To receive a kind word from someone. When people actually speak to us about what we have done or said. This means more than most people think. Our lives are always out there. People look at things we do, even when we don’t see it. Sometimes we don’t want them to see what we are doing. But people are out there. Now they are with cellphones with cameras recording anything and everything. It is just nice to have someone appreciate what we do. Friday after work I was coming home and stopped to get supper from a favorite place. This young woman waited on me. She was efficient and friendly. She didn’t say an awful lot to me. She was working hard at getting it right. So I spoke to her and encourage her. Tears came down her face as I spoke to her. She appreciate someone acknowledging her hard work. My wife and I went to a wedding yesterday. It was a lovely service in a 200 year old church. Afterwards at the reception, I went to the priest and told him how much a appreciated his sermon. He spoke to the young couple’s heart and blessed me also. You never know when someone when someone will do something that will touch your life. When it happens, say something to the person who did it. Everybody is always ready to cuss and fuss at someone for stupid mistakes. Try encouraging someone and see what happens in their life. Being a blessing is what we are supposed to do here on earth. Take time to watch a sunrise or sunset. They are always beautiful and know the God is in heavens there encouraging us.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

How many of you have a brother? How many brothers are close to each other? How many of you have a friend that is as close to you as a brother? Family is family and they are blood kind. But that doesn’t mean that they are close to each other. I have known some families that wouldn’t talk to each other. I know some families that live next to each other all their lives. Mom and her two sisters were very close to each other. We would always have Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter at one of their houses. We continued this until unfortunately mom and her two sisters died. Now that we don’t get together, we miss the fellowship we had with each other. But that didn’t make us close to each other. I love my brothers and their families. But sometimes I just wanted to be alone. When I was a young man and looking for acceptance in my life, I didn’t find it in my family. My family still loves me, but their love is brotherly. It was never like God’s love, wholly committed. I was looking for a girlfriend that would love me wholly. But that didn’t happen. There were several reasons why. At one point in my life, I was totally unlovable. I was so angry and bitter that people steered clear of me. I wanted the peace of knowing that I could love someone with my whole heart and they would reciprocate that love. I searched for a long time, until a friend introduce me to the only person who would. His name is Jesus. He loved me when I was unlovable. And He had never stopped. As much as I have be a pain to Him, He has never stopped loving me. This is what I was looking for all my life. And I am not alone in this for Jesus loves everyone that same. All you have to do is call on His name.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Everyone has a purpose. There is no one that doesn’t have a purpose in this life. You may not have found what it is yet. But there is one for you. I learned long time ago that my cat has a purpose. I was full of myself one day and declared that my cat was just a ball of fluff. I was immediately corrected by God telling me that my cat has the life of God in it and has a purpose on this earth. I began to see my cat’s purpose. My cat serves her purpose to the ninth degree. She never stops. She will be who she is until she dies. Now that is dedicated. Her job in life is to bring comfort and consoling me. I have seen my cat sit by my dog who was shaken violently because of the lightning. She stay with my dog until Tootie had stopped shaking. She was performing her purpose in life. How many people do you know that are as selfless and dedicated to God and His work as my cat? It is easy to get lost in this world. To find yourself wanting what the world has. But it is an illusion. It will all disappear in the end. It is just temporary and has little value. What is more permanent? What can I put my hands on and hold on to? When we go on to the other side of life, heaven or hell to be specific, we can’t take anything but ourselves. So what can we have that is permanent? There are several things that you can have and take with you. Let me spell them out. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. These things are permanent in your life, if you accept them. So what is your purpose in life?
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

