"True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."
John 4:23


Monthly
Teaching
SEPTEMBER
2008
I have found
that a very useful exercise is to Google the words Collapse of
the Roman Empire. You will find that there is a ton of information
about why this culture collapsed. And as you look it over, ask
yourself if the United States is following in the very footsteps
of the Roman Empire and how far down the road we are? But I believe
there is always hope and I do believe that God has not given up
on us yet. There is no doubt that a shaking has been going on
in our country for several years. This shaking has involved the
Church, our elected leaders, Corporate America and now our financial
institutions. Personally, I am glad this is happening. It shows
that God is shaking everything that can be shaken. He wants us
to see where the corruption is and he wants us to root it out.
So Pray, Pray, Pray for our country.Second Chronicles 7:14 says
"If my people, which are called by My Name, shall humble
themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked
ways; then will I hear from Heaven , and will forgive their sin,
and heal their land". Amen!
AUGUST
2008
A few weeks
ago we had to call for a satellite repairman because our programs
were cutting in and out and quite often the TV screen would just
go blank. The repairman finally discovered that a cable connector
up in the attic was sometimes shorting out. If you've ever looked
closely at a 72 ohm cable, you've noticed that the main wire is
surrounded by plastic insulation and around that is wrapped another
wire which is made up as a circular strand. At the point of the
connector, a couple of very fine wires from the strand, known
as "pigtails" were shorting out against the main wire.
As I was thinking about all of this...The Lord gave me a message.
The satellite up in the sky represents heaven. And it sends out
a signal. The signal is The Lord's message to me. The dish, up
on the side of our house, is used as a reflector to "grab"
the signal. It stands for my spiritual receptors (spiritual eyes,
ears, etc.). The LNB, that funny looking thing sitting right across
from the dish is a low noise amplifier. The LNB represents my
spirit which should be amplifiing what The Holy Spirit is saying
to me. Then the cable goes to the reciever with this signal/message.
My soul is my reciever. The repairman said the cable shorted out
between the LNB and the reciever due to the pigtails. The short
stands for sin. It will short you out on hearing The Lord. The
pigtails represents the carnal. The carnal world always leads
us to sin.
JULY
2008
OK. I am
going to assume that there some Christians reading this who have
been born again recently. A fair question for you to ask is....what
now? You've already given your heart to The Lord Jesus and you've
told Him you will do your very best to follow Him the rest of
your life. You have taken the first step of faith. What now? Taking
your next steps along the narrow way. Read Matthew 7 verses 13,
14 and 15 carefully. Jesus says most people, yes even many who
think they are Christians are stepping along the broad way...the
path to destruction. But Jesus tells us to take our steps along
the narrow way...the way which leads to life. Thats it. I wouldn't
dare give you a set of rules to follow although this is exactly
what many churches do. Christianity is not a set of rules and
regulations. Christianity is about knowing, serving and following
The Lord...and as you do that...you'll find yourself on the narrow
way. That is to say, you won't find a lot of other folks on that
path with you. Along the narrow way, you will see some signposts
which will help you ascertain that you are still on the right
path. Here's one of them. Have you denied yourself something to
follow Jesus? (Mark 8.34 and 35). Here's another one. There will
be some who hate you for what you are doing. (Matthew 10.22).
Have a great walk! I hope to see you in heaven someday at the
end of the narrow way.
JUNE
2008
In his letter
to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul speaks of redeeming the time
(Eph 5.16). None of us knows how much time The Lord has given
each of us here on planet earth. Adam lived 930 years. Noah made
it to 950. But as for us, the Bible says our days will be threescore
plus ten (70) or possibly fourscore (80). See Psalms 90.10. In
the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12) Jesus tells the story of
a rich man who was figuring out in his mind how to be able to
store even more wealth than he currently had. And God said to
this man "Thou fool; this night thy soul shall be required
of thee". The world has many attractions and sad to say most
of us are quite attracted to it. To say it another way...thats
where our treasures are. But the truth is that you and I don't
know how many more days we even have left to enjoy worldy treasures.
There is no guarantee....no, not even for a Christian. Just think
of all those people who were killed in the twin towers on 9-11.
So how do we correctly redeem the time we are given in God's eyes?
I think much of the answer is just one verse away in Ephesians
5.17 where Paul talks about understanding what the will of The
Lord is. To me, being a Christian can be summed up in three short
sentences. Knowing The Lord Jesus. Understanding His will for
my life. And following Him all the days of my life. Amen!
