Daily Devotionals

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It seems that these days so many people are disgruntled with their role in life. They wonder way they can't be on Oprah or the Tonight Show with Jay Leno like the "other fortunate and blessed ones." It seems Everybody wants to have a big purpose with a big title these days. And if they get paid big money for it, all the better. May the following true story keep us focussed on what the Bible says about purpose. Many years ago their was a elevator operator in Japan that despised her job because she was sick and tired of working with moody, angry, irritable and depressed people one day. While calling on God she asked for wisdom. God have her the following verse to look up in her Bible.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 which says: "Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

She took those words literally and the next day she had a very different attitude. She began to smile at people and be jovial toward them. Over the next 35 years she prayed with people, encouraged people and gave out wisdom to those who needed direction. She truly fell in love with her job and the people she interacted with on a daily basis. On the day of her funeral, thousands of people came to pay their respect to the women who made their day a little brighter through her warm smile and jovial deposition.

So many Christians are asking questions like: "God what is my purpose in life?" 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us that we are to :"Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

It is God's will and purpose for you to be joyful always, pray continually and to give thanks in all circumstances. When you do this consistently, life will be fun, full of purpose and meaning!

May God richly bless you as you purposefully become joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances!

Most of you life you have been called and referred to as a "human being", but this is not totally accurate. The bible says you are a spiritual being who is eternal and will never die. While it is true that your physical body will give out eventually, (usually before 100 years of age) you will receive another body one day when Jesus comes again. This new body will never be sick or diseased, it will never sin and never be in pain again. In other words, your new physical body will match your perfect spirit that is in Christ right now. So truth be told, you are really a spiritual being housed in a human body for now. One day you will be a spiritual being housed in a spiritual body that will never decay or wear out. Perhaps reminding yourself that you are a spiritual being who will never die and live forever in God's presence will put some pep in your step and make life a little easier to navigate through today and every day you have spiritual life inside your physical body. You spirit is now in union with God through Christ. God's Spirit - The Holy Spirit fills your physical body right now.

16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

9Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

35But someone may ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"[e]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we[f] bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."[g]
55"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"[h] 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

May God richly bless you as you realize you are a spiritual being right now living in a physical body.

Have you noticed that when you are grateful and thankful for life, life gives you more to be thankful and grateful about? Conversely have you noticed that when you grumble, complain and whine about life, life will give you more to grumble and whine about?

Here is an experiment I challenge you to do these next 30 days. Every day for the next 30 days be grateful for everything in your life; the good, the bad and the ugly. Thank God throughout the day regardless of what happens to you. Be thankful in good times and be thankful in bad times, that Gog is still God and changes not! After the 30 day challenge if you do not like the results you are getting, you can go back to complaining and grumbling (although the Bible says grumbling and complaining is not an option for a "Christ follower"). If however you like the results, you are welcome to thank God and praise God out of a grateful heart every day of your life for the rest of your life. The choice is yours to make.

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. 9Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

May God richly bless you as you discipline your heart and mouth to praise God more and grumble and complain less!

In the near future, we are going to be planting our gardens soon which takes a little preparation of coarse. First you have to toil the soil and take out any weeds or rocks. You may even need to throw down a few backs of fertilizer. After the garden is prepared, then comes to fun part of plating the seeds. Have you ever noticed that planting a garden is very intentional? You picked out certain seeds to be planted in very specific places in the garden. You make sure all the vine plants are together. The plants that need allot of room like pumpkins and watermelons are strategically placed apart from each other with inadequate room to grow. You may purchase cages for your tomatoes and poles for your beans so they can grow stronger and more abundantly. You do all this planning because you want your garden to yield a healthy and productive crop. We know that if you plant a good seed and nurture it the best you can, it ensures a good crop.

The same can be said of our minds, hearts and souls. We are planting seeds in the gardens of of minds/hearts every day. And from what I can tell most people plant every seed that comes their way into their minds which explains why their is so much "double mindedness" within the average American today. Most people have some good stuff growing in their minds along with some weeds and plants that take over the whole garden.

Wouldn't it be liberating if we chose our "seed thoughts" with the same care that we chose our "garden seed"? Every day you are gardening your mind/heart and soul. Are you intentional? Or does chaos and "weedy/ rocky thoughts" rule the garden of your mind.

26He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

May God richly bless you as you carefully chose the seeds you want to grow in the garden of your mind this Spring because in the Summer you will have to reap the harvest whether good or bad, pretty or ugly, delicious or sour.

When life gets tough most people whine, complain and react negatively to unfavorable circumstances thereby making them worse. But the Christian has another option. Throughout the pages of the Bible, we see people who spontaneously praised and thanked God even when their lives were threatened. Every time God rescued them from their trouble.

On a more practice level, a few weeks ago the Church roof was leaking again. It was a depressing and common sight. This time was the worse as an inch of water was floating on top of the carpet - a sight that sicked my stomach. On the way out the door I threw up my hands and asked a rhetorical question to open space" "what can I do about it?" I managed to almost get out the building before I hear the words in my inner hear: "You can clean it up".

So I put my satchel down, picked up the wetvac and began to extract water from the carpet. As I was extracting water, I saw more water pouring in. I had a choice to make and I knew it. I could get depressed and whine or I could praise God. After pondering my options for a minute, I made the choice to be jovial anyway. This led me to break out in spontaneous worship to God and declare things such as: "God this is your building and she is yours. You will provide for your church..the roof is fixed perfectly in you timing and in your way."

This went on for a long time as was stunned to look up at the clock almost two hours later. It seemed like 30 minutes at the most. I guess when you get lost in praising and thanking God that He is in control, time seems to stop. The mess was cleaned up and God worshiped.

But the story does not end there because a few days later one of the men in the church came across some roof product for free and placed it around the drains that were leaking like a chive. Recently we have has some very hard rains and still no leaking around the drains as before.

The point of the simple and true story is: Metaphorically speaking, when our "roof leaks" (whatever the actual problem may be) we get anxious, afraid, angry or depressed which often times makes the problem worse. Instead of running away from the problem or making it worse through overreaction, there is a better way. Ask God what you can do about the problem. It will probably include cleaning up the mess (whatever it may be).

Then, as you are doing your part to pro actively clean up the mess begin to praise and Thank God that he is in control. At the very least God will receive your praises as worship but in the process you may be delivered from discouragement and anger. It is impossible to be anger and discouraged when you are praising and thanking God. If you doubt what I say is true, then give it a shot the next time your "rood leaks".

Thirdly, it appears that God uses our praises to move mountains. Many people claim that their problems seem to lesson, improve or go away all together after they praise and thank God that He is in control. This is not a mystery and needs no explanation. Praising and thanking God when your back is up against the wall releases faith that God is the victor and we all know that faith in God moves mountains!

Acts 16: 22-40 says:

22The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." 32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

35When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: "Release those men." 36The jailer told Paul, "The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace."

37But Paul said to the officers: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out."

38The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

May God richly bless you as thank and praise God today especially when you are surrounded by a black cloud. Praise to God brings out the Sonshine! Yes I intentionally wrote Son - Shine. But sometimes it brings out the sunshine too! Give it a try the next time somebody or something rains are your parade.

Are you happy, sad or joyful today? A Person is happy when the external circumstances are favorable and go their way. A person is sad when the external circumstances are oppressive, negative and discouraging. But a person is joyful when they can fix their eyes and Jesus and see him inside the storm.

Happiness will come and go. Even sadness will come and go. But joy will never leave you or forsake because is one of the fruits of the Spirit. And since the Spirit will never leave or forsake you nor will joy. As a "Christ follower", joy is always in you just like Jesus is always in you. But to feel the joy that is already inside of you - you must think thoughts that coincide with the feelings of joy.To use scientific jargon: To experience the feelings of joy, you must first put yourself in a mental state of joy - you must be on the same frequency. The Bible says it this way: "Think on these things...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is praiseworthy, what is is Heavenly , whatever is excellent...think on these things." Philippians 4:4-8

Here is a prayer you can pray all day quietly to yourself as you go about your business: "Father I thank you that your Kingdom is perfect and jovial and that Kingdom is in me and I am in it right now."

If you think those thoughts and feel the meaning of those words, joy will come to you and flood you soul sooner than you ever imagined possible. Give is shot. The key is: BE CONSISTENT in stating Bible truths that give you hope throughout the day whenever you can. Over time you will be joyful..."FOR NO GOOD REASON". We know the reason...THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS IN YOU AND YOU ARE IN THE KINGDOM...THERE IS NO SEPARATION BETWEEN YOU AND GOD." Now that is a reason to be jovial!

May God richly bless you today as you tap into the joy that already reside is you by thinking the right thoughts!

I once read of a legal case that was settled in court in a most unusual way. A young lady of 18 years of age stepped up to the judge and at his bidding laid out several different traffic citations. After viewing the charges one by one, the judge had no choice but to lower his gavel - guilty as charged. Then he did something interesting. He disrobed, walked around the large bench, and put his arm around the girl. It was obvious to the on-lookers that something strange was happening.

finally after a brief word with her, the judge reached for his checkbook and paid her fine. You see - he was her father.

In the same way Jesus Christ, the One who will ultimately judge the living and the dead, came ad paid the price for the very sin we committed. the one who made the "rules" paid the penalty for the ones who would not keep them.

John 3:16 says: "God so loved the world that he gave his son so that he/she who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life."

May God richly bless you as you receive his Fatherly grace today and go free from condemnation.

The only person you can and should change is yourself. Everybody else is just fine the way they are. You however are the one who needs improvement. This is the attitude I have always sought to take as a "Christ Follower". Some days I do better at maintaining this high goal than other days. The point is, you are the key to changing your attitude. When faced with the need for improvement, too many people are like the man who walked into the psychiatrist's office. He had placed half a cantaloupe on his head for a hat. Around each ear he had wrapped a piece of bacon. the psychiatrist rubbed his hands in glee, "I've got a live one this time," he thought to himself. Then the man with the cantaloupe on his head and pieces of bacon wrapped around each ear sat down. "I've come," he said to the psychiatrist, "to talk to you about my brother."

Luke 6:37-42 says: 37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

39He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

41"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

May God richly bless you as you focus on changing you and no the people around you!

We have all heard of the phrase "self fulfilling prophecy". 15 years ago I read this story and it impacted my life. I read it again recently and it's truth still rings true.

A man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway advertising them. He stood on the side of the road and yelled "Buy a hot dog, mister/mam?" And people bought his hot dogs. He increased his meat and bun orders. He even bought a bigger stove so he could keep up with the demand.

He finally got his son to come home from college to help out. but then something happened. "Father, haven't you been listening to the radio?" his son said. "Haven't you been reading the newspaper?" There's a big recession on and people are broke. The European situation is terrible. The domestic situation is worse."

Whereupon the father thought, "Well, my son's been to college, he reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know."

so the father cut down his meat and bun orders, took down his signs and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs. So his sells fell overnight.

"You're right, son," the father said to the boy. "We certainly are in the middle of a big recession."

Have you let others talk some sense into you, to only find out later is was nonsense and you should not have listened to the negative report?

When the Apollo 13 crew uttered those famous words back in 1970, "Houston, we have a problem". Gene Kranz who was the mission control commander that day told his team of engineers: "Failure is not an option...now let start thinking about solutions, instead of just dwelling on the problem."

May God richly bless you as you think on What God can do through you and your situation instead of just dwelling on what is wrong.

"There are two kinds of people in the world. One as though miracles do not exist, the other as if everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein

"If you think you can or whether you think you can't; you are right." - Henry Ford

""the glass is either half full or half empty depending upon how you look at it."

From my perspective there are two kinds of people in the world. The first person cannot phrases like these because they are to positive and "pie and the sky - they are a negative person and negative people attract more negative people and circumstances to them. These people are miserable and always blame other people for their problems. they think they are victims.

The second kind of person memorizes and quotes phrases like these because they know that their mental attitude determines their fate more than the external circumstances do. These people take responsibility to their thoughts and actions and are a joy to be around. Think they are victors in Christ ans so they are!

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

May God richly bless you as you discipline yourself to think the most uplifting, glorious thoughts you possible can because God is listening!

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, baseball cap in place, toting ball and bat. He was heard to say, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world." Then he tossed the ball into the air, and swung at it and missed. "Strike one!" Undaunted he picked up the ball, threw it into the air and said to himself - "I'm the greatest baseball hitter ever," and he swung at the ball again. And again he missed. "Strike two!" He paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. Then a third time he threw the ball into the air. "I'm the greatest hitter who ever lived," he said. He swung the bat hard again, missed a third time. He cried out, "Wow! Strike three! What a preacher! I'm the greatest pitcher in the world!"

Realizing that Jesus Christ lives inside of you through the power of the Holy Spirit ought to give you a boost today and everyday you realize how awesome God is in you and through you.

May God richly bless you as you put your confidence in Him and what He can do through you!

As you know today is the deadline for filing taxes. There is a sane you probably heard before: "The only guarantees in life is death and taxes". That may be true for the world, but the the "Christ follower", there are many more certainties. For example the certainty that you are loved, saved, redeemed, forgiven, sanctified and risen with Christ. If the only certainties in life were death and taxes then this life would be a pretty morbid one.

Praise God that he has many more guarantees for you. He guarantees to "give life and give it too the full". He guarantees that the "old has gone and the new has how". He guarantees that you are "no longer a slave to sin, but now a sin to righteousness". He guarantees that he will "come again for you and you will rise with him to join him in living life on the new earth". He guarantees that you will experience his "peace that transcends all understanding today". He guarantees that He "will never leave or forsake you and "no none can snatch you out of his hand". He guarantees that he has chosen you to be used to advance his Kingdom". Praise God today that the Christian has more guarantees than just death and taxes!

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

11In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

May God richly bless you as you receive God's many guarantees both in this life and in the life to come!

This weekend Christians will be celebrating Good Friday and Easter. I would argue that the real meaning of Easter lies beyond Jesus being crucified and resurrected. While that is important, it does not matter if the second part is not applied. The secondary meaning behind Easter is that the "Christ follower" has been crucified to sin, fear, worry, anxiety, resentment and anger and has risen to New Heights spiritually where they now experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness and self-control; know as the fruits of the Spirit.

Every Christian should experience a daily crucification where they die to the "things of this world". These things such as anger, anxiety and selfishness actually put the Christian in a spiritual tomb where they feel separated from God. Likewise every Christian needs to experience a daily resurrection where they soar to high frequency thoughts like love, joy and peace. The best Good Friday and Easter Celebration is the one where Christian participate in being crucified with Christ and resurrected with him on a daily bases.

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

May God richly bless you as you experience this crucification and resurrection with Christ for yourself on a daily basis.

"One of the valid ways to test your attitude is to answer this question: "Do you feel your world is treating you well?" If your attitude toward the world is excellent, you will receive excellent results. If you feel so-so about the world, your response from the world will be average. Feel badly about your world, and you will seem to have only negative feedback from the life. Look around you. analyze the conversations of people who lead unhappy, unfulfilled lives. You will find are crying out against a society which they feel is out to get them and to give them a lifetime of trouble, misery and bad luck. Sometimes the prison of discontent has been built by their own hands."

The story of the two buckets underlies this truth. One bucket was an optimist, and another was a pessimist.

"There has never been a life as disappointing as mine," said the empty bucket as it approached the well. "I never come away from the well full but I return again empty." "There has never been a happy life as mine," said the full bucket as it left the well. "I never come to the well empty but I go away again full."

The world doesn't care whether we free ourselves from this prison or not. It marches on. Adopting a good, healthy attitude toward life does not affect society nearly so much as it affects us. the change cannot come from others. It must come from us.

Jesus says: "I have living water and he/she who drinks from me will never go thirsty again." If you are dry and thirsty perhaps it is because you are not going to the right water source. Jesus is living water - drink and be filled!

12 They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
       they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—
       the grain, the new wine and the oil,
       the young of the flocks and herds.
       They will be like a well-watered garden,
       and they will sorrow no more.

13 Then maidens will dance and be glad,
       young men and old as well.
       I will turn their mourning into gladness;
       I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

14 I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my bounty,"
declares the LORD.

One man gets nothing but discord out of his piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, but so is the harmony. Study to play correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Either way life is not at fault.