What does time look like? What shape does it come in? How can you define the shape of time? What are the expressions of time? Time can be compressed. Time can be expanded. Time has sand. Time had seeds. Time has space. Time has a yesterday. Time has a tomorrow. Time can’t stand still. Time has always been used to tell you where you are in the universe. Time waits for no man. Time is relentless. Time continues through forever or infinity. Time can be slowed down. Time can be sped up. Time has consistency. Time is the most important element in our lives. Then can you tell me why you waste most of your time on nothing. There is a limited amount of time given to each of us, no more or no less. Once it has been used it is gone. It vaporizes into the universe. Yet people consistently throw time away. It is more valuable than gold or silver. It is the only thing that will get us from here to there. And when you run out of time, you are gone forever. Again, I will ask you the same questions. Why do you waste the time you have been given? Make no mistake, you were given this time at your birth. You can’t change it or exchange it. You can throw it away. You can end your time on earth, but you only have so much and that is it. There are absolutes in this world and time is one of them. Man can’t do anything about it. The only thing that you can do is make sure you use your time wisely. Because as they say once you are gone, you are gone and your time has ended.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Anyone who has lived for any length of time has wished for a gentler and simple life. When we were kids, we were always wishing to be adults. Because we could do the things that adults do. We thought that be adult would give us freedom from our parent’s rules and regulations. That drive to freedom modeled our lives into the people we became. Never once thinking of the responsibility that our parents carried. We never saw that burden, because our parents never wanted to show that side of adulthood. So we were starry eyed and wishful about being our own boss. When I grow up I can do what I want. No one is going to tell me what to do. What people never said was that as you get older more responsibility must be carried. When we reached adulthood, we found out that there are more rules and regulations. It comes from everywhere. We begin to carry a larger load. Until one day the load buries us. That gentler and simple seems to evade us although we long for it. I felt that way and was disappointed with everything. I felt that everything was taken from me. Then I reached out to the only person who change anything in my life. I discovered that Jesus was the only person who loved me just because I was me. My parents loved me, my brothers loved me and family and friends loved me. But no one was willing to accept me for me. Jesus helped me to become the person that I was always meant to be. In the process I discovered the gentler and simple life that I always long for. It is there for anyone who is willing to accept that way of life. It is in Jesus’ name.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Over the past 400 years, there have been millions of people who landed on this shore. Why? Why have they risked everything that they have to come to this country? My family immigrated to this country. The only people who hadn’t immigrated are the Native Americans. Wave upon wave of people have come to these shores in search of something. There isn’t a country in this world that hasn’t had their people come to America. People didn’t care if they had money or not. They would work for the dream. There are so many people that came and died before they realized their dreams. Yet it hasn’t stopped anyone from coming. The people 400 year ago saw the same thing as the people today. There is hope for the future. It may be hard now but we will make it in America. In our city, there has been an influx of people from Central and South America. And in our city there has been a boom in lawn maintenance companies. Several years ago, there might have been 5 companies. Now if there isn’t 20 or 30 lawn maintenance companies. And they have equipment, expensive equipment. They have several trucks, multiple riding lawn mowers, gas powered blowers and trailers to put all this equipment on. They are finding a place where they belong and providing for themselves. With hope in their hearts, they are making a difference in their lives and their families. And the rippling effort is that they are effecting their community. Hope is where you start with God.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

