthink, over-analyze, and certainly over-debate about such nonsensical conditions in our lives. Rather, there is this scripture that got my attention some time back and I wanted to help you see what I saw… no, we’re not headed to the playground! See-Saw… right!?!! Anyway… Settle in, settle your heart, and let the Lord minister to you, as He did with me. See, it says in Psalms 23:5 KJV : Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over . Now, there were three things that caught my attention here; God’s blessing on you Your cup will run over In Public, too Is it me, or does God not see just how big ‘the cup’ actually is? Why does He keep on pouring? I mean, isn’t enough, enough? Now as a problem solver, I quickly figured I was either going to need a bigger cup, or there is just too much fluid being poured. But, this whole image intrigues me… this whole picture of God demonstrating His blessing on us… making a ‘show’ of just how proud of us He is… making a ‘fuss’ as it were, over us and how He is being very, very sure even our enemies witness that this is happening! Now, where is that scripture that states we need to do all our spiritual stuff in secret, and be humble, and private, and quiet? I mean, the last thing I ‘ever’ want to do is anything in public where my enemies can watch, can scowl, can mock and jeer…. I really, REALLY dislike my enemies. That level of vulnerability is reserved ONLY for…. uh… oh… wait… God! Yea, I can be vulnerable in public for God! But, there’s God…. not only making a fuss over you, but notice the very beginning of this scripture. It is actually the very point of it all… He is preparing a table for you RIGHT in the presence of your enemies. He is not secretly building a sanctuary of comfort where you can recover when your enemies strike out at you… a hedged yard wherein you can seek refuge from their taunts, for their jesting, their insensitive and twisted hatred. No… God’s making up this table right where ALL can observe. THAT is important for us to see… so important for us to grasp… and just SO important for us to embrace with our whole heart (you’re going to need a bigger cup, huh)! Sure, you are timid… sure, you are a private person… sure, you are even ‘barely faithful’ enough to even be counted among His children. But, THAT is the actual beauty of this scene… this presentation the Lord is preparing. See, the Bible says, “Not by might shall He be glorified” (I may have paraphrased that, huh). God is strongest when we are weakest. This passage actually begins with the ‘preparation’ part. It does NOT begin with the “since you were so faithful, loyal, and godly, I am going to throw a banquet in your honor”. God is preparing a table for you… wait for it… because He already KNOWS you are going to succeed…. to win… to be a glowing witness of His great mercy! See that?? Please tell me you see that? I mean… since God ‘can’ see the future, and He is preparing a banquet… DUH! You must have WON! You must have overcome… bless your weary, worn-out heart… you must have survived the storm, the challenge, the ‘beat down’ you feel like you are getting right now. See?? God has faith in you… God trusts you will be trustworthy… He’s already “killed the fatted calf”, as it were…. He is already preparing a celebration!! All alone, THAT should bolster your hope… THAT should distinguish any question of His acceptance… THAT should certainly quell any doubt, uncertainty, and lack-o-faith that haunts your soul! Now… let’s get back to the container… to that big problem we ‘are going to have’ with retaining all His blessing! All too often in our modern society (and probably since the dawn of time, right), we are SO careful not to spill… not to ‘waste’. Yet, here comes God claiming “I am going to bless you so much more than you can contain”! Curious that He doesn’t give us ‘just enough’ to fill our cup. He’s prepared to ‘fill to overflowing’… like He begins pour His blessing on us, gets distracted dealing with something else (isn’t watching that our cup is too full, now), and just keeps pouring! I literally envision being waited on at breakfast, and the waiter/waitress just keeps pouring and pouring! In this ‘practical’ scenario, we jolt over the ‘spill’, and exclaim loudly! But, have we ever been ‘so overfilled’ with God’s mercy, God’s gifts, God’s very blessing that we holler, “HEY” to Him? Uhhhh…. NO! One of two reasons; 1) we aren’t in a place to even let Him bless us like that, and 2) we’ve been too afraid of our enemies, our public exposure to even consider letting God bless us. So, the scenario has never occurred for us/you! I am here to let you know, “shame on you, dear child of God”. These are His blessings waiting to be poured out, and you are not putting your container over there for Him to fill your cup! OK…. sorry.. maybe you ‘are’ blessed… maybe you ‘are’ fulfilled’… maybe you are satisfied with His blessings on you, now. OK…. I get that… trust me. But, “His blessing” on you is NOT really about you at all! See… the “my cup runneth over” part is VERY important for us to recognize. God’s love is NOT to be retained… it is NOT to be held… and certainly dear friend… it is NOT to be squelched for yourself, alone. Do a quick study on the Salk Lake in Utah, or even the very Dead Sea, itself. That Dead Sea is RIGHT in the most religious region in the world today, the great Jordan river even flows into it… yet, there is NO outlet for all that water. It gets into that huge ‘reservoir’ and goes nowhere else… just fills that area, and stays there… doesn’t benefit anyone else beyond. Me?? A heartbreaking reminder that we are to ‘pass it on’… we are to ‘do unto others’… we are to ‘give an it shall be given’. OK… now for the ‘how’ part… whew…. the guilt was thick there for a bit, right! How? Well, that is up to you! HA! Gotcha! Seriously though, ‘how’ you use God’s blessings on you varies for each of us. But, I have found that these three ‘components’ have helped me get lined up for God’s blessing; Grasp His promise Open your heart/life for filling No shame while your enemies watch OK… I am not going to leave you with a bullet-point list like that without passing along scripture and encouragement to help you apply these to your life (and it will ‘run over’ to those around you – I just couldn’t help the cyclical reference, here!). Grasp His Promise Now listen… and you may need to actually “lean forward” to grasp how passionately I am sharing this… how caringly I am expressing this… and how very cautiously I am hoping you let His Spirit speak to your very soul on this matter… He is “ preparing a table before me in the presence of mine enemies “. WAY too often, we are ashamed or our lives. Like a Jet-Ski ROCKETING through the harbor, we leave a huge and unwelcome ‘wake of disaster’ wherever we go (it seems)… in the midst of living our lives and wholly enjoying ourselves. Looking back over your life, the ‘shame’ you may have for pieces of it… the embarrassment you may have for choices and results… the regrets… the harm, and who knows… the damage you unwittingly, or even wittingly caused. Look over there… God is “preparing a table” in honor of YOU! He already knows you are going to WIN, because He is in you… and He never has failed… “not even in death”! See that? NOT EVEN IN DEATH. Better still, He is preparing that ‘table of feast’ right in the presence of your enemies. Not over in some secluded area, not hidden from taunting eyes, not even ashamed of you! So, ‘get a grip’ on yourself, grasp that He has the confidence in you, so ‘buck up’ and switch yourself from the “pity party” to His “Holy Party”! Receptivity OK… now the ‘what do I need to do’ part. I mean… so far, we have covered the part Jesus is doing… preparing a table, and making a promise He’s going to hold a banquet in your honor. You? Now you need to get your cup ready… you need to get yourself in a place where you can receive His blessing… His out-pouring… His very grace. Have you ever heard that phrase, “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time”? A very, VERY dumb statement, really. I mean… think along the lines of a set of train tracks and a train schedule. Then, park your car on the train tracks ‘between’ the times when a train ‘does’ go by. No damage! You’re in the right place, but it is the wrong time! Nonetheless, this narrow track is a great example of how the Lord wants us to prepare our hearts, our lives, our every being… 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13-14 See… you merely need to ‘get on track’ with receiving His blessing… not following the crowd… not worried about the peer pressure, the whispers, even the taunting… just willing to prepare your life for His outpouring (the right place and in His time). I know… kinda vague, open ended, and probably too ‘when will this happen’ for many of us. Again though, there is no formal formula, no ‘steps to reproduce’, nor any schematic or ‘trail’ others have used that you can follow. See, over in Mark 13:33, Jesus said; “ Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is .” The ‘take heed’ part means, heads-up…. hey… HONK (if it was a car). It’s that ‘watch and pray’ part that many, many of us just fall apart over. Unfortunately, our instant-gratification lives have tricked us into almost insisting quicker results. Being receptive does not ONLY mean holding out your hands, being in the line to receive… to obtain. Jesus used wine and wine skins to help us understand how we can be receptive. We are old sinners… we are faulty… we are tattered, tired and dry. Putting His new wine into our lives can cause us to burst! Can result in destroying us, really… He must refresh our lives. Here are a couple of ways you can prepare yourself… learn to be receptive… get your heart in a place where His outpouring will bless you His way; Proverbs 3:6 – In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Psalms 91:15 – He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Matthew 21:22 – And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive . No Shame Lastly… let’s go back to the introductory scripture and remember that He is not only preparing a banquet table for you… He is actually doing this RIGHT where your enemies can see what is transpiring. If ever there was a ‘vulnerable moment’ in your life, this is it. See?? There is No Shame in the Lord preparing to bless your life… preparing a banquet of honor… making a feast of celebration, right in the midst of your enemies. Right there ‘where you are’ now, in that battle… in that struggle… in your turmoil. The Lord doesn’t take you aside once the storm has settled… He doesn’t secretly pull you into a quiet corner and coddle you… He doesn’t need to reward you in secret! I mean, think about it… if your enemies don’t know this ‘blessing’ is coming upon you (it was done in secret), the next time they saw you, they WOULD be curious, but… since they are enemies, you are NOT getting the benefit of ANY doubt. Nope… they are going straight to being envious, jealous, and will quickly excuse your new-found ‘wealth’ to anything but the Lord! Their ‘go to’ thoughts will be that you stole it… that you inherited it… that you may have just rented or leased it, even! Remember, Psalms 74:21 says, “ O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name .” And then, over in Psalms 25:2 it says, “ O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. ” See?? Shame is a tough part of our lives… it quietly causes us to hide… it causes us to cower… to have this overwhelming feeling of inadequacy… a very powerful force, shame is. But, dear friend… go back and read that whole introductory verse… God tells us that He is going to prepare this banquet right before those enemies! All by itself, that means God will not only bless you, but His blessing on you IS going to be a witness to them, too! See!! You live your life ‘unashamed’ of God, of God’s ways, of God’s will in your life… He’ll not be ashamed of you, either! Now, I am the first to recognize it is tough to just ‘be brave’ and work through the embarrassment, the shame, or even the awkwardness of living your life ‘out loud’, or at least ‘out’ (not hiding, or being politically correct). Let me remind you of this nugget from Romans 5:5, “ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. ” There is your key… the Holy Spirit quietly assuring you that ‘all is well’, regardless of how things look! Now… just prepare your life… do not be ashamed of it… and His blessings… His joy… His love will spill over! Those around you WILL take notice… they will ‘not’ misunderstand how/why/where these blessings are coming from! And, even if they are ‘too blind’ to get it, the bible does say, “Always be ready to give account of the hope that is within you”, and that will help them too to receive His love, His blessing, and His Spirit! Jesus promised us… Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38 See?? You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Cup , trust me!

