It is so easy as a child because our parents saw to it that we had what we needed. In the beginning we couldn’t do for ourselves if we had to. So our parents had seen about our needs. But as we got older more was required from us. We were required to pick our clothes or toys. But in each stage of our lives responsibility for of wellbeing was transferred to us. Until the day we were required to take care of ourselves. When I was walking out of my high school graduation ceremony, I had a frown on my face. My mother tried to get me to smile, but I realized everything had changed in my world. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. I was going to be responsible for myself and had to make decisions for my life. I had been on the receiving end of everything for a long time. Now I had to move into the giving end and I didn’t know how I would fare. Now I had to give of my time, energy and effort to make my way in life. No longer was life going to be easily given to me. So I charged right ahead. Lowered my head and press in to acquire what I needed in life. I didn’t make all the right decisions at first. I made some bad ones and paid for it too. I wanted to be different from my parents. The university I attended was 5 blocks from my home. I lived 2 blocks from my parent’s house. A mistake I still regret. I began to learn what giving and receiving is all about. If you want to receive you have to give first. I didn’t always want to do that. I wanted what I wanted. But I had to learn. I was responsible for myself. I became selfish to a fault. But I had my eyes and my heart opened the day I met God. He showed me that the only way to really receive was to give first. When we see about other people first, then I needs are met. This is how God setup the world to be able to work. My life and this world was always about giving and receiving.
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Last night was the full moon. As I was driving home I could see the man in the moon. It was close enough to the earth see features on the surface. Although the moon is 93,000,000 miles away from earth. The moon has a direct influence on earth. It directly effects the tides of the oceans and the weather. It’s funny how it affects us so far away. The atmospheric pressure builds until the full moon and then is released. It causes more things than the tides and weather. Crazy things happens during the full moon. More robberies happen, more killings happens, more strange behaviors happens around the full moon than not. More people fall in love during the full moon. It’s like the world goes crazy for one night. This is no excuse for anything, but it’s interesting. Each day is a new day for man. God gives us now to live in. He wants us to be aware of what is going on today. For us to be the people we are supposed to be. We can plan for the future, but we have to take care of now to get to the future. Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day. It was clear and cold not a cloud in the sky. And today promises to be just the same. But that is no excuse for not preparing and executing our plan for today. God gives us the tools to do our job each day. We are to take what we are given and use it the best result we can. That means studying and preparing for our future. It doesn’t matter what we do in life as long as it is honorable. Living up to who and what we are in this life. It is always up to us what we will become. So choice wisely what you do with your life. Go after it with passion and heart and you will succeed. Because remember that God gives us now to live and have our being. It is also called by another name. It is also called the present.
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Today more people talk about love than ever before. There are commercials and any kind of advertisement that proclaims love. I saw stories on national news about love. And the local newspapers spotlight the oldest married couples they can find. It is very prevalent in our society. I am afraid most people are not talking about the real love, but what they mean is sex. Several years ago I was the night manager in a big box store. I was talking to one employee about marriage, when I realized that the all the overnight workers had gather to me. I told them that having sex with a person and then leaving to go to another is a divorce. You see the marriage contract is not the ceremony or signing the paperwork. The marriage contract is the act of sex. Once a couple has participated they are married. And when they go on to someone else, they are divorced. There are consequences because of this. Most people don’t even want to hear about this. But this isn’t what I am talking about. I am talking about the commitment to another person with you heart and feelings. That bond is as strong as anything in this world. And even if the people have separated the bond is still there. It is a strange thing how our hearts never let go. They will hold on forever. But still that isn’t what I am talking about. The bond of love we have for one another can be so strong that we would be willing to do anything to protect the person. Even die for them. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that we should have eternal life. For no greater love has any man than that he would lay down his life for another. So the true test of love is if we are willing to sacrifice for another. So sacrifice is the sign of true love.
