Having the ability to believe in someone or something. As I have been keeping track of current events, I have noticed a shift in attitudes toward people. There has been an attack on believability. People have been making a pretense of telling the truth. Then turning around and calling everyone a liar. One event comes to mind of Dan Rather and the CBS evening news. All you have to do is follow the presidential race and the media says Republicans bad and Democrats good. There is very little news coverage that is worth wasting my time listening to. But you have to remember that anyone isn’t all bad or all good. There is a happy medium in there, somewhere. I want to be an optimist about our future. But I can’t find anything that man is doing that is righteous. When Paul traveled the world teaching about Jesus, he always encountered people who agreed and disagreed. It seemed that the people that disagreed were more vocal than the others. That is why they stoned him, imprisoned him and chased him out of every major city. Because he really spoke the truth which most people don’t want to hear? It hasn’t changed much in 2000 years. Man is still the same. He would rather believe a lie than have to deal with the truth. Believing takes faith and hope. If those parts are not there, there isn’t much believing going on. It takes faith that what is being said is true and will help you. The hope is wanting to change and be different or better than before. God says that if you want a person to change, you have to tell him the truth. Because with the truth, God can deal with the person.
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A definition of the word faithfulness is strict or thorough in the performance of duty;
true to one’s word, promises, vows, steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant; reliable, trusted, or believed; adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate; full of faith; believing. Every morning when my alarm rings there is a presence in my bedroom. After I silence the alarm, I hear this quiet little meow. Then I feel this nudge to my hand as my beautiful calico cat greets me in the morning. She waits until the alarm goes off before she does anything. She may sit on the bed for a while until the alarm goes off. That is her signal that I am awake and getting out of bed. And she will not approach me until that alarm goes off. She is faithful in her duty toward me. She is constant and true to herself. She will perform her duty to me every day no matter what. This is a true definition of faithfulness. If only people were so faithfulness. Unforntunately people are more faithless than faithful. It is about themselves not others. Selfishness is the order of the day. Of course it leads to nothing because selfishness is empty and has nothing. We were put on this earth to serve a cause. It isn’t all the causes that people get themselves into. The cause that we are tasked with is service to God and being faithful to Him. All those wonderful passions that we have are meant to work in God’s behalf. The dedication to being consistent in God’s plan for our life. Faithfulness is a wonderful human attribute if it is used in the correct way. That way is God’s way. Mt 25:23 “His lord said unto him, Well done, 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.” Are you faithful in the few things?
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I must admit that I was drawn to God because I was so powerless. I didn’t have any power to do anything. People are drawn to power like moths to a flame. Because in and of ourselves we are powerless to do anything. Some people join gangs, some join the army and some go into politics to receive power. People don’t want to admit that we can’t do anything on our own. And I am not talking about eating, dressing, driving a car or going to school. I talking about making a difference in this world. Being able to help or control our situations with people and things. There is a limit to what we can do. God gave us this limit. Can you imagine what the world would be like if Hitler had conquered the world? Genocide isn’t something new to the 20th century. People have been killing off other people for their goods, resources or lands since time began. The old adage is true, absolute power corrupts absolutely. No one can rule the world without becoming a homicidal maniac. History is replete with people who have tried to rule the world. All they had to do is kill off everybody who disagreed with them. That is why the real power resides with God. God doesn’t give His power to anyone but His own children. And then He is selective on who can have it. As it says in the bible, Joh 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” Again, God says in the bible, Ac 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” So as God says His power is for His children.
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I love to cook. I started when I was a teenager. My dad only like meat and potatoes. It was boring and bland. Back then there wasn’t many cooking shows to watch. The food network had not started yet. So the pickings were slim. But there was a doctor from England that was a gourmet cook. The only problem with the show was that he was an alcoholic. Everything he cooked had wine in it, as well as himself. He was a good cook and I learned a lot from him. I started cooking at home. My mom was a school teacher and didn’t have time to really cook for us 4 boys. She was thankful that I helped out in the house. My dad at first would complain about the food if he found out that I cooked. Soon we just didn’t tell him. He loved the food. I learned how to make all kinds of things. My wife loves it when she found out I could cook. Unfortunately her mother never taught her anything about the kitchen. She couldn’t boil water. After many years of marriage and children, her skills haven’t gone far beyond that. I got into baking. I love baking cookies and pies, also cheesecakes. I have a killer orange oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip cookie. I make a vichyssoise, to die for. I have forgotten more recipes than I remember. My sons have grown up and I hardly cook any more. One of the things that I had thought about seriously was a restaurant. But I was already married. My life has had many twist and turns. Some of the turns were good and some well thank God I had a chance to correct my mistakes. I have always wanted my life to be worth something. I tried very hard to make my way in this world. But I never really wanted to be part of this world. My heart doesn’t belong here. I gave my heart to the Lord and am seated together with Him in heavenly places. And this is where I want to go. So I am writing to let you know that you can make into the same heavenly places. All you have to do is ask God to go.