Forsooked Even Jesus Himself experienced a deep and profound moment of abandonment… of despair… of that lonely “why have you left me” time in His life. It occurred RIGHT when it seems as though it was the most critical and essential moment in His life. < Previous Forsooked Yea… I know ‘Forsooked’ is not a word, but it does help identify the content of this writing… being forsaken, experiencing abandonment… even living with an ongoing disappointment you may be experiencing from having been divorced, adopted, even the loss of a loved one… these events in our lives are sad… they are hard… they are very life wrenching and quietly tear on our hearts. Even Jesus Himself experienced a deep and profound moment of abandonment… of despair… of that lonely “why have you left me” time in His life. It occurred RIGHT when it seems as though it was the most critical and essential moment in His life. See… while nailed to the cross… at the very, very end of that torturous day… all the anguish, heartbreak, misery… the Bible tells us that even He cried out to God… asking Him why He’d been abandoned… …wait… Jesus ‘felt’ like He’d been abandoned… deserted… forsaken? Me? Hard to even write this without crying… without feeling His pain because I too have this pain… this experience of abandonment… that soul-emptying realization that someone with whom you trusted everything deep in your heart… has gone… has left… no longer answering you… no longer ‘there for you’, and worse… that ensuing ugly feeling that you are all alone… on your own… there is no ‘team effort’ in loneliness… solitude… neglect and being forsaken. Being forsaken is easy to identify in your own life… I mean, we can reflect back on times, places, events when we experienced ‘being dumped on’, as it were. Of ALL the things we are taught in life, we are not directly taught the details of being forsaken… the ins-n-outs… the things leading up to it, the trauma during it, and the war-torn destruction it can leave behind. It is just what we experience, how we experience it, when we experience it… you know… Life! You see, being forsaken can be characterized by events of desertion… from being left at child-care as a young tyke, to divorce, job loss, even just something as simple as planning a great weekend event that gets dashed and canceled ‘at the last minute’. These moments of being forsaken are made much, much worse due to the anticipation, the ‘looking forward to’, the longing hope-to-come of this event. Having ‘dashed expectations’ is one of the toughest experiences of life and we tend to not handle them well! Jesus seems to even have a hint of anger in His tone… in His “you let me down” statement. Hanging there on the cross… after promising all His followers that He is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords… He experienced a serious and deep forlorn moment there… utter disappointment… abandonment. Sure… He’s God and He knows (knew) how it was all going to play-out… how this moment in His life was an essential transition… how God would be victorious over this death. This still makes me wonder; Why then would He even ‘utter’ disappointment… sorrow… and in some ways accuse God Himself for leaving Him ‘hanging’ (pardon the pun). We are not God though… we are not so ‘omnipresent’ and aware of the “things to come”. The best we can do is trust… have faith… be patient and let God work His plan in our lives. Sometimes… I like to watch a movie I’d already watched before… “knowing the ending” makes the anguish of the plot MUCH easier to tolerate… much nicer and easier to even endure the calamity the story-line is dragging my heart through! I now know the ending, so the journey is so much easier on my spirit. Life is just not going to give you any clues like that, right? In some cases you can ‘see it coming’, but way too many others times, we are blindsided… slammed with the calamity then-n-there… instant turmoil enters our lives, and it leaves us hollow… leaves us broken, staggering, and sometimes in utter dismay and we just crumble into a puddle of life. Abandoned There are endless ways, events, moments in your life when you have been abandoned… some were horrific… some run-of-the-mill… and some rather simple and uneventful. But, they all pile up in our lives and leave us broken and scarred… hurt… tormented… and can even shape our lives so that we try SO hard to never, EVER allow these to happen again… hedging our hearts… blocking the danger-potential… even just catching us trying to ‘screen’ for pending doom… watching for it… ready to fend-off any demise. As an example, divorce can rip a hole in your spirit that is so tough to overcome… death of a close loved one is a very tough experience from the loneliness to the sorrow of things left unsaid… even adoption can leave us feeling hollow or incomplete, not knowing your parents… your heritage… your very connection and ‘place’ in this world… where you come from and why you are you. Lost Security As insignificant as it may seem, even a loss of security can send us into a spiral of discouragement, despair, even hopelessness… our tangible lives glean a sense of belonging through our homes (safety), our careers (purpose), even savings or income (sustain life). Losing these and others like them… raise fear in our lives… throw something of a panic into our lives…… a funky level of tension… uncertainty… pending doom, as it were. Jesus on the Cross There is Jesus though… suffering through the physical agony, sure… the emotional agony and the spiritual agony would be much, much worse. To the point that He ultimately CRIED out, “Why hast thou forsaken me?”, then died. Matthew 27:46 “ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? “ Why He didn’t exclaim something like, “ Yeeee Dawg! I am coming home Father! ” seems a little more appropriate for the lead-up He’d been giving us during His ministry. His proclamation however has utter despair in it. Be comforted, dear friend… even Jesus felt abandoned… even Jesus felt left-alone and deserted. He was truly human, but maintained a hope… maintained His devotion to the God He worshiped… maintained His place in God’s very plan! See that? God’s very plan never protects you from sorrow… from anguish… even from the very feeling and sense that God has forsaken you… that is YOUR feeling… that is YOUR interpretation of the events you are experiencing… YOUR perception of the turmoil. Please consider… please give thought… please remember that disappointment is directly fueled by dashed expectations… thwarted plans… a change or deviation from some hope you either envisioned, or were promised. No… it is not all your fault… but, we contribute to the disappointment based on how much we were committed…. invested… sold-out to the expectation… that whole ‘all in’ posture we get when we’re convinced that THIS is a good choice for our life. God would never want that we experience anguish, pain, sorrow. He began this world with the sole purpose of having an environment in which ‘all things are good’. But, His plan for us… His world for us… changed. Remember the Psalmist in Psalms 62:5 once shared; “ My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. ” See that? Expectations are not bad at all… where they lie can be where the disappointment enters. Trust and faith in God… hope in the Lord… being steadfast and patient. Sure… Jesus tried that, and look where that got him, right? Yes… but, no. I mean, yes… Jesus expressed disappointment or at least He seemed to feel abandoned. As this Psalmist passage encourages us though, he was talking directly ‘back’ to his own soul… “… wait thou only on God “. Not an easy characteristic to have in your life… not easily obtained… not something we use as a go-to action in our lives. But, that IS the point… we must. You may recall the scripture actually says, “Be still and know that I am God”. We are a people of action… of putting results into play… of getting things done… rarely watching and waiting on God to have His way… in His time. Why Wait I know… we seem to need to know ‘why’, on almost everything. Why that happened, why this is happening, why do I need to wait… need to trust… need to have faith. Proverbs 10:28 tells us; The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Proverbs 10:28 Your hope with the Lord ‘will’ result in gladness. Expectations are fine… really…. just be SURE wherein your hope lies. Please be quiet… be silent in the Lord… be patient… and He will show you His will… His way… His plan. Now… this is NOT to say you “sit there and don’t move until God gives you direction”. NO! In fact, He needs you living… He needs you moving… He needs you active and living His life. When you get a chance, pop over and read the Dead Weight story… you’ll see! How can you know where and what to trust anymore these days? It is tough. We are barraged with ‘trust this’, ‘trust that’, or ‘trust me’ advertisements, the ‘trust them’ campaign ads… it is overwhelming. Be sure, sure, SURE your trust and hope lies in the Lord; And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8 God is going before you, clearing His path for your life… making His way for your life… we just need to trust Him in that… to follow Him in that, and remain true, faithful, and upright in His leading. The things of this world will distract you… they will dismay you… they WILL derail your hope, your desire to follow, even your expectations of ‘a good life’, because we need instant gratification, all-to-often. Bear with the Lord… He will not forsake you… ever! For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. Psalms 94:14 I know… God ‘seems’ to have abandoned Jesus hanging there on that cross… RIGHT when Jesus needed God the most… right when “ all eyes are watching ” and “the balance of the world” seems to be on that very moment. But, we tend to look on things in the ‘now’, not as God has them planned… and there is the core problem. Back to our ‘dashed expectations’… back to our limited vision for God’s plan. There is more to come that we may not yet see…. our very bones need to come alive in Him. Dear friend… hear His calling on you for that, at least. Jesus will NEVER leave you, nor forsake you. He experienced it… He knows that core feeling of being abandoned… of being left “hanging in the wind”… that utter disappointment, dismay, disappointment. But, Paul assures us in Hebrews 13:5; Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5 There! You will NEVER experience that abandoned feeling again… you will NEVER have that forsaken feeling, ever again… NOT! You will have those ‘feelings’ because you are human… you are “ in this world, not of it “… you are walking by faith, not by sight. That means you will experience all of life, good, bad, and ugly… all of the turmoil that Sin has to throw at you… all the disappointments… the pain… the utter desolation. We can count on His word… we can trust His promise… we can most certainly rest assured…. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ! Philippians 1:6