There is one universal law in the entire universe. Jesus called it the Golden rule - "treat others the way you want to be treated." The religions of the far east call it Karma which means, "come back". Basically whatever you send out through your thoughts, emotions and actions will come back to you multiplied. "A man reaps what he sows" in this universe. If you do not like the harvest you are reaping, sow a better seed. Your thoughts, feelings and actions are seeds and you are planting all day long whether you desire that particular harvest or not. So match the seed with the desired harvest and you will be blessed.

Said simply: If you love others you will reap a harvest of love. You may not reap if from the same person you sowed into, but you will reap it from somebody...God has six billion people who can love you today. If you resent others, you will be resented. You may not be resented by the same person you sowed resentment into...God has six billion people who can resent you today.

The next time you are tempted to blame your spouse, kids, friends for the bad harvest you are reaping, assume you are at least part of the problem and sow a better seed of love, joy, peace, patience kindness, gentleness, meekness and self control, better know as the fruits of the Spirit. When you consistently "sow a seed of righteousness, you reap a Harvest of righteousness".

Galatians 6:6-9 says: 7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature[a]will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

May God richly bless you as you match your thoughts, feelings and actions to the harvest you want to reap.

So just how grateful are you? Years ago when writer and poet Rudyard Kipling was at the pinnacle of his popularity, it was reported that he received .25 for every work that he wrote, an unusual way to compensate for writing at the time.

Not everyone was pleased with Kiplings success, however. One of his critics mailed a letter to him and enclosed a quarter with the terse note, "send me your very best word!"

Studies have shown that people who have an attitude of gratitude are happier than those who do not. Being grateful contributes to mental health and well being.

Maybe that is why the Bible tells us to: "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances. for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God will richly bless you as you discipline your mind, heart and soul to be grateful and thankful always no matter of the external circumstances. If you do this consistently, one day soon you will have more external reasons to be so grateful and joyful!

A miserable looking woman recognized F.B. Meyer (the late great preacher of the 19th century) on the train and ventured to share her burden with him. For years she had cared for her crippled daughter who brought great joy to her life. She made tea for her each morning, then left for work, knowing that in the evening the daughter would be there when she arrived home.

But the daughter had died, and the grieving mother was all alone and miserable. Home was not "home" anymore. Meyer gave her wise counsel. "When you get home and put the key in the door," he said, "say aloud, 'Jesus, I know you are here!' and be ready to greet Him directly when you open the door. And as you light the fire tell Him what has happened during the day; if anybody has been kind, tell Him; if anybody has been unkind, tell Him, just as you would have told your daughter. At night stretch out your hand in the darkness and say, 'Jesus, I know You are here!"

Some months later, Meyer was back in that neighborhood and met the women again, but he not recognize her. Her face radiated joy instead of announcing misery. "I did as you told me," she said" and it has made all the difference in my life, and now I feel I know him."

24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

May God richly bless you as you realize that God is in you, around you and is never separate from you!

You can have anything you want in life and that is no April fools joke either. If you want joy and peace, you can have it. If you want anxiety and depression, you can have that too. The Bible tells us in so many ways that whatever we most think about and feel as true will be brought into our lives whether we want it or not. For example; If you want enough money to pay your bills, but are always anxious and fearful that you will not have enough money because "money does not grow on trees", then you will never have enough. If you pray for the promotion at work, but inwardly believe the boss doesn't like me and will never promote me even though I am more qualified then anybody else in the office", then you will not get that promotion. Henry Ford said: "Whether you think you can or you can't; you are right. Scriptures such as: "As a man thinketh in is heart so is he" reminds us that our most heartfelt "thoughts do indeed become things". Do not think about the things you depise or fear in life because you will bring them closer to you by your thoughts. Instead focus on the things you want. If you want more of Jesus in your life, you simply focus on him all day long. that is why the scriptures say: "Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of your faith."

Jesus said it this way in Mark 11:22-24: 22"Have[a] faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

May God richly bless you as you attract the things you want into your life be "thinking on these things".

Many people are very anxious about the economy right now and are scared they will loose their job. Many people years ago have gone before his generation and made it out on the other side. One such person is Wallace Johnson who lived through the Great Depression.

Wallace Johnson, builder of numerous Holiday Inn motels and convalescent hospitals, said, "When I was forty years old, I worked in a sawmill. One morning, the boss told me: 'you are fired!' Depressed and discouraged, I felt like the world had caved in one me. It was during the Great Depression and my wife and I greatly needed the small wages I had been earning. When I went home, I told my wife what had happened. She asked, 'What are you going to do now?' "I replied, I',m going to mortgage our little home and go into the building business.

"My first venture was the construction of two small buildings. Within fie years, I was a multi-millionaire! Today, if I could locate the man who fired me, I would sincerely thank him for what he did. At the time it happened, I didn't understand why I was fired. Later, I saw that it was God's unerring and wondrous plan to get me into the way of his choosing!"

The moral of this truth account is; WHEN GOD CLOSES ONE DOOR HE OPEN ANOTHER! Don't fume and fret about the closed door because it always closes for a good reason. Trust God's infinite intelligence to lead you and guide you to a brighter future for his glory! Trust that God has an open door for you to walk through, after all He is in you and you are in Him! So what is there to fear when God is with you, in you and around you?

Acts 17:28 says: For in him (God/Jesus) we live and move and have our being.' As some of your won poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

May God richly bless you as you do not fear closed doors and walk through the open doors that you cannot see yet with confidence that God is leading you, is in you and is around you!

There is a story about a depressive driving down a country road and has a flat tire. He looks in his trunk for a jack. Not finding one, he spots a farmhouse about a quarter mile away with a truck in the front yard and says to himself, "I go borrow the farmer's jack." As the stranded motorist approaches the house, he is feeling bad - one, for failing to have a jack; two, for having to depend on someone else for help. As he gets nearer the farmhouse, he begins to expect rejection and to get angry over that expectation. As he becomes more and more angry at his unmet dependency needs in the past, he projects to the farmer the anger he feels toward himself for needing the jack and toward others for disappointing him. By the time he knocks on the door and the farmer opens it, the depressive yells, "Keep your jack!" This will most likely guarantee that he doesn't get the jack, so the motorist walks back, reconvinced that you can't depend on people. Very often our outlook and expectations determine the results.

2 Corinthians 10:5 says, "We take captive every thought and bring it obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ".

Aleida Huissen, 78, of Rotterdam, Never lands, has been smoking for 50 years. And for 50 years she has been trying to give up her harmful habit. But she has not been successful - that is, until recently. She has now given up cigarettes, cigars and pipes. The secret? Leo Jansen 79, proposed marriage last year and he is allergic to smoke. Says Aleida now: “Will power never was enough to get me off the tobacco habit. Love did it”! Will power alone will not curb negative behavior, but love is a force that can move mountains! Nagging and condemning a person’s behavior will never motivate them to change even if the change is for their benefit. Love, grace and belief are much more effective change agents.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Many years ago a young Midwestern lawyer suffered such deep depression that his friends thought it wise to keep all the knives and razors from him. During this time he wrote, “I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better. I cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not.” He was wrong. He did recover and went on to become one of America’s most loved president, Abraham Lincoln.

The amazing thing about being a human being is that we have the ability to change our thoughts and emotions. Most people think the negative external circumstances are the cause of their negative thoughts and feelings, but could it be that the negative external circumstances are just the effect and reflect our negative attitude. Just a thought.

The key to overcoming negativity, is to change our focus to thinking about the right things and mainly about thinking about God and his goodness to us.

May God richly bless you as you think on “these things” today and everyday you have life.

A man and his wife in their golden years who were on a long trip stopped at a full-service gas station years ago. After the station attendant had washed their car’s wind-shield, the man in the car said to the station attendant, “It’s still dirty. Wash it again.”

So the station attendant complied. After washing it again, the man in the car angrily said, “It’s still dirty. Don’t you know how to wash a windshield?”

Just then the man’s wife reached over, removed her husband’s glasses from his face, and cleaned them with a tissue. Then he put them back on and behold – the windshield was clean!

Likewise, our mental attitude has a great deal to with how we look at things. The whole world can appear pretty bleak if we have a depressed mental attitude. Yet how bright the world can appear if we have a joyful attitude of hope.

22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

May God richly bless you as you put off the old mental filter and put on the new in Christ!

Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher told the following story: “Once, while riding in the country, I saw on a farmers barn a weather vane and on the arrow of which was inscribed these words: “God is Love.” I turned in at the gate and asked the farmer, What do you mean by that? Do you think God’s love is changeable; that it veers about as that arrow turns in the winds?” The farmer said, “Oh no! I mean that whichever way the wind blows, God is still Love.”

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

May God richly bless you as you realize that God’s love does not change with the weather, the economy, the world – it remains the same forever!

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1952 a powerful swimmer named Florence Chadwick attempted to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. The 21 mile swim through shark-infested waters began on a foggy morning. Less than a half mile from the finish, however, Chadwick had to be pulled from the water. Later she said she hadn't been defeated by fatigue, but by the fog. "If I could have seen land, I might have made it."

Two months later, she made it! Again, fog limited Chadwick's vision - but this time she overcame despair by keeping a picture of the coast in her mind. In other words she could not see land with her physical eyes because her vision was impaired by fog, so she chose to see land with her minds eye - her spiritual eyes that can see through obstacles.Anyone who has faced adversity knows how Florence Chadwick felt as she struggled to swim on without being able to see the goal. Hardship has a way of obscuring our spiritual vision. This solution? Focus on Jesus and think on him. See the situation as it can be with his help, not as it is currently today.

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

May God richly bless you as you discipline yourself to see with your "mind's eye" through visualizing the end result you desire when your physical eyes can't see the way out.

Puppy Size she keeps repeating over and over again. We’ve been back to this shelter at least five times. It has been weeks now since we started all of this, the woman told the volunteer. “What is it she keeps asking for?” she asked. “Puppy size!”

“I know. We have seen most of them,” she said in frustration. Just then the young child came walking in the office. “Well, did you find one?”

“No, not this tie, “ she said with sadness in her voice. “Can we come back on the weekend?”

“You never know when we will get more dogs. Unfortunately, there’s always a supply,” the volunteer said. The young child took her Mother by the hand and headed to the door. “Don’t worry, I bet we’ll find one this weekend,” the child said.

Over the next few days both mom and dad had long conversations with her. They both felt she was being too particular. “It’s this weekend or we’re not looking anymore,” dad finally said in frustration. “We don’t want to hear anything more about puppy size either,” mom added. Sure enough they were the first ones in the shelter on Saturday morning. By now the young child knew her way around, so she ran right for the section that housed the smaller dogs. Tired of the routine, mom sat in the small waiting room at the end of the first row of cages. There was an observation window so you could see the animals during times when visitors weren’t permitted. The young girl walked slowly from cage to cage kneeling periodically to take a loser look. One by one the dogs were brought out and she held each one. One by one she said, “Sorry, you’re not the one.” It was the last cage on this last day in search of the perfect pup. The volunteer opened the cage door and the child carefully picked up the dog and held it closely. This time she took a little longer. “Mom, that’s it! I found the right puppy! He’s the one! I know it!” she screamed with joy.

Mom, startled by all the commotion, came running. “What? Are you share? How do you know?” she asked. “It’s the puppy sighs!” “Yes, it’s the same size as all the other puppies you held the last few weeks,” mom said. “No, not size – sighs. When I held him in my arms he sighed,” she said. “So,? Don’t you remember? When I asked you one day what love is, you told me love depends on the sighs of the heart. The more you love the bigger the sighs!” the two women looked at each other for a moment. Mom didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. As she stooped down to hug her child she did a little of both. “Mom every time you hold me I sigh. I knew I would find the right puppy if it sighed when I held it in my arms,” she said. Then holding the puppy up close to her face, she said, “Mom, he loves me. I heard the sighs of his heart.”

Close your eyes for a moment and think about the love that makes you sigh. I not only find it in the arms of my loved ones, but in the caress of a sunset, the kiss of the moonlight and the gentle brush of cool air on a hot day. They are the sighs of God. The more you love Him, the bigger the sighs.

Surely God is my salvation;
       I will trust and not be afraid.
       The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation."

4 In that day you will say:
       "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
       make known among the nations what he has done,
       and proclaim that his name is exalted.

You who are far away, hear what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge my power!

May God richly bless you as you get close enough to God for him to hear you sigh today! May you be still enough and close enough for God to hear his gentle sighs of joy for you!

There is a scientific law called the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The law states that any closed system left to itself tends toward greater randomness, that is, breaks down. It takes ordered input of energy to keep anything together. This is really seen with a house. Any homeowner knows that to maintain a house, one must daily, monthly and yearly invest time and energy to keep the house enjoyable to live in. If no energy is expended on the house, it eventually comes to the point of needing a complete overhaul, or else it is knocked down.

Although it is a law designed to describe material systems, the second law of Thermodynamics seems to describe other systems also. For example, consider the marriage relationship. It must have a daily, monthly, and yearly investment of time and energy so that it is enjoyable to live in. If no energy is expended, eventually the relationship needs a complete overhaul, or else it is knocked down. It is a wise couple who build into their marriage continually – rather than waiting passively for a complete overhaul in the counselors office or a knockdown in the courtroom. The second Law of thermodynamics says that any relationship especially marriage must be invested in daily to keep it together. The Bible says "Do not grow weary in good doing".

May God richly bless you as you give again to each relationship that needs giving to (they all do).

Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Please him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you’ve convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you’re getting a divorce. That will really hurt him.” With revenge in her eyes, she smiled ad exclaimed, “beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised !” And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting “as if”. For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When she didn’t return, Crane called. “Are you ready now to go through with the divorce.?”

“Divorce?” she exclaimed. “Never! I discovered I really do love him.” Her actions had hanged her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds. In other words, more times than not, "You don’t feel yourself into love, you act your way into love."

Act as if you have the best spouse in the world...Act as if you have the best kids in the world...Act as if you have the best friends in the world...Act as if you have the best co-workers in the world consistently day in and day out and see if you notice any changes in their behavior. You may just be surprised. Or perhaps the only behavior that changes is you own and that is enough to change any relationship for the better!

Jesus tells us to "treat others the way we want to be treated" because that is exactly how people will treat us. In this life, we pretty much reap what we sow. In layman's terms, "What comes around, goes around". So, "act as if" and see if you see changes in yourself and the people around you today and every day you have life!

12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

May God richly bless you as you "Act as if" and treat people as if they are "the best"! At the very least you will become the best person you can be and that is enough to change any relationship for the better!

Science has confirmed that every cause has an affect and every effect has a cause. For years scientist have been proclaiming that their are no accidents that happen in this Universe we live in - there is a hidden cause behind every effect. You may or may not agree with science and that is fine. But the Bible is infallible and it speaks quite a bit about cause and effect. In the Bible language" "a person reaps what they sows". Sometimes we hear about strange occurrences and think, "How weird, why did that happen?" But if you examine the evidence more closely you can almost always see the correlation between the cause and effect no matter how strange or weird the incidents seems. Just for fun read these six true but weird events that actually occurred below and see if you can identify the cause and the effect.

From the New York times: Bosses of a publishing firm are trying to work out why no one noticed that one of their employees had been sitting dead at his desk for five days before anyone asked if he was feeling okay. George Turklebaum, 51, who had been employed as a proof reader at a New York firm fr 30 years, had a heart attack in the open plan office he shared with 23 other workers.
    He quietly passed away on Monday, but nobody noticed until Saturday morning when an office cleaner asked why he was working over the weekend.
    His boss, Elliot Wachiaski, said: "George was always the first guy in each morning and the last to leave at night, so no one found it unusual that he was in the same position all that time and didn't say anything. He was always absorbed in his work and kept much to himself.
    A post postmortem examination revealed that he had been dead for five days after suffering a coronary. George was proofreading manuscripts of medical textbooks when he died.

In a hospital's intensive care unit, patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at 11:00 A.M., regardless of their medical condition. This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the supernatural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 AM Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents. The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 AM all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off evil spirits. Just when the clock struck 11:00, Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner

The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000. At a special event, two of the most expensively saved animals were being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both.

A Woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places. Up to that moment, he had been happily listening to his "walkman" radio.

Two animal rights defenders were protesting the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn, Germany. Suddenly all two thousand pigs broke loose and escaped through a broken fence, stampeding madly. The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.

Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnaject didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with 'return to sender' stamped on it. Forgetting it was a bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits.

In the first event, it is not so easy at first to see why the other employees did not notice that George was dead for five days. But read the story again. George always looked dead when he was alive. George stayed off to himself with his nose in the books, so when he died that way nobody noticed. In other words, George never noticed anybody else while he was at work, so nobody noticed him. George reaped what he sowed. CAUSE AND EFFECT

In the Second event, the cause and effect is pretty noticeable, The custodian unplugged the life support system to vacuum and every time the patient died. CAUSE AND EFFECT

In the third event, we see two released seals eaten by a killer whale. In nature this is what is referred to as the food chain. Just like we humans eat chicken nuggets, killer whales and sharks eat seals. Put food in the water and you are bound to attract hungry predators. CAUSE AND EFFECT

In the fourth event, the husband absolutely did nothing wrong and did not deserve a broken arm. He clearly did not reap what he sowed and was an innocent victim of his wife's overreaction. But because we all do not see life clearly at times and we have mental filters on; his wife thought she was saving him from electrocution. Drastic times cause for drastic measures and if you thought your husband was being electrocuted you might break his arm too. Perception becomes reality. CAUSE AND EFFECT (not fair, but true and just none the less)

In the Fifth event, the animal rights activist were probably trampled by the pigs they were trying to save because animals are very sensitive to emotion. Could it be that the pigs picked up on the fear of the protesters and were spooked. Studies like this show the correlation between human fear being transfered over to animals. CAUSE AND EFFECT

The six event is a no brainer and clearly illustrates the relationship between cause and effect. for example, when you try to blow up others with your anger you will be blown up by the very anger you meant to send to them. Because the terrorists sowed destruction, he reaped destruction. He reaped the very thing he sowed. CAUSE AND EFFECT

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. For clarification I am not saying that you deserve everything that happens to you in life. You are going to Heaven when you die, but you do not deserve it. Jesus died so you can live. CAUSE AND EFFECT.

I am just encouraging us all to to be more aware of the correlation between cause and effect in our lives. Perhaps we can change from being a victim and blaming others for our misery to becoming victors that sow the right seed that leads to a bountiful harvest of love, peace and joy for ourselves and others! Just a thought, hopefully a good one.

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature[a]will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

New Thought for Today #462

A Small congregation in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains encountered a major problem when they built their new church. A Church member had willed the growing church some property so they relocated and erected a new sanctuary. Just ten days before the dedication service, the building inspector told them their parking lot was too small for that size of the building. He informed the pastor they could not occupy the facility until they doubled the parking. Unfortunately, they had already used every usable square foot of their property. They backed up to a mountain so their situation seemed hopeless. Rather than loose hope, the Pastor called a special prayer meeting and asked for those with “mountain moving faith” to be present. A couple dozen people showed up for a prayer time that lasted nearly three hours. With confidence, the pastor said, “We’ll open next Sunday as scheduled.” The following morning, the pastor was greeted by a contractor who came with a unique request. He explained his position as the builder of a shopping mall and told of a problem they were having in getting fill dirt. He asked if the church would be willing to sell them dirt from the mountain on the back of the property. In exchange for their prompt agreement, the contractor would level the surface and pave it at no charge. The mountain movers’ prayer had been answered and their church was packed for the dedication service that next Sunday. In times like these it is important to remind ourselves that miracles still happen and God still answers prayer when it is backed by faith!

22"Have[a] faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

May God richly bless you as you apply your mountain moving faith to the mountain that stands in your way today!

One day a man was walking by a rather large job site and was curious as to what the men were doing. He asked the first man, “Can you tell me what you are doing?” The young man replied, “I am stacking bricks, one on top of the other”. He asked the second worker and asked the same question. The reply came, “I am drawing a paycheck”. Then later he saw a very enthusiastic gentlemen who was whistling as he worked who seemed more energetic than the first two he spoke with. Once again the question was asked. But the answer was quite a bit different than the first two. The young man said with a smile on his face: “I am building a Cathedral”. Question: What are you doing today? The Bible tells us: “whatever we do, do it for the glory of the Lord”.

31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

May God richly bless you as you do everything you do of the glory of the Lord today!

New Thought for Today #460

The following are actual statements found in Insurance forms where drivers attempted to summarize the details of their car accident in the fewest words possible. Here are some of my favorites:

· Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have.

· The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions.

· A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.

· The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.

· To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front of me, I struck the pedestrian.

· I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way, causing me to have an accident.

· An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.

· The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run, so I ran him over.

· I saw a slow moving, sad faced old gentlemen as he bounced off the roof of my car.

· The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.

The one common theme in all of these actual insurance claims is: The person never took responsibility for the car accident in which they were involved in but tried to put the blame on somebody else or something else instead. The mark of a mature person is that they are able to own up to their failures and wrong doing and accept complete responsibility for them without trying to bring in a scapegoat to pass the blame. Take responsibility for your decisions, failures, sins and life and you will be on your way to becoming the person God created you to be! If you continually avoid taking responsibility for your actions, you will never reach the potential God has for you and will join the majority who are always looking for a scape goat. The blame game started in the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed his wife, and Eve blamed the Serpent. Who are you blaming for your failures, mistakes, misery and unhappiness? Sometimes whoever you are blaming is innocent of many if not all of the charges. The criminal is usually in the mirror to some degree. Accept the degree of responsibility you need to in your interactions with people today and you will be blessed. May God richly bless you today as you free all the “scapegoats” in your life and assume complete responsibility for your actions today and everyday you have life here on earth! Read:

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

15People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

May God richly bless you today as you free all the “scapegoats” in your life and assume complete responsibility for your actions today and everyday you have life here on earth!

New Thought for Today #459

Recently three men perished in a fishing boat accident when massively violent waves capsized a 21 foot fishing boat off the cost of Florida on February 28th. All four men were in good shape physically, two of them playing in the NFL. After a big wave capsized the boat, the men retrieved the life vest that were dumped into the ocean and put them on. The long survivor, Nick Schuyler told investigators and reporters that the two NLF players eventually gave up hope and took off their life vests and let themselves be pushed out to sea by the strong waves. The third man also took off his life vest because he thought he saw lights at a distance that he tried to swim to in order to get help. The three men who took off their life vest have not yet been found. Schuyler was found 47 hours later clinging to the capsized sized boat. He later told his mom that he kept telling himself over and over again for the two days while he was in the water, “My mom is not going to my funeral”. He told reporters that those thoughts gave him hope to hang on. Schuyler’s doctor said that he did not think that Schuyler could have lasted much longer in the cold waters, perhaps another 5-10 hours at the most. All four men were athletes and in good shape. It appears that at least two of the men thought they were doomed and gave up hope. One man told himself for the 47 hours he was in the frigid water, “My mom is not going to my funeral”. The ancients have always told us, “Thoughts become things”. The Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart so is he” and “Without a vision the people perish” and to “Think on these things”. Bottom line: You thoughts can kill you or help keep you alive – the choice is yours!

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

There is a story of a man named Jim who hired a plumber named Joe to restore an old farm house. Joe had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour at work, his electric drill quit and his ancient 1 ton truck refused to start. While Jim drove Joe home, Joe sat in stony silence. Upon arriving at Joes, home, he invited Jim in to meet his family.

As they walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, and touched the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door Joe underwent an amazing transformation…His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterwards he waked Jim back to the car.

They passed the tree, and Jim’s curiosity got the better of him. Jim asked him about what I had seen him do earlier with the tips of the branches. Joe responded, “Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, those troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children…So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again. Funny thing is, when I come out in the morning to pick ‘em up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

May God richly bless you as you cast your troubles onto God, for he became your trouble tree when he died on the cross for your sin.

A young man named Robert made a series of unfortunate choices and found himself in prison for eight years. His parents were heartbroken at his rebellion but kept their faith that God would restore him.

Robert had left home in an angry fit and pledged never to darken the doorstep again. His father had readily agreed to Robert’s decision. As time for his release drew near, Robert made the decision to return home. In a moment of repentance, he had written a note to his mother and asked her to place a white rag on the limb of an old oak tree in the front yard signifying that his father would agree to his return.

Robert boarded a train that passed his home on its daily run and stopped a short distance past the house in the nearby town. As the train approached the house, Robert could not bare the thought of rejection and chose not to look toward the house.

Instead he asked the person sitting next to him to look for a rag in the tree. After telling his story, the man was overjoyed as he reported to Robert, “I think its safe to go home – your father has covered the house and all the trees in white rags. It looks like snow. I think your father has sent a pretty clear message – it’s time to go home.” The Bible says that though are sins were red as crimson, they are now white as snow.

9"This, then, is how you should pray:
   " 'Our Father in heaven,
   hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
   your will be done
      on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread.
12Forgive us our debts,
      as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

A young girl named Christina had all her family rules she could stand and announced her intentions to leave home. Financial limitations at home and a mom who stood her ground on the character of her children was more than she wanted.

she headed for the bright lights and the glitter and glamor of the city. There was not a doubt in the mind of Christina's mom that her little girl would support herself with prostitution.

Her mom bought a bus ticket and went to the inner city where she hoped to find Christina. with her last remaining funds, she had photographs taken of herself and plastered hundreds of them in every hallway and wall in that area. The pictures were signed, "Dear Christina, whatever you have done and wherever you are right now, you can come home. I love you." The photos included the telephone number of her mom.

Christian stumbled down a dark stairway one morning and looked straight into the face of her mom's picture. God did the rest.

Likewise wise, you and I have rebelled and ran away from God at least once, perhaps several times. Maybe you are still on the run. Like Christina's mom, God has put pictures of his face all around you that say, "Whatever you have done and wherever you are right now, you can come home. I love you." Those pictures of God may be in the form of a Bible verse, person, a quote from a book, movie, an experience etc. Look for the pictures of God reminding you to come home to him that are all around you today!

11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[a]'

22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

May God richly bless you as you look for photographs of God's face saying "Come home...I love you." May God richly bless you as you become God's face to others saying, "Come home...I love you."

This true account demonstrates the power of thought and belief. Some years ago, a railroad employee working in the frozen box car section accidentally locked himself in a box car. He yelled and banged on the door, but the rest of the employees already punched out and left the job site for the night. The next morning when the workers returned, they found their friend dead, apparently frozen to death. On the walls of the boxcar, the young man left notes such as “It is getting colder now, I do not know how much longer I can hold on”. He even left a final note to his family affirming his love to them. Ironically the freezing apparatus was not working and had been broken for some time. The temperature in inside the car was 57 degrees, a little chilly but not cold enough to kill a man overnight. So then what killed the man? After the Autopsy was preformed, it was determined that the man had killed himself with his thoughts. In other words, he thought he was going to die that night and so he did. Both psychology and science confirm the power of the subconscious mind. In short, whatever the subconscious mind accepts as true becomes true even if it is not. You create your own reality through your thoughts!

That's why the bible tells us in Philippians 4:4-8: 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

There is the true story of a woman who was married to a very rigid man who resembled a "slave driver" more than a marriage partner. She felt that she could meet his demands and high expectations and eventually became depressed. Later the depression turned into anger and she had irrational thoughts of killing her hypocritical husband.

Years later, when the husband was killed in a car crash, she became full of shame and guilt and even blamed herself for her husbands death. Many years later and much healing, the woman married again. But the new husband was nothing like the first. He was loving, encouraging and nurtured her.

One day while she was cleaning out a dresser, she found one of her first husbands list full of mandates such as: "Iron my shirts", "Clean my bathroom", "make my breakfast" and so forth. Next to almost every item on the list was a big NS which stood for "not sufficient". As she glanced at the list, she realized that she was doing everything on the list for her new husband even though he never asked and never demanded such acts of service.

The point of this story is: Love does not demand it's own way. Love gives - it does not make demands!

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

May God richly bless you as your learn the discipline of not demanding your own way!

Jim and Betty were a successful couple with an expensive house, clothes and MG convertible car that Jim was so proud of he did not want anybody else to drive it. However on one occasion he had to fly out of town on business.

Betty just could not resist the temptation to drive the car. A child came running out from behind another car and she had to swerve to miss the child and in doing so she wrecked the car.

A patrolman came and asked to see her driver's license and registration papers. She looked in the glove compartment and found an envelope that had her name on it. She opened it and found a note from Jim which read, "Betty, if you are reading this letter then you've evidently had a wreck. if you're reading this you're evidently okay. Betty I want you to know it's not my car I love. It's not even myself I love. Betty, it's you I love."

What foresight and sensitivity it took for Jim to write such a letter before the accident ever happened just in case. Love does those kinds of things because it always protects and always builds a person up on the front end as well as on the back end. Love is proactive and anticipates what could happen and prepares for both the best and the worst case scenarios. After all love is for a lifetime, it is for better or for worse!

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

May God richly bless you as you learn how to receive and give authentic love that never fails to anticipate pro actively

On November 12, 1996, Alvin Straight died of a heart ailment, but his legacy of love will be membered for generations to come. During the summer of 1994, Alvin was 74 and unable to drive because of his poor eye sight. His brother, Henry, had suffered a stroke and Alvin desperately wanted to see him. As Alvin sized up his options, he decided his only mode of transportation was his riding lawn mower. So he set off in early July from his home in Iowa. He attached a trailer to his lawnmower to carry gasoline, clothes, food, and camping gear. In mid-August he reached his brother's house in Blue River, Wisconsin. this 74 year old man traveled 240 miles on a lawn mower to affirm the love and concern he had for his brother.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

I have met with allot of people in my office over the years who have such such statements like:" I need to have more faith" or I just need to believe more." I usually responding by telling them something like: "The bible says you already have faith, you just need to put in the the right direction". Jesus explained it this way, 200 years ago.

Luke 17:1-6 says:

1Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3So watch yourselves.
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

6He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

The fact is, The atheist has plenty of faith and belief that God does not exist. The person who is a chronic worrier has plenty of faith that something bad is going to happen and everything goes wrong for them at the worst possible time. The person who believes the economy is bad and they are going to loose their job and maybe even their house has plenty of faith in CNN news and the New York times. It takes just as much energy to believe you are going to be blessed as it does believing your going to go bankrupt. It takes equal faith to believe either one of those statements so why not believe and expect the best? You will usually draw into your life, what you think about the most. If you expect God's wonderful blessings that is what you will get more of in your life. If you expect tough economic times that is what you will get more of in your daily affairs. Often times we can attract more of the things we do not want or desire into our lives by dwelling on that things we despise. The Bible gives us the winning formula. Only let your thoughts dwell on the things you want in life! The Apostle Paul gave us this practical and spirit lead recipe 2000 years ago and it still worlds today. Here it is.

Philippians 4:4-8 says:

In my previous devotion I made the claim "Every human being lives in two worlds" to some extend. While we live in a double world, one being physical and the other being spiritual, we are exhorted in the Bible "not to be double-minded". In other words we are to love "God with all our heart, mind and soul and love each other as we love ourselves." Furthermore, "We are to live at peace with everyone as much as it depends on us." Loving God and people in a peaceful disposition is only possible when we withdraw from the physical world periodically and recharge our spiritual and emotional batteries by spending time with the God that dwells inside of us - this is the spiritual world.

When a person does not tap into the spiritual world inside them, but mostly lives in the external world outside of them, the pressures of life cause a fragmentation to occur and now they must live a "double-life" to cope with life's turmoil. When a person does not tap into the spiritual world, fragmentation is inevitable. In Christian circles these people are perceived as hypocrites because they do not consistently live out their beliefs. To avoid being a hypocrite, pull out of the physical world a little bit each day and withdraw to the spiritual world within - that is where God lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. You will find Jesus living inside you too through the same Spirit who is God!

What is the best way to tap into the spiritual world within and commune with God?

Have a daily quiet time where you read the Bible, pray, meditate, praise and worship God. Sometimes just closing your eyes for 10 minutes in a relaxed position with Jesus or a scripture (same thing) on your mind catapults you into God's presence where you are drinking in spiritual water from the kingdom inside of you! Often times just acknowledging that God lives in you and you live in Him is enough for for soul to be recharged enough to go back into the physical world to be the light and salt you called to be in Christ!

