Before I walked with the Lord, I was not a compassionate person. I believed if you caused it you payed the price. It’s a hard way of looking at things. It also doesn’t generate any love for any one. God began to show me people and their problems. I began to see their needs. I began to have compassion for people. God is moved by compassion. He sees a person in trouble, whether they caused it or not and does something about. People think that they will get out of the consequences of their actions, if God forgives them. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. When we do something it creates consequences that may last forever. I pray fervently that I don’t cause others to suffer my consequences. God is forgiving and will forgive sin if we confess it to Him. Because of God’s compassion for man, He has moved heaven and earth for us. When Jesus first began preaching in Israel, one of the things He did was healing people. People would come from miles away to ask Jesus to heal them. One day He was at Peter’s house and there hundreds of people trying to see Him. 4 men carrying a litter with a man who had palsy. They couldn’t get into the house. So they went on the roof and torn a hole in it to get the man to Jesus. Jesus was moved by their faith and compassion for the man. At first He said your sins are forgiven, then because of the Pharisees there. He said arise take up your pallet and go home. And he did. It makes no difference who you are or what you have done. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened for you.
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Our actions put things into motion. We are action oriented people. We want to see things happen. Although sometimes it all goes sideways, we still want to get things done. Movie Star John Wayne’s famous saying is “Get er done”. Most of us have action figures to play with, the girls call them dolls. I played with the little green army men, also cowboys and Indians. It was always about moving forward. Trying to accomplish our goals. It hasn’t changed whether or not you are 10 or 65 years old. As I moved into God’s realm, I was always afraid of doing damage to another person through my actions. I would pray that God would correct any mistakes I made. He did just that. I am not perfect I am forgiven. As I move forward, I become skilled at the use of the Word of God. The things of God would work better in my life as I used them. But I was always concerned about that. As people would ask me questions about their lives, I shared with them God‘s word and how it would affect them. People would be amazed that it would work for them. Communicating with God was the key. I found out what God wanted for them and then prayed for it. God would make it happen and change their lives. We are talking about healing, finances, children and most anything that would affect their lives. The bible says faith without action is dead being alone.
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The bible says as a man believes so is he. To believe something you have to think about it first. I have just about stopped listening to TV commercials. The whole point is to change our minds and purchase their products. Most of the time we don’t even need it. Every person only has a few ways of collecting information. The first way is sight. The eyes are a gateway to ourselves. Everyone needs to guard what they see because it will change the way we think. When I was young, I use to watch horror movies. The ones I watched were grisly, but not demonic. Today it is no holds barred. Do you know why audio and visual are most effective? It incorporates the second way of imputing info, hearing. Did you know that the makers of the movie “The Exorcist” recorded the sound of killing pigs to make the soundtrack more gripping? What you hear is just as important as what you see. The third way is smell. When your mother fixes your favorite food, you know it. When you smell a dead cat, you know it. Our smell is directly related to our memories. The fourth way is touching. Do you remember the first time you touched a hot pot? And lastly tasting, do you remember the first time you ate candy? All of our senses created memories of information that we make judgements about everything. So as we think, we make judgements. As we make judgements we believe. As we believe so are we.

Crain Blanchard.
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I was at a friend’s house. This was when I first started walking with God. I was full of myself and thought I knew a lot. My friend went to get something to drink. She had a cat and it started rubbing itself against me. I like cats always have. As the cat was rubbing, I look at it and said, what a worthless piece of fur. God immediately responded and said, that cat has My life in it. I felt like a fool. I had ridiculed God. God made all of creation and put His life into all things. It was not to be taken lightly. Even though the cat doesn’t have a soul like us, it is important in God’s plan. How much more are we worth to God? In many books of the bible, God delineates what is to be done to a person who murders another person. If you don’t remember it is called an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life. God is very serious about preserving life on this earth. And if a life is to be taken, it is by His rules and His authority. God knew that man was corrupt and if not controlled he would go about killing other people. Sounds very familiar doesn’t it. The life of God is inside us all. We need to respect God and His rules in order that we may live a peaceable life on this earth.
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Words have meaning. When I was in college I took a course on words. It was an English class on the meanings of words. In the class we broke the words apart to find their origins. The American English language is composed of words from England, France, Germany, Russia, Poland, Italy, Greece, Israel, Africa, Middle East, China, Japan, Polynesia, Spain, Portugal and Native Americans. Our language is a mixture of all languages around the world as our country is. You know who invented the telegraph? The French in the 1850’s because Napoleon III wanted to talk to his troops in Turkey fighting the Crimean War. Today there are so many ways to talk to someone around the world. The capabilities grow every year. There seems to be no stopping it. It is the Age of Information. Words by themselves have no real power. But when they are spoken they come alive. So why is that? It is because we give words power. People sometimes don’t even understand how much power we give words. As the bible says life and death are in the power of the tongue. I have seen it. People say I can’t do it and they can’t. Or they says I wish I would die and they do. The spoken word has changed the entire universe. But it isn’t a broad sword to use on your enemies. You should think before you speak. And when you speak you should mean what you say. God has always meant every word He spoke. As He has said in the bible, come unto me all you who are weary and I will give you rest.