No Hill for a Stepper “God never gives you more than you can handle”. This writing is to help us see this passage from His perspective; maybe He is not giving us all we can handle because we are weak, child-like, and rather immature in our lives with Him. < Previous No Hill for a Stepper Too often, we look on that passage “ God never gives you more than you can handle ” as though He is putting you through some awful test, or that He is “easing up on the throttle” regarding just how much pressure He is causing you to endure. This writing is to help us see this passage from His perspective; maybe He is not giving us all we can handle because we are weak, child-like, and rather immature in our lives with Him. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV Note: In my early 20’s, I was apprenticing under a Senior Mechanical Engineer and he was passing along a project to me that was a bit challenging, a bit complicated, and to me a bit too far over my head. When I expressed my concern about this to him, he quickly replied, “It’s no hill for a stepper”. After a pause of confusion on my face, he went further to explain that getting over the little humps is easy. Getting over the larger ones simply means you grow to be bigger than that hill… so-as to just step right over it, rather than struggle to climb it. When we consider any of the tougher jobs, tasks, or responsibilities in life, we would rarely consider a child, or teen capable of handling these. They are not seasoned, mature, and especially experienced to cope with and balance the process of many of the daily life events. We are not born with built-in experience. We are not born with built-in knowledge. And, we certainly are not born with built-in maturity… these come with time, exposure, and progress. Even more-so, growing older does not automatically cause us to mature, to become wise, and especially to qualify us to handle deeper and more challenging events. 1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV tells us, “ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. “ The innocence of a child is quite endearing. Their freshness of life… their gleeful approach to many events… their naive curiosity is just so sweet, so precious and almost enviable ( oh, to be a child again , we might say). To expose them to the tougher experiences and challenges in life almost always ends in disaster, calamity, and will typically cause a lifetime of anguished memories. As we grow older and older, we all-too-easily feel as though we are ‘up for the challenge’ and are ‘ready to take on the world’. The energy and desire are commendable, and the caution that needs to be included is that we don’t “bite off more than we can chew”, as it were. Parable of the Sower And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:3-9 KJV Through life, these challenges we face will typically encourage us, or defeat us. Sure, many of us are a bit more tenacious than failing once and giving up. But, there are times when trying over and over again without success, or advancing, or ‘getting past it’ can leave you destroyed and quite demoralized. In many ways, ‘the hill is too large’ to overcome… to get past… to step over, as it were. As I noted earlier, these challenges will either encourage us or defeat us. Too often, we may just settle into a “so, this is my life” place and almost never take on any new effort to progress…. to grow.. to expose our spirits to ‘yet another potential defeat’. These hills in our lives can do one of three things, stop us completely, motivate us to give it another try, or encourage us through success. Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. Psalms 119:67 As children of God almighty, we are not facing life alone…. we are not simply struggling to get over this hill God has placed before us… or conniving a slick way to get around it… or just sitting down in one of those ‘this is as far as I go, I guess’ puddle of resolve. Rather, He has provided His Word, His Spirit, and His promise to not only lead you, but instill the strength in you to give it another try. The key component is the meatier matters of life, though… the deeper things in God… the things beyond the “ when I was a child ” reference, earlier. You see… eventually, we must come to terms with growth in our lives.. with moving on.. with stepping up and stepping over these little bumps in our lives… to go beyond that self-deprecating place in our lives where Meaty Matters Allude . The bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:2 KJV , “ I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able “. Our Lord knows just how ‘not’ hard we are trying… just how ‘not’ responsible we are being… and worse, just how ‘not’ honoring we are being with our lives, with our promise and commitment to follow, grow, and hold-dear His acceptance of us… His forgiveness of our very sin, our avoidance, and even our complacency. Lay aside malice, guile, hypocracies, envies, and evil-speakings 1 Peter 2:1 These five traits in our lives is one of the key elements holding us back. Any one of these cause us to shun others around us… any one of these seem to lead to the other. Peter included them together here because they all are variations of tearing-down others… of judgement.. of the core components that keep us on that suckling-milk and unable to grow, mature, and certainly teach others how to grow and mature, too. We’re too caught up in the tangibility of life… the touch-it and believe-it way that life is presented in this day and age. At a time in our lives when we are wishy-washy, indecisive, and even ‘lawyer like’ ambiguous with our words, our ways. See… in 2 Cor. 1:17 we are reminded, “ When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay? ” This is to say, it is time to ‘not’ be fleshy in your life… to ‘not’ be led by the whims of our thoughts. God will not force you to behave. Following His leading is our choice… it is the surrender in our lives and heart that gets His grace moving in our lives. 1 Peter 1:13-25 gives us the direction we need, in that we are to ‘ gird up our loins of our minds ‘ and ‘ not fashioning ourselves according to the former lusts in our ignorance ‘… to grow beyond the simpleness… the easy-way of life… and even the “everyone else is doing it, why can’t I?” way of living. No… the deeper things in this life escape the simple… God’s ways require faith… require patience… require trust in Him and hope for His leading. That is how all the struggles in your life go from looking like an overwhelming mountain that is too large to overcome. This mountain is just what Jesus was referencing when He stated, “… because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. ” ( Matthew 17:20 ). And there is that reference to the mountain again… “no hill for a stepper” is how that actually applies… having faith to step right over that trouble… to approach that huge obstacle with His trust deep in your heart… deep in your soul. John the Baptist was even proclaiming Jesus’ coming and told us in Luke 3:5 , that “ Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth “. How do we do this, though? How can we be so sure… such that ‘ nothing is impossible ‘, as Jesus noted in Matthew? God in Us; that is the only way. Notice what the psalmist told us; God in You Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalms 119:11 (KJV) When His word is stored in our lives, it is second-nature how we react to turmoil… it is a natural flow of His grace in our lives… no longer are we pondering, stumbling, and even shying away from the tougher things (hills and mountains) in our lives. Over time, you will look back over your life and realize the hills you have stepped right over… the mountains you have moved… the ease with which the Lord can lead you through this life. No… you have not ‘arrived’, at all. You have not ‘finished the race’ in any way… rather… He has prepared you to grow beyond the simpler things of life… as noted at the beginning of this writing, “… but when I became a man, I put away childish things “. As our faith is established in our lives and we grow beyond that ‘milk’ phase and yearn for meatier substance from the Lord, we are much more prepared to handle the challenges. Additionally, we are becoming more and more prepared, willing, and certainly able to share this faith… this trust… this deeper life with others. No longer are we selfishly looking to be fed by the Lord… to be blessed by the Lord… to be nurtured, protected, and shielded from the turmoil of the world. Rather, we break out of that “it is all about me” approach to life, and begin considering those around us, too. Time to Teach For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. Hebrews 5:11-16 KJV Exercise and Use: without exercising our faith… without using our faith… without actually putting our faith to the test, it is all theory… all just conjecture… all simply a matter of logic and surmising. So many of us avoid exercise or avoid trials and even avoid what may appear as painful, hard, or anguishing. It is these experiences that bring growth and depth in our lives, though. Trying the Faith My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 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. 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. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:2-8

Get’n Stoned A story about why it is critical that we DO actually judge. We are to judge righteously, to separate good from evil, to avoid the very appearance OF evil. How are we to do that, were it not for an ability to judge, to make assessment of a predicament, a circumstance, an event in your life? < Previous Get’n Stoned Seems like a story about get’n stoned on my site here would be quite out of place… I mean… “He’s going to tell us about getting stoned? We… uh…. already know how…” No… this is about judging… it is actually a writing about why it is critical that we DO actually judge. We are to judge righteously, to separate good from evil, to avoid the very appearance OF evil. How are we to do that, were it not for an ability to judge, to make assessment of a predicament, a circumstance, an event in your life? It is actually a core requirement of our walk with the Lord, in that “A righteous man judgeth righteously”… it just does NOT include condemnation. Wait… What?? You may be wondering, “How’d he go from Get’n Stoned to it’s OK to judge?” One of the key stumbling blocks we face in modern society is the blending of simple concepts like judging and condemnation into one ugly “don’t ever do this” rule… one half-truth that has permeated life these days. Judging does NOT require a follow-up with condemnation. The word Judge really means a couple simple things; to form an opinion or estimate to settle authoritatively to decide in any competition, contest, or matter at issue The word Condemn is actually a means of sentencing; to force into a specific state or activity to sentence to punishment to give grounds or reason for convicting More later on these two words and just how judging is not only appropriate, but essential for a balanced life. Now… the Bible does say, “ Judge not, that ye be not judged ” in Matthew 7:1 . I know this can be a main argument for thinking, “There… I am not going to judge anyone”, but don’t take this passage out of context. Judge not, but judge… wait… judge or not judge? Like that passage in Matthew states, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”, but it is actually the next 4-5 verses that help explain the context… especially verse five, where it