MAY
2008
There is
a curious verse in Isaiah 50. It is verse 11. "Behold, all
ye that kindle a fire that compass yourselves about with sparks:
walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have
kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in
sorrow." I think The Lord is telling Isaiah that when we
get these great ideas (sparks) out of our own minds (light) that
we aren't much use to Him which will someday be a great sorrow
to us. Here's what Paul says in Romans 8. "For to be carnally
minded is death." And he adds..."So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God." I once heard a preacher
say we are each 18 inches away from disaster. That's how far your
head is from your heart. Let me put it another way. You can't
be a Christian by following your mind. You can only be a Christian
by following Jesus.That is why it is so very difficult for some
people to come to Jesus. They have made up their minds that they
want nothing to do with Him. And that, dear friend, is the greatest
sorrow!
APRIL
2008
If you lived
in the British Isles in the 1960s and listened to the BBC, you
probably remember the program 'Blind Spot." Each week this
drama documented how the Scotland Yard brought a criminal to justice
and the Yard was always able to solve the crime due to some oversight
by the criminal. He may have thought he had achieved the perfect
crime but there was some small detail he had missed that tripped
him up. It was his blind spot. Did you know that we all have blind
spots? Examine some of the people in the Bible...even the disicples
of Jesus. They all had blind spots. Thomas doubted that Jesus
had risen from the dead. Peter was offended and denied Jesus three
times. Judas sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. But in some
of the most telling verses of all, look at what Jesus had to say
about the Pharisees (church leaders) of his day in Matthew 23.
He said to them "Ye blind Guides" and "Ye fools
and blind" and "Thou blind Phasisee." They led
the people astray because they had impure hearts and Jesus was
very angry because of it. So what are we to do about our blind
spots? James 5.16 says "Confess your faults one to another
and pray for one another that ye may be healed." Blind spots
are usually sin. Ask someone you trust if they see any blind spots
in you and don't be surprized that you have some. Remember that
Jesus was the only sinless person who walked the face of this
planet. He has no blind spots!
MARCH
2008
The following
is a true story. On the 7th of this month, Friday morning, I was
driving to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana...about 75
miles from our house. Melody was to be operated on that afternoon
by a team of surgeons. It was a high risk procedure and I was
not sure if The Lord would be taking her home to be with Him forever
in heaven or if He would give her some more years of ministry
with me. In our prayers leading up to this event, Melody and I
both told The Lord that, "Though He slay me, I will trust
in Him" (Job 13.15). This is not an easy prayer to pray!
And so while driving to the hospital I was experiencing serious
anxiety about Melody's situation. I was tensed up so tightly,
I could hardly breathe. Then about 9:15 I remembered that our
Worship program should be playing on WRNL in Ligonier. I punched
it up on the car radio and immediately Hugh and Melody were preaching
directly to me and I knew it. The program was called "The
hidden Treasure" and was recorded about a year ago. We were
discussing Phillipians 4.17 and 19 about how we as Christians
have a heavenly account which can be drawn on in times of need.
Then Melody came on and told the story of how Evangelist Oral
Roberts once had heart pain in his chest and on the way to the
hospital ER, he and his wife Evelyn asked for a withdrawal from
their heavenly account. In the hospital, the doctors could actually
see a blood clot in one of his heart arteries dissolve before
their eyes. And Melody said, a withdrawal from your heavenly bank
account does not always have to be for money. It can be for healing.
At this point I didn't know if I could keep the car on the road!
But it gets better. The Lord then spoke to me and said "Do
not despair. I am in complete control of this situation".
All of the tension immediately drained out of me and I knew that
all would be well. After I got to the hospital and told her what
happened, I was reading to her a print out of an e-mail message
from HB London of Focus on the Family which I had recieved the
night before. I thought the message was great and wanted Melody
to hear it. It was about divine encouragement. I had forgotten
the exact words he had used until I started reading it to her.
Here is the part that made my hair stand on end. "Please
do not DESPAIR.....do not let your SITUATION diminish God's ability
to bring a good result". Those two words were part of what
God had just spoken to me. It was a confirmation. And yes, of
course, Melody came though the operation just fine. I am so in
awe of God when He chooses to speak in His unusual ways to those
of us still working in His vineyard down here on earth. .
