“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”  Revelation 21:12

 There are several places in our town where the police like to sit and monitor driver’s speed. On occasion I’ll see blue lights flashing and another driver gets a ticket. For me, I try to obey the speed limit, so I don’t have to constantly look out for police so I can keep my attention focused on driving. Good driving rewards me with cost savings and a discount on my vehicle insurance.

 Some people, who claim to be “Christians”, perform in the same manner by acting “spiritual” while in church and around other believers, but when alone or outside of their brotherhood, they act worldly. If they see another Christian, they’ll either hide or stop that behavior for the moment until they are out of sight. It’s easy to get caught up in this type behavior, especially when no one is around to hold them accountable.

 Today’s scripture tells us that one day the Lord will return and when He does, it’s His plan to reward His faithful followers. Just think about all the rewards and blessings half-hearted Christian will miss on the day of His return.  I’m reminded of Matthew 7:23, “And I declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me; you who practice lawlessness!” Sadly, there are many people today who claim to be a Christian, living a lie, and when they face the Lord, they will find a closed door to Heaven.

 If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

 Loving the Lord is the key to living a genuine Christian life. You can’t do it by your own efforts. God gives each child of God His Holy Spirit to help them live by faith and obedience to God’s moral standards. You have the opportunity to seek His help, so you can focus on living rightly and not be on the lookout for other’s who believe you to be a true Christian. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul so living the life He’s called you will come naturally. God bless!

 Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other. So that man can find out nothing that will come after him. Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

 

When someone approaches you and says, “I have some good news and some bad news”, which do you prefer to hear first? I’ll take the bad news first in hopes that the good news crosses out the negative of the bad. If you really think about it, most news we receive has both the good and bad.

 

In today’s blog I’d like for you to consider taking a different view of the “bad news”, so it softens its blow on your heart, mind, and soul. Today’s verse lets us know that anything that comes our way is sifted through the hands of God. There isn’t anything, good or bad, that comes your way that He doesn’t know about and allows. And taking it one step further, HE has a plan how to make you a better person through even the bad news.

 

As a child of God, you have to realize, this world is NOT your home. Everything you experience in this life prepares you for the next life, eternal life. For me personally, I’ve seen God’s hand work in and through some of my darkest days to help me gain trust in Him to deliver me from the adversity I faced. Wisdom, patience, love, a new direction, and a stronger commitment to Him, are just a few things gained from those tough days. I’m sure you’ve experienced the same and now see how it benefitted you in your time of adversity.

 

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

 

Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”, which bothered him greatly as he ministered to thousands of people. God saw fit to allow it to remain, so Paul could rely on God’s strength, and not by his own strength. Maybe you have a thorn in your flesh of sorts. Surrender your will to Him, asking for His will to be done, so you can refine your life to better reflect His. All that really matters in this life, is your next life and how you learn and grow spiritually.

 

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

 My wife and I, along with some family, have been at Orange Beach for a few days. I'm reminded of why so many people love coming here, and for many reasons. The relaxing sound of waves, restoration of the soul, discovery of something special along the shoreline, the gorgeous creation of every day's sunrises and sunsets or just a place to get away and rest. 

Tomorrow we will be leaving this place of paradise and getting back to the daily grind at home. It would be nice to take a piece of this vacation with us, but it will have to come in the form of memories and photographs. 

John 4:13-14 NKJV

[13] Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,  [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Today's verse comes from the story of the woman at the well. There, Jesus met a woman who had many relationships, trying to find love, yet she leaves one for another, and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. Jesus offered her something more, something lasting, that is eternal life. A secure and wonderful relationship with the Creator of the universe, and with a purpose for her existence. 

Still today, Jesus offers this same friendship invitation to you. Maybe you've been searching for something more, something fulfilling, something you can treasure in your heart, or simply some inner peace in this chaotic world. Come to Jesus Christ today. He offers all of that and more. I can tell you His offerings are like standing on the most beautiful beach times 1,000. 

Hebrews 13:5 Let  your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

Nothing this world offers can match His peace, His love, and His acceptance. And best of all, He will never leave you with just a memory. Call out to Him today. God bless. 

 For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back? Isaiah 14:27

 When I was in my late teens and early 20s I had no clue what I would do for a career. From the time of my high school graduation in 1984 to my college graduation in 1991, I attended 3 different colleges, changed my major many times, experienced some life changing events, and held many jobs. During those years, God was working in my life to fulfill His plan for my future career. Many times, I’ve looked back and could see how God closed doors to keep me moving in the right direction. There were days I fought His plan, but in the end, it provided a fruitful career and now a blessed retirement.

