Money, Money, Money

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale.Proverbs 18:11

The United States Of America is jam packed full of wealthy people. Even the most modest of income levels is great compared to many other places in the world. Somehow when you have money you feel a false sense of security like nothing can harm you. All it takes is a bank failure, lawsuit,  or stock market crash to send your nest egg spiraling into an abyss. 

The Bible speaks many times of money. Not to trust it as it flies away(Proverbs 23:5). Not to hope in it(1 Timothy 6:17). To not boast when you give(Matthew 6:2). To share with others(1 John 3:17). Wants you to be a cheerful giver(2 Corinthians 9:7). And it wants your obedience in tithing (1 Corinthians 16:2). There are many other great verses too. 

Basically your ability to give cheerfully shows the condition of your heart. God does not want us to be selfish. He is one who gave you the ability to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) in the first place so all you have is really His anyway. How is your giving meter? Do you consider yourself able to give or do you always try to acquire more and more and share less and less? Stop and check your heart and ask yourself how much is enough and if you can truly share. Now go share a donation with a Christian ministry. And oh yes, have a nice day. 

PRAYER: Giving makes me happy. I pray for those who find it hard to give or think getting rich is what makes them a success. I realize Lord it is yours anyway. Help me share with those in need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Superstitious? Don’t Be!

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

Many people crave days like Friday the 13th and gruesome horror movies abound.This to me is Satan’s day of fear. Don’t get sucked into it my friend. Who came up with making the number 13 bad anyway?  When I used to sell tickets for a major airline I had a couple people to ask me to not put them in the 13th row. I wanted to say, but didn’t, if the plane goes down ALL rows go down. 

Don’t allow the enemy to get you to buy into the world’s celebrations, lies, and fears. Aren’t you a child of the Almighty God?  Well then don’t be dabbling with fortunes, horoscopes, palm readers, Dungeons and Dragons, Ouija board, or horror films. Run far and fast the other way. There is nothing good to be found in any of it and you glorify darkness if you mess around with it.

There is good and evil. There is light and darkness. There is God and the devil. There is Heaven and Hell. If you keep yourself grounded in the truths of God’s word and not myths and fables of darkness you will be able to know the truth and the truth will set you free.

PRAYER: Father I know the enemy of this world Satan loves days of fear where he tries to captivate many to come his way and seemingly many fall prey to his deceit and some are believers. I pray protection over those reading this today that the enemy will not trick them into believing his cunning lies.In Jesus’ name. Amen.

There It Goes!

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. Ecclesiastes  5:2

Oh no I did it again. Spoke or emailed without thinking. Geez why is it so hard to just think before the mouth pops open? So much turmoil could be avoided if the mouth could be controlled. Do you find that to be true?

Gossip, meddling, anger, words hastily spoken but not thought out. The list goes on. James chapter 3 mentions the tongue saying no man can tame it. A friend of mine has mentioned the 24 hour rule if only we could implement it. In the movie ‘I Can Only Imagine’ the actor portraying singer Bart Millard was impatient in knowing what the Nashville Record labels thought of he and his band Mercy Me so did not allow his manager to do his job and burst onto the scene saying “I want to know what they think” which all of us know was a huge mistake. (Go see this movie.)

Do you have trouble waiting and often end up saying stuff you regret? Ask God to help you control the impulse to speak and be patient. You and those around you will be better off for it. Trust me.

PRAYER: I want so badly to get an 'A' in the area of waiting and not saying stuff I shouldn’t but it is a work in progress. Give me self control over this Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Right And Wrong

"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5

There is the phrase “a little white lie”. A lie is a lie. Then there are money mistakes where a waitress gives you back too much money, so you have a dilemma. Or do you? Or in my case, a former church I no longer attended sent me a link to free wonderful resources but in order to access it I had to check the block that “yes I was affiliated with them” which would have been wrong. I was so tempted but in the end did the right thing. 

In order to have a clear conscience as a believer you have to do the right thing. Deep inside we all know what the right thing is. Temptations come to cheat or do wrong like who is ever going to know but you will know and God knows. Be sure your sins will find you out I so very true. 

When you are tempted to lie, cheat, steal(yes even office supplies) stop right there and realize you are a child of the King and are not going to fall for schemes of the enemy to trip you up. Run to the cross and embrace the truth. 

PRAYER: I need you every day and I need your word every day. Thanks for reminding me Lord that you want me to run fast and far from evil and wrong. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Time Sure Flies

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8

You have all heard the expression ‘time flies’ meaning seemingly one month it is Christmas and poof then Easter. You watch your children as infants and before you it they are graduating. Where does time go? 

Time is nothing to God. He created time. He is not impatient and He does not want us to be. Sometimes you may have prayed for the salvation, healing,  or deliverance of a loved one and just feel your prayers are not getting through. God’s ways are not our ways so keep that in mind. He has a bigger purpose in mind. 

What are you waiting for today? What are you trusting God for? If the answer does not meet your human expectations do you plan to turn your back on the Almighty? Let Him work and be still. Hard yes but remember what happened when Abraham did not wait for the promised child to Sarah in her old age. He blew it big time! Waiting, trusting, and believing are all part of life. So be still and know He is working. 

PRAYER: I am ever so grateful for how you work and you know what is best for me and for those I pray for. Help me to shut out wrong voices in my head and run my race to win, never doubting. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Helper’s High

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Luke 6:31

I have been reading an awesome book I got after being in the studio audience at The Huckabee Show a month or so ago. It is entitled Angels on Earth by Laura Schroff. On page 121 of the book they talk about the ‘helper’s high’ or feeling you get when you help people. I can attest to that feeling  after helping with cleanup in the aftermath of the April 27, 2011 tornados that ripped through nearby with F4/5 winds. It feels good to reach out.

The helper high can be to the less fortunate of any sort. But when you do good deeds don’t shout it from the roof top but just do it and feel good as a result. Many opportunities to help are all around everywhere. Samaritans Purse Ministry  has a way a person can be notified of disasters and sign up to volunteer. It could be as simple as helping a friend or helping serve at your church.

Helping others takes your mind off yourself. The enemy likes you to think about yourself and in this selfie obsessed world it is not hard to do. Reach out and go on a local mission trip or just keep your ears and eyes open to need. You are the hands and feet of Jesus so go reach out why don’t you.

PRAYER: You have blessed me Lord so I can bless others. Many people have all sorts of needs and perhaps I can help meet some of them. This does not mean money necessarily but the gift of time. Help me not shut my ears to the cries of others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ha, Ha, Ha!

A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. Proverbs 17:22

 A good belly laugh does a person and a soul good. I am talking about just sheer laughter, clean humor where you can be set free from living in a pit. Sometimes things funny just happen or you see a hilarious You Tube video and burst out laughing. All of us need that. No one wants to be around a grumpy person so find someway to bring laughter into your life.

Sure there are sad times in life like funerals, bad medical diagnosis, job loss, betrayal by a friend or worse yet a spouse, pain in your body, but through all this don’t lose the ability to find something to laugh about. Don’t let your spirit dry up but kick Satan in the you know what and get up and get going and find something fun or funny to do.

Don’t allow life to get you down but get out, get going, find a friend to help, then find a good clean joke book or tune in to the Christian comedy of someone like Chonda Pierce who had good reason to stop laughing after losing her much too young husband David at had 54 to a brain tumor. Find ways to make others happy and above all smile. Laughter is indeed the best medicine.

PRAYER: Lord I  thank you for the gift of laughter. You created it. You want life to be fun. Help me cultivate a happy spirit even in the midst of trying times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.