Speaking the truth

Greetings:
It's time to stop dancing around this spiritual battle we fight each day and speak the truth.
Let's get it straight. Satan is a liar, a cheat, a tempter, a deceiver. He is the author of failure, who loves to see people, especially Christians struggle and hurt.
We know that through the power and presence of Jesus Christ in our lives, we as Christians, are truly a blessed group of people of all races, ages and locations around the globe.
The loving hand of God is with us. We can walk in victory, despite the plots, snares and deceitful plans of Satan.
We have the key to victory and that's the shed blood of Jesus D Christine Bullard on the cross.
Because of the cross, God is always near us and prayers are answered.
We have a free will and that is where we sin.
James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
We have a choice.
Some will continue to waste away their lives chasing the next dollar.
Others will let another year pass by them by failing to humble themselves and be what they know they should be.
Others will choose to drown their sorrows in various passions, coping mechanisms, or pointless addictions.
There is much good that we know in our hearts that we should be doing that we are not doing.
Do we love our wives and treat them properly, or do we yell at them, demean them, and fail to show them proper attention, affection and respect?
Do wives respect their husbands and give them the admiration, trust and respect that they need?
Do we see opportunity to bless someone, but walk past it?
Do we share the gospel with our friends, neighbors and complete strangers?
Do we read our Bibles?
Do we pray, not just when we need something, but when we just want to thank God for who he is and who he has made us?
While things are not always perfect, each of us can say we are blessed in some way – even if it's on a much smaller scale than we had hoped.
Follow the advice given in Hebrews 3:13 (The Amplified Bible), which reads: “But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamour of his sin may play on him].
Today is the day we can change, repent and move forward toward the cross.
Today resolve to love God more.
Let our faith not grow weary or weak. Let us remain strong in our commitment to serve God and let the light of God shine in our words – spoken and written.
Let our faith remain steadfast as we serve others in the name of God – reaching out to the needy in our communities, in our churches and around the world.
Let us never grow content to just go to church. Let us be the mind, hands, arms, body and voice of The Church.
Be blessed.

The mountains can be conquered

Greetings:
When the mountains of life are standing tall in front of us and we seem not to be able to climb the mountain or hike around them, realize we are not alone.
Sometimes it seems so difficult to understand, especially when the pain and frustration is real.
We can't grab ahold of this comfort when we toss and turn in bed and lay there awake at night worrying about our mountains.
This is where we need to have peace and confidence in God's presence.
We sometimes think, "We are a Christian. We are doing good works in our church and our community, so why isn't this path of life easier? Why do these struggles remain?"
God is there always, even when we can't hear him, or feel His presence.
When we are down and out, feeling sorry for ourself when things are not going as we had them planned, we can take comfort in the words written in James 1:2-4, which reads: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
The passage tells us that if we want to enjoy our Christian life, we need to keep a godly attitude and stand strong, steadfast in faith in the time of testing.
We need to develop rock strong 'bulldog' tough faith and stand. We must never give up or never give in
There is no turning back. We have to press forward in prayer to boost up our faith.
I Corinthians 16:13 reads: "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong."
If our 'God-hole' is filled up with faith nuggets and we know His Word, then when tough times come along, we will be ready for the attack.
Know for sure that struggles are an attack – not from God, but from Satan.
Psalm 46:1 declares,"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear."
 God sometimes takes us out of our trouble. More often he helps us get through it. He is with us when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. When we pass through the waters or the fire, God is with us.
Isaiah 43:5 reads,"Do not be afraid, for I am with you"."
In a world where everything around us seems like quicksand, God is our solid bedrock.
We must realize that if we want to build character, we have to go through some stuff. Character is what gives us some hope.
Spending time with God will keep us calm, stable and steadfast as we are going through the trials and tribulations. Let God be our anchor in that churning sea of circumstances.
Know for sure that 'bad news' is not for us. We are directed to spread the 'good news' of God's Word in our lives.
We must get the words of Deuteronomy 31:6 down in our heart – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
If we believe those words, then whatever mountain we are facing won't seem so steep. The mountain can be climbed with God's help and presence. Faith and persistence are key.
We need to get prayed up and build up our faith. Then we will know know for sure that God will walk with us, if we walk with Him and not ahead of Him.
Be blessed.