3 My tears have been my food
       day and night,
       while men say to me all day long,
       "Where is your God?"

4 These things I remember
       as I pour out my soul:
       how I used to go with the multitude,
       leading the procession to the house of God,
       with shouts of joy and thanksgiving
       among the festive throng.

5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
       Why so disturbed within me?
       Put your hope in God,
       for I will yet praise him,
       my Savior and 6 my God.
       My [c] soul is downcast within me;
       therefore I will remember you
       from the land of the Jordan,
       the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep
       in the roar of your waterfalls;
       all your waves and breakers
       have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock,
       "Why have you forgotten me?
       Why must I go about mourning,
       oppressed by the enemy?"

10 My bones suffer mortal agony
       as my foes taunt me,
       saying to me all day long,
       "Where is your God?"

11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
       Why so disturbed within me?
       Put your hope in God,
       for I will yet praise him,
       my Savior and my God.

May God richly bless you as your soul thirst for Him - the God who reside insides of you through the Holy Spirit!

As a human being you live in two worlds. Let me explain. Every day you experience the external world with your five senses. And most people stop right there, but there is another world that can be tapped into - it is the inner spiritual world. If you tap into this world, you can experience inner peace, love and joy even though the outer world is full of chaos. Most people just surrender to the madness of the outer world and it eventually becomes a part of their inner world to the point where sleepless night ensue. But it does not have to be this way. You can keep the outer world and all it's bad news out of you inner world by receiving the good news. The good news for the Christian is: Jesus Christ lives inside of you through the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. The next time the world is pounding against you, go withdraw, lay down and recite in a slow meaningful way, the words of Jesus several times in John 14:27: "My peace I leave you, my peace I five you. I do not give you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be frightened and do not be afraid" and "Peace, be still". See yourself experiencing God's perfect peace despite the turmoil of the outer world and soon your inner world will be full of peace and perhaps maybe even your outer world in due season! The Bible promises us that God gives His perfect peace to the Person whose mind is focused on the inner Jesus and not the outer world.

1Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. 3Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast

.May God richly bless you as you discipline your mind to focus on the inner Jesus that gives peace and order and not the outer world that gives turmoil!

Their are a lot of good prayers in circulation. A friend of mind recently sent me such a prayer. My conviction is that the best prayers are full of thanksgiving and gratitude from the heart to God.

Dear Lord, I thank you for this day. I thank You for my being able to see and to hear this morning. I'm blessed because You are a forgiving God and an understanding God. You have done so much for me and You keep on blessing me. Forgive me this day for everything I have done, said, or thought that was not pleasing to you. I ask now for Your forgiveness.

Please keep me safe from all danger and harm. Help me to start this day with a new attitude and plenty of gratitude. Let me make the best of each and every day to clear my mind so that I can hear from You.
Please broaden my mind that I can accept all things.

Let me not whine and whimper over things I have no control over. Let me continue to see sin through God's eyes and acknowledge it as evil. And when I sin, let me repent, and confess with my mouth my wrongdoing, and receive the forgiveness of God.

And when this world closes in on me, let me remember Jesus' example -- to slip away and find a quiet place to pray. It's the best response when I'm pushed beyond my limits. I know that when I can't pray, You listen to my heart. Continue to use me to do Your will.

Continue to bless me that I may be a blessing to others. Keep me strong that I may help the weak. Keep me uplifted that I may have words of encouragement for others. I pray for those who are lost and can't find their way. I pray for those who are misjudged and misunderstood. I pray for those who don't know You intimately. I pray for those who will delete this without sharing it with others. I pray for those who don't believe. But I thank you that I believe.

I believe that God changes people and God changes things. I pray for all my sisters and brothers. For each and every family member in their households. I pray for peace, love, and joy in their homes, that they are out of debt and all their needs are met.

I pray that every eye that reads this knows there is no problem, circumstance, or situation greater than God. Every battle is in Your hands for You to fight. I pray that these words be received into the hearts of every eye that sees them and every mouth that confesses them willingly. This is my prayer.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I am not saying this is the best prayer in history, not even close. But I think it has allot of the ingredients of a good and healthy prayer such humility, forgiveness and gratefulness to God. We all see the wisdom of such prayers, but when is the last time we thanked God for the things and people in life that give us pain and agony? When is the last time you thanked God for your difficult teenager that rebels against you every chance she gets. When it the last time you were grateful for your apathetic or rude husband? When was the last time you were grateful for your wife that always nags you? When was the last time you were thankful for your job that you can't wait to quit? When was the last time you were thankful for $4.00 a gallon gas (don't worry, those prices will come again and when they do, are you going to be thankful or resentful).

I have a theory - maybe it is right and maybe it is wrong, but eat the fish and spit pout the bones. I find that when I am thankful, grateful and joyful for people and things that do not deserve it, the circumstance or person changes for the better. Could it be that being grateful, thankful, and joyful for all people and all circumstances is the faith God uses to change people and situations for the better? I reply YES! But at the very least it will change your attitude. And if God can change your attitude about the circumstances, then he does not need to change them if he chooses not to and you are at peace with that! Thanksgiving and joy make all people and circumstances tolerable!

If you want your circumstances to change, then stop cursing the people and circumstances that drive you nuts. Start thanking God for all the people and situations in your life that you previously despised and you will find that in a matter of weeks, you will not longer despise anything or anybody, including your spouse! If you doubt what I say is true, then give it a shot. Over the years numerous persons have called me to tell me that I was right, even though it didn't sound right at the time.I am not the one who is right, it is Jesus you gave us this wisdom 2000 years ago.

38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'[g] 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

NOTE: You will find that in the process of being thankful and joyful to God for all people and all circumstances in your life, even the difficult ones, you will become more like Jesus and less like the world in the process. The Bible calls this sanctification.

May God richly bless you and you learn the spiritual discipline of being grateful, thankful and joyful always for everything and everybody in your life!

The older I gt them more I like the wisdom and insight of a good poem. I friend recently sent me the following poem entitled "Weeding My thoughts To Plant New Seeds" by Jennifer Mannion.

Weeding My Thoughts to Plant New Seeds By Jennifer Mannion 07/08 I am weeding through my thoughts, negative self talk, ugly words that spread as many weeds have in the unattended plot of dirt. The big ones come away easily though tiring nonetheless. It is these little ones peeking out now you see them, now you don’t depending on the sun, rain, the way the wind is blowing that day. I take hold and pull fully aware and present. They do come out with effort. I feel relief at their release. Time to plant good thoughts, the flowers to replace the barren dirt, turned up soil the result of weeds removed. Just seeds at first but I see the picture on the seed package. I know they will ultimately be exquisite. I can visualize in my mind’s eye the awakening to come from deep inside. The Universe provides all the daily nutrients. I express gratitude for the constants. The sun, water, air needed for survival so fresh given abundantly. I am patient, mostly as I wait for new growth. Anticipating, yet still pulling weeds. Daily upkeep is necessary to prevent the weeds from threatening impending beauty and further development. Finally I can see they are coming slowly it seems at first. Then suddenly sprouting faster than I could have imagined. The absolute beauty of the flowers burst into life colors, smells everything feels new when you look at existence this way. I feel the flowers and myself vibrating with aliveness. I enjoy the magnificence while understanding there is still work to be done. Dead-heading so new growth can continue. I give thanks when I reflect on the transformation. The pure energy and thrill I get every time I envision the old weedy plot and how far it has come. Since I am cognizant of the weeds they come less often. There is less upkeep. Growth will continue as long as I am present, thankful. How could I not be? Change is incredibly inspiring.

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Philippians 4:8 says:

May God richly bless you as you discipline you mind to weed out the "weedy thoughts" and to only plant "thought seeds" in your mind that will produce a beautiful garden!

The story is told of a Dad named Rusty who was doing his Saturday routine of mowing the grass. Darting out of the house was his six year old son who loved to help his Dad with yard work. The child dashed under his Dad's outstretched arms and grabbed the lower end of the lawn mower, leaned over and strained with all his might to push the mower. Rusty lightened his grip, began to walk in spread eagle fashion with the boy between his legs. He allowed his young son to feel the weight of the huge mower. He guided the bars and gently pushed from up above while allowing the six year old to believe that his efforts were all that were needed. Our Heavenly Father is allot like that. He can handle the job of managing the kingdom without our help, yet He chooses to allow us to push just a bit. We contribute to the kingdom, yet he is the one in control. Truth be told - God uses our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, words and behaviors to advance his kingdom, but at the end of the day God is sovereign and in control. He chooses when and how to use our faith to move mountains for his glory. It is God who moves the mountain, but he does it through your faith, beliefs and action! God is an amazing powerful God, but will not move mountains apart from the faith of his Children. The next time you feel the weight of the mountain on your back, realize God is just letting you feel a little bit of the weight, to encourage you to use your faith. It is God who will take your faith and move the mountain for you when it is time to remind you and the world that he is in control!

May God richly bless you as you put your faith in God and allow Him to move the mountain of pain you have been carrying for so long.

Everybody has faith! The person who says:"My finances...my health...my job..my marriage...my life...my_________________(fill in the blank) is not going to get any better has just as much faith as the person who says and believes "My finances are well supplied by God"..."My health is perfect"..."My job is the best job in the whole world"..."My marriage is strong and I am blessed to have married the best spouse in the Universe"..."My life is blessed by God to be a blessing to others - I live a charmed life".

To say and believe, "My life stinks takes just as much effort and faith to say and believe "My life is blessed to be a blessing". Jesus taught us that whatever we believe to be true will become true for us. He said it this way: "Let it be done according to your faith". Some translations say: "Let it be done according to you belief". You can't really separate belief from faith. Whatever you believe is going to happen is essentially, faith. For the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things yet not seen".

For example if you are fearful and worried about losing your job, you have activated your faith in losing your job and it will happen "according to your persistent belief". On the flip side, if you believe "God is my supplier and where one door closes another door open for me", you are activating your faith and it will be "done unto you according to your ongoing and persistent belief". The Bible tells us to be careful what we think and speak because what you think and speak is faith in action whether positive or negative, good or bad, spiritual or sinful, biblical or carnal. If our beliefs really do become things like the Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation, then perhaps we should be careful in choosing what we should believe in every facet of our lives.

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

May God richly bless you as you select the right thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and words that will bring about the good desires of your heart that God has planted there through the "mind of Christ"!

Since moving to Minnesota over 13 years ago, I have always heard about the "big one". No I am not talking about fishing either. The "big one" refers to when a person slips on ice so fast that their whole body is catapulted into the air without any body parts touching the ground. Physics teaches us that what goes up most come down and it does - hard! Last Friday, I was walking my dog on a paved trail in the woods. There was nobody around and I was relieved to be free from the embarrassment. My Dog was loyal and stayed by my side as I ascertained if I was paralyzed or not. The fact that I felt allot of pain was a good sign. I composed myself, got back up and preceded to keep walking deeper into the woods.The dog would not move, tilted his head and gave a look that said: "Are you crazy? I am not going on the ice...I might slip and fall. What he was probably trying to say was: "You fell once already, haven't you learned your lesson yet". I pulled the leash forward and he extended his right paw out and patted the ice a few times to make sure it was safe. Once we walked a little ways, he gave me another look that said: "This is fun, things for talking me into it." Since it was my day off, we walked nearly four miles and had allot of time to reflect God's protection on the way home.

It was warm that day and initially I grabbed my spring jacket, but then put it back and grabbed my -20 below jacket that is full of feathers. I noted the cushion it provided for my tail bone, neck and head. If I wore my flimsy spring jacket, I would have probably hit my head on the frozen payment with nobody around. I think we all have experiences things like this - we call it intuition. But in reality it is God giving us guidance and protection. Nobody in Minnesota wears such a huge jacked when the temperature is near 40 degrees, but I am from California, do not have the Minnesota genes and had a bad cold that day, so I wanted to stay warm. This is the information we use to justify fluke happen stance. But in reality, this was God doing what he does, which is protect his children. The next time you hear that small voice suggesting something out of the ordinary, you may want to listen. More times than not it is God giving you wisdom from above.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]

2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust."

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
       and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
       and under his wings you will find refuge;
       his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
       nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
       nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
       ten thousand at your right hand,
       but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
       and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
       even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
       no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
       to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
       so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
       you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
       I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
       I will be with him in trouble,
       I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
       and show him my salvation."

May God richly bless you as you listen to that little voice we call intuition - it is usually God within giving you wisdom though you know not why.

Yesterday I spent the day at Polar Cub Camp with with my boys and hundreds of other Cub Scouts. The games and activities were fun, but I think the kids enjoyed the tubing hill the most. I and another Dad were "heroes" because we went down the hill on the giant inter tube with six or seven kids on top us us a couple of times. The trick to not loosing any bodies on the way down the hill is to have the parents lay down first on their stomachs and then pile all the cub scouts on top. This morning my back is a little sore, but functional. And when I think of all the joy it gave to the others riding and watching the event, it helps the pain go away. I guess the moral of the story is: When you build a good foundation (Two adults on an inter tube) you can pile allot of stuff on top (6 or 7 cub scouts) and nobody will fall off.

If you have experienced a crash in your life recently, maybe it is because life got too top heavy for you and the load you were carrying exceeded your foundational base. When God and his Word is your base, you can carry a heavy load because it is not you carrying it on your own, but rather God carrying it through you. If you are trying to carry the load on your own strength the load will eventually get too heavy for you to carry and you will drop a ball or two, perhaps even the whole load at once.

24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

May God richly bless you as you build your life on the best foundation ever laid - Jesus Christ and the Word of God!

Did you see the Superbowl? If not you are one of the few who missed it. They say it was the most watched Super Bowl ever. Perhaps it was because the game was so back and forth in the last quarter of play. In the beginning of the fourth quarter it looked like Pittsburgh was going to win. Then later in the fourth quarter it looked like Arizona was going to win. Toward the end of the game it looked like it was going to overtime, before Pittsburgh finally won it. Life is kind of like that sometimes. It looks like Result A is going to happen, then Result B pops out of know where just in time for Result C to show up on the scene before Result A finally happens or whatever the scenario. The Bible tells us not to judge before the apparent time because only God knows what is really going to happen. Do you find yourself constantly hoping and judging, only to be disappointed in the end? There is a better way to live. It is a life of surrender to God. While God wants us to have hopes, dreams and visions, he wants us to surrender how and when the dream is accomplished to him because he knows best. Knowing what we want in life is our Job, how and when it happens is God's job. If you are worn out, frustrated and burned out it is probably because you have been trying to do God's job. God provides the means in his perfect timing when we finally surrender the dream to Him.

1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a] 6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."[b]

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

May God richly bless you as you surrender your hopes, dreams and disappointments to God today and trust his perfect timing and his perfect means!

Most people have celebrations after they win an event or hear some good news. Over the years I have tried to reverse that trend by having celebrations before the big victory. For example, last week before the big pinewood derby race , I took the whole family out to Dairy Queen to celebrate a good showing by Maxwell and Mitchell's car. I boldly declared in faith, "I think both of you will finish in the top 5, but the top 3 is very possible and one of you may even win". Before we ate our ice cream, we thanked God for blessing us as a family and for blessing us with winning results regardless of the outcome." The results: Both Maxwell and Mitchell won all three of their heats by a landslide. Mitchell finished first among his class and 8th overall. Maxwell finished 5th in his more older and competitive class and 11th overall out of 77 cars. Both cars were fast and competitive, but the real difference maker for me, was the celebration party before the race. Celebrating before the event even occurs releases faith that moves mountains. If you doubt what I say is true, then try an experiment this next year. Begin to celebrate events before they even happen. This is not a magic wand or a gimic - it is simply the spiritual discipline of "calling things that are not as thought they are". It is the spiritual discipline of being thankful, grateful, joyful always". I know some people will look at this practice as being superficial and shallow. But this spiritual discipline is actually very deep and to such as person who thinks otherwise I reply: "And that is why your life is so miserable....your own critical, skeptical, negative, condemning thought has made it so...Try praising and thanking God before you have any reason to and soon enough you will have reason to!"

In other words, be thankful and celebrative to God before you have anything to celebrate in your life, then God will give you reasons to celebrate. Most of us wait for something good to happen to us before we celebrate. When we celebrate God's goodness and wining results before we can see them, God will give us more things in life that match our praise and thanksgiving on the front end! I encourage you to give it a shot and do your best at celebrating God this next year even when you feel you have no good reason to. At the very least, God accepts your faith and praises as worship to Him. But it also might be the mustard seed of faith that God uses to move mountains in your life.

