Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. There is no accounting for taste. One man’s trash is another’s treasure. Not everybody sees beauty the same way. But there is a beauty that everyone recognizes instantly. I talked about an older woman that is a customer. She wears glasses, she’s skinny and has buck teeth. However there is something beautiful about this woman. She always has a smile on her face from ear to ear. She is always pleasant to speak to and genuinely is excited about today. I wish I had that attitude all the time. We are always attracted by this beauty. It seems that not everyone has it. But you know everyone can get it. The beauty I am talking about is in the soul of a person not on the exterior. How do we get this beauty for ourselves? It’s funny that this beauty is offered to us free of charge. All we have to do is accepted. You see the beauty that I am talking about is the beauty of God. When people saw Jesus they said he was the most handsome man they ever saw. The word is comely. The beauty they were attracted to was the beauty of God. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Gal.5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

What season is it? I watch TV and the weather has gone crazy. It is May and people are still shoveling snow. The weather in western part of the country is worse, hail and tornadoes. The record rainfall is unbelievable. There isn’t one part of the country that is not affected by the weather. No one can change it or stop it. There was a hurricane on the eastern seaboard, a month before hurricane season. We all know that there is only one person who can stop all of this. That is God Himself. There are stories throughout history where people have fought against God. None were ever, ever successful. The tower of Babel comes to mind. The people were in one accord and spoke one language. They were going to prove they were more powerful than God. The king was building a tower to shoot an arrow at God to prove he didn’t need Him. God scrambled their language after scattered them across the earth. They showed God alright. There is only one person who can help in the season of need and that is God Himself.

Who is in charge of your life? There is a saying that a man who represents himself in court has a fool for a lawyer. It is a true statement. Everybody would like to believe that they are the captain of their soul. The master of the own destiny. As you get older you understand that this is not necessarily true. So many people who do it their way crash and burn. We are in charge of which way we can go. But the consequences are sometime horrendous. We are social beings and our lives are not hidden under a rock. Sometimes I wish they were. God made us dependent for a very special reason. He wanted us to depend on Him. God knew that when we did things on our own, it wouldn’t work the way they are supposed to. Murray’s law was formulated for man by man. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong. God said, you first must believe that He is and a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. So seek God and you will find Him, ask and it shall be given and knock and it will open to you.

One of the hardest things in my life was and is owning up to my mistakes. I like to think that I am a reasonable and bright man. But it isn’t always the case. I make mistakes like everyone else. I have made some I will never talk about. God only knows what they are. This makes me a human being. I am not perfect. This makes me nervous just talking about it. But I had to see my flaws before I could go anywhere with God. It isn’t fun. It is a pain in the rear. God accepts us just as we are. Afterwards, He begins to work of us to change. When His light shines on our lives, it reveals what is there. I had things tucked away so no one could see it, including me. As God shined His light on my heart, things became visible. And I cried a lot. This is what I was supposed to do. God only worked on one thing at time. So I wouldn’t be over powered by the process. What is happening is am being turned into the image and likeness of God. A process of which is not over. Until I stand before God in heaven, the process will continue in my life. Thank God.

I was watching a movie, Sargent York, a true story. It was about a young man who lived in the hills in Tennessee. He was a hell-raiser. Until one day he almost died and he knew that God had spared him. He gave his heart to the Lord and served God as best he could. World War 1 happened and he knew he didn’t want to kill another human being. He became a consciences objector, but served in the US Army. During a battle, thousands of soldiers were being killed. Sgt. York set out to get to the top of the ridge to stop the machine guns killing the US soldiers. He risked everything to stop the killing. He killed 23 German soldiers and the rest surrendered. He captured 132 German soldiers. York was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was the most decorated soldier of WWI. When it was all over he said that he was as much against killing as he was in the beginning. The bible says, no greater love has any man than to lay down his life for another.