Give it to God

Greetings:
David writes in Psalm 34 for the spiritually immature, those who need to be instructed in the ways of God. One thing David thinks we need to know is how to live in a way that brings to each of us the blessings of God.
 When we hurt and our prayers seem to go unanswered like they have fallen on deaf ears, we want to know: Has God deserted us? Have we done something wrong? What do we need to do to receive God's help?
If we pay attention to the words of David in this psalm, we will get some answers to these questions.
In verse 4 we read, "I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all of my fears."
There are no problems that can't overcome when we stop trying to do it ourselves.
There is much comfort in verses 7-8, which reads: "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. Taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."
What does fearing the Lord mean?
To me, it means respecting and obeying his commandments and directives in His Word.
Taking refuge is much the same. It can mean that we make the choice to obey and follow his promises, without doubt.
In verse 16, we read an awesome promise when David writes,"The righteous cry out, and The Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles, he protects all of his bone, not one of them will be broken."
When we give it to God we are in a position to receive the help God sends
Giving it to God means giving or laying on the alter all of our troubles, shortcomings, fears, sins, insecurities, condemnation, sicknesses, diseases, hurts, disappointments, failures and anything else that might be hold us back in our walk with the Lord.
A key point is, once we put it on the altar and ask for forgiveness and are repentent, then we must be careful not to pick any of those things back up again.
God's Word promises that God is more than enough to take care of anything we lay before him.
Rest in God's faithfulness, his mercy, his grace and his love for each of us.
Be blessed.

We are all different

Greetings:
Look around at the people around you, what do you see?
We are all different.
If you want to do a unique study in human appearance, sit down near the entrance to Walmart some evening and just watch the people coming and going.
You will see a lot of individuals who are different and unique.
This didn't happen just by accident.
God created us with our own unique physical traits, personalities, character, temperaments, talents and abilities.
Even in what we call identical twins, there are differences.
We each have unique identifying feature that's called a fingerprint. There are no two fingerprints the same.
God created us different for a reason to fill a need in his overall plan.
Look to the skies on the next clear day and night.
You see a sun, a moon and many different stars.
None of the stars are the same.
In 1 Corinthians 15:41 (AMP) we read, “The sun is glorious in one way, the moon is glorious in another way, and the stars are glorious in their own [distinctive] way; for one star differs from and surpasses another in its beauty and brilliance.”
Look at I Peter 1:5-10 (AMP) to understand our individual role in God's Church, even though we are different.
It reads: "For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence),
And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety),
And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.
For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
 For whoever lacks these qualities is blind, [spiritually] shortsighted, [seeing only what is near to him, and has become oblivious [to the fact] that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast) your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall."
As Christians, let it be each of our goals to find our individual role and place in God's plan. When we struggle to be like others, we lose our identity, our uniqueness our individuality that our Creator intended for each of us.
Let us be satisfied that we are different.
But as unique individuals, we can learn our role, our purpose, our ministry in service to God as one body.
Be blessed.