I know good results pinewood derby's is not important and does not matter in the big scheme of things, but it matters to my boys and apparently it matters to God who has chosen to bless them again and again in these simple little ways that are building their faith in him! The fact is God wants us to praise him because he is good all the time. When we do, good things eventually come to us whether we recognize them or not with our physical eyes.

This principle even works for bigger things in life like marriage. Instead of complaining about your spouse and being hurt and resentful, begin to praise God for your spouse. Celebrate a healthy marriage before you have one and you will soon have one!

16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."[a] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."[b] 19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

May God richly bless you as you learn the spiritual discipline of celebrating what God has done before he does it and you will be blessed and set free from living by sight. God will open the eyes of your heart so you can live by "Thanksgiving faith"!

I saw the Christian made movie "Fireproof" last night for the first time with my wife Michelle and my two sons Maxwell and Mitchell. After the movie, we talked about the principles as a family. I asked both my wife and my kids how I can be a better husband in the future. All three of them said, I was already the perfect husband. They each gave me a perfect 10 and believe me that has not always happened. Recently when I asked one of my sons How good a Father was he gave me only a 9.5 because he did not win the pinewwod derby race for cub scouts. While the perfect 10 scores blessed me, I brought up a few things I can improve upon and they agreed! No matter how good your marriage is it can be improved and no matter how bad your marriage is it can be redeemed! The first thing that hit me while watching the movie was: 1) "I have been preaching this stuff for 18 years and it works when it is applied. The second thought that hit me was 2) What is happening in allot of marriages in our church body and in our nation right now is basically the script for this movie! The wife said that Caleb (the fire chief) was selfish and prideful. Caleb said his wife was always nagging. These are the same things I hear all of the time as a pastor. Statistics show that 65% or two thirds of all marriages struggle or end in divorce. The other 33% still have issues to work through because there is no perfect marriage. If you have a conflicted marriage know that you already know how to destroy your marriage and you probably already know how to restore it and make it healthy. Most couples know what to do to heal their marriage, they just lost the desire to to the hard work to fight for it and save it. Jesus is the X factor - he is the strength that you need to endure to the end!

I am not big fan of most Christian made movies because they are too idealistic. I think the beauty of the movie "Fireproof" is that it accurately portrays many struggling marriages, but also shows how they can be healed and redeemed! I think the writers of this movie hit the nail on the head. II won't give away the whole movie, but I loved the ending of the movie where the Father told his Son, that in his marriage it was reversed. He wanted the divorce, but his wife loved him back. The moral of the story is, it works both ways. Love is always a choice.

By the way, I have been told that there is a a 40 day "fireproof" work book out that goes along with the movie. You can probably pick it up at any Christian bookstore or even from a Barns and Noble. I know it is just a movie, but the principles are biblical and will work when applied. I know this to be true because they are the same principles I have built my marriage on and have been preaching and living all these years. They work when you apply them. It is that simple and that easy.

There are probably allot of couples in America who feel that the script for this movie was taken from their marriage.I hear there are allot of true testimonies right now how the movie has saved allot of marriages. In truth, only Jesus can save a marriage, but the principles will work every time when we apply them. And for Jesus to save any marriage, the biblical principles have to be applied first.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[c] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

May God richly bless you as you "fireproof" your marriage by applying biblical principles that are proven to have worked for the past two thousand years!

By the way I give the movie "Fireproof" five stars or an A+ for accurately pportraying many struggling marriages, but also for portraying the solution in a very simple yet accurate way! I was pleasantly surprised!. It is now tied with "Marlee and Me" for my best movie for 2008-2009

We have all heard the phrase: "It is all relative" which started among scientist 100 years ago. these days everybody uses that phrase in one test or another. For example read the following illustration entitled "HIS HANDS".

A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michale Jordan's hands is worth about $33 million dollars (when he played)
It all depends whose hands it's in.

A Tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras' hands is a Wimbledon championship.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal.
A rod in Mose's hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it's in.

A sling shot in my hands is a kid's toy.
A sling shot in David's hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it's in.

Two fish and five loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and five loaves of bread in Jesus' hands will feed thousands.

Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse.
Nails in Jesus Christ's hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it's in.

As you can see it all depends whose hands it is in. So put your concerns, worries, fears, hopes, dreams, sins, burdens, marriage, family, your life in God's hands BECAUSE IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT'S IN.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus....13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

May God richly bless you as you put your life into God's hand on a daily basis BECAUSE IT ALL DEPENDS WHOSE HAND IT IS IN!

Lately it seems like everybody is talking about how bad the economy is and how difficult life is. The News whether in paper or T.V. form continues to tell us that the unemployment rate continues to soar to new record levels in our generation.The divorce rate continues to be high and more people are being diagnosed with "depression" or some other disorder every day. Is there any good news out there? Yes there certainly is. In fact, it has been with us for 2000 years if we will take the time to read it. Let me give you the cliff note version: "GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON,THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. FOR GOD DID NOT SEND HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO CONDEMN THE WORLD BUT TO SAVE THE WORLD THROUGH HIM". John 3:16-17

Right now there are allot of people, Christians included that are condemning the world and wasting allot of precious energy in the process. The problem with condemning people and things is that you will pull more people and things into your life that are condemnable. It is more productive to receive God's love in the form of Jesus Christ and "go in peace". If you walk in the Spirit, you will pull more of the Spirit of God toward you. God says: "DRAW CLOSER TO ME AND I WILL DRAW CLOSER TO YOU".

Science tells us that all matter vibrates at it's own frequency that that frequency pulls in other matter that vibrates at the same frequency. I think the concept is simple when applied to everyday life. When a person vibrates on a high frequency by being positive, loving, grateful, thankful and optimistic they attract more people and things into their life to be thankful and grateful about. The flip side is also true. When a person is negative, depressed, angry, condemning, complaining and grumbling, they will pull more people and things into their life that are on the same frequency. In other words they will attract more things to grumble and complain about. Maybe that is why the Bible tells us to be grateful and thankful always, knowing that we will attract more things into our lives that our on the same mental frequency. At the very least being grateful and thankful is pleasing to God and is worship to him. An other benefit to being in an attitude of gratitude could be that we will pull more things to us to be thankful about. If you doubt what I am saying is true, then try an experiment. For the next 30 days be grateful and thankful for everything and everyone in your life even if it is not desirable and note what happens. Keep track of how many good days you have verses bad days and so forth. If you see no change in your life then you can easily go back to being negative and complaining if you deem it to be more effective in navigating through this game of life we all play just once. It's your call. As for me, I find being positive works better than being negative. And being thankful works better than being resentful.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

May God richly bless you as you get on the right frequency as God and thereby attract "God stuff" into your life!

America certainly believes in president elect Obamba. Never before has so much money spent and attention been placed on a presidential inauguration. I think all the hope and anticipation is good and healthy per se, but what if America gave God the same adoration? Perhaps revival would break out. Looking to a person for deliverance is always a risking deal - it can go wither way. It can turn out good or bad, positive or negative. Whereas looking to God for deliverance is already a done deal it Christ. God always comes through when you need them to when you trust him with all your heart. People come through sometimes, but certainly not all all the time. Not even the Rev. Billy Graham is that impeccable. People are fallible and makes mistakes, but God never does. People change on you, but God never does. People will desert you when you least expect it, but God never does. I am not saying we should not trust people and give our hearts to them - we certainly should. But it should be after we trust God and give our heart to Him first and foremost! If God is your foundation, no hurt hurts that much and no hurt last that long, certainly not forever. Most of the time not even a day. If you are trusting people to make you happy, then you are vulnerable to be hurt by the smallest offenses for a long time and life is too short to be cut that easily. So learn to put your hope in God first and foremost and you will be grounded. IF you choose to place your hope in people alone, then you better get ready for a roller coaster ride that is always fun at first, but gets old after the first few rides.

I remember reading a book by Zig Ziglar when I was a young Christian about 20 years ago. A statement in that book changed my life forever. It said: "Treat the next person you meant as the the important person in the world". When you think about it every single person in the world is the most important person in the world because God created them. Many people alienate others because they think they are the most important person in the world and nobody want to be around an ego-maniac. By taking the attention off of yourself and putting it on others you draw people in. Jesus was the master at this - he knew how to validate people. He knew how to believe in people. He invited a tax collector to party that everyone else despised. Zachaeous was so blessed by Jesus invitation that he changed his heart and gave back all the money he took from others. In fact he even gave them back more money than he took from them. Love gets the best out of people. So the next time you are tempted to despise a person for good reason. Remember the example of Christ and bless them anyway because they are the most important person in the world at that moment from God's perspective. People who seem unlovable often times need the most love. Today communicate to somebody they are the most important person in the world to you. Do it everyday you have life and you will be blessed in countless ways everyday of your life! Do it with loved ones, family, friends, strangers and even perceived enemies - you may be shocked at the results and make a few new friends in the process!

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

May God richly bless you as you communicate to other people you meet throughout the day that:: "They are the most important person in the world" because from God's perspective they are!

Well, we are in the thick of Winter right now and no Spring blooms in sight. That is because the ground is still frozen and covered with a foot of snow. People do funny (or not so funny) things when they are Sun deprived. Pastoral Experience has taught me over the years that during the months of January and February spousal conflict is increased and so are feelings of depression and discouragement. I always counsel people not to make any major decisions until April (o.k. so I lie, the sun will not be out until June) when the sun comes out again. If you make a major decision during the thick of Winter it could be the Sun Affect Disorder speaking and not you. So Hang in there, go "fake bake" if you need to and sip on a non-alcoholic pina colata if necessary, but do not do something you will regret just because you got a bad case of "cabin Fever". Go to a movie or something. I recommend "Marlee and Me". Since Winter already has you singing the blues, you won't mind crying with a theater packed of strangers. You get the picture...do the little things that will pick up your spirits like reading a good book or hang around some fun people who are mature enough to be "joyful always" even in the dead of Winter. I do not have any Scripture for you today, just good old common sense that says: "This too shall pass so hang in there".

May God richly bless you as you manage you moods and emotions these winter months until you can see the Sun again! Praise God you can always see the "son" if you try hard enough!

A pretty historic day today as President Obama officially takes office. Optimism is very high for those who voted for him. For those that did not, skepticism remains. Regardless of your thoughts of President Obama, you can help him to be a better President through your support, submission and prayers. The fact is no President is better or worse than the people around him and the people praying for him. Those that think that President Obama is going to save our country probably have put too much hope in one man's leadership. Those who think he is going to make the economy worse probably do not trust his leadership enough. As is always the truth, reality is usually somewhere in the middle ground. Personally I do not think President Obama is going to heal the country of all our ills, but I do not think he is going to destroy our country either. To think either way is too put too much power and too much confidence in one man's hands. With our American democratic system of checks and balances, nobody is that bad and nobody is that good. There is too much red tape and buerocracy these days for any one President to be that good or too be that bad. That is what the presidency as become in recent years. The president alone does not have the sole power to be great or to be awful. There are just too many voices, too many checks and balances for a president to save or destroy the country alone. So if you think President Obama is going to save the country, you are probably wrong and if you think he is going to destroy the country, you are probably also wrong. The truth is we as a nation helped tear down our country. We are all partly to blame for the bad economy. Greed, selfishness and a lack of reverence and obedience to God has brought our country down, not any one President. And no one president can bring it out of the ashes without the American citizens coming back to God and his Holy Word!The point of today's devotion is: LOOK TO GOD TO SAVE THE COUNTRY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, MAKE THE PRESIDENT BETTER THAN HE WOULD ORDINARILY BE THROUGH YOUR SUPPORT, SUBMISSION AND PRAYERS!

1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. 7And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

8I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

May God richly bless you as you make the President better through your prayers, intercession and thanksgiving!

Here we go again with sub zero temperatures in icy Minnesota. But a heat wave is coming next week with temperatures in the 30's. That is a 40 plus degree shift during the day. It will be nice to have a break from wearing "long johns". Just joking - the "long johns" stay on until March. But spring is coming - it will be here before we know it. Life works allot like that too. Just when it seems like we cannot take it anymore, life changes on us bringing us into a new cycle. It is always darkest before the dawn, but then the sun rises. So those of you tempted to call u-haul and move to Arizona, realize the warm weather, Mosquitoes and humidity will be here before you know it. Those of you tempted to change jobs, realize your new job will have challenges too. Those of you thinking about dumping your spouse in attempts to finding a better one should first realize that the spouse you have now is probably better than the one your going to find. You get the picture: BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED. Like the Minnesotans say: "If you do not like the weather just wait a minute, it will change on you. Life changes too. So wait for the natural cycles to kick in and do not do anything stupid in the mean time. Just a thought.

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

15 Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account. [a]

May God richly bless you as you patiently wait for the seasons to change - they always do!

Wow is it cold today on the outside today in Minnesota - they say it is suppose to be minus 25 degrees overnight and that is without windchill. For years I have told my Californian friends that long johns take the edge off and it is not as cold as it sounds. Well, today, it is as cold as it sounds on the outside, but not the inside. Inside my soul I am toasty warm - snuggle up to the fireplace with a good book warm because Jesus lives in me and I live in him. If Christ was not in my life it would be cold inside of me too. I guess you can say that without Christ I would be cold on the outside and the inside - I would be doubly cold. But because the Holy Spirit lives in me I will never be cold on the inside because God's Spirit is warm inside of me. In fact, it is on fire Hot!

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

May God richly bless you today as you feel the warmth of his Spirit living inside you that is red fire hot!

Well Minnesotan's, can you stand all this reminder of our "sins now being White as snow" ? Wow isn't God great! He gives us more snow than we need, just to get the point across! :-D

Seriously, the Bible says the God gives us more than we need. We may feel that we lack something in our life, whether it be money, love, forgiveness, grace, joy, rest, success etc, but that is just an illusionary perception from our five senses that just is not true from God's perspective.

When you doubt God's lavish abundance in your life, read the Scriptures that remind you that you are lacking no thing in Christ! You do not lack spirituality. You do not lack wholeness. You do not lack health. You do not lack money. You do not lack ________________(fill in the blank). In Christ, you are free from lack and the more that you think that way, the more you will see evidences by your five senses of being true. It all starts from within you and never from without. So do not look outside of yourself to find your abundance. Look for the Christ within you and go free in Jesus name!

1 Corinthians 1:5-10 says: For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

May God richly bless you as you realize that you are lacking nothing with Christ is in your life!

I know I say this every Winter, but at nothing else it helps me to raise my spirits, so here it goes. While you may be tempted to despise the cold whether and all the snow that seems not to want to melt, let me remind you that snow in the Bible symbolizes purity. That our sins were once red as crimson, but are now white as snow. When I grew up in California I never had the daily reminder that my sins are now blotted out and I am clean and pure in Christ. So those of you who are fantasizing about moving to Florida, Texas, Arizona, California or someplace warm right about now, ponder the hidden blessing in living in a Winter Wonderland like Minnesota: You can be reminded nearly every day, December through February that though your sins were once red as crimson, they are now white as snow because of God's marvelous grace in sending Jesus to pay for your sins!

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

16 wash and make yourselves clean.
       Take your evil deeds
       out of my sight!
       Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!
       Seek justice,
       encourage the oppressed. [a]
       Defend the cause of the fatherless,
       plead the case of the widow.

18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
       says the LORD.
       "Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
       though they are red as crimson,
       they shall be like wool.

May God richly bless you as you bless God for giving you a daily reminder that your sins are white as snow in Christ!

As you know I am from San Diego and still follow the Chargers closely. It amazes me that just 5 weeks ago football analyst were saying how "the Chargers were the biggest dissapointment of the 2008 season and were a bunch of underachievers". And a little more than a month latter the same analyst are saying: "This is the most dangerous team in the playoffs". I wonder what they will say on Sunday if they loose the game. Will it be: "They choked just like they always do?". The point I am making is nobody knows the future except God. Everybody else is just making predictions based on current behavior. Once the behavior changes so does the prediction.