 Maybe you are still trying to figure out God’s plan for your life, even as a grown adult. You’ve got various options to choose, but uncertain which direction to follow. Seek God’s wisdom through prayer, continually, and ask several friends or family to devote daily prayer on your behalf. I’m almost 100% certain that the prayers of my family (especially my grandmother) motivated God to not give up on me, even when my intentions were to go in the opposite direction.

 Let today’s verse in Isaiah 14:27 be an encouragement to you, knowing that no matter how much you struggle with God’s plan, He will see you through it. As I said above, He often uses closed doors to keep you on track. Sometimes you’d think those doors were meant to be opened because of your skills, knowledge, and abilities. But God’s motivation is to use you for something greater, which in the end will yield blessings you could never had dreamed up for your life. Trust God’s plan for your life, it comes with His promise of something better!

 For My thoughts are not your thoughts; nor are you ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than your earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

 Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV

[9] In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. [10] Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. [11] Give us this day our daily bread. [12] And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. [13] And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there, doing their part to raise up the next generation. It's a huge task and success sometimes seems fleeting. But, no matter your failures, your status as a “father” never changes. And the truth is, no matter how you fill this role, your children will still love you. 

There is another Father we often forget about in this special day, our God the Father. From the moment He created man, His role has never changed. Unconditional love radiates from His Spirit onto all of us, and that love never ceases or changes, regardless of our actions. What a perfect example He gives us as earthly fathers. 

Today, I encourage you to take a few minutes to thank the God of all creation for His love, wisdom, and perfect example of the Father He desires for us men to be. God bless. 

 “Never be afraid to site awhile and think”. Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright (1930-1965).

 The quote above was posted in my Farmer’s Almanac. My first thought when I read it was, “where in my busy day do I have time to just sit and think”. In today’s world, we are bombarded with information overload. Between social media, countless emails, texts, radio, videos, television, and let’s not forget our phone (which can access all of these things), the minutes of our days are filled, leaving very little time to process what we’ve exposed ourselves to. Statistics state that 60-70% of the world’s population uses social media, 5-10% exhibit clinical symptoms of social media addiction, while 40-45% of teens say social media negatively affects their sleep, productivity, and mental health. I think you could also say the 40-45%, or more, is the same for adults too. I know a person who was dealing with depression and the first thing the doctor told them was to get off social media.

 If you don’t think Satan has his hands in all this technology, you are being blinded by the justification of advancement in technology, with AI (artificial intelligence) coming our way. LOL, think about it for a minute. We are being pushed into a society where computer intelligence will run our lives. Maybe we should say ruin our lives, because we won’t have to do any thinking. Yeah, I know I sound like “negative Nancy”, but the truth is we are letting technology think for ourselves, leaving us vulnerable to worldly views, which are opposite of God’s morals and standards.

 So, what are we to think about? Philippians 4:8-9 offers a wonderful suggestion. Click the scripture for its content. These are great virtues to ponder and with some thought, you will find positives in your life to counter the negative thoughts and emotions you’ve probably experienced from what you’ve been exposed to through the sources in the first paragraph. Spending time thinking about the good things life has to offer will give you a better outlook on life and in the process you’ll soon discover a pushback from a lot of the negative data and you’ll find entertainment in your thoughts.

 Let me share one more thought with you since you are in the thinking mode…. 2 Corinthians 10:5b says: bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. If pattern your thoughts after Christ and how He would think, then your life will be more in line with the obedience life He is ready to bless. Spend some time today in thought, spiritual thought, and devote more thinking time each day to the Lord.

 As I watch all five of my grandchildren grow up, I see special traits in them, passed down from their parents. The facial expressions, how they walk and talk…you can tell whose mom and dad in their lives.

 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27

 There’s another resemblance we all have as humans. Genesis 1:27 tells us that God created us in His image, both male and female. We possess a brain for Godly wisdom, arms and legs to do His work, eyes to see His beautiful creation, and body parts made to create new life (“be fruitful and multiply” Genesis 1:28). And because of God’s love for us, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to show us His character traits and to make payment for our sins, so we could receive His grace and mercy. Are living the kind of life that resembles God’s character?

 God gives us “free will” to chose how we want to live. We either live for Him or ourselves. Living for Him can be difficult in this secular world, with morales and values that are nowhere near the perfection God intended for His creation. We live in a fallen world, and sadly there are so many people living for themselves, confused about their sexuality, choosing the toxic things of this world to fill a void, and making poor choices that haunt them for the rest of their earthly lives Galatians 5:19-21.

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is now law. Galatians 5:22-23.

 God has brought you into this world, not to be a part of it, but to be a part of Him in how you live your life. Maybe there are areas of your life that need to be changed, so you can better fit His mold of the traits listed in Galatians 5:22-23. With the help of God’s Holy Spirit, you can live for Him, live like Him, and be a godly influence to those in your circle of influence.  God bless!