FEBRUARY
2008
I love the
story in Matthew 4 which tells about Jesus calling His disciples,
most of whom were fishermen. He said to them, "Follow me
and I will make you fishers of men". The Bible says "Straightway
they left their nets and followed Him". Do you realize this
is exactly what the Christian life is about? Following Him may
be physical. That is, He may call you to go somewhere to do something
specific for Him. But it also means following what He tells you
to do in your everyday life. And when he tells you to do something,
you must obey immediately (straightway). You can only do that
when you have determined that you are going to lay down your life
for Him...the one who laid His life down for you by going to the
cross and shedding His blood for the remission of your sins. And
when you obey Him in this way, it means your "old man"
has been crucified (Romans 6.6-8) and that you are a new creature
(2 Corinthians 5.17) because Christ lives in you (Galations 2.20).
And then someday Christ will return to earth riding a white horse
and you will be following Him with all the Saints (Revelation
19.11-14). What a wonderful future you have throughout all eternity
if you will only follow Him! Follow Him. Two of the easiest words
in the English language to understand and yet how difficult it
can be to do it. Yes, you must make a decision. Make it now. Who
will you follow the rest of your life?
JANUARY
2008
I was recently
re-reading Maria Woodworth Etter's diary of signs and wonders
from the time when she was a traveling evangelist at the turn
of the century. In one of her messages she used the phrase "Day
of Preparation" but never mentioned it again. As I read those
words...The Lord gave me some insight about them. Actually, you
cannot find that phrase in the Bible. But even so, it is certainly
a strong Biblical theme. I found it in Noah's building of the
ark. In fact Hebrews 11.7 says he prepared the ark. And first
Peter 3.20 says God waited while the ark was a-preparing. Maria
Woodworth Etter believed the church was in a time of preparing
even in the early 1900's. She knew we were in the last days. How
much more so now! Listen to what Jesus said as recorded in Matthew
24.37. "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming
of the Son of man be". The return of Jesus for his bride...the
church...is very close. Indeed this is the day of preparation.
Are you prepared? Look at the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew
25.10. The virgins who were not ready for the return of the bridegroom
were gone when He came. But they that were ready (prepared) went
in with Him to the marriage and the door was shut. The wise virgins
gave their all to the bridegroom....they laid their very lives
down for Him. Have you done that? If so, you are prepared for
the return of Jesus for His church (You and I are the church....its
not a building or structure). If not, give your life to Him now
in total surrender and confess your sins to Him and you will be
prepared. The time is short.
DECEMBER
2007
Christmas
is the time of the year when that word "incarnation"
comes up. Look what it says in John 1.14: "And the word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
In the beginning Jesus was the word as it says in verse 1. But
wonder of wonders, 2,000 years ago He came to us in the flesh,
born of the virgin Mary in a stable in Bethlehem. Thats what the
word incarnation means. Jesus is the son of God but now he also
becomes the son of man. Just how important is this? Before the
incarnation, no person could see God and live (See Exodus 33.20).
After the incarnation, God came to us in the person of Jesus (See
Matthew 1.23). This is why the virgin birth is such an important
truth. Jesus was born to Mary (flesh) by the Holy Spirit (spirit).
And because of that, Jesus can now live in our hearts. Note that
in Matthew's story the angel of The Lord said they shall call
His name Emmanuel which means God with us. So to me Christmas
means that Jesus lives in my heart. He is literally that close
to me. Hallelujah! Ask Jesus right now to come into your heart
and forgive your sins. Surrender your life to Him and promise
to follow Him. And this, I promise you, will be the best Christmas
you have ever had!
NOVEMBER
2007
It's November,
the snow flurries have arrived and I am thinking about Thanksgiving.
Actually, I'm thinking about that first pilgrim Thanksgiving.
The pilgrims were actually called "separatists" in England
because they had left the Church due to all the corruption. They
set sail across the Atlantic and halfway across ran into a fierce
storm that cracked the ship's beam. They managed to get it back
up with a huge screw and barely made it to Cape Cod on November
19, 1620. But that winter, sickness took the lives of more than
half of the pilgrims, leaving only 51 survivors and 3 married
couples. In the autumn of 1621 they had a small harvest from 20
acres of corn and a few other crops. And they held their first
Thanksgiving feast with 90 Indian friends. Fast forward to 2007.
Thanksgiving has become a far less important day to Americans
than it was to the pilgrims. Sad to say most of us don't live
with thankful hearts for all God has given us. Change our hearts
O Lord! "For flowers that bloom about our feet; For tender
grass, so fresh, so sweet; For song of bird, and hum of bee; For
all things fair we hear or see; Father in heaven, we thank Thee!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson.