Watch your words

Greetings:
As a writer – a wordsmith – by trade, I know how words are constructed and how the meanings can be altered by something as simple as the placement of a comma or a wrongly placed letter.
The words we speak and write have a lasting tremendous impact today and tomorrow.
 It is key to remember whatever words we utter or write should be chosen with care for people will hear them and read them and be influenced by them for good or evil. 
The basic tool for the manipulation of truth is the manipulation of words. If one can control the meaning of words, one can control the people who use those words.
 Likewise, the basic tool for the preservation of truth is the preservation of God's Word - scripture.  If one understands the original meaning of God's words, we can more easily recognize those who try to manipulate and control others through deception and the altering of the original definitions of words.
How many times have you said, “Oh, I wish I hadn't said that.”
Our words can't be retrieved or re-written.
The spoken or written word is powerful.
Proverbs 12:18,  tells us “...the tongue of the wise is health." 
As in the health of the body, a doctor can often evaluate our state of health by looking at our tongues.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. 
James tells us in James 1:26 that the way a man uses his tongue is a test of his spiritual strength. He also says in James 3:2 that if a man can control his tongue he is a perfect man.
 Jeremiah was told in Jeremiah 15:19 by The Lord that he could be God's mouthpiece only if he was careful about the way he used his tongue - if he separated the precious from the vile in his conversation.
Therefore, we should be very careful about the words that we choose to speak.
The words that Christ spoke testified who he was. 
God told Moses he would raise up a Prophet (Jesus) and would put His words in his mouth  Jesus confirmed this in John 14:10 by teaching that the words he spoke were not from himself, but from his Father.
Our words also reflect who we are.
In 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (The Amplified Bible) we read, "Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God. And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].”
Also, in  Matthew 4:4 we read: "But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
Proverbs 12:18 says, “There are those who speak rashly, like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Can you think of some simple words that have big meanings?
How about...'thank you', 'I appreciate you', 'you are amazing', 'I forgive you', 'good job', 'bless you', 'I'm sorry' and  'I love you'?
Let us learn from The Word of God what kind of words we need to be saying and writing to uplift those around us.
Be blessed.

God is enough

Greetings:
Describing God is almost beyond words. The attributes of God are many.
The word God is three simple letters, but they mean so much in our own personal lives.
Have you ever really thought about who God is to you?
Read through the pages of Scripture and we become amazed almost overwhelmed by his magnitude, his power and influence on all that is,was or will be.
When we talk about the attributes of God we are talking about His nature—who God is in His manifested character.
Here is my list of how I view God.
God is the Trinity –– three persons, the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, not three Gods.
God is love in the truest sense.
God is omnipotent (all-powerful).
God is omniscient (all-knowing).
God is omnipresent (present everywhere).
God is self-existent. If not, who created God?
God is holy.
God is the creator of all.
God is alive.
God is supreme.
God is giving.
God is forgiving.
God is compassionate,
God is approachable.
God is creative.
God is merciful.
God is understanding.
God is honest.
God is capable.
God is accepting.
God is not judgmental.
God is wise.
God is hope.
God is mercy.
God is grace.
God is truth.
God is righteous.
God is consistent.
God is ever-present.
God is powerful.
God satisfies.
God is compassionate.
God is just.
God is a healer.
God is a redeemer.
God is able to deliver.
God is the King above all kings.
God is kind.
God is gracious.
God is sovereign.
God is eternal.
God is unchangeable.
God is the one who renews our mind, spirit and soul.
God is faithful.
God is caring.
God is beyond compare.
God is good.
God is the Alpha.
God is the Omega.
God is enough.
 I am sure you can add to this list. The list of 'God is' could go on and on.
We can read in Bible in Isaiah 45:5 says there is only one God. It reads: "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God.”
As we see the sunrises and sunsets, the regularity of the seasons, the laws of nature, we are drawn to the fact that God is behind all of it.
We can be thankful that God chose us.
Be blessed.