Crain Blanchard.
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When I began reading the book of Revelations it became an eye opener for me. God wanted it to be the last book of the bible written. The books of the Old Testament were written to show doctrine and history. This history was so people could see how God was involved with and helped man. It also showed what man did when God tried to help him. God put in place a direction for man. How he could live a good life on this earth. Man didn’t have the power to live the life. So God set up a system for man to receive forgiveness of sin. The books of the New Testament were written to show doctrine and history. This history was so people could see how God was involved with and helped man. God put in place a direction for man. How he could live a good life on this earth. But this time, God gave the power back to man to be able to live a good life. The book of Revelations is about those people who chose not to use the power of God to live the life He has for us. It shows how all hell breaks loose on the earth. And just as the final seal is opened, the bible says that there was silence in heaven for a span of half an hour. There is never silence in heaven. The saints are always singing. People are talking to God. Children laughing and playing. I asked God what it was about. He said this was the last time that man had a chance to come back to Him. And He mourned.
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Is it time to sing a dirge? The world has changed. When man began with God, he had dominion over this earth. We could command the rain or a storm to stop. Things would grow at our command. Adam named all the animals, fish and birds. They would do what he said. Man would walk with God in the cool of the evening. Adam and Eve sinned against God and lost all rights and privileges to the earth. God cast them from the Garden of Eden. Man had to struggle for his existence. God said by the sweat of his brow shall he eat. Nothing grew except by man’s labor. But God didn’t give up on man. God offered a new covenant. Man accepted for a while but decided that the sewers were better. God kept coming back and trying to bring man back into the fold. There have been 5 covenants so far. The last one was the most important one yet. This is the covenant God made with the death and resurrection of Jesus. This was the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham. And it is the last covenant that God is going to make with man. The bible always says that there is a point that God will walk away. We have to go a very long way to reach that point. But I’ll tell you a truth there is a point of no return and it is reachable. Is it time to sing a dirge yet?
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John was the son of Zebedee the high priest. He was generally considered a prophet in Israel. John was born to Zebedee in his old age and his only son. When Zebedee performed his duties as high priest in the temple, God showed him that his son was the next prophet of Israel. Zebedee took from the temple the camel hair tallit and leather girdle of Elijah home with him. It had been stored at the altar of incense in the Holy of Holies. John was Jesus’ cousin. They knew each other because their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth were close. John grew up like any son of a high priest, he was sent to school. God had revealed to him who he was. So at the appropriate age John didn’t join the priesthood, he went into the wilderness. God taught him on the backside of the desert. John was reveled at the right time and season, Yom Kippur. Everyone was going to a river to be baptized for the remission of sins. John was there for a specific reason and he was not afraid to say what God wanted to say. When the religious leaders came out of Jerusalem to be baptized John spoke to them. He called them a brood of vipers fleeing from the wrath to come. John told them to repent first then be baptized. This endeared him to them so much so that they wanted to kill him. They did kill him later. But John was there to introduce, baptize, Jesus to His ministry. Do you know this man called Jesus? He is waiting to meet you. All you have to do is call out his name.
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When Jesus died on the cross there were many things that happened in and around Jerusalem. God had allowed the Hebrews some autonomy in their religious life. God wasn’t going to micromanage everything. When a big problem appeared He would step in and correct the situation. What He wanted was that man would choose Him over the world and follow. That didn’t always happen. Just read Kings and Chronicles in the Old Testament and you will see what man did with his independence. On the day that Jesus died there were earthquakes. A storm blew in large enough to chase people indoors. Something happened that would frighten people today. Graves broke open and the dead people came to life. Not only did they come to life, they began to walk around Jerusalem. How would you like it if your parents that had been dead showed up at your doorstep. The Roman soldiers, battle harden troops that had crucified Jesus on the cross, became afraid. Their leader a centurion said, truly this is the Son of God. Finally, God showed the Hebrew leaders that He was taking back control over the kingdom of God and their religious life by splitting the veil in the Holy of Holies in two. This vail was the door way into God’s presence and only the high priest could go in once a year. It was made of linen 4 inches thick. Now God said that everyone can enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus Christ.
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What do you believe is the truth? Are you willing to stand up for the truth? Do you have convictions that you will not compromise? Or do you believe in anything at all? Do you know the difference between morals and ethics? Morals are what you believe and trust in. You would not change your mind on the subject for any reason. Ethics change with the situation. They never last and aren’t worthy much. Ethical behavior is doing what is right in your eyes. Moral behavior is doing what is right because it is right not convenient. How many people do you know that are willing to stand up for you, even if it cost them their lives. I have searched for just a person all my life. That person is worthy of our loyalty and honor. It seems that people I know have fallen short of this cost. I only found one person on this earth that was worth so much. As the bible says in Romans 5:7-9 “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
There is only one person and His name is Jesus.
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