We have free will. We can make choices in our lives. As much as we would like to blame other people for our bad choices, we really can’t. Today we celebrate Jesus making a choices to help us. This is the day before His death. Jesus had to make a choice of living or dying. He assembled His disciple for the Passover meal. They broke bread and drank wine together. They also ate a meal. All the disciples were happy and full when Jesus asked them to come with Him to the Garden of Gethsemane. This is where Jesus had to make a choice. Whether He was going to die for our sins or not. He told them to wait while He went a little further to pray for guidance. Jesus prayed hard because He didn’t want to die, but He knew that God’s will was more important than His. He went back to the disciples and they had fallen asleep. Jesus woke them up and asked them to pray with Him about this most important decision. Again Jesus went by Himself to pray about this decision. The bible said Jesus sweat blood over this decision. But He knew that God’s will was more important than His. He went back to the disciples and they had fallen asleep again. He woke them up and asked them to pray some more. Jesus went back to pray for a 3rd time to ask God not to die. But Jesus knew that God’s will was more important than His. So Jesus made a choice. There in the Garden of Gethsemane He chose to die on the cross for our sins. It was not long after that the chief priest’s guards came to take Him to the trial for His life. Making a choice sometimes isn’t as easy as it seems. When choosing the right way, you sometimes have to think about what you are doing and then choose. Because making a choice can sometimes be the hardest thing you ever do.
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Monthly Archives: April 2018
Passion
Our lives are filled with many emotions. We are taught as we grow up that we need to control our emotions. We have all seen what unbridled emotions can do. In Orlando is a perfect example of it and road rage and many, many others. But this doesn’t mean that our emotions are bad. They just need to be controlled. Emotions are a part of life and truthfully if we didn’t have them life would be empty. Do you remember when you were young and you discovered something. And you became passionate about it. You were so excited you couldn’t contain yourself. Your excitement became contagious. People were seeing what you saw. This is passion. In my life I have seen many things and some I wish I had never seen. But when I saw God for the first time and felt His hand on me, I became passionate. There was nothing else in this world that could match God Himself. I wanted to do nothing else but to tell people about God and His grace. Not everyone accepted what I had to say. But those who did, their lives turned around. And they became passionate. It is unfortunate that people want what they want and aren’t willing to hear. It has been 35 years since I met God and accepted His promise. And I am still as passionate as I was in the beginning. I wouldn’t want to live any other way. God is waiting for you. All you have to do is ask.
The Unknown
One of the scariest things in my life was the unknown. When I graduated from High School I began to realize that I was leaving the comfort of home and going into the unknown. I had a frown on my face. As I passed my mother on the way out, she said put a smile on your face. It was hard to smile because I was afraid. If there is one thing that I have learned on my journey through life is that everything changes. It changes every day and every minute of that day. It kind of genders insecurity. You have to learn who you are and like yourself. Sometimes people take the wrong road and get struck in life that is destroying them. I have found that anyone who believes that they know everything and which way to go are fools. Don’t follow them because they will destroy themselves and anyone who will follow. I have only found one person who knew which way to go and was willing to lead me there. His name is Jesus. You see I was one of those people who lead people astray. I know from personal experience that it was the wrong way. It was by the grace of God that I came back from hell and have survived my stupidity. I can’t say that my journey was always successful. There were many valley experiences. I had to go through the valley of death so I would be able to see the life that God has for me. I didn’t like going through the valley, but it was for my good. Even when one of my sons was dying, I knew that God would lead me through. I put my trust and faith into His hands, and my son was healed in 4 days. I have had prays answered immediately. Then the longest time for a pray to be answered was 22 years. In all that time I had to walk through the unknown with only trust and faith in my heavenly Father. What God did for me, He will do for you. All you have to do is ask and He will answer.
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Did You Do the Right thing?