I went to supper at a local restaurant. When I was checking out, there was a young mother with her seven year old son ahead of me. They checked out, picked up their food and headed to the door. I finished checking out and headed to the same door. The young boy opened the door for his mother. He saw me walking right behind them and held the door for me. There were two doors to exit and he held the door for me again. I thanked him and he replied. I know his mother taught him manners. But she taught him something even more than that. She taught him to be gracious. Most people think of being gracious as something from the Old South that has died off. People flock to south Louisiana because of the friendliness of the French people. Hospitality was practiced in the Old South. But it is still practiced today. Seeing the need in another person’s life and doing something about is hospitality. It is a form of graciousness. I hold doors open for anyone. It doesn’t make a difference who they are. If there is a need, then it needs to done. The bible put it very plainly, Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

What can a single person do in the face of the world? You would be surprised how much can happen. Let me tell you a story of a small church in North Carolina. If this church had twenty people in the church, they were doing well. But the people in the church were believing that God was going to do something mighty. They had invited an evangelist to preach at their church. The deacon of the church had members of the church to pray with him each night for revival. They trusted God to move in their congregation. This story happened almost one hundred years ago. The evangelist came and preached. There were about five people saved in this revival. Some people would say it was a waste of time. But the deacon knew that God had moved and answered their prayer. Because that night Billy Graham was saved. That little church in North Carolina has part of the reward from God for the saving of millions of souls. What are you believing God for? Do you think it is worth the time to ask God to do something? God says test Him and see what He will do for you.

http://www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

I look around at the world and see disasters almost everywhere. The storms that occur almost every week are amazing. The flooding, tornadoes, fires, disease, drought, explosions, ice or snow has hit almost every part of this country consistently. The economy is another disaster. No one seems to be able to agree on most anything. What does this look like to you? Does it remind you of something? I hope it does, but I am not encouraged the people even understand what is happening. When 9/11 happened the United States came to a grinding halt. People realized that they were vulnerable. Our country switched from a peace time to a war time mode. The churches in America were filled to the brim for about three months. Until the US govt. became the savior. 9/11 was the opening shot fired across the bow. The disaster was meant to show us we needed God back in our life. I will never say that God doesn’t have a people who are faithful to him. But I wish there were more people in the kingdom.
1 Cor.6: 20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Everybody has a cell phone. Most people use it like a second ear. I have seen more people drive with a cell phone struck to their ear. I always wonder what people have to talk about. If that cell phone gets disconnected they pitch a fit. It is a convenience for most people. Lately I have seen and felt a disconnect between people. People are talking to each other but not communicating. I tease my wife because she likes to speak in French. For every English word spoken, there are ten French words spoken. My wife likes to talk. Computers take so much time just to browse. Video games take hours of time to play. We have so much time in our lives. There isn’t any more time to have. Once the time goes by it is over. It will never come again. What is important to you? What do you hold more precious than anything else? What do you want out of life? I left a good job so I would have more time with my children. I did it because they were more important than the job. The bible says where your treasure is there will be your heart.

Crain Blanchard

Crainb52@juno.com

http://www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Balaam was a prophet of God, just like Moses, Isaiah and Ezekiel. He had to same rights and privileges as all the men of God. Now he lived in Moab before the children of Israel came through on their way to the Promised Land. He wanted money because he was a poor man. All of his needs were met by God, but he wanted wealth. When the children of Israel were walking through Moab, they asked permission to cross over their land. The leaders of Moab didn’t want them to just in case they would suffer calamity. They conceived a brilliant plan. They told Balaam to go curse the Israelites and that would stop them. They promised Balaam a lot of money. God told him no. But the Moabites offered him double the money. Balaam saddled his donkey and off he went. The donkey fell down and Balaam beat the donkey to get up. Then the donkey spoke to Balaam and said, I am trying to save your life. Look at the Angel with the sword ready to kill you. Balaam knew he had sinned. Why did God put this story in the bible? It is very simple, the love of money is the root of all evil.