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I was at a wedding reception where the couple were renewing their vows after about 40 years of marriage. Their children all had children and many of them were babies. In turn each baby was finding their voice. They would screech or yelling to listen to the sound of it. As the child heard their voice, they would listen and then call again. They were acquiring their voice. And it fascinated them to hear the sounds that came out of their mouths. So much so that they made more sounds just to hear themselves. As in life they will continue to make sounds until they hear sounds that mimic their parents. And once they find their voice, they will not stop. They become a chatterbox. As they get older their voice is use to reach other children. And in turn the other children respond to those voices. Soon a lot of children playing together become a loud noise in which they understand each other. This is communication on its most basic level, but it is understood. When children first go to school, they have to reacquire their voice to be understood by others. So it is as that child moves through life into each stage of it, reacquiring their voice so that they can be understood by others. When I arrive at college, I took a speech class to be able to communicate with the other students. I felt that no one heard my voice or understood what I was saying. Out of 12,000 students I found one person who actually heard me and understood. Come to find out that everyone was in the predicament. They were trying to get people to understand what they were saying. They did it by doing outrageous things. And it still continues today. People want to be heard and understood. It is a normal response to everyday events. God is the one who put this in us to be able to express ourselves, not only to people but to God Himself. Express yourself to God and watch what happens. You will be surprised as He responds to you.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is as individual as we are. It has always been up to our perception of things. Yet there are things that are universally beautiful. For instances, a rose is a rose, is a rose, by any other name. The shape, the fragrance is unmistakable, a perfect symbol of love and beauty. And then who would call an aardvark beautiful, except for a few naturalists. Yet it is beautiful. Or what would you say to a jackass or a hairless Chihuahua? They are perfect in their own way. When God made people and things on the earth, He made them individual and beautiful. Even a wild rose in the middle of a trash pile is beautiful. So why can’t we see the beauty in people who are different? People or things that are different are usually shunned. If it is terrible different, we turn our backs to it and don’t even recognize it exists. I have said before that I like to open doors or smile at people. I look for the heart of a person, not the outward exterior. You would be surprised at the tenderness of people’s heart when you express yourself. I have had very few people not respond to my acts of kindness. God said we are like a fountain of water. As it pours out of us, how can sweet and sour water flow out of our hearts? Bitter water spoils the sweet water. Yet if you listen to people you can hear the bitter. That is why an act of kindness is always appreciated by most people. And even the hardest of hearts will crack with a kind word. So look for the beauty in this world and you will be surprised at what you will find. I wish for all of you a good day, especially if it is storming outside. For this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.
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What is the most ideal person, place or thing? Everybody has one. The most perfect person, place or thing they could acquire in their lifetime. I guess it all depends on what you dreamed of as a child. Child want to be so many things. They dream of being a hero as an adult. They hope that everything will turn out all right. Children play at being a fireman, policeman or doctor to act out their dreams. This is a process of chosen a goal in life. The field narrows down as the child get older. By the time they reach college age, the choice is 1 or 2 professions. If their life has been successful, there is a real possibility of becoming that ideal person. Not everyone reaches that goal in life, but they hope they can eventually. People will work for years until they can finally do what they wanted in first place. This ideal drives people on wanting and wishing that the dream of an ideal life will come true. Some people never make. They die before reaching that goal. Some people make that goal early in life. Not knowing how blessed they really are. I have had an ideal life. A dream that I have always wanted. I have pulled and pushed my life in so many directions just to get to the spot where I can have my ideal. I have reevaluated my ideal so many times just to be able to at least get some of it in this life. My life has turned out different than I expected. But I have attained my dream so many years ago because of one reason. That reason is God Himself. He is the only one who have brought me to that place. I am thankful that God has blessed me so. Now I will tell you my ideal or dream life. All my life I dreamed of being a teacher. It was the only thing I have ever wanted in life. And I thank God that He loves me and brought me here.
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Hindsight is always 20/20. We can see perfectly in the past. But it doesn’t always help us in the future. Well what about the future? If we could see into the future we would never make a mistake with our lives. Then we would be perfect, almost. Even if we were perfect we would find a way to screw it up. I’d bet on man any day to mess up anything that was given to them. The reason being is man isn’t perfect. He is flawed in almost everything. Why do you think there is so much disease and misfortune in this world? It is because man still controls it. Nobody seems to remember 50 years ago or 100 years ago. How many wars have been fought in the last 100 years? How many times has one race of people tried to destroy another in the past 100 years? Yet can you tell me, did they solve any problems of mankind except stopping the war. I am not trying to be pessimistic, but man is just a poor example of anything. It is political season and we are going to elect a president who is the least objectionable. We aren’t going to elect the right person for the right job. Even God flooded the earth to destroy man and started over with Noah and his family. Man is a pain, and will continue to be until Jesus returns. Don’t get your hopes up yet. After a 1000 years of Jesus reigning and ruling in Jerusalem where it will be perfect, there is going to be a rebellion at the end of time. That is why God said when your brother sins against you, forgive. Forgiveness is the only thing that will keep the peace in your heart and mind and world. God says if you can’t forgive, how can God forgive you. God’s way is perfect and far above man in every way.