Analyst are really mirrors that reflect the current state of the football team or the economy or the country. Their opinions change as circumstances change. God on the other hand does the opposite. "GOD CALLS THINGS THAT ARE NOT AS IF THOUGH THEY WERE". Jesus told Simon Peter he was the ROCK on which he was going to build his church when he still acted like a "REED" that blows in the wind.

If you really want to be more like Jesus then you will see the good in people and in things before they look good to the human eye. The Bible calls this faith. If spouses applied this to their marriage then they will see their spouses as being special even when they look average at best. They will see their children as being good and wholesome even when they make mistakes. And by projecting that goodness onto your spouse, children and friends you increase the odds of them performing at their best. The opposite is also true, See people as losers and you increase the odds of them failing. Why? Because of people rise and fall according to your expectations of them.

People know when you believe in them and they know when you don't. Eat the fish and spit out the bones, but I would argue that 2009 will be a better year for you if you expect it to be. And your marriage will be a better marriage if you assume it already is! In life you pretty much get what you expect to. So what are you expecting? What are you thinking about? If you knew without a doubt that your thoughts were going to come true every time, what would you think about? Just a thought. We have all heard the expression: "Be careful what you wish fr because you just might get it".

May God richly bless you as you think the best of people and circumstances and not the worse.

My favorite movie of the new year is "Marlee and Me", but keep in mind it is the first movie I have seen in 2009. With that said, I would not be surprised if it holds up to be my #1 at the end of the year. I will not give the movie away - but be warned, you will laugh and cry allot! As most animal stories do, it has several good messages.

One of my favorite scenes is when Jenny (the wife/mom) wants to get rid of Marlee (the dog) because they have young kids now and Marlee is running them over and making a mess of the house. John (the husband) looks at Jenny and says something to the affect: "We cannot get rid of Marlee now, he has become part of the family...when I get old, are you going to get rid of me too?". The scene meant allot to me because three years ago I had the same conversation with my wife and used pretty much the same words, but it had to do with our cat, Zebbie. We brought home a new puppy (Zack) and he tormented the cat, so in retaliation she peeped all over the house every day. When Michelle said she thought we should take the cat to the pound, I said: "When I am old and peeing my pants, are you going to ship me off to a nursing home?....The cat stays, we will love her back to health".

While I could have worded it differently and been a little more gentle, my conviction was right on. I am not a cat person and I didn't even like the cat because I found her to be arrogant and distant. I bought the cat for Michelle who loves cats a week after we moved to Minnesota 13 years ago and even though I did not like her much she became apart of the Barnett family. I was standing my ground, I knew I was right to keep a cat I didn't even like because it was the right thing to do.

I prayed that the cat would adjust to the dog. I brought home canned cat food and a toy. It worked! Within a few days the cat was back to eating dry food again and has never peed on the carpet since. Oh yeah, I also bought the best "cat pee cleaner" known to man at $50.00 a bottle and the best "puppy pee cleaner" at $50.00 a bottle while I was at it.

The point I am making is, we live in a throw away society where we get rid of things, pets, cats, dogs and even spouses when they inconvenience us. If you have a cat, dog or spouse you are tempted to get rid of, then I urge you to love them back to health and bring home the "canned" food. In other words, do what you need to do to demonstrate love to the thing, pet or person who you are tempting to cut out of your life because love changes behavior.

The easier thing to do is take the "dog", "Cat" "Spouse" to the "pound". But everybody else does that. Be a cut above the average person in America today and do the difficult thing. Keep the Dog...Keep the Cat...Keep the Spouse and choose to love them back to health. When you do, they will stop "peeing on your carpet".

May God richly bless you as you keep and not throw away your inconvenienced and strained relationships with pets and people!

It has been well documented that many people make New Years resolutions hoping to change and give up those resolutions altogether by March. I have noticed a little trick that works when it comes to making life changes. Instead of stating what you want to change in your life, praise it in the present tense as if it is already true. For example instead of saying, "God help me to be a better person, husband father etc" say in faith on a regular basis: "God I thank you that I am a good husband and with your help you are making me a better husband today. thank you for showing me how I can love my wife as Christ loved the church today". Research shows that your subconscious mind takes every word you say seriously. So we you keep telling yourself "I am not a good Husband, Father, person, but I hope to be", you will receive those results that you prayed for. But if you can put your desired change in the positive saying: "God thank you for delivering me from smoking", the subconscious mind responds accordingly. Eat the fish and spit out the bones. All I am saying is pray like Jesus said to pray and "Believe you have already received what you desire". Praying in the affirmative as if the results are already here helps accomplish this. Give it try and led the Holy Spirit guide you and direct you in thanking God for the finished work for it is already done!

22"Have[f] faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."[g]

May God richly bless you as you thank God for the end results before you see them!

As a pastor for many years now I have seen two extremes in people's approach to "New Years". They either 1) overcompensate for the previous year and make radical changes or they 2) Give up because they deem that "things are never going to change" and stay with the status Quo.

Surely there is nothing wrong with making radical changes at times or with staying with the status Quo, it just depends on why. Before you go to one extreme or the another, let me give you a few observations. People who swing from one pole or to another are rarely happy long term and tend to cause more problems by doing too much changing in a short periods of time. The changes rarely last and the person is bounced around like a ping pong ball. They spend allot of time, energy and even money trying to mop up their perpetual problems that they induced themselves by being too spastic.

On the other hand people who never change and stay with the status quo maybe stable, but they can get stuck in a rut and never really live life. Instead of Always changing or never changing, there is a healthier middle ground that says "make the changes you can and should make for the benefit of all involved." These changes are not self serving but benefit the whole family and just not one person. Making changes for change sake is not productive, but neither is staying in a rut out of fear. Try new things and make changes, but do it slowly, methodically and most of all in The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ who is always intentional for the right reasons. The Bible warns us to avoid all extremes and seek a more balanced middle ground in all areas of our life. Those persons that bounce between extremes are out of balance. Those that stay stuck one one extreme or the other are likewise out of balance. But the person who can easily slide in between extremes and shift from one extreme to the other without getting stuck is a wise person who listens to the Christ within. The Holy Spirit will guide you if you surrender control to Him. He will nudge you when you you have gone to far win one direction and need to swing back a little in a healthier middle position.

May God richly bless you as you avoid the two extremes of changing everything in your life and changing nothing - seek to find the healthy balanced middle ground and you will indeed be blessed!

It is nice when life works out the way you hoped for. Yesterday I took my son, Maxwell to the big Vikings game against the New Your Giants. For months, he has been asking to go "to a real game on a Sunday and not just a pre-season game like last time". So I surprised him with tickets hoping for a Viking's win because Maxwell takes every loss personally. I like to observe my sons when I can because I learn so much by just watching them. What impressed me so much about Maxwell's disposition yesterday is that he was positive and optimistic even when it looked like the Vikings were going to loose. After the Vikings threw an interception late in the game, you could hear a pin drop and you could tell allot of fans gave up, but not Maxwell. Throughout the entire game he kept saying like a mantra: "The Vikings are going to win" even when it did not look probable to many. And when the field goal kicker lined up to kick a 50 yard field goal goal with five seconds left in the game, Maxwell grabbed my hand real tight and said: "He's going to make it Dad, I promise!" He definitely demonstrated "Childlike" faith and hand faith bigger than a "mustard seed". After the kick went through the "uprights", he jumped up and down for what seemed like five minutes declaring: "The Vikings did it - they are going to the playoffs".

This true story may seem like no big deal for most people, but given my son's natural temperament of being mostly "melachcholy" right now, his demeanor yesterday at the game was truly transcendent. For example, "melancholies" are suppose to be negative and critical when things do not go their way...Maxwell was upbeat and positive the entire game. "Melancholies are not suppose to like big crowds and prefer to by themselves in seclusion...but Maxwell was in a closed dome with 64,000 other people and loved it. Melancholies are not suppose to be expressive and like to keep their thoughts and feelings to themselves...but Maxwell was talking, cheering and yelling throughout the game and demonstrated great emotion several times. In contrast, I probably seemed like the "Melancholy" to him. It just goes to show, you cannot judge a book by it's cover and we can all rise above our natural temperaments when we so choose to. We all know by now that life is a choice. For example, If I am sad it is because I chose to be sad. If I am joyful it is because I chose to be joyful. What a gift God gave to humanity - the ability to choose our moods and emotions despite the negative external circumstances around us! That is freedom for those disciplined enough to exercise it!

May God richly bless you as you look for opportunities to rise above what may be natural for you and others!

We are now that Christmas is the celebrating of Jesus Christ born into the world so he could die on a cross and be the savior of the world. but why did God allow his son to be born in a stable instead of a palace. If Jesus was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords then naturally you would expect him to be born in a Castle or something a little more appealing than an animal barn.

I believe that God intentionally has Jesus born in a barn so we could understand the hidden meaning behind Christmas: Jesus resides in the midst of life's disappointments. This Christmas season do not look at you in-laws barn (their external behavior that drives you nuts), but instead look for the Christ living inside the barn. Perhaps he is in there somewhere. If he is not, then at least you disciplined your mind to look for the Christ. If you take it one step further and choose to see the Christ within before he is inside the barn, then perhaps you are a spiritual adept who "calls things that are not as if though they were". Jesus called Simon which means reed Peter which means "rock" while he was still acting like a wishy-washy reed. Perhaps God will use your faith in looking for the Christ Within to actually bring about the Christ within family, friends and undesirable circumstances this Christmas Season and beyond!

May God richly bless you this Christmas season as you look for the Christ inside the barn and not just the barn itself.

I heard of a true account of a couple buying a Christmas tree that has a good message to it.

Searching through row upon row of Christmas trees, my husband Norm and I picked one we liked. Then I noticed the one being held by a women nearby "the" perfect tree. I watched as she carried it around the lot ad couldn't believe my eyes when she set it aside.I ditched ours and ran over to grab the coveted tree. " Aren't we lucky?" I said to Norm. "I do feel a little guilty, though, for taking it before she could change her mind." "Don't worry," he replied. "She just ran over and snatched our."

I believe this is a case of the "Grass looks greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome. It is human nature to think the Christmas tree the other person is holding is better than the one I am holding. God blesses the person who just assumes they have picked out the best tree on the lot through the guidance of the holy Spirit!

Don't be another person who wished they married a different spouse, took a different job, or lived some place else. Be a rear bird that is excited about life and believes everything is just perfect the way it is today. In a nutshell that is the Christmas message. To see Christ in everybody and in everything, even in a manger!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus".

May God richly bless you this Christmas season as you discipline your mind to see Jesus Christ in every circumstance and believe that God has given you his very best in every way! This should lead to a spirit of thanksgiving and joy instead of comparisons and disappointment!

In the rush of last minute Christmas shopping, a women bought a box of fifty identical Christmas greeting cards. without bothering to read the verse, she hastily signed and addressed all but one of them. Several days after they had been mailed, she came across the one card that hadn't been sent, and she looked at the message she had sent. She was horrified to read: "This card is just to say...a little gift is on the way."

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

The moral of this hopefully fictional story is: Slow down enough to know what you are thinking, saying and doing this Christmas Season!

May God richly bless you as you slow down enough to be conscious this Christmas Season!

Around 5:00 A.M. on Christmas morning, a minister walked through the dimly lit sanctuary. The church looked beautiful and was majestically set up for the Christmas services that would soon take place. In anticipation of the day, he went to the nativity display and prepared to say a prayer. To his chagrin the little Christ child figure was missing. He momentarily looked around the immediate vicinity to see if it had been misplaced. when he didn't find it he began a full-scale investigation of the entire building. unfortunately, the nativity piece was never found and it greatly troubled the minister. He was so upset by the seemingly callous behavior of some prankster or thief, the minister brought the incident up in each of the services. with his agitation evident to all, he declared, "The Christ child must be returned to the creche before this Christmas Day is over." Sadly, nighttime fell with no sign of the piece so the minister set out for a meditative stroll in the wintry dark. Along the way he encountered a little boy named Johnny Mullaney who belonged to his church. Johnny came from a very poor family but his spirits couldn't have been any higher than this Christmas evening. He was inadequately dressed for the cold but that didn't stop him from pulling his new priced gift, a bright red wagon. The minister knew such a gift was a major sacrifice for Johnny's parents so he hurried across the street to speak with little about his special gift. His demeanor radically changed when he saw the Christ child riding in the wagon. the furor of the day seemed to erupt as he lectured Johnny about the severity of stealing things from the church. the little boy began to cry as he replied, "But I didn't steal the Christ child. I've been praying for a red wagon and I promised Him that if I got it, I'd take Him out for the first ride." (story taken from a 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen)

I think that pastor received a lesson from God: do not be too hasty to judge or draw conclusions. It seems that around the Holidays are emotions are intensified and exaggerated. It is easy to let our emotions run our minds. The Bile tells us to control our minds and submit them to God.

37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

May God richly bless you as you surrender your anxious thoughts and concerns to Him this Christmas season!

During the Desert Storm invasion of Kuwait and Iraq Col. William Past received an urgent fax from headquarters stating that 400 cases of jelly were not accounted for in the Colonel's records. A private looked but to no avail. A second fax came rather quickly and sounded more urgent than the first. It stated that the end of the month was approaching and that every effort must be given to find the jelly or account for it. The Colonel disregarded the fax request. A third fax came and demanded that the colonel immediately respond to the need to find the jelly or else. Colonel Post responded by fax, "Look, I can find the jelly or I can kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Which do you prefer? I can't do both."

Have you ever noticed that we often fall victim to the "tyranny of the urgent?" Are you wasting time with the non-essentials or are you focusing on what is really important from God's perspective?"

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-41

A Young girl sat at the counter of an ice cream store. "How much is an ice cream sundae? she asked. "$2.50", the waitress said with a hardy glance at the child. the girl opened her fist and looked at her coins. She asked, "How much is a dish of just plain ice cream?" Annoyed, the waitress snapped, "$1.50". The girl counted out $1.50 and handed it to the waitress. "I'll take the plain ice cream," she said.

The Waitress took the money without a word and brought the ice cream. After the small customer had eaten and left, the waitress, cleaning up, suddenly flushed with shame. There, placed neatly beside the dish were four quarters - her very generous tip.

Philippians 2:1-4

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

May God richly bless you as you sacrifice your desires for the benefit of others this Christmas Season!

Mamie made frequent trips to the branch office. One day she was confronted with a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerks. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked, "Why don't you use the stamp machine? You can get all the stamps you need and you won't have to stand in line." Mamie said, "I know, but the machine can't ask me about my arthritis." Even in this technological age people still need human contact. Are you poised enough and observant enough to notice the person who needs a human touch this Christmas Season? It can be as simple as a warm smile and a simple acknowledgment. The malls are full of people this time of year who are asking themselves, one simple question: "Am I invisible to the World". Every smile you give a stranger, reminds a person that that are seen and have a life! That they matter to God and to people!

1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

May God richly bless you as you take time to see a need a meet it this Christmas Season!

A guy named Bob receives a free ticket the the Super Bowl from his company. About halfway through the first quarter, Bob notices a better seat 10 rows off the field right on the 50 yard line. He decides to take a chance and make his way through the stadium and around security guards to the empty seat.

As he sits down, he asks the gentlemen next to him, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" The man says no.

Now, very excited to be in such a great seat for the game, Bob again inquires of the man next to him, "This is incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the Super Bowl and not use it?"

The man replies, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me, I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Super bowl we haven't been together since we got married in 1967."

"Well, that's really sad," says Bob, "but still, couldn't you find someone to take the seat? A relative or a close friend?"

Hopefully this is a fictional story with a great reminder: To put first things first this Christmas Season. God should be #1, your family should be # 2. Who is #3, #4, and #5? If Work is # 1 or #2 on your list then your priorities are out of whack. .

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Recently I saw a young eight year old boy being interviewed who just wrote a book called "How to talk to girls". It is already a best seller. The interviewer asked the young author, "What inspired you to right a book about relationships at the age of age". His response was: "When I was on the playground for recess, I noticed that other boys would try to impress the girl;s, but they were not any good at getting the girls to like them. I began to notice all the things the boys did wrong and I wrote a book about it for a class assignment". Some of his suggestions were, "comb your hair" and "don't wear sweatpants". My favorite was:"Only get to know one girl at a time because if you are friends with too many you will forget who told you want and then they will all eventually leave you because they were not special to you". The material in this book was so profound, the teacher showed it to the principle and the principal entered it into a national competition and the book won first price. The media got whiff out it and now it is a published best seller all because an eight year old boy noticed and observed what boys where doing wrong in their attempts to talk to girls. Life is a great teacher if we would just learn from observation.