Before a soldier goes into battle, he is trained to do whatever it takes to win the battle. Roman soldiers were trained for 5 years before they ever enter a battle. They were trained to defend 6 feet of ground with their lives. This is one reason why the Roman army was so effective. Most of us aren’t soldiers but we are trained to accomplish our goals. The training is to be able to accomplish our goals and to bolster our resolve. No matter what the objective is our training will kick in. And according to our training is how effective we are. Before any Roman citizen enter the army, they had to make a choice about entering into that level of commitment. To them it was an honor as a Roman citizen to serve in the military. This is why they conquered the known world. It is the same with us in any profession. We make decisions based on our knowledge and training in that particular field. We go into our chosen profession with gladness and open heart. We go into our arena with the hope that we don’t have to inflict damage on anyone. Or that the damage is minimal. Or that we will come out of the arena unscathed. Sometimes it is necessary and sometimes it is just collateral damage. But we always questioned did we do the right thing? We are moral beings. No one starts out to crush everyone else. And when it does happen there is always self-recrimination. I know I have pulled some bone head stunts. And I have hurt people I didn’t want to. One was a life changing stunt. I have only found one place where I can go to ask for help to change my mini disasters. That person is God Himself. He alone has the power to reverse my mistakes. And I know that He has done so for me. That is one of the reasons why I trust God with my life. And why I will continually serve Him with my whole heart. Praise be to God.
Death and Life
Death and Life are the opposite sides of the same coin. One places us here in this world and the other in the next world. You can’t have life without death. They come hand in hand. Yet they are both monumental in every aspect of our lives. And both scare the hell out of people. People are afraid to live like God wants them to live. Then death puts fear into every person. Death is one scary being. But on the other hand God made death. So tell me who is more powerful? Death has to go to God to ask permission to do anything. Every created being owes their existence to God. And at any time God can require the life of any being. Yet man has tried to prove that they are god and are all powerful. If it won’t so pathetic, I laugh my head off. And this isn’t a new development. This has been going on since the beginning of time. Do you know what the Tower of Babel was built for? The king of Babel wanted to shoot an arrow at God to say that they didn’t need God. At that time everyone spoke the same language. Then God scrambled everyone’s language and each group left Babel a deserted city. God intervenes in the affairs of man. Thank God for that. One of His such interventions was Solomon. He was the youngest son of King David and he became king over his brothers. God gave Solomon the wisdom of the ages. Wisdom far beyond any man. Then God gave Solomon great wealth and God gave him control over the known world. He is the only man ever to do that. In the wisdom of God, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. Most of it was written in one day. Solomon said this in Proverbs 18:20 “A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” O death where is thy sting and grave where is thy victory.
Every Thing Changed Today
I woke up today and found that everything has changed in the world. The mass shootings in Orlando, Florida had occurred while I slept. Over 100 people had been shot. 50 are dead and they say the 54 in the hospital are in critical condition. They are expecting more to die. Between 1935 and 1945, Nazi Germany killed over 50 million people and over 80 million Germans died. The whole world became incised and fought a world war. Today if this story last a week in the news, it will be surprising. What has happened? Why don’t people rise up against this? How many disasters has this country gone through since 2000? There are natural and man-made disasters. And they are growing in intensity. Right after Hurricane Katrina, a few brave pastors began to say it was the hand of God. Almost the entire religious community came against them, saying that this wasn’t true. I will tell you a truth. It was the hand of God in all the disasters. And you wonder why they are happening? I don’t wonder I know why they are happening. Right after 9/11, the churches in this country were filled looking for an answer. It lasted for about 3 months until the US Government became their savior. Everyone thought that their problems could be solved with guns and bullets. That is what the terrorists believe. In the past 10 years, people have been leaving the church because they didn’t find the answer to their questions. If anybody should have the answer, it is the church of Jesus Christ, the people of God. Why isn’t it so? It is time for the people of God to repent of their sins and ask God to renew and restore them. Because this is the only answer that has lasting results.
My Journey from Here to There
How far back can you remember? Can you remember when you were 5 years old? I can remember kindergarten. I was 4 years old. I can still see my teachers in the first few grades. My journey actually begin the day I was born. I can’t remember anything that far back, but it started then. As I grew older, I have a picture of wanting to be a fireman or police. I followed my older brother and cousins into football. But after getting run over several times, football wasn’t for me. I was too small for sports, so I worked at odd jobs. When I reached high school, I had a paper route. I kept it for all through high school. I had a beautiful singing voice and used it all through school. As I turned 13 years old, my voice went from soprano to baritone. But it still does work. I catch myself singing songs out loud. People look but I don’t care. A young friend just graduated from high school. I told her about my graduation. After the principle handed out the diplomas. We began walking down off the platform. I had a frown on my face. My mother tried to get me to smile. But it had hit me that my life was changing. It would no longer be the same. And that journey frightened me. I wanted to go to college. I thought I was all grown up. I stayed busy in college. If fact too busy. I made mistakes and it cost me plenty. But I was on that journey and I was going to finish it. This is where the part of my journey cost me plenty turned into pain and bitterness. In all of my journey there was and still is an unseen hand directing my life. Have you ever had your name called at a great distance? You can hear your name but not know where it is coming from. I am glad God kept calling my name until I answered the call.