OCTOBER
2007
There seem
to be a lot of new books and tv shows these days based on World
War Two. Of course, that war was fought quite differently from
the war against terrorism which we are now involved in. I doubt
there will ever be a day in the war against terrorism when the
enemy forces will actually sign a document of surrender. That
is something that happened during WWII on both VE day and VJ day.
On VJ day, the Japanese signed a document aboard a US aircraft
carrier and gave it to General Douglas MacArthur. It was a document
of unconditional surrender. I have also heard it referred to as
total surrender, complete surrender and full surrender. Once those
documents were signed by Germany and Japan, we took full control
of their countries. All of this is an allegory (an event illustrating
a spiritual principle) of the war going on for our souls. What
The Lord Jesus requires of us is our unconditional surrender to
Him. If we refuse to do this, we are still at war with God! James
4.4 says that if we are a friend of the world, we are an enemy
of God! Imagine that. You see, if the devil can just keep you
involved with loving all the things this world has to offer..he
has won your soul. He has won the war. You have unconditionally
surrendered to the world. Jesus wants your unconditional surrender
to Himself....to His Lordship in your life. Let me put it this
way. If you love that new car on your driveway more than you love
The Lord, you have surrendered to the world. When you love something,
you spend a lot of time with it. How much time do you spend with
worldly matters? How much time do you spend with The Lord? This
is precisely what the battle is all about and I urge you to throw
up your hands in complete and total surrender to the Lord Jesus
who gave His life on the cross to redeem your life from this crooked
old world.
SEPTEMBER
2007
One of the
songs we have sung for years as Christians goes like this: "This
is the day which The Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad
in it." I had always thought of it as meaning every single
new day which dawns upon the earth. Of course, there is truth
to that idea...but it's meaning is much deeper and I realized
it the other day while reading the lines again in Psalm 118.24.
You have to put verse 24 in context to see the deeper meaning.
Here's what verses 22 and 23 say just before it: "The stone
which the builders rejected is become the head stone of the corner.
This is The Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."
And so the deeper truth is that the day referred to in verse 24
is the day of salvation...the day Jesus was rejected and laid
his life down for you and me at the cross. His blood washed away
our sins and made a way for us to live with Him forever thoughout
all eternity. What a day! Indeed we should rejoice and be glad
in it! If you have never given your heart to Jesus, I beg you
to do it now. Surrender your life to Him and ask Him to wash away
your sins. He'll do it and you will be born again. And you will
rejoice and be glad for that day of salvation which Jesus accomplished
for you 2,000 years ago,
AUGUST
2007
A few days
ago I was amazed as I was leafing through a mail order catalog.
There was a full page ad for a new product called a bereavement
stepping stone. I had never heard of such a thing, but after a
loved one dies you are supposed to place one of more of these
stepping stones on your lawn or even at the gravesite. And there
is a message on the stepping stone. Here it is: "If love
could have saved you, you would have lived forever". It literally
took my breath away. It is the Gospel in reverse! My Bible tells
me that God is love and that He has saved us through the sacrifice
His son, Jesus Christ, made by going to the cross. He shed his
blood for the forgiveness of my sins and I know that I will live
with Him forever...thoughout all eternity because I have recieved
Him in my heart. Thats the good news of the Gospel! The stepping
stone designers were so close to the real truth on this............and
yet so far.
JULY
2007
Melody and
I have been reading the series of novels written by Jan Karon
about a fictional place called Mitford. The central character
in these books is an Episcopal Priest, Father Tim who has just
gotten married at the age of 60. The church youth group asks him
to join them for a two day camping trip, so he and his wife Cynthia
go. The very first day they explore a huge cave without telling
anyone and get lost. Then their flashlight battery dies and Father
Tim stumbles and opens a gash in his head. Finally, after many
hours of trying to find their way out, he and Cynthia, tired and
shaking from the wet coldness of the cave, give up and sit down.
Father Tim tells his new bride that all his life he has tried
to get things right and has never been able to do so and now this.
It looks like they both will die and he can do nothing to save
them! Let me tell you now that each of us as Christians must come
to this cave and die to ourselves. As it turns out in this fictional
story, a dog is brought into the cave who finally discovers them
and leads them out. In the book, Father Tim knows he has had a
deep experience with The Lord in the cave but he is still trying
to figure it out. As I was reading this, The Lord spoke to me
and here is what He said: "Self sufficiency is NOT a Godly
virtue". Then He showed me 2nd Corinthians 4:11 which says
"For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus'
sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
mortal flesh." Watchman Nee put it this way: "I will
not take any action without relying on God." So many of us,
and I include myself, try to make things right in this fallen
world through our own strength instead of relying on God. It is
a huge mistake to do so and that why we must all visit the cave
from time to time so we can die to our flesh. Amen!