states; “ Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. “ See that? FIRST clean up your business before jumping all into someone else’s… but, you ‘are’ allowed to “get the ‘mote'” from your brother’s eye. Now… ‘beam’ is another word for “stick of timber”, or “board”… and ‘mote’ is another word for “twig” or “piece of straw”. But, we ARE encouraged to help those around us… to be critical and ‘see’ that someone has something in their eye, as it were. Further too, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:31 , “ For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. “… which is say that when you take the time and energy to clean up your life, others will be much more receptive to your observations… to your criticism… to your help. Granted… you may not feel spiritual… righteous… or you may not think you know the Bible (let alone God) enough to even try helping someone else… maybe you don’t even care! Maybe you have just copped out of that whole level of responsibility of helping those around you… you’re just satisfied with being alive and “not judging” and being rather indifferent to it all. Appearances can be tricky, right? What we ‘see’ isn’t always the facts, the truth, or the whole story. Way too many people are great at putting on airs… presenting a facade… keeping a public face. But, to further show we are encouraged to judge matters, John 7:24 tells us; Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. John 7:24 You can judge, but you must use a righteous judgement. No… you do NOT need to be righteous, holier-than-thou, or some special certified minister… judging righteously merely means, “being upright, virtuous, even just being impartial”. A righteous judgment is being able to separate your feelings, your opinion, even your preferences (stuff like; “ I would NEVER do that, so you should not either “)… remaining engaged in the observation… your determination regarding right/wrong… but not being swayed by your own personal preference or application of the matter in your own life. As an example, two teams are playing a sporting game. One of the teams is your favorite one… you have been rooting for them since you were very young… you have almost all their marketing products! Something occurs during the game that is controversial… are you quick to ‘take sides’, or can you objectively determine it WAS your team’s fault? Sure, it is just a game.. but, something along those lines also occurs in rubber-meets-the-road life matters, as in; abortion, drugs, even occupations or career choices. When you judge, you may be judged also… it is a natural reaction from many people…. their defenses flare up and they quickly tend toward the “ well, who are YOU to say? You also have …” means of reacting. Sure, it is a classic mechanism to deflect the attention away from them, but in all honesty you must be willing to see if you DO have a ‘beam’ in your eye, right? It does NOT mean they don’t have a ‘moat’ in their eye… they are merely pointing out (as scripture noted), you need to clean up your life, then help them with theirs. But, you ARE allowed to judge… you ARE allowed to observe critically (not ‘be’ critical and snooty)… you ARE allowed to reach out to help. Condemnation is such an ugly-ish word… I mean… unless someone you know who deserves it, does get it! Actually though, modern society and the whole “live and let live” approach to accepting others for who they are, as they are has caused too many of us to shy away from ‘passing judgment’ on someone. Again though, judgement is only making a determination regarding good or bad, right or wrong, yes or no, even something as simple as Blue or Red (not to get too political!). It is about you ascertaining the choice and coming to a conclusion about it… simple, sweet, and easy. It is not my place or your place to send someone to Hell. To condemn someone to an abyss in life… to shun them from society for their behavior, their belief, even their very actions. But, you can decide (judge) whether these are acceptable to you… decide whether these are things you could or would do, and even better… decide whether you would teach your family, loved ones and friends these ‘things’. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 As the end of that passage confirms, “…rightly dividing the word of truth”, which is to say that we don’t have a free license to judge… to be critical… to be zealously making the world “right”… we must wait on the Lord for His leading about these matters… but, we must be ready to judge… to decide. One of the most famous events that occurred to Jesus was when this adulterous woman was brought to Him for ‘stoning’. See.. she was caught ‘in the act’ and the religious leaders brought her right to Jesus and insisted she be punished (condemned) for her transgression. These leaders (scribes and Pharisees) hounded Jesus that this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act… and saying to Him; “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? ” See… they KNEW what must be done (she should be stoned to death), and were testing Jesus to see if He would uphold the law. Instead… Jesus just bent down in their midst and began ‘doodling’ in the sand… this surely enraged these leaders even more, and they kept after Him… insisting He do something about this woman’s sin… her failing… her judgement and condemnation was right in front of Jesus and they had Him cornered, as it were. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:7-11 This was such a great example Jesus used to show them “get the beam out of your eye, then help those around you to get the mote out of their eye”. We all know Jesus is ready to forgive… ready to pardon us from condemnation. And, as He told this woman, “ Go and sin no more “. Therefore, that whole ‘ judge that ye be not judged ‘ thing usually keeps you from even thinking about voicing an opinion… sharing your thoughts, or even just reaching out to help someone get that ‘mote’ from their eye. The key element is to live your life so that you don’t have a ‘beam’ in your own eye… that you are as blameless as you can be… that you live uprightly… that you ‘walk circumspectly in this life. Walking faithfully is key to cleansing your life of things that can trip others up. Sure, others may/will STILL find fault with you… fault with your witness… fault with how you are applying God’s grace in your life. But, we are not called to be acceptable to mankind, but to be acceptable to God Himself. Being faithful may sound like you need to be a holy-roller, or some spiritual giant, or even just pure, blameless, and even separated from things of this world. Uh… good luck with that… right??!! Keeping a faithful walk with the Lord simply means being consistent. See… repetition is key to ‘getting in a groove’ with the Lord. That whole ‘spot visit’ stuff is way too hard to get a good grip on how the Lord wants you to live… how He wants you to love others… and even how He may be leading you. Two ways to think about this; Family Visits: Imagine the seasonal visiting with do with family or friends. The occasional group meeting where we all re-introduce ourselves to each other… catch-up on many of the major events or topics of our lives… even just remembering previous relationships or previous experiences or the whole reminiscing stuff we do. Sure… ‘warm fuzzies’ is usually what we come away with… or ‘reawakened anger’… or even just that feeling of belonging we can get from reconnecting with our roots. Travel by Boat or Plane: Imagine the pilot of either a boat of a plane making a journey from one point to another. They typically begin that journey checking the path… the route… the course they will apply to get to the other point. Were they to check their ‘bearings’ only on occasion, or when it was convenient, or when they just want to ‘touch base’, it is quite likely they will be WAY off course before too long… sometimes wandering SO far off, tragedy and demise follows! Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalms 37:5 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10 One of the parables Jesus shared with us was about a faithful servant who remained diligent, trustworthy, and consistent. In Matthew 25:21, Jesus reminded us, “… Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. “ Living circumspectly is how you apply the faithfulness in your life… walking circumspectly is an odd word… rarely used these days, and it is a shame, because it literally means, “ to be watchful and discreet; cautious; prudent “. No… not a prude… no… not isolated from society… no, not even holier-than-thou… just cautious, respectable, and especially upstanding. This can mean anything from how you interact with other drivers on the roadways… how you handle your finances… how you even handle yourself in public. It is accountability at its highest, really. Always keep in mind that “you may be the only Bible others may ever read” and just what message are you giving them is one way to help keep yourself in check. Living like you don’t care what others think is a recipe for judgment. Bear in mind, “what others think” can be taken way too literally… way too seriously… way too overbearing on your life. It is a balance… it is a check-point… it is a tangible way of ensure your life reflects how the Lord would live. Ephesians 5:15 – See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Proverbs 2:11 – Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Isaiah 28:26 – For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. Honor is a tough trait to obtain in our lives… honesty, fairness, or integrity in one’s beliefs and actions seems like a lofty trait to obtain. But, it is obtainable… it is within your reach by the grace of God. Sure… there ‘are’ honorable people in this world who never knew the Lord… having depth of character it not unique to children of God. Faith, Hope, and Love that is honoring is not obtainable except through the very touch of God in your life. We are sin-bound people… we are walking fallibility… we are prone to failure… it happens to the best of us. The difference is whether we care… whether we regret our struggles… whether we repent from our wayward lives. Judging is something we all must do… something we must all look at critically… something we should never be afraid of. We MUST be careful how we judge… what we judge, and especially why we judge. See… in Romans chapter 14, Paul is reminding us that ‘all things are lawful’ and ‘nothing is unclean’… depending on your faith and walk with the Lord. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Romans 14:10-14 Given that, it now seems like we should never judge? Seems like ‘to each his own’? Seems even contradictory… flip-n-flop… Not to fear or worry… this, along with the other passages is reminding us that we ‘do’ see the travesties going on around us. But, just because ‘we’ think they are wrong doesn’t mean they really are. We are to judge with a righteous judgment… being careful to keep our bias at check… and being careful that we too are as clean and pure as we can be. See… the Holy Spirit will give you the ‘eyes to see’… the ‘ears to hear’… the peace of His leading. Learn to trust Him (that faithfulness) and listen for His calling and leading to help those around you.