25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

28 For the LORD loves the just
       and will not forsake his faithful ones.
       They will be protected forever,
       but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;

30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.

33 but the LORD will not leave them in their power
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

34 Wait for the LORD
       and keep his way.
       He will exalt you to inherit the land;
       when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,

36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.

37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future [b] for the man of peace.

38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future [c] of the wicked will be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

May God bless you as you choose to learn from observation what to do and what not to do in the game of life - Simple observation can be a great teacher!

In some parts of Mexico hot springs and cold springs are found side by side and because of the convenience of this natural phenomenon the women often bring their laundry and boil their clothe in the hot springs and then rinse then in the cold ones. A tourist, who was watching this procedure commented to his Mexican friend and guide: "I imagine that they think old Mother Nature is pretty generous to supply such ample, clean hot and cold water here side by side for their free use?" The guide replied, "No senor, there is much grumbling because she supplies no soap."

QUESTION: Are you grateful for what you have in life or are you one of those person who always notices what's wrong and complains about it. The ancients knew the secret to life: THE MORE GRATEFUL YOU ARE, THE MORE THINGS YOU WILL HAVE IN YOUR LIFE TO BE GRATEFUL ABOUT. BUT IF YOU COMPLAIN, LIFE WILL GIVE YOU MORE PROBLEMS TO COMPLAIN ABOUT.

If you doubt what I say is true - try it. Be grateful for 6 weeks in a row and observe what happens. Then if you must, complain about everything and everybody for six weeks in a row and see what happens. If you are like me, your six weeks of complaining will be cut short by 5 weeks, unable to endure one more minute of whining. While complaining crushes the human spirit, a joyous thanks giving to God elevates it to New Heights!

So when the Bible tells us to be joyful always, it is giving us the secret to attracting more good things into out life! And at the very least a grateful heart pleases God because he wants his children to be thankful for what he has made.

Psalm 104 says:

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul.
O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

2 He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent

3 and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.

7 But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.

10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.

11 They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

14 He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing forth food from the earth:

15 wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.

16 The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the conveys. [b]

20 You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

24 How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

25 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.

26 There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

28 When you give it to them,
       they gather it up;
       when you open your hand,
       they are satisfied with good things.

29 When you hide your face,
       they are terrified;
       when you take away their breath,
       they die and return to the dust.

30 When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

33 I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

35 But may sinners vanish from the earth
       and the wicked be no more.
       Praise the LORD, O my soul.
       Praise the LORD. [c]

May God richly bless you as you learn the art of being grateful for everything and everybody in your life because it all come from the Lord!

I know I am taking a big risk by share this true story, so if you are grossed out or offended I apologize. A friend sent me this story recently and it does have a good message. I think it is worth the risk. Most of us never ask for help because we are too proud, After reading this true account, I think we will all feel better about our own humiliating circumstances and more readily surrender our ego that keeps us from asking for help when we need it!

They were driving back down the mountain, when she gradually began to realize that she should not have had that extra latte. They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere! Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for awhile. Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her go beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car.

Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor of the moment, she answered her date's concerns about' what is taking so long' with a reply that indeed, she was 'freezing her butt off' and in need of some assistance! He came around the car as she tried to cover herself with her sweater and then, as she looked imploringly into his eyes, he burst out laughing. She too, got the giggles and when they finally managed to compose themselves, they assessed her dilemma. Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem.

Again I apologize if today's illustration was offensive and crude to you.The fact that the two got married and all turned out well gave me the peace of mind to share this story. If you can look past the crudeness and the humor of it though, there is a potent message for us all. The message is: WE NEED EACH OTHER. Sometimes in life we get stuck and we need the help of another to get free. It is humbling and embarrassing to ask for help sometimes, but it sure beats being stuck forever! And whatever tough spot you are in, it probably will never be as embarrassing as the story you just read. So may you be empowered to boldly and humbly ask a person for help the next time you get stuck in life.

10 If one falls down,
       his friend can help him up.
       But pity the man who falls
       and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

May God richly bless you as you relinquish your pride and ask others for help the next time you get stuck.

An elderly man in phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing: 45 years of misery is enough."

"We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." Then he hangs up.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "Your not getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I am calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?"

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife and says: "Okay, they re both coming for home for Christmas and paying their own fares."

This funny story is cute because it happened to someone else. Truth be told, nobody likes to be deceived and manipulated. Remember that, "what goes around comes around"....and "you will reap what you so". So give honestly and truthfulness to others and they will reciprocate it back to you.

On the News recently, I heard that many married couples who disparately want a divorce are holding off until the economy rebounds. Because the average divorce in America will cost roughly $250,000, divorces are way down this year. One couple married for seven years with two small children were interviewed for this News Story. They said they despise each other and are sick of seeing each other's face, but will put off the divorce until the economy rebounds in a couple of years. They have two children, but live in opposite rooms in the house in separate bedrooms and act like strangers as much as possible. The thought struck me, "If they are going to remain married for two more years anyway until the economy rebounds, why not work on the marriage in the meantime. Within two years they can have an awesome marriage." Instead they said, they will not work on the marriage and the decision has already been made. They will never love each other again and they will just stick it out for the next two years...not for their young children, but for the economy to get better. That is so sad because love is not an emotion, love is a choice. If they chose to work on the marriage for the next two years instead of just enduring each other, they would not have to even consider a divorce because their marriage would be full of love! The fact is, love is always a choice no matter who your spouse is or would be "only if..." It is and always will be a choice!
Just a thought. Consider one more thought. God loves you even when you are not perfect, so why not try to be "godlike" and love you imperfect spouse! The Bible says this attitude pleases God! Just another thought!

May God richly bless you as you realize love is a choice and not just an emotion!

In August 1620, puritans from England left their homes and the comforts they had known to begin a new life in the new world. They boarded two small ships, the Speedwell and the Mayflower, to pursue religious freedom in America. Not long after leaving, the speedwell developed leaks. Most of her passengers and crew transferred over to the Mayflower before the Speedwell turned back. A total of 102 pilgrims suffered through 67 days of rough sailing before they arrived at Plymouth Bay in November. There was nobody to greet them, no stores for supplies, nor homes to buy. they endured the hardship of a very cold winter and the perils of sickness. At one point only six people were well enough to care for the sick and dying.

By March of the following year, only 51 of the original 102 were still alive and it would be another two years before a ship arrived with supplies. Nonetheless, these brave pioneers celebrated their new found freedom to worship as they desired. This may have been a difficult year for you, but the fact remains, we still have much for which we can be thankful. Even in hardship we can rest on the promise of God's presence.

14 When times are good, be happy;
       but when times are bad, consider:
       God has made the one
       as well as the other.
       Therefore, a man cannot discover
       anything about his future.

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.19Do not put out the Spirit's fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good.

When the other fellow does something without being told, he overstepping his bounds.

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

May God richly bless you as you learn the art of turning off your overactive Mind/brain and become still and at peace without judgment about yourself nor others! This really is a blessing for those who are daring enough to work towards this amazing mental discipline of living day to day, moment to moment without judgment!

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside of us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self - pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'which wolf wins?'

13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."[b] 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

May God richly bless you as you choose to feed the spirit and not the flesh by thinking about the right things!

Christians are to be different than the world in at least one major way: While the world is programmed to see like as it is and respond accordingly. The Christian is programmed by the Holy Spirit to see life as it can be by faith. Instead of being ruled by external circumstances, the Christian is to be a co-creator with God. God invites us to use our faith to move mountains. God moves the mountains, but He uses our faith to do it. If you do not like your current life, then mentally paint it as you want it to be and believe it is already this way and thank God for it. This is called faith and without it you are just like the world. But with faith in God, " nothing is impossible with him....all things are possible for those who believe" and "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength".

Recently, I was about to go on a roller coaster with my son Mitchell, and he was scared and had some hesitation. I told him to see himself having fun and being happy that he went on the roller coaster afterwards when it was all done two minutes from now. Just before the roller coaster took off, he said he would give it a try. After the ride was over my head was spinning and I was dizzy, but I heard him say, "Thanks Dad, your trick worked, I saw myself riding on the scary roller coaster having fun and laughing and I laughed the whole way because it was fun just like you said...can we do it again?" I replied, "after I go puke first" and we both laughed and then rode it again!

May God richly bless you as you see life not as it is, but as it can be - full of fun, excitement and laughter! And mostly full of God and his blessings!

Yesterdays Devotional was so popular and well received and I wanted to build off it it. But first here is a review of yesterday's devotional:

Lately I have been hearing from people how bad things are from the economy to our President Elect. I have even been getting e-mails detailing how the next President is the Anti - Christ and on and on it goes. A part of me wants to respond to the e-mails and remind Christians that the Ant i- Christ is going to rise up out of Israel, not the United States of America, but I think better of it and do not respond to such e-mails because they are ridiculous. Truth be told, our personal woes have nothing to do with the economy, our spouse, our enemies nor our next president. Our worst enemy is ourselves!

Saints, Mystics and Sages have know the secret of life for a long time, but only a few ever have the courage and faith to practice it. Many scoff at the concept because it seems too simple. Most scoff at it because it places responsibility onto each of our shoulders. Do you want to hear this truth? Are you ready for it? The prophets in the Bible spoke of it. Buddha taught it. Every religion in the world teaches it in one form or another. Jesus was the master teacher who perfected the concept and the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Luke 6-7 creatively repeats the truth from many different angles. The secret of life in a nutshell is: "YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY THROUGH YOUR THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, WORDS AND ACTIONS"!

In other words, if you think life stinks it is going to stink and if you think life is good is ti going to be good. It is what you think it is. Nothing more and nothing less! For example, during the Vikings game yesterday, my son and I were grossly upset when the Packers scored two touch towns back to back to take the lead. After a few minutes of tearing down the Vikings with our words by proclaiming in unison, "The Viking stink", I regained my common sense and said, "Maxwell, our attitude is unproductive and will surely cause the Vikings to loose if we continue in this frame of mind". Right there, we prayed to God, and asked for forgiveness for our negative attitudes and pledged to be joyful and happy whether they won or loss. After we prayed, my son Maxwell went into his room, dug out his Vikings Jersey and proclaimed, "Now they will win for sure because our attitudes are good and plus I am wearing my Vikings shirt."

While I am not going to take credit for the Vikings win as the Packers shanked a field goal in the closing seconds, I do know we re-created our reality from proclaiming: "The Vikings stink" to "Go Vikings, you can win...and even if you don't we are going to be joyful anyway because it is just a game".

Eat the fish and spit out the bones but truth be told, you are constantly creating your reality through your thoughts, words, emotions actions and reactions. My mentor once said, "It does not matter what happens to you, what really matters is what happens inside of you".

That was yesterday's devotional and I was encouraged by the number of people who said it was just what they need to hear. One person even said I should write a book on the topic. Perhaps inside, we all know that the secret to life is that we do create our own realities through our thoughts, feelings, words, actions and re-actions, but it is just so much easier to blame the economy, the president, our spouse, kids, job or whatever we can use as a scape goat to avoid the responsibility of doing something proactive to alleviate our pain. Most people just fantasize and hope that others will fix their problems for them. Life has never worked that way and it never will.

In most cases "Welfare" does not work because lazy people want a free lunch without paying the price for it. While most of us do not have a welfare mindset with money, I find that many Christians have a "welfare" mindset in their relationships, especially in marriage. They do not sow the right seed that will lead to a fruitful marriage and they get angry at their spouse when they do the same.

But truth be told, our pain will not go away until we assume responsibility and plant a new seed for a greater harvest. The Bible says that what we think, feel, believe, say and do are like seeds that we plant into the soil of our heart and eventually what we think will grow roots and produce a harvest. So in life, if you do not like the harvest you are reaping, plant a better seed within your own heart because that is where the Kingdom of God grows. The best seeds you can possible plant in your heart is the Word of God. If you plant anything less, you will get some thorns, thistles and tumble weeds. Lazy sowing always leads to an unfruitful Harvest. If you want hope, faith and love in your life, then you will have to plant thought seeds of hope, faith and love. You do not get faith, by thinking fear and you do not get love, by thinking hate. You do not get peace by thinking resentment. You get the picture.

May God richly bless you as you plant the best seed and not those that are readily available and easiest to plant.

Lately I have been hearing from people how bad things are from the economy to our president elect. I have even been getting e-mails detailing how the next president is the anti Christ and on and on it goes. A part of me wants to respond to the e-mails and remind Christians that the Anti- Christ is going to rise up out of Israel, not the United States of America, but I think better of it and do not respond to such e-mails because they are ridiculous. Truth be told, our personal woes have nothing to do with the economy, our spouse, our enemies nor our next president. Our worst enemy is ourselves!

Saints, Mystics and Sages have know the secret of life for a long time, but only a few ever have the courage and faith to practice it. Many scoff at the concept because it seems too simple. Most scoff at it because it places responsibility onto each of our shoulders. Do you want to hear this truth? Are you ready for it? The prophets in the Bible spoke of it. Buddha taught it. Every religion in the world teaches it in one form or the other. Jesus was the master teacher who perfected the concept and the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Luke 6-7 creatively repeats the truth from many different angles. The secret of life in a nutshell is: "YOU CREATE YOUR OWN REALITY THROUGH YOUR THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, WORDS AND ACTIONS"!

In other words, if you think life stinks it is going to stink and if you think life is good is ti going to be good. It is what you think it is. Nothing more and nothing less! For example, during the Vikings game yesterday, my son and I were grossly upset when the packers scored two touch towns back to back to take the lead. After a few minutes of tearing down the Vikings with our words by proclaiming in unison, "The viking stink", I regained my common sense and said, "Maxwell, our attitude is unproductive and will surely cause the Vikings to loose if we continue in this frame of mind.. Right there, we prayed to God, and asked for forgiveness for our negative attitudes and pledged to be joyful and happy whether they won or loss. After we prayed, my son Maxwell went into his room, dug out his Vikings Jersey and proclaimed, "Now they will win for sure because our attitudes are good and plus I am wearing my Vikings shirt."

While I am not going to take credit for the Vikings win as the packers shanked a field goal in the closing seconds, I do know we re-created our reality from proclaiming: "The Vikings stink" to "Go Vikings, you can win...and even if you don't we are going to be joyful anyway because it is just a game".

May God richly bless you as you keep in mind that you are constantly creating and recreating your reality through your thoughts, feelings, words, actions and reactions to life and to people.

In 1996, a group of Baptist women in Kigali, Rwanda, decided that their three hour prayer meetings weren't log enough. They doubled their efforts and started devoting six hours to pray for their war-torn country which has seen the massive dependence on God. Humble dependency upon God is more evident in the lives of these women than many Christians across the world. How many Christian spend 1 hour a day in prayer, let alone six? Research tells us that the average evangelical Christian spends less that 2 minutes a day in prayer. Billy Graham says: "85% of all Christians live defeated lives". Perhaps their is a correlation between only praying 2 minutes a day and being defeated. Christians are called to live continually in a state of dependence on God throughout the day. Just like a fish swims in water, so to Christians, "move and have their being in Christ".

16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

May God richly bless you as you learn the knack of "praying continually" throughout the day.

Well did the candidate you voted for yesterday win or lose? Are you bummed out or are you pumped? I find that some people get their identity from being a Republican or a Democrat. But the truth is, there is no Democrats or Republicans in Heaven, only "Christ Followers" who love God and live for him. If you feel overtly elated that your candidate won perhaps your identity is not in Christ like it should be. If you are depressed that your candidate lost, perhaps your identity is not in Christ like it should be. The fact is, this side if Heaven both Republicans and Democrats will let you down, but Jesus Christ never will. He is the only one who can save our country anyway because he is the SAVIOR! No human president can do that - only JESUS can! So if your candidate lost, look to JESUS, the only real SAVIOR. If your candidate won, look to JESUS, the only real SAVIOR!

May God richly bless you as you look to Lord JESUS to be SAVIOR and not a human president who has no such power anyway!