JUNE
2007
There are
so many things I love about the Kingdom of God. For example, lets
take what I call the "Upside Down Kingdom Principles".
Whatever seems rightside up in this carnal world is usually upside
down in the Kingdom. Let me give you some pictures of this from
God's Holy Word. Do you want to save your life? Then you must
lose it! (Luke 9.24). Do you want to be first? Then you must be
last! (Matthew 20.16). Do you want to recieve? Then you must give!
(Luke 6.38). Do you want to be a leader? Then you must become
a servant! (Luke 22.27). Do you want to be exalted? Then you must
be humbled! (Matthew 23.12). Do you want to be strong? Then you
must be weak! (2 Cor 12.10, Joel 3.10). Do you want to overcome
evil? Then you must do it with good! (Romans 12.21). And this
is one of the best: Do you want Christ Jesus to increase in your
life? Then you must decrease! (John 3.30). To truly live in the
Kingdom of God, the way you think must be turned upside down.
May as well start thinking this way now, because you'll spend
all eternity with upside down Kingdom principles if you're a child
of The King...Jesus Christ.
MAY
2007
One of the
great themes in The Bible is the question of whom we will serve.
We really have only two choices....men or God. In Paul's letter
to the Galations he writes "Do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ".
He says it another way in Colossians. "Whatsoever ye do,
do it heartily, as to The Lord, and not unto men". This concept
is in the Old Testament too. In Proverbs 29 we read "The
fear of men bringeth a snare but whoso put his trust in The Lord
shall be safe". And in Luke's Gospel we hear Jesus telling
the religious leaders of the day (the pharisees) "That which
is highly esteemed by men is abomination in the sight of God".
This is something that each and every one of us as Christians
must ask ourselves from time to time. Whom am I trying to please?
God or men? Don't be too quick to answer. I recently sent out
an e-mail to those of you who are interested in our ministry and
pray for us. I wanted you all to know that we now have a 4th radio
station broadcasting "Worship". After I sent it...I
felt The Lord examining my heart. Was I sending out this e-mail
to be highly esteemed by men or was I sending it out to give God
the glory? I'm sorry to say I didn't quite hit the mark. So be
careful. It is so easy to fall into this trap...a trap set by
the devil to keep us apart from God.
APRIL
2007
Recently
I was looking for a good movie on e-Bay when I spotted a video
entitled "The Holy Land: An incredible journey". It
was made by Readers Digest in 1985 and was being offered new with
the plastic wrapping still on it for $5. I couldn't resist and
bought it. Melody and I sat down to watch it the other night and
quickly discovered it was meant to be a historical presentation
of The Holy Land. It was mentioned that the Garden of Eden might
have been in the general area, that this was where Abraham, Issac
and Jacob wandered. The temple built by Solomon was mentioned
as was the period between the old and new testaments when the
Roman empire took control of The Holy Land. John the Baptist was
mentioned and so was Jesus. Quite a bit of time was spent on His
first miracle of changing the water into wine at Cana. The narrator
also talked about Jesus at the Synagogue in Capernaum, His triumphful
entry into Jerusalum and His overturning of the money changers
tables outside the Temple. The narrator said that He was crucified
and put in the tomb but he left Him there. The glorious resurrection
of our Lord and Savior was totally left out of this so-called
historical video! Frankly, we were shocked and the video went
into the garbage. How is it that a video producer can think that
Jesus changing the water into wine is a historical truth but His
mighty resurrection is a fable not worth mentioning, despite all
the evidence for it? But don't you see? That is just the way it
is in this fallen world. Some people just don't get it. The word
of God says in Romans 10.9 that if you confess The Lord Jesus
with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead..you will be saved. During this Easter season as
we think about how Jesus saved us from our sins by going to the
cross, it's good to remember that Jesus said Himself that He is
the resurrection and the life (John 11.25). We often hear Christians
say that the resurrection is the basis of their faith. Why not
think of it this way: Jesus is the basis of my faith and the resurrection
is the evidence of my faith. May you and your family have a glorious
Easter season!