Leave the Weed This is an admonition to be careful about being SO quick and sometimes rather ruthless with tearing out the ‘weeds’ of your life… the ugly and unwelcome growth that seems to almost be taking over your ‘garden’ of hope… cluttering the persona you are hoping to present. I mean… the Bible does encourage us to sanctify ourselves… to depart from evil… to purify our hearts and minds… and ‘be holy’. < Previous Right… at first glance you may quickly think I am going to try convincing you how wrong it is to smoke marijuana… or to do drugs of any kind. No… this is not that kind of ‘weed removal’ encouragement… although… wait… OK… I’ll refrain! Rather, this is an admonition to be careful about being SO quick and sometimes rather ruthless with tearing out the ‘weeds’ of your life… the ugly and unwelcome growth that seems to almost be taking over your ‘garden’ of hope… cluttering the persona you are hoping to present. I mean… the Bible does encourage us to sanctify ourselves… to depart from evil… to purify our hearts and minds… and ‘be holy’. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:7 One of the tendencies for sanctifying yourself, or becoming holier… even working to purify your life is to remove the ugliness from your life… the unwanted growth… the things that are distracting you and others from the ‘garden’ of your life… from the ‘orchard’ of your life… from the very beauty that is beginning to grow in you. Leave it! Jesus himself told us a story about NOT tearing out the weeds in a field for fear of disrupting/destroying new and tender roots of the good crops all around it. Sure, this parable was mainly intended as a ‘world view’ concept (don’t get too carried away with purifying society), but it can directly apply to our spiritual lives, too. See… it is important to fertilize, not weed-kill! Matthew 13:24-30 That entire passage is much too large to include here (please click-n-read it), but the last two verses make the point; But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:29-30 Don’t be so quick to remove unwanted or unwelcome growth in your life. As that passage reads, these ‘weeds’ are not necessarily your fault… they have been planted there by your enemy! Their main intent is to discourage you… to distract you… even to cause you to ‘weed the garden’, as it were! Jesus is encouraging us to be careful of cleansing our own lives of these weeds… these unsightly growths in the garden of our lives. Rather… continue to water your entire garden… continue to fertilize… continue to nurture and care for it. Remember, the bible does tell us that it rains and shines on the just and the unjust and the sun rises and shines on the evil and the good ( Matthew 5:45 ). The weeds will be removed at ‘the harvest’! They can live among you, but there is a day of reckoning coming… there is a day where the tares are separated from the wheat, the useless plants are separated from the fruitful ones. We are told several times that the chaff, or the tares, or the weeds of our lives will wither… they’ll burn… they’ll be separated from our lives in God’s own way, and in His own timing. I mean… remember that parable Jesus shared about the seeds falling on the ground in various places? One of those places was the rocky or shallow-soil areas… He’d commented later how those roots can’t get very deep into the soil, and when the sun comes up and ‘the heat is on’, they wither and die from lack of depth… their roots are not protected. Similarly, John the Baptist was telling the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to one of his baptisms, he was telling them of the coming of Jesus and “…Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ( Matthew 3:12 ) It’s that separation that we are reminded of several times… see… there are those who want to remind you of these weeds in your life… there are those who seem to just watch and wait for you to make a mistake… to fail… to show signs of imperfection. It’s actually all they can do really… you’ll find that those who tear you down or point out your flaws are as big as they’ll ever be… they can’t get any better and they know it… so, they tear you down so you seem as small, or smaller than they are! We are ashamed of our own weeds though, too. Our own failings… or own misgivings, short-comings, and any of those not-so-pretty traits in our lives. These are scattered all through the field of our garden and they make us shudder with shame… make us shrink a little in guilt… in disgust… even in repulsive retreat. Our tendency is to get in there and remove these weeds… to tear them out, to cut them back, to hide the shame of their presence. “ How did these unsightly traits ever gain ground in my life “, you may ask yourself… you may ask God… you may wonder. Don’t forget, dear friend… Jesus reminded us that the sequence of life is this; He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man The field is the world The good seed are the children of the kingdom The tares are the children of the wicked one The enemy that sowed them is the devil The harvest is the end of the world The reapers are the angels As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 13:40-43 Unbeliever vs Children of the Devil The field is the world The good seed are the children of the kingdom The tares are the children of the wicked one, those that have willfully rejected the Light Again, this ‘world view” Jesus has given us can be scaled down to our very lives… the weeds in our lives are sown there from the evil in this world. The children-of-the-devil are just all those distracting traits in our lives that shame us… that embarrass us, even keep us from thinking or feeling like we are even WORTHY of Jesus’ love, let alone His mercy! Remember, though… these things will burn away! We would all like to keep weeds out of our beautiful lawns… out of the gorgeous gardens, and certainly out of our very crops. Remember these tips; Newly planted or over-seeded lawns inevitably include weeds Farmers fertilize their crops and it is too strong with nutrients for weeds and it over-grows them (kills them) At harvest time, the fruit of the plant is what is gleaned Spend your time, your energy, your prayer, and certainly your time with the Lord on growth in your life. Give attention to the flaws, to the quirks, to the bad habits, and ‘things that distract you’ from a closer walk with the Lord, but be sure you are not swept up with all that as a priority. The main ‘ears to hear’ piece the Lord is telling us is that spending time and energy tearing out the weeds can damage any tender roots that are gaining momentum in your life. Press On: It is the ‘keep going’ part of our lives we need to hear. We don’t stop and tear out any ugliness… cease forward progress until we look or feel better… halt any new growth until we can get rid of all this excess baggage… this debris… this messy characteristics and traits in our lives that are unbecoming or unsightly. Rather, we are to keep going. Remember, in Philippians 3:14 we are encouraged, to . “.. .press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus .”, to aim for that high-calling… to work toward that goal… not to stop and groom ourselves so we appear worthy of it. Our intentions are pure… our quest for cleanliness is honorable… our yearn for perfection is admirable, and certainly a great trait to have in our lives. We must be so very careful to let the Lord do that in our lives in His time. See… the tendency is to rush to ‘tidy up the house’, as it were. From that moment we know ‘guests are coming’, we quickly dive into action attempting to make the place presentable. That is the world’s way of making things right. God does want us Holy… the Lord does was us sanctified… Jesus does want us ‘pure as snow’… but in His way, in His timing. Guard the Garden; The underlying premise of this writing and Jesus’ encouragement is that we do not become zealots at clearing out the weeds of our garden… or removing the unsightly elements… or even going to any great length to identify the right-or-wrong of our lives and tear out those weeds. See… 2 Thessalonians 3:6 reminds us, “ Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us .” See… that is a clear admonishment to avoid further chaos, further distractions, further ‘weeds’ in our lives. But, taking the time and energy to tear out existing ones does two things; 1) harms the tender roots of the good things the Lord has planted in your life, and 2) uses energy you could be using toward your own healing. Guard your garden, but be careful and don’t over-think it… over-work it… and certainly over-purify it. As the scriptures say, “… And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away “. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23 It is that “… ye that work iniquity ” part that should get your attention. Weed Patrol: With the pressure of society and the whole glamorization of our lives, we give so much attention to patrolling our lives and removing the weeds that we actually cause… the peer-pressure that drives us to clear out these weeds is actually undermining His new growth in our lives, too. There is no need to be in an hurry…. the Lord will abide in our lives regardless of how dank, smelly, dark, hostile, or even just down-right unappealing we are. He loves us because of who we can become, not because of who we are. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19 The half-truth is that we must clean-up our act to allow God to abide with us. We must “walk the narrow road” to reap the deeper benefits of His grace…. we must even avoid evil, sin, and all the debauchery of this world so-as to be sure God will be by our sides. Surely you understand that none of us can accomplish this… none of us can become worthy enough… none of us can maintain that higher level of quality in our lives.Just as Jesus was telling those disciples how the weeds can choke out the good plants in your life… the tender roots He has planted… the seed of a new life of Salvation He planted in your Spirit; as in;“… and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. “It is that latter portion we must give attention to… where we can give our focus, our devotion to the Lord, and certainly our thoughts, heart, and life.Having “ an ear to hear ” is so very important to this whole Leave the Weed process. Others will pressure you to ‘be better’… to improve… even to separate yourself from those weeds in your life. Over time, the Lord will guide you through that process. But, grow in the Lord… get closer… strengthen that bond, that trust, that relationship, and the weeds in your life will not get as much attention, as much nutrients, as much growth.