Today is the big vote to determine who is the next president of this great country we call the United States of America. While it is important that we vote in a good and qualified candidate to lead our country, I have made some observations in my 40 years of life regarding the presidency that you may agree or disagree with. Since I have been alive, we have had spiritual presidents who loved God and lived for him and we have had not so spiritual presidents who seemed to be selfish and live more for themselves than for their God or their country. But it appears that the spiritual presidents who have good hearts are only as good as the people around them. And it seems that the unspiritual presents who motives where for themselves first are only as good as the people around them. What I mean is: a good president can be made worse and a bad president can be made better by the people around them in office, but also by the American Public at large. Whoever our next president is, they will be made better by the love, support, submission and most importantly by the prayers of the 350 million American citizens who live in this country. So if your candidate wins today do not be too elated realizing that he can be made worse by the people around him and the American public. If your candidate looses today do not be too discouraged realizing the candidate you did not vote for can be made better by the people around him and by the prayers and support of the American public. As Christians our hope is in God and God can work through any open vessel. Whoever our next president is, let us pray that he will be an open vessel that God can work through for his glory.

13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

May God richly bless you as you make the next president better through your prays and submission!

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year olds: "what does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined.

Rebecca, age 8 said: "when my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toe nails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. that's love."

Chrissy, age 6 said: "Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

Danny, age 7 said: "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure it taste OK."

Emily age 8 said: "Love is when you kiss all the time. then you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss."

Bobby, age 5 said: "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas time if you stop opening presents and listen."

Noell, age 7 said: "Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."

Chris, age 8 said, "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelling and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Mel Gibson."

Mark, age 6 said: "Love is when Mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it is gross."

Jessica, age 8 said, "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you do, say it allot. People forget."

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

God not only created the Universe and everything in it thousands of years ago, God is the creator of each new day! God creates all things new on a daily basis if we let him. Every day belongs to him, even October 31st. While devil worshipers claim that day as their national holiday, it belongs to God.

Every day belongs to God! If bad things happen today, the day still belongs to God. If good things happen today, the day still belongs to God. Whatever happens the day still belongs to God! Don't blame God if you have a bad day because we know that the scriptures teach us that "Everything God created is good and profitable". The pain, hurt, sin, disappointment in your day did not come from God anyway. It either came from you, another person, sin, the world or the Devil. God did not create sin, man did. God did not create suffering, man did. God did not create selfishness, man did. Instead of focusing on all the evils that man created, look at the beautiful day God created today.

Separate the day from the suffering and you just learned the secret of the Christian life and empowered your self to "rejoice always". So rejoice and marvel in the beautiful day that God create today because it is all around us if only we have eyes to see it! King David wrote:"This is the day that the Lord created, let us be glad and rejoice in it"

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

May God richly bless you as you experience the beautiful new day God created for you today!

In recent years the Hubble space telescope too some interesting photographs from out space. Scientist focused the space telescope on a very small spot in the sky, near the handle of the big dipper, a spot about the size of a grain of sand viewed at arms length. Photographing that little spot, the telescope spied at least 1,500 galaxies in the universe we humans have never seen before - spirals and ellipticals and odd shapes - all in that one little spot! Scientist now calculate that the universe is filled with 50 billion galaxies. Some galaxies are relatively close to ours, and others are unimaginely distant in space and time. Some Christians get nervous when they hear about the possibility of being other earths in other galaxies with people on them. In fact is every earth in each 150 billion galaxies had 6 billion people on them then that equals out to be like affinity of people. Such possibilities encourage me rather than discourage me because if God can keep track of billions of people then he certainly knows about my needs. NOTHING IS TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL FOR GOD TO TAKE CARE OF!

May God richly bless you as you surrender to him your small problems and your big problems because nothing is too big or small for God who loves you!

Have you ever heard of a guillemot? Well a guillemot is a small arctic sea bird that lives on the rocky cliffs of the northern coastal regions. These birds flock together by the thousands in comparatively small areas. Because of the crowded conditions, hundreds of females lay their pear-shaped eggs side by side on a narrow ledge, in a long row. Since the eggs all look alike, it is incredible that a mother bird can identify those who belong to her. Studies show how that she knows her own eggs so well that when even one is moved, she finds it and returns it to the original location. What does the guillemot tell you about God? How is the Lord revealing himself in this little bird? The Guillemot illustrates how intimately acquainted God is with each and every one of us that belong to Him. He knows us just as surely as that mother bird knows her eggs!

Imagine the vast expanse of such knowledge. The point is, nothing is so great that he can't comprehend it, and nothing is so insignificant that it would be unimportant to Him.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
       All the days ordained for me
       were written in your book
       before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
       they would outnumber the grains of sand.
       When I awake,
       I am still with you.

19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

A sign in a high school restroom read: "NOTICE! In the event of an atomic attack, the federal ruling against prayer in this school will be temporarily suspended."

Abraham Lincoln wrote an address to the nation during the Civil War that was at least as important as the Gettysburg Address, but hardly ever talked about and never taught in public schools these days. It could have been written today, let alone 145 years ago.

It was his proclamation for a national - fast day, by which he did designate and set apart Thursday the 30th day of April 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.

Lincoln wrote: "It is the duty of the nations as well as as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord. The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

May God richly bless you as you humble yourself in prayer and prepare your soul to submit to the next president of this great land that disparately needs to come back to the Lord and repent from their self-seeking ways!

Today is my wife's Birthday and she looks allot younger than she really is! In shopping for her I had to put myself in her shoes and ask myself what would I want if I were Michelle?, not what would I want if I were me?. There's a big difference. So I came up with scented candles, girl movies and music Cd's from the 80,s. Not to mention music cards from myself and my two boys containing 80's music which was kind of the theme we played off of. You may be protesting, " but where are the spiritual books ...where are the spiritual gifts"? The answer is: AS HER HUSBAND, I AM TO BE HER SPIRITUAL GIFT AND LOVE HER AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH. I AM TO BE HER SPIRITUAL BOOK! If I am her spiritual book, then I can balance her birthday gifts out with a little bit of carnality like music from the 80's. :-) Even though she liked the gifts, I think she like even more that I spent under $100.00 (barely) and did not embarrass her on her birthday. However I still have some time left! But I know by far, it is not what I give her that validates her, it is how I treat her all year long.

The fact is, what people really want on their birthday or any day for that matter is to be loved. If we are loved it is a good day and if we are not it is a bad day. To love a person is to see life through their eyes and see a need in their life and meet it. Normally they are the small things that nobody ever notices.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

May God richly bless you as you try to live life through the eyes of your loved ones and not just your own today!

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, ect. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and drove forward so that the tree bent down, he could then reach up and retrieve the kitten. He did all this, checking his progress in the car frequently, then figured if he went just a bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.

But as he moved a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went "boing!" and the Kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody has seen a stay kitten. So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and watched for the cat as he went on about his business.

A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. Now this woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, "Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much.?"

She replied, "You won't believe this pastor," and told him how her little girl had been begging for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, "Well if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it."

She told the pastor, "I watched my girl go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat in prayer. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her."

In the August, 1993 issue of guideposts magazine (Norman Vincent Peale was the editor) actress Mariette Hartly who played opposite from James Garner on over two hundred and fifty Polaroid commercials - tells a story she heard when undergoing treatment for alcoholism.

It was a story of an unbeliever who was talking to a priest. "Hey Father," said the man. "you got it all wrong about this God stuff. He doesn't exist. I oughta know."

"Well, when I was ice-fishing in the Arctic far from the nearest village, a blizzard blew up with wind and binsing snow. I was a goner. So I got down on my knees and prayed real hard, begging God for help."

"Nope, God didn't lift a finger. Some Eskimo appeared out of nowhere and showed me the way."

So often we are incredibly blind to how God works. We put blinders on, and we box God in, missing all the ways he is working in our lives.

May God richly bless you as you let God love other people through you and as you allow God to love you and minister to you through other people!

REMEMBER: GOD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD AND PERFECT GIFTS, BUT HE USES PEOPLE TO DELIVER THEM! CHOOSE TO BE A DELIVER OF GOD'S LOVE TODAY!

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once, he survives the night, he is a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. the wind blew the grass and the earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would become the only way he could become a man! finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared ad he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

May God richly bless you with his presence as you realize he is right beside you even when you are blind to it!

There is a cute story about a Scientist who prays to God: "God, we don't need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing - in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning."

"Well," says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breath life into it, thus creating man."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man.

The point of the story of course it only God is God. He knows all and he is in control of all.When you put your trust in the all-knowing God you can sleep well at night. You may not know what tomorrow holds, but if you know "the One who holds tomorrow", your world is all right!

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
       and the evil man his thoughts.
       Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
       and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow
       come down from heaven,
       and do not return to it
       without watering the earth
       and making it bud and flourish,
       so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
       It will not return to me empty,
       but will accomplish what I desire
       and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy
       and be led forth in peace;
       the mountains and hills
       will burst into song before you,
       and all the trees of the field
       will clap their hands.

The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

May God richly bless you with his peace as you look to him for answers and not the "experts"!

Merilyn vos Savant is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the "Highest IQ". Her brilliance was reflected in a column she wrote about ten years ago where she humorously stated: "The real wealth of this country is not stored in fort Knox. It is in the back." She noted how often the item we want is not on the shelf but is found "in the back." How many times have you asked an employee, "Do you have more in the back?" Sometimes we are pleasantly surprised when the salesperson returns from the back with our desires product. Philippians 4:19 reminds us that God has an unlimited supply in the back. What we need may not be in plain sight, but God always has our needed provision in the back of our sensory perception and human comprehension.

19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Matthew 6:25-34 says:

Recently a person asked me: “You have been married to the same wife and have had the same job for 13 years – Don’t you get bored?” After being surprised by the question, I collect by thoughts at responded: “No I am not bored with my wife, nor with my job, nor with life because everything changes. My wife is not the same person I married 13 years ago and the church is not the same church I started 13 years ago. Plus I am not the same person I was 13 years ago. Life is an adventure and always changes for the better. Especially in Minnesota where you never know what the whether is going to be like. Further more following Jesus Christ on a daily basis is a thrill ride in and of itself. If a person get’s bored with life, it is their choice because God provides ample opportunities for fresh starts within our marriages and within our jobs if we just have eyes to see them and courage to take them. Plus I have two young boys who are always learning new things too. Spending time with them is never boring. Pretty soon we will be sledding down a snow covered hill in ice cold temperatures and catching fish on ice. Besides all this. I am an avid reader who likes to learn and grow as a Christian, Husband Father and person. I try to read at least a book a week when a can”. I think it is safe to say that the person was equally surprised by my answer. They responded, “Mike, I think you see life differently than most people”. I thereby responded, “That’s my responsibility as a follower of Christ”. Here is a short list of things I do to keep life fresh.

1) Spend allot of time with God and grow into the person he wants you to be. Grow from the inside out.

5) Look for the new and fresh starts God provides all around us on a daily basis.

7) Realize that everything in life is growing and changing for the better whether I see it or not.

8) Have a Child like faith that experiments and experiences life fresh and new on a daily basis.

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

May God richly bless you as you live life to the fullest with child like faith today.

There's a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, "O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge."

Socrates recognized a pompous numskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into the water. then he asked, "What do you want?"

Socrates put his strong hands on the man's shoulders and pushed him under. thirty later Socrates let him up. "What do you want?" he asked again.

Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty five. Forty. Socrates let him up. the man was gasping. "what do you want, young man?"

Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, "Knowledge, O wise and wonderful..."

Socrates Jammed him under again for another minute and asked the young disciple, "What do you want?"

"When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge."

5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

May God richly bless you as you seek God and his wisdom for your life today!

The story is told that a world renown scientist who claimed to be the smartest man in the world, a retired pastor and a cub scout were in a small aircraft together. When the single engine airplane experienced engine problems the pilot took a parachute and jumped out of the plane and told the other three to do the same. When they looked around for parachutes they could only find two left. The world renown scientist who claimed to be the smartest man in the world proclaimed that world peace depended on him and jumped out of the airplane with one of the parachutes. Now there was just one parachutes left. The retired Pastor looked at the cub scout and said: “I am old and lived a long satisfying life…your life is still ahead of you…take the last parachute.” The young cub scout replied: “Don’t worry Pastor, there are still two parachutes left because the smartest man in the world just jumped out of the plane wearing my backpack.” The moral of the story is, sometimes we are not as smart as we think we are and we need God’s wisdom!

1) RECOGNIZE THAT GOD’S WISDOM IS VERY CLOSE TO YOU – THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN HAS THE KNOWLEDGE/WISDOM YOU SEEK.

25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

2) ASK GOD FOR THE WISDOM THAT IS ALREADY INSIDE YOU THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

3) CONTINUE TO HAVE DAILY QUIET TIMES WITH GOD CONSISTING OF PRAYER, BIBLE STUDY AND MEDITATION.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

5) IN FAITH, VERBALLY DECREE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE WISDOM/KNOWLEDGE YOU SEEK BY REPEATING SOMETHING LIKE “GOD, I THANK YOU THAT YOUR WISDOM GUIDES ME IN ALL MY WAYS AND YOU ALWAYS SEE TO IT THAT I TAKE THE RIGHT PATH IN THE ROAD”.

21Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.

29 When men are brought low and you say, 'Lift them up!'
then he will save the downcast.

30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."

6) AFTER YOU HAVE SPENT CONSIDERABLE TIME WITH GOD ALONE, HUMBLE YOURSELF AND ASK WISE, MATURE CHRISTIANS FOR WISDOM – LOOK FOR EXPERTS IN THE AREA YOU NEED WISDOM IN.

· Have a counsel of advisors you can run your ideas by before you act on them.

21 Folly delights a man who lacks judgment,
but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.

24 The path of life leads upward for the wise
to keep him from going down to the grave. [a]

25 The LORD tears down the proud man's house
but he keeps the widow's boundaries intact.

7) BE PATIENT IN THE PROCESS - NEVER MAKE DECISIONS WHEN YOU ARE DESPARATE OR EMOTIONALLY DOWN.

8) BE COMFORTABLE WITH “NON ACTION” UNTIL GOD GIVES YOU THE WISDOM YOU SEEK.

9) SOMETIMES KNOWING THAT GOD KNOWS IS ENOUGH TO SOOTH OUR ANZIETY – “ALTHOUGH WE MAY NOT KNOW WHAT TOMMOROW HOLDS, WE KNOW THE ONE WHO HOLDS TOMMORROW”!

10) ONCE YOU THINK YOU HAVE HEARD FROM GOD, RUN IT BY YOUR COUNSEL OF ADVISORS AGAIN TO MAKE SURE YOU HEARD FROM GOD.

11) ONCE THE SPIRIT REVEALS THE WISDOM YOU SEEK, PURSUE IT WITH ALL YOUR HEAT IMMEDIATELY – TAKE ACTION WITHOUT HESTIATION!

May God richly bless you as you take the time to seek His wisdom before you jump!

Twins fans were elated last Thursday night when they beat the White socks in a thriller in the bottom of the ninth to keep their playoff hopes alive. Last night was a different story in Chicago. While having a sports team to root for is fun and exciting when they win, it can be disappointing and even down right depressing when they loose. There is one person you can root for that never looses and will never disappoint and his name is Jesus Christ. He is constant and stable, "The same yesterday, today and forever". Put your energy into praising and cheering for Jesus and you will never be let down because He always wins and never looses! When you build your life around Jesus, you will avoid the hard crashes that come from trusting temporary people, things and wins.

May God richly bless you as you cheer for Jesus - the one who never disappoints!

October 1, 2008

New Thought for Today #381

Matthew 7:24-27 says:

May God richly bless you as you cheer for Jesus - the one who never disappoints!

September 30, 2008

GOD IS ALWAYS PRESENT, BUT FOR THE PERSON WHO DOES NOT RECOGNIZE HIM – THIS TRUTH IS NOT THEIR REALITY.

The Bible tells us that We are in Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God is inside of us. The Kingdom does not move away from us. If we fell distant from God it is usually do to our thoughts and emotions deceiving us. when you feel distant from God, choose to pick up your Bible and read scriptures like Psalm 139. Often times just acknowledging that God lives in you and you live in him and there is no separation between you and Him is enough to induce the feelings that God is near. In fact if you are born again of the Holy Spirit, then God is nearer than your own breath. He is in you and you are in Him.