If you stand in an open field and look with an unobstructed view, you can see about 13 or 14 miles. Christopher Columbus sat on the docks of Genoa and watched the ships sail in and out of the harbor. As he watched, he noticed that as they sailed out to sea, the ship would sink into the horizon. He discovered that the earth is round. Galileo took a crude telescope and watched the stars. He discovered that the earth revolves around the sun. Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree, probably eating lunch and saw an apple fall to the ground. He discovered gravity. The Montgophier brothers were playing with fire and paper bags. They discovered the hot air rises. How far can you see? Is your vision limited to what is in front of you? Or can you see in the distance? There 1000’s of people who have looked at something and said this will work. They saw that their prospective showed them an avenue to whatever. And of course there were people saying you’re crazy, that will never work. Columbus had to go to the King and Queen of Spain for support. Galileo was arrested by the Catholic Church and declared a heretic. Newton was opposed by the scientist of the day. They said that he was an occultist, in league with the devil. The Montgophier brothers were dismissed as spoiled rich kids when they developed the hot air balloon. How far can you see? What can you see? Do you wear blinders? Do you ever want to see anything different? There are people who don’t want to see anything. They are happy with the status quo. When the reporters asked Thomas Edison why it took so long to make the light bulb. He said I learn 2000 ways of how not to make a light bulb. But I took only I time to make it right. How far can you see? How far are you willing to go to see? Would you bet your life on it?
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Have you ever looked into the mirror and wondered who that person was? I have known people who have gotten lost because of this or that in their lives. It has happened to me. And we didn’t think anything of it. It was just another phase we were going through or we are trying to get somewhere. Unfortunately we weren’t getting anywhere fast. It isn’t hard to lose yourself in anything. And sometimes people can’t come back from there. If isn’t a fun or safe place to be, lost. Everything that you are is put aside to obtain a goal. Here is a sad statistic on Teen Moms, 50% never finish high school, and 25% have another baby within 24 months and only 2% graduate from college. These girls are truly lost. Yet society says it is ok to have sex before marriage. And you wonder why there are so many divorces. Then there is drug abuse. A growing national problem is up to about 10% of the population. The cost of this problem is about ½ of a trillion dollars a year. When does it become catastrophic? How long will people look the other way? Will you wait until it comes knocking on your door? Being lost is a solvable problem. It your involvement in the situation. When you become involved you can prevent things. And I will tell you prevention is the best effort that man can do to solve this kinds of problems. Now to solve them on an ongoing basis it takes Jesus’ intervention. The US government did a study to find out why Teen Challenge was so successful in drug intervention. They called the report the Jesus Factor. Because they could only find one reason why Teen Challenge worked and their programs didn’t. And that was Jesus.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

2 Thess. 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” Have you ever believed a lie? Someone told you something and you believed. When you found out it was a lie you wanted to beat that person into the ground. It hurts to be deceived. It hurts like hell. And that is a truth. There are so many delusions floating around out there, I don’t know where to begin. God said don’t fight heresy for heresies sake. You have to fight it with the truth. Because God says that the truth will set you free. I had a young Christian approach me when I worked at the Christian radio station. He was upset that we weren’t preaching hellfire and brimstone. I let him say his piece then I did something he didn’t expect. I thanked him for telling me and wished him Godspeed. We war not against flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness in high places. We can’t take what unbeliever’s say as the truth. Because they don’t see or even know the truth. I have been studying the truth for 37 years. The truth is the word of God, the bible. We need to study both Old and New Testament. Why? Because it isn’t 2 books. It is one book written by one person to help us live our life on earth and to make it into heaven. The bible is a book about one subject, Jesus. He is in every chapter of every book. And all you have to do is call upon His name.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com

Heartache is the pain of suffering lost. Do know what the interesting thing about that is heartache is a spiritual condition. But that registers in the physical world. It being that your physical heart hurts. Your mind, will and intellect are all spiritual. They as a collective existing in heaven as well as on earth. Your heart is tied to your physical body. God tied your spirit to your physical body by the breath of life or your soul. So what happens to your physical body happens to your spirit. Some societies believe that your spirit and body are separate and can’t interact. Guilt is a spiritual condition. Again it can physically affect your body in a dramatic way. Anger is another spiritual condition. It is clinically known that it causes cancer. Your body and spirit are tied together. God made it so that we as a human can understand that everything we do affects us. Why do you think that God instructed our parents to teach us the right way? It is for our health and well-being. God said it the truth shall set you free. Set us free from what? The fear of death has held us in bondage all of our lives. To set us free from bondage. Jesus descended into hell and took the keys of death and hell away from the devil. So that we could be free from it. It also says that Jesus led captivity captive. It means that Jesus led the saints in hades to freedom into the kingdom of heaven. So are you tired of heartache and misery? The only way to be free from it is to be set free by God. There is no other way. Many people try and never obtain anything worthwhile. Let Jesus led you into the kingdom of heaven.
http://www.joseph1637.com
joseph1637@juno.com