Shadow of Death Behind any and all ‘darkness’ in your life is that ‘ray of hope’. You may not see if or acknowledge it, but it is higher, greater, and certainly brighter than any ‘doom’ that the Shadow of Death may overshadow His grace, mercy, and peace! < Previous Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined. Often it is the feeling or condition of being afraid. Combine that with Darkness and there-in is a gripping and many times overwhelming sense of pending doom.. of certain calamity… and certainly the whole presence of oppression that just consumes and paralyzes us. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me Psalms 23:4 KJV Many of us read this passage as a soothing promise, or a “ I got’cher back ” message from the Lord, but I am not wholly convinced we really grasp just how informative, encouraging, and actually rather instructing this declaration was actually intended. To me, there are two things to consider in this passage, 1) the darkness, and 2) the author indicates that he is walking or moving along.Now , there are two variations or ways of viewing that darkness; 1) it is the absence or deficiency of light (a tangible observation, sure), and 2) the lack of knowledge or enlightenment (a spiritual/emotional component of our lives. So far, that all helps set the stage of the bigger picture the Lord is yearning for us to consider… the reason Jesus Himself said, “Fear not, for I am with you always”… the encouragement and quite empowering message the Lord is wanting us to bury in our hearts. Shadow Source I started thinking about the ‘picture’ of walking through ‘the valley of the shadow of death’ and it is so very easy to fixate on the fact that the author is pointing out that death is always near… always taunting us… always in our path, it seems. But, I realized one key thing about that shadow… that ominous darkness… that ‘light blocking’ space. And it hit me… there is a LIGHT behind that ‘death’, which is what is actually causing the shadow! See that? I mean… wherever there is a shadow, there IS a light behind it! And, in the case of life and death, we know that Jesus is the light. Wait… what? Right… Jesus is the light behind that ‘shadow of death’ fear you are facing. We are encouraged and instructed to walk in the light, but there are times (as this passage reminds us) that the overshadowing reality of life and sin on this earth means that we are going to be ‘walking through the shadow of death’, too. Beyond the Shadow We just need to remind ourselves to look beyond the shadow… to look to the light… to the hope of Jesus’ nurturing hand watching over us. See, Luke 1:79 tells us that Jesus is come “ To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. ” See… “ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death …” indicates there is a massive, and overwhelmingly bright light of hope behind any ‘darkness’ that haunts you. Behind any/all ‘darkness’ in your life there is that ‘ray of hope’! It is higher, greater, and certainly brighter than any ‘doom’ the Shadow of Death that may loom. His grace, mercy, and peace! Facing Fear The things of this world can render us unconscious, spiritually. In many ways useless physically, too. They are tangible objects and our sin-based souls are so quick to react protectively of ourselves and those around us. So much so, that we never give it a second thought… giving in to the ‘things that are seen’ rather than hoping for the things to come. Jesus gives us that hope to face fear… to face the pending and inevitable doom… to even step out and challenge the things of this world and walk by faith toward His light. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder . Psalms 107:14 KJV There was a time when Peter faced his fear. He was in a boat out on the sea, and the waters were churning from a nearby storm. Out in the distance, he saw a figure coming across the surface of the water. In and of itself, that would be a fearful thing, let alone highly unusual. Peter thought he recognized the figure as Jesus, and Matthew 14:28-30tells us, “ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me .” Peter was well on his way to overcoming the obvious. He set aside his fear of the water and was actually out there walking on the top of it with Jesus…. well… while he had his eyes on Jesus, that is! See… when Peter ‘s aw the boisterous wind, he was afraid, and began to sink ‘. Again, another perfect reminder of that ‘shadow of death’ problem… there is no need to fear when you keep your eyes, your attention, your hope on the light BEHIND that shadow. Remember, please remember… that shadow would never exist where it not for the presence of that light! All would just be darkness, were it not for that light! Eyes on the Light Peter only needed to keep his eyes on the Lord. Once he was distracted… was taunted by the tangible fears of life… was reminded of his very mortality… he began to sink. He began to be overcome. To me, there are three things we can do… three ‘rules’ we can apply… three principles/goals to help us through these fears; Keeping our attention focused on His leading Recognize the distractions around you, but keep Rule #1 You asked Jesus for proof, He did not taunt you into this I know… “easier said, than done”, right? But again, as you are ‘walking through the very shadow of death’ of things in your life, the light is where you can focus your attention. His leading you… His guiding you… His protection of you, such that you will adamantly state “yea, though I walk through the very shadow of death, I shall fear no evil” with confidence, not just hope! Empowered by His Presence Our hope, faith and trust is empowered by His presence. See… if we were facing that ‘shadow of death’ scenario alone, it would be frightening… it would cause us to freeze in our tracks… to hunker down, skulk, and move in stealth-like ways. We might even RUN through that valley of death so-as to decrease our exposer. Proverbs 28:1 tells us, “ The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. Now… please understand… please recognize… please, please know that just because Jesus is present, just because Jesus exists, just because Jesus is watching… “His presence” means ‘in your heart’… in your life… in your mind… in your every being. Jesus made Himself present to Peter, but it was Peter crying out to Him… asking him to ‘save’ him… this was Peter’s application of his faith, of his trust, and of his hope in the Lord. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. Psalms 138:3 (KJV) We now have a means for being bold about His presence in our lives. We now have an assurance about His presence in our lives… I am no longer a slave to fear… for I am a child of God! In Hebrews 4:16, we are told, “ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. “ But, go back a few verses in Hebrews, because that verse 16 starts with, “Let us therefore”… it is that “therefore” reference in Heb 4:12-15 wherein Jesus “ …is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ” And He was tempted JUST like we are and did not falter (v 15). Going back to the opening verse of this writing, we can now see that this was not written as some “hang in there, baby” encouragement… it was not some statement from the life of someone who simply endures the struggles of life… it was not even a lofty statement of ‘claim your faith’ cheer from the choir-loft of God. Rather, this is a bold, and quite emphatic statement…. even a warning to Satan himself… “even though I walk through your scary valley, I will NOT be afraid, for God Himself is right there behind you (glancing over Satan’s shadow) and is my protector, my hope, and certainly my very salvation.”