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All the victories, defeats and heartaches are in the past. We only like to talk about our victories. This is to prove to yourself and others that we are special. That we are worth paying attention too. And we hid all the mistakes and tragedies with as much deceptiveness as we can muster. We fool ourselves to the point that we forget all the bad things of the past. There are good things that have happened in the past and we can make them part of our lives. But the rest is just dead weight. Baggage that we can’t carry if we want to live a productive life. I have seen people destroyed by that dead weight. In some cultures of the past, if a man killed another, they would tie the dead person to their backs. They would carry the dead person until they died. If a person is a human being, then they carry baggage. It scars your heart and mind and sometimes your body. If only we could just dump this baggage and go on with our life. I have struggled with this for a long time and wanted a better way. I didn’t have the power to change my life. But one day I met the person who had the power to change my life. He showed me how I could dump the baggage and live a good life. He began to change my heart, my thinking, and all the bad habits. He showed me I had hope for a future. Even though I had screwed up a lot. I could become a different person. But it was not by my power that I could this. It was only by the power of God could this happen. God said, when I forgive your sins, and not remember them anymore. They are cast into the sea of forgetfulness. And it is as far as East is from West. God will forgive us and cleanse our hearts and minds to the point that we don’t even remember our past.
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How many times have you destroyed your future and didn’t know what to do? Unfortunately, I can count them on both hands. You know what is funny about all that is that I did it each time on purpose. The first time I was 12 years old. I had an old tire and a long rope. I tied the rope to a tall tree and the bottom of the rope to the tire. I got a 6 foot ladder and climb up on it with the tire. I jumped onto the tire and it swung out to about 10 or 12 feet above the ground. When I reached the highest point of the arc, the rope broke. I landed flat on my back. The fall knocked me out for about 10 to 20 minutes. I had a concussion. I didn’t tell my parents for obvious reasons. It was serious enough to cause dyslexia. How it manifested itself was in my reading ability. In the 10th grade I had a 6th grade reading level. Fortunately for me, my mother was a special education teacher. She knew who to do. I caught up to my reading level and passed it. One of the first things I did was read. All through high school I had terrible grades, so my chances of getting into a good university were almost nil. I went to a local university and was doing pretty good. Until I joined a fraternity and it all went downhill from there. Opportunity after opportunity was presented to me and I threw it away until I was 28 years old. That was when I met Jesus. He showed me how I could be someone special. I had to follow after Him and trust that He had my best interest at heart. I have seen so many things that God has done for me and others. The miracles, the healings, and the salvations that God let me be part of. And all I had to do was trust and believe in Jesus. All you have to do is ask for help and God will answer.
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Growing up I was vulnerable because I believe in the good things in life. Those things were friendship, honesty, integrity and loyalty and love. As I began to grow and venture into the world, I found people who didn’t believe so. I was made fun of because I believe. It seemed to hurt more than I thought it would. By the time I got to college, I was a mean bastard. People didn’t want to be around me. I had been hurt so much I gave up on being vulnerable. No one was going to put me through that pain again. But I was alone. Loneliness is as hard and hurts as much as a beating. It can make people do strange things. I wouldn’t talk to people. That made me strange enough. Yet I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I had a girlfriend in college. She saw something in me and took a change. Unfortunately I wasn’t ready and she walked away. It seemed that no one wanted to have anything to do with me. Until these two businessmen saw something in me and asked me to join them in their business. I was 28 years old. They began to talk about Jesus to each other. They never directly preached at me. It took 3 months of listening before I was even willing to go to church. But when I did go, I met the one person who loved me for me, God Himself. God began to teach how that being vulnerable opens your heart. And when your heart is open you can see clearly. There will always be pain in this world. But if you open your heart you can see their pain. Then you can do something about their pain. Jesus said, I came to seek and to save that which was lost. And He also said, go ye into all the world and preaching the gospel to everyone.
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