MARCH
2007
I
don't know about you, but I am ready for some really good news
about what is happening here on earth. Every day we are bombarded
with information on all the negatives which are taking place and
I am frankly tired of it all. That's why I am so excited to bring
you the following reports about what God is doing right now on
planet earth. My source for this information is American Messianic
Jewish author Joel C. Rosenberg who makes end times events in
the mid-east his specialty. He has already had two of his novels
on the New York Times best seller list. So hold on to your hat...here
we go. According to Joel, more than 6 million Muslims are becoming
Christians every year. In fact, he says more Muslims have converted
to faith in Jesus Christ over the past decade than at any other
time in human history; this despite persecution, arrests and assassinations!
In Africa alone since 1902, the number of Muslims has diminished
to just 316 million while the number of Christians has increased
from 1 million (in 1902) to nearly 330 million today. In Myanmar
(formerly Burma), a country that once had 4 million practicing
Muslims, the number has dramatically dropped to just 300,000.
In Iraq, more than a million Bibles have been shipped into the
country since 2003 and more than 5,000 new Christians now fill
churches including 14 new assemblies in Baghdad, some with up
to 800 members. God is at work in nearby Iran, as well, with over
a million Iranians now meeting in secret churches. By contrast,
mosques that were full 20 years ago are now empty (confirmed recently
by a 700 club report). Over a Million Egyptians have trusted Jesus
as Savior in the past 10 years. In Afganistan, more than 10,000
Muslims have asked the Lord Jesus into their hearts and dozens
of baptisms are happening every week. In Kazakhstan there were
only a handful of believers before 1990, but now the number is
more than 15,000. In Uzbekistan there were no known Christians
before 1990 but now the number is 30,000 and rising. I also have
a report from Benny Hinn Ministries which states that leading
Saudi cleric Sheikh Ahmad Al-Qataani recently appeared on a live
interview on the Al Jazeera satellite TV channel. He bemoaned
that every hour 667 Muslims convert to Christianity. That's 6
million a year. The TV interviewer seemed stunned and replied,
"Let me clarify. Do we have 6 million coverting from Islam
to Christianity?" Al-Qataani repeated the number and then
added "A tragedy has happened!" Well, the Sheikh may
think it's a tragedy but I think it's some of the most wonderful
news I have ever heard. Friends, the great revival is on the way
and it won't be long now until we are with the Lord Jesus forever.
Are you ready?
FEBRUARY
2007
Pretend for a moment
that you are a creature from outer space and you have just descended
from the atmosphere and you are over the United States. You decide
to hover about 500 feet over Anytown, USA in your invisable spacecraft.
Soon enough you spot the human beings. They are continually on
the move, mostly in steel contraptions of various colors with
4 wheels. In fact, it is amazing to watch these humans. Many of
them leave their dwellings for 8 hours every day and disappear
inside other buildings. And speaking of buildings...there are
some big ones which attract the attention of our space visitor.
They have huge lots of asphalt outside their doors and the humans
come in huge numbers in their vechicles, disappearing into the
buildings and coming out with metal baskets attached to 4 small
wheels. The baskets are loaded with things. In fact, after watching
the activities of Anytown, our space visitor concludes that life
on earth has something to do with acquiring "things".
Is that what your life and my life is really all about? On the
surface it would certainly appear to be so. And indeed, there
are some things which we must have to stay alive such as clean
drinking water and healthy food. In today's world even a vechicle
is probably a necessity as is a roof over our heads. But are these
the things we live our lives for? Jesus said (Matthew 6.33) "Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these
"things" shall be added unto you." So you see,
none of these things we have surrounded ourselves with are bad
in themselves. But if we make acquiring things the top priority
in our lives instead of seeking the kingdom of God...we have indeed
missed God. Jesus also said (Matthew 6.19-21) "Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal: but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". Where
is your treasure?
January
2007
One
of the things I dislike about the way the world treats Christmas
is that on midnight December 25th it's supposed to be all over.
We are expected to revert back to the way we were before Christmas
season even started. My point is that Christmas really should
be a longer season, certainly not over by January. In fact Christmas
should be in our hearts as Christians year round. In Matthew's
Christmas story, the angel of The Lord told Joseph that one of
the names of Jesus would be Emmanuel which means "God with
us". Wonder of wonders! He lives in our hearts! Why did Jesus
come to earth? The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that
"God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days
spoken unto us by His son". So Jesus lives in our hearts
and He speaks to us, not just at Christmas but 365 days a year.
Pretty good reason, don't you think, to open your heart, ask Him
to come in, save you from your sins and start speaking to you?
Then, Christmas won't be over for you at midnight, December 25th.
You will continue to follow His star throughout eternity.