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Evidently We seem to need tangible proof (evidence) regarding matters in life. With faith, the evidence is in things not seen? How can that even be possible... check this story and learn more. < Previous Evidently : Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 I don’t usually start these writings with a scripture… not so directly and right at the beginning anyway… but, evidently … I am going to do it, now. This passage can be such a ‘buzz word’ type passage that folks toss around… almost like it is queued and ready as a response when they don’t really know what else to say. Essentially, this passage means; your faith consists of the things you hope you have, and you have that proof from things you can not see. Yea… I nailed it…. right? NOT! This passage is so confusing to me… I mean, if it were to say, “ An expert bowler is evidenced by the score they keep. “, then I’d have something tangible to grab onto… something coherent… something much less abstract than ‘… evidence of things not seen “. But, then the Lord reminds me that but by the Holy Spirit in our lives are we ever going to have a hope of understanding His word… after-all, we are told many times, “He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth”. Regularly, I have to break this passage back down and review my life to check that my faith is intact… my faith is growing… my faith is still true and on-track. Faith : confidence or trust in a person or thing, as in; faith in another’s ability. Evidence : something that makes plain or clear; an indication or sign, as in; His flushed look was visible evidence of his fever . Faith is a tricky characteristic to describe… tough to identify… awkward to explain to others, many times. Our lives are filled with traits of faith in our lives. All too often, we limit this word to the spiritual side of our lives (if any), but I think faith can also be identified by that double-yellow line on many two way highways (not divided by a median). See… we WHIZZ along these roadways at some outlandish speeds… and though the vehicles these days are much safer, there is nothing more than that thin double-yellow strip separating us from the vehicles coming toward us in the opposite direction… only that thin strip.Let’s do some quick math… let’s say we are traveling at 60 mph, and the oncoming traffic is also traveling at 60 mph. At those speeds, there is nothing but that thin double-yellow line guiding us… leading us… asking us to trust the other driver… from having a 120 mph ‘sudden stop’ impact! Now THAT is faith! I have faith that the oncoming driver is alert, attentive, and just as concerned about life as I am. If you have done it enough, you no longer even give it a second thought. Maybe not as dramatic an example is trusting the ATM machine to give me my credit or debit card back each time I slip it into the slot. As it disappears from the face of the machine, I trust that it will be returned once the transaction is completed. Sure… that is not much faith, but it is still faith nonetheless. If you have done it enough, you no longer even give it a second thought. The schedule at an airline or airport can be just as tricky. Sure, they have a business to run, but you are trusting they are going to maintain their schedule. Your faith in their reputation may even help influence which airline you use… so much so that you even go so far as to plan and schedule for someone to pick you up at the destination airport. You may have even traveled enough that you have a system down… a ‘trusted’ pattern to ensure you journey runs as smoothly as it can… you have done it enough, you no longer even give it a second thought. These three are tangible ways you apply faith in your life. Emotional and Spiritual faith is much, much tougher. As the scripture stated, it is the substance of things hoped for. You may be hoping for an upcoming event… you may be hoping for a good and relaxing vacation… you may even be hoping for a fulfilling and ‘playful’ retirement. Many are trusting and hopeful of Heaven, too. Evidence is somewhat of a gotcha component of our faith. I mean… the word itself indicates we have tangible proof… absolute and concrete information to support something… the stuff that ‘makes it all clear’ and believable. Evidence doesn’t always have to be tangible though…. see… many music or movie stars have fame, and that bolsters their stardom. Wealth is identifiable by our homes… the amenities in life… the luxuries or at least abundance of things (homes, property, toys, etc). Blending Faith and Evidence together seems so much tougher…. so much more clumsy to identify in your life. That scripture claims that our faith is evident in our lives by things that are not seen. So… that’s odd… I mean… evidence almost directly implies proof… almost perfectly indicates irrefutable facts or at least an obvious conclusion can be reached. But, ‘things not seen’ seems to indicate vagueness, or some kind of condition, or even some mystical aura or power. See… our world today is filled with proof, tangible evidence and a yearn for instant gratification. These are making it harder and harder to trust… to wait… to have faith in the unseen. Again though, this passage in Hebrews 11:1 does say that our faith is evident by things that are not seen… this could be patience… it could be selflessness… it could even be something as simple as forbearance and enduring love. I know… it is so much tougher to even want these things, because all too often, we are secretly looking for things in our lives that will bring attention… focus… accolades of a life well-lived… plaques, banners, buildings or streets named after us… Like we accomplished something worthy, and those around us will eventually recognize us for them. Well… that is not faith… that is fruit (results). Faith, as you may recall from my opening, is confidence or trust in a person or a thing (trusting that highway divider line). The evidence that you are trusting will demonstrate itself when you apply yourself to that trust… as with the highway divider line, you are not trusting that line until you are actually driving on the highway. It is one thing to learning about driving on the highway… remaining on your side… honoring the trust the oncoming drivers also have in you… putting your very life ‘on the line’ as it were. Well… safely to the right of it, please! Further along in that Hebrews passage, it tells us; “ Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. ” ( Hebrews 11:3 ), which is a reminder that God’s very word… His very promise is what is making up the balance of the world. It is faith that is used to demonstrate our hope in His leading… trust in His word and promise to us… and the evidence of His love for us, too. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6 It is this application of our faith in God where we obtain His mercy… how we receive His grace over our lives… where we fix our hope. And the reason all this even matters is best clarified in that very famous passage of John 3:16 , which states; “ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. “ Not perishing is one of those key ‘ things unseen ‘ evidences of our faith… and the everlasting life is the result. Now… faith all on it’s own is not enough! WHAT? Right… faith (trust) alone is not nearly all that God has planned for His leading of your life. To trust Him also means to follow… to wait-n-listen… even to put yourself into action. See… James 2:17 reminds us, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” That is to say, your faith has to be where ‘the rubber meets the road’, as it were… like in that ‘divided highway stripe’ example I’d provided earlier. Until you actually put your faith into action, it is just information in your head… noise in your heart… a desire, sure… but, it must be motivated and put into action, too. Evidence of things can go two ways; 1) tangible, or non-tangible. The passage states that our faith is evident of things … again, we ever-so-quickly gravitate to the physical… the obvious… the able-to-see/touch items in our lives, and use those as evidence of achievement… of accomplishment… of growth (or even weight-loss)… of reaching a goal. But, this passage claims our faith is evident by things unseen. Take this sentence, and fill in your own blank;________ is the evidence of things. Below are some examples; Wealth is the evidence of things Fame is the evidence of things A large home is evidence of things Career stature is evidence of things How we can apply this quagmire of information to our lives may seem daunting… may seem too overwhelming… may even seem hopeless, depending on your own predicament in life. But, that IS actually where we can start. I mean, to rephrase that initial scripture, “The things you hope for identifies where your faith is. Your hope is evident by the things we cannot actually see (i.e. patience, trustworthy, honor, etc). Like those ‘things’ I’d mentioned above, your faith is demonstrated by the things you hope for, which become more and more obvious in your life as characteristics, traits, even skills or talents. We cannot actually ‘see’ these types of things, only the fruit of their presence in our lives. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 These are the ‘things unseen’ that become the evidence of the things you hope for, which is… Faith! Let me ‘show’ it to you this way. Your faith is made up of things in the Substance column, In other words, Your faith is made up of your; hope for joy, which is evident because you are not easily discouraged. hope for temperance, which is apparent because you refrain from using foul language. hope for meekness because you demonstrate gentleness. Now… that was just a spattering-sample of ways that the opening passage can be applied in your life. It is an OnGrowing process! Having a ‘spirit filled’ life merely means you are applying more and more of the fruits of the spirit , as referenced above in Galatians. Just how ‘big’ is your faith… just how ‘strong’ is your faith… just how ‘old’ and mature is your faith… almost wholly depends on you. Like an athlete, getting exercise and keeping active is the only way. No… you can NOT just absorb God’s word… you can NOT just attend church services or spiritual meetings… you can NOT just pray and ‘want’ to be faithful. You are as good as ‘dead’ to God ( and He WILL ‘reject’ you ) and no real use to anyone! See… James 2:26 states; “ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. “, so it is very important that we learn to add Substance to our Faith, and Evidence of that Substance… it is WORK… no two ways about it.