Recognition Skills
When I was in college, I joined the US Air Force ROTC. The first 2 years are like basic training that everyone receives in the military. Then in your Junior and Senior years, you go to Officer Candidate School. Before you can move on to OCS, you have to pass the written exam. It is a standard military test. But in the Air Force you have to be able to recognize planes in the air. The test showed planes at different angles. You were to tell whether or not they were coming or going. This part of the test I failed because of my depth perception and I had some night blindness. This eliminated me from the Officer corps. I later on enlisted in the Air Force and serve 6 years. My friend went on to become a jet pilot. He served in Vietnam and was a decorated veteran. I still have problems with depth perception. What is funny is that I wear glasses. I am farsighted. I can see for miles down the road, but can’t read a book at 2 feet. When I am driving I can spot a police car before their radar sees me. My sons were always amazed at that. I can read signs that are over 1 mile away. It is funny how my eyes work. Yet for years I couldn’t see the signs of the time that were in front of my face. All I could see was the pain in my heart. It clouded my life to the point that it blocked out the world. But more importantly it blocked out God’s attempt to rescue me from myself. God never stopped trying to reach me. Until finally He got through to me. It took almost 30 years to do so. But I am thankful that God never stopped trying. I know that if I had not responded to God, I would be dead today. Take a step back and look at what is around you. And you will be surprised at what you see. Because God has already been there. Stop and recognize your redeemer for who He is.
My Defence is
I used to defend myself with a wicked tongue. I could slice a people in two with my tongue. Most people wouldn’t recognize me before I met God and wouldn’t want to be around me. I had a bitter and angry heart that would spill out of my mouth. It was almost as if I was crazy. I know I hurt many people that I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t stop it. I felt that I had to defend myself. I thought that most people were out to hurt me. I wasn’t alone either. I have run across people who were just like me. If it had not been for God’s grace, I don’t think I would be alive today. It was a death spiral. All I ever wanted was someone to accept me for me, warts and all. I was introduced to a man who accepted me. He made no pretense that I had to change before being accepted. I recognized Him almost immediately. Of course, this man is Jesus. He had known me from birth. He also had been talking to me all along. His love for me became apparent. That is what drew me to Him. Once, I had accepted Him, all the hurt, bitterness and angry seem to fall away. As I walked with Him, peace gripped my heart, where hurt was before. The funny part about it all was that I didn’t have to defended myself anymore. I didn’t have to worry about what the world had to say about me. It didn’t make any difference. There is the real reason why, because, My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. And all you have to do is to turn around, face God and ask Him to forgive you.
Finding Out
I agreed to go to my business associate’s church. We arrived about 10 o’clock, one Sunday morning in September. There were about 500 people in this church. Everyone seemed friendly. I shook hands with several members before the services started. It was wall to wall people. I don’t think they could have put any more people in this church. The service began. Everyone began to sing songs led by a group on the stage. I started looking around at all the people. It was interesting that everyone was paying attention as the songs were sung. I have heard people sing songs in my church. But I never saw so much intensity or I should say sincerity. No one was interested in what the person next to them thought. They were singing to God and to Him alone. When the singing stopped, everyone sat down in silence. The preacher came up to the podium and made some announcements. Then he began to preach. I watch the people as he preached. I wanted to see if it was’t real. I wasn’t going to commit myself to anything that was real. I was so tired of fake messiahs. They had drained the life out of me long enough. As I watched the people, the preacher stop in the middle of his sermon and said, hello. I used this expression and never heard anyone else use this term. I turned toward the preacher and heard out loud, what more do you what. I looked around to see who was talking to me. And no one was even looking at me. From that point on, I know that my prayers were answered. I had found what was real. I also found the peace of knowing that I had been looking for all of my life. My friend asked if I wanted to go up to meet the preacher after the service. I said yes and my world change forever.
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