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Contentment is being satisfied with who you are and what you have. In today’s world this seems like a tall order. Everybody is pushing to get the latest craze. If it isn’t a new phone, it is a new watch, phone, and a computer put together. Then there is the new car syndrome. If your car isn’t 6 months old or less, you haven’t succeeded. Let us not forget clothes. If you don’t have the latest clothes, you just can’t go out of you house. And if your house is not up to date, Lord have mercy on my soul. There seems to be a driving need to acquire things. We must acquire bigger things or better things or our life isn’t worth living. That idea is a total lie straight out of the pits of hell. It is an idea to make you discontented with your life and everyone and thing in it too. Do you remember when one toy at Christmas was a real blessing? Or do you remember going to get an ice cream cone with your family? I can remember going with my family to get a cold mug of root beer. It was so much fun and I was with my family. Your life is what you make it. If you don’t participate in it, it still goes on without you. That is even sadder than being greedy. Take back your life and be who you are supposed to be. Don’t let everybody else tell you what you are supposed to be. It is for your self-worth and inner peace that you need to do this. Don’t let the world dictate to you what is important to you. Stand up and be yourself. For as God has said that contentment and Godliness is great gain.
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All my life I have been interested in patchwork quilts. Some have been very simple while some are very complicated. It is taking some material that has been discarded and using it again to make something beautiful and practical. Today we don’t look at old cloth as something of value. But at one time woven fabric was priceless. There was very little of it and the cost was very prohibitive. So people would save old shirts, dresses or pants and reuse them. They would take this mismatched group of fabric and create a very practical and beautiful work of art. It was in the form of a quilt. Usually the quilt was something that the women in a family got together and made. It started as making a quilt for a wedding gift. It would take many man-hours of work to complete a quilt. Depending on the design of the quilt is depending on how long it took to make it. You couldn’t go to the store and buy a quilt. Many people just couldn’t afford to purchase it anyway. So this was a real gift to a couple just starting out. Today they are real works of art, even the ones from 100’s of years ago. And they are very valuable. I have always wanted to do this work. It takes time and patience to complete a quilt. It is the same with God. He takes the old discarded parts of our lives. He sews them back together in a way so that we look and feel like a work of art. Then we become something of beauty and very practical. Or I should say we become functional. Let God create in our lives that beautiful and practical patchwork quilt. Then people will admire and value your life. All you have to do is ask.
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It is French for left and right. The word droit not only means right, but correct, straight, careful, skillful, nimble, able and expect. The word gauche not only means left, but clumsy, awkward, ungainly, left-handed and sinister. That is an unusual meaning of a word. It really isn’t if you knew where the word came from. We use the words gauche and adroit in English as well as French. There are many words that are in both languages at the same time. America is called the melting pot of the world. There is many words from all over the world that are used in American English. But getting back to the two words, gauche and droit. Left and right are used everywhere. Our hands are left and right. Does that mean that our left hand is sinister? Or that our right hand is an expert? Or could we say that our left hand is ungainly or awkward? Or maybe is the right hand that is handsome? How can you tell which is which? Do they look different from the other? The words don’t mean that our hands have any ability one way or the other. They are just hands. But it does speak to which way our heart is going in. You have to go back to the original meaning of the words to understand what they mean. The words come from the bible and are referring to the two thieves that hung on the cross next to Jesus. The thief on the right asked Jesus to be with him when He entered His kingdom. Jesus said today you will be with Me in paradise. The thief on the left just cursed he way into eternity. The thief on the right became righteous and the thief on the left became sinister. Which are you? Will you ask God today and become righteous or will you curse your way into hell?
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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.
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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.
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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?
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