A Smok'n Billy's Back to Gallery This is my current full-time vehicle. It is a 1958 F100 and had a Power Train transplant before I bought it in 2017. This is my daily driver and has been since April 2017, and drove it from the Phoenix, AZ area (my home back then) to Austin, TX (my parents' home) on three occasions (it is 1013 miles one-way). It is a runn'n old truck and I really enjoy all the "who needs creature-comfort things (you even have to cancel the turn signals yourself). All in, and to-date, I have driven this truck some 18,000+ miles and intend to use it until they ban gasoline! ;-) The photos are of two groupings, the ones 'with' the USA Flag (there on the truck bed behind the drivers-side of the cab) are my photos, and all the others (without the flag) are from the Craigs-List Ad where I found and bought it Show Me More

Demons & Exorcism This is a story about not only being ABLE to cast out demons, but why even bother… < Previous I was just wondering about the “why’d that happen” question. You know… when that demon pounced on those 7 brothers who were casting out demons. Let me first, reference all the text here, so you can think about it better… From Acts, Chapter 19 – beginning at v13 (KJV) 13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. I know this is all a little confusing, but basically this passage presents the WHY for the need of purity in the spirit of the Lord, and remaining honest and true to that calling deep within your heart… but, it also serves as a warning that His love and His power can not just be ‘put on’. You MUST have a surrendered heart, and life to be used of the Lord, and to be an instrument… especially against the evils before us. For we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and darkness.Look closely at v13, and notice that these 7 brothers are referred to as vagabonds, and exorcists (mystics), and even the wording here (in the King James) reads ‘they took on themselves’. See that?? This all means that these guys were ‘in business’. Even better, you can see at the very end of that same verse, they were calling out these demons by saying stuff like “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth”. Now… ‘adjure’ really translates to a less-heavy word like “PLEASE”, or “we are asking you”, which may not seem all that important… but, when you REALLY thread this needle… you’ll see… these guys were pulling these demons out rather passively…. I mean, they were NOT ‘commanding’ them. Remember Jesus’ approach?? Whenever He spoke to a demon, or Satan, He was VERY stern and forthright… “Satan, I commandyou…”. You may remember the scene beside that ocean/lake where all these demons were in this one guy… and Jesus ‘caught’ them, because they ALL were torturing this guy… and they begged mercy of Jesus… and Jesus sent them out of the man, and into a nearby herd of pigs… who all promptly ran, squealing, into the ocean/lake and drowned. See?? He didn’t ask them to ‘come out’… He told them!! But, by the authority of “His Father, in Heaven”.So… these 7 guys approach this man (to them, a simple man) with a very powerful demon. And they ‘ask’ the demon to come out… and the demon just says… “uh…. yeah…. right!!” And the demon even tells them… “I don’t have to obey you… You have NO authority to boss me around… You have no REAL power” (see v15). Now remember… these guys were sons of the CHIEF of the Priests of the Jews. So.. they were sons of a very strong and important man…. religiously, anyway! No matter… outside the true, genuine authority of the Lord, you are VERY doomed if you face these demons without His authority in your life – and over your life!!In so many ways. See that??How many ways can you apply this nugget of truth to your own PERSONAL life?? As you walk around your spiritual neighborhood (within)…. spotting ‘people’ within your heart who are SO held captive by these various demons… these tiny places within you very own life where you have not ‘surrendered’ a piece of you to the Lord… these little places make up the whole, you know (Deep End of the Pool)… See?? We both ‘find’ these demon possessed areas in our hearts… and we want SO badly for them to be cleansed of this menacing demon… from the torture… from the actions this demon causes… leaving me (us) so helpless… and causing others pain too…The main difference, my precious friend… is that Jesus lives within you… and these 7 brothers just knew OF Him (the Lord), they were not known BY Him… there’s a difference. Spiritual from without, not from within. So… when you find these areas in your life… you can boldly step up there, with the peace and security of the Lord, and ‘command’ them to release you from this pain… this torture… this anguish… freeing your life… opening another wonderful segment of your heart and life to Him… and ultimately to others.So … often times, like the 7 brothers, the demon realizes that you are not claiming His strength (Jesus says “when you are weak, I am made strong”), and acting on that inheritance we have in His love…. and in His family! Tough to do… I know… my ‘sin’ has haunted me now, since I was 13 or so… Subsiding off and on… yet, still raising it’s nasty head, and causing me and others pain. But, through His grace and mercy, I have ways to hold me accountable… to remind me… to encourage me… accept me… support me… Through you! Through YOUR faithfulness.So … I wonder if you are concerned or afraid to approach these demons in your life. Scared that they’ll pounce on you… beat you up… tear at you… make you hurt more. If you are concerned about all that… then, NO… they won’t even bother with you!! See?? Confusing, huh?? Well… they won’t have to!! See?? You are already afraid of them… they WON even before the battle began!! You haven’t even put yourself in a place to fight them… to fight for your rights to your own precious life… the life the Lord MEANT for you to live… the very special life the Lord intended for you to ALWAYS live, but, instead… you quit before you even start (yes, I am preaching to myself!!). I know… I quit too…. I am scared too…. I am very tired too… So, I don’t even have the energy to stand for my rights… my rights as God’s precious child… to stand for my ‘crown’… to wear my robe of righteousness… to hold my head up straight, my shoulders back strong… not arrogant..no!! Proud, and SURE!! I am a child of the Living God… the King of ALL the Kings!! Every knee SHALL bow, and every tongue SHALL confess that He is Lord!! Satan has no more dominion over you!! Not since that precious cross!! That wonderfully empty tomb!!You GO!! GO!! Step-up and tell that demon to ‘go to hell’ in the precious name of the Lord, our Savior!! He HAS to obey!! Zing!! And stand back and listen for the whoosh!!Now then… the Ephesians… this all just freaked them out (v17-19)!! As you can read, though… it impacted the Jews and the Greeks too… but, those that were ‘believers’… it MOVED them!! It moved them right into action!! See that?? So cool to see the Lord move amongst believers… just His presence causes us to ‘repent’ and come clean of our divisive ways… the spirit within agreeing with the moving of the spirit around us… confirmation, if you will… assurance that the Lord ‘was in this place’. It a pretty special time when your heart is moved like that… so sensitive to His leading…So, this evil-pouncing-evil act has a definitive affect on the believers. They bring all their possessions that ‘could’ be construed as ‘idol worship’ or ‘distracting’, or especially mystic… and they had a huge ‘burn-fest’!! Getting rid of any and ALL items that might lead them astray!!! This is one of the very reasons why (when I was first saved) I moved away from any music, except Christian, for so long… An effort to cleanse my outside life… to ensure that my outside life was not influencing my inside life… that the spirit within me had every chance to grow.. the freedom to minister to a pure, and clear heart… to be able to whisper things in the stillness… and not have it misconstrued as ‘half-truth’. This is VERY core to the motivation behind Monks for their isolation… trouble is, they do NOT bring that wonderful knowledge and insight BACK to this life… at least, not much.The point being, as the Bible says “if thy right hand cause thee to sin, cut if off. Better that you enter into heaven missing one hand, than the whole body NOT enter in”. This is to say… “Work out your own salvation”… see how that all fits on YOU. Asking the Lord, first, to show you these demons… being willing to face them, dear… and even harder, be willing to let go of these areas of you life… to Let Go and Let God. It is a journey, my love… a wonderful journey. Never arriving, yet always growing.

Dead Weight We often wonder why our lives are not ‘going anywhere’. And, usually, it is because you are ‘pointed’ in the wrong direction… and, since you are NOT moving, it is SO much tougher for the Lord to redirect you… because twisting that ‘wheel of your life’ is causing SO much strain, and stress, and twisting on the ‘tires of your life’… < Previous I was about 12 years old (circa 1969) and my Father was letting me drive his 1954 truck. We lived in a country ranch-type house on 100 acres of land, about 30 miles Northwest of Austin, TX and my father would let me drive whenever we took the hay bales to the ‘back 40’ to feed the cows. Dad was (at the time) a professional mechanic, and was always finding really good cars and trucks to bring home… Dad was sitting on the passenger side and very well amused at the sight of me wrestling that wheel… and he was chuckling just a bit. Then, he teasingly asked me if I “was having any trouble”?? Yea… Funny Dad!! So… he stopped me… and got my full attention and told me that, if I were to get the truck rolling even just the slightest bit… it would take the dead weight of the truck off of the wheels… and they would turn REALLY easily… not turn as in rolling… turn as in steering… twisting the wheels to the other direction I really want to go. Not sure if he was attempting to make more fun of me, yet knowing he knew his vehicles, I decided to give it a try… and began to ease the clutch out – feathering the gas just a bit. Sure enough… the steering wheel all of a sudden was VERY easy to turn now… as though the truck had power steering now!! Very curious… curious at best! I didn’t really understand the magic behind this, as a little kid. But, to this day… I still use that method… even with cars that DO have power steering. See… by getting the vehicle moving even the slightest, it eliminates (transfers) that dead-weight friction of trying to twist those tires on the ground or pavement… no longer are they stationary and you are trying to twist them against the ground. By causing them to roll even just a little, you remove that horizontal twist/friction between the bottom of the tire and the ground (pavement) the tire is touching. Sure… the tire is STILL touching, but with the rolling action, the twisting portion is almost completely removed. As I have grown in the last 40+ years of my life with the Lord, this dead weight exercise of my father’s keeps coming back to me… in so many ways. See… in so many events of my life, I am reminded how… as I am struggling with the Lord for direction… in an effort to turn my life around… to get it pointed where I “know” it needs to be pointed…. He quietly reminds me of this quick, innocent little tip my father shared with me… to at least be MOVING… and the Lord CAN turn you SO much easier… SEE??? No longer, are you ‘dead weight’… no longer stagnant, or completely stopped dead in your tracks… moving… reduced friction… with ease the wheel in our lives is able to steer and to point us in the right direction… Now… you may be asking yourself “How?” I mean, you may be asking yourself these questions; What if you begin moving, but the ‘tires of your life’ are pointed in the wrong direction? Don’t I need to turn them first, and then go in the new direction?? And, I’ll share with you this… At first, yes… you WILL be going in the wrong direction… you are going to… the ‘tires of your life’ are pointed that way!! Make sense?? Once you get moving… just a little now… nothing blasting, or trying to really launch… but, once you at least get moving, then the Lord will help you to turn that wheel SO much easier, and quicker… The key is “Moving”!! See that? We often wonder why our lives are not ‘going anywhere’. And, usually, it is because you are ‘pointed’ in the wrong direction… and, since you are NOT moving, it is SO much tougher for the Lord to redirect you… because twisting that ‘wheel of your life’ is causing SO much strain, and stress, and twisting on the ‘tires of your life’… Get moving… let that clutch out… put the vehicle in gear, and let your foot off the brake!! Nothing FAST, or not any quick movement… nice and easy at first… to get the dead weight off your life… therein allowing the Lord to turn you much easier. Soon, you WILL see the direction changing, and see the affects of the movement… and you WILL be pointed on the way the Lord wants you to go… being directed by His gentle hand… led by His faithful spirit!! But, you need to eliminate the dead weight!!