Always remember and pray

Greetings:
Every year on November 11 - Veterans Day - we pause to thank our military veterans for their service.
We pause to acknowledge that their contributions to our national security are very much appreciated.
We pause to stress that all those who have served, both dead and alive, have sacrificed and done their duty to preserve this nation's freedoms and liberty.
It takes courage to risk life and limb for his or her country. The least we civilians can do is to honor these real hometown heroes. 
Former President Ronald Reagan once said, "History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap."
There is nothing cheap about war. Lives are lost, limbs and bodies are injured and minds are changed forever.
I think there is one office that is higher than that of president. I would call that the warfighter or the American Patriot.
On this day, let us honor all of our veterans for their service and sacrifices.
My father was like many others of his World War II generation. He was a veteran and for that I am so very proud. I remember him daily with one of his U.S. Army dog tags placed on my key ring. When I'm lonely and feeling I need a gentle bit of encouragement and love, I rub my fingers across that dog tag that is inscribed with his name and identification number. Then, I am not longer alone. His spirit lives on.
As Christians we can do more than just honor our veterans and those who are currently in harm's way continuing the fight to preserve what many before them have fought and died for.
We can pray.
Let us pause today to not only honor our veterans, but to pray for our veterans. 
“Father God, you are the author and creator of all. You are with us in times of strength and weakness. This is a nation founded on Godly, biblical principals and you have given our forefathers the wisdom to establish this nation proclaiming a trust in God. You stirred our founders to hope and to dream for a land of freedom. We praise and honor you for this great nation of the United States of American.
Lord, you have inspired many to proudly stand and defend our precious country. You have given us brave and loyal men and women who have steadfastly served in their chosen branch of our military. We pause today to remember all our military personnel. We acknowledge that their service enables us to walk as free men and women in this great and blessed land. We are reminded that because of their service we can live in safety and enjoying our many freedoms, like the freedom to pray.
We ask that you abundantly bless those who have previously served. May their service time be rewarded in every way. May they gain earthly and heavenly blessings from their unselfish love for our country.
Lord, we pause to remember those who are currently serving. We ask that you provide them with your heavenly protection, your strength, and your peace. We ask that you would abundantly provide for all their needs and protect and encourage their famliies back home. We ask that you would enable them to overcome every personal and professional obstacle encountered in their service for our country.
Father, as we pause this day we want to say thank you for each of our veterans. We are a blessed nation because of the actions of our veterans, both in war and in peace time.
We love you Lord and thank you for loving our veterans and carrying them through their days of service. You are Lord of Lords and we honor you on this day as we lift up our veterans in prayer. We ask all these things in the precious and powerful name of Jesus. Amen."
Be blessed on this day, especially each and every veteran.

Lift up our pastors in prayer

Greetings:
On this Sunday morning, let us remember that pastors, like the people they serve, need prayer to continue their ministry on a consistent daily basis.
Praying for your church pastor is one of the best and most effective things we can do to further the kingdom of God.
Your pastor knows it is only through earnest, strategic prayer that they will be an effective minister in the hands of God.
Pray for our pastor's personal needs, for their family and for wisdom and power as they oversees the flock of God.
Let the Holy Spirit lead us as we pray in faith that our pastors receive a spiritual freshness.
The apostle Paul, himself a man of deep prayer, knew the effectiveness of prayer in his ministry.
He begged the church to pray for him in Romans 15:30 (NIV): “I urge you, brothers... that you join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.”  in 
Ephesians 6:18-20 Paul wrote: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,  for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
Pray that your pastor will daily “walk in the light” with Jesus and depend on the power of the Spirit in all areas of their life and ministry.
The Rev. Charles Spurgeon was once asked the secret of his success. In response, Spurgeon led them to the lower level of his church and quietly opened the door, revealing more than 400 people praying for God’s blessing and power to rest upon their pastor who would stand in the pulpit that night to preach the word of God. “There, gentlemen,” said Spurgeon, “is the secret for God’s blessing his work here.”
A pastor's work is never done, nor should our prayer life be done each day until we lift up our pastors in serious prayer.
Be blessed.

God's amazing grace is amazing

Greetings:
There isn't a song or a hymn that speaks to my heart more than Amazing Grace.
The tune keeps repeating in my head as I am reminded of God's mercy and his amazing grace for teaching down and touching me at a time when I needed it the most.
Each day, I thank God enough for loving me, even when I didn't deserve it
The song “Amazing Grace has stood the test of time with a message that is as fresh today as when it was written and published in 1779.
The song brings tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat every time I hear it and realize God's goodness and grace in my life.
It's humbling to understand how God works.
With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the grace of God, the song was written by Englishman John Newton, who once was the captain of a slave ship. He converted to Christianity after an encounter with God during a violent storm at sea. He eventually became an ordained minister in the Church of England.
Through this song, I've realized that the Lord is looking for people who are weak enough to be used. We read in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that God's strength is made perfect in our weakness. The key to experiencing liberating strength is personal weakness and then ability to admit we are weak and he is strong.
Understand that personal weakness does not mean weak character or faulty Biblical knowledge.
On the contrary, God is looking for a people who have come to the place where they have lost confidence in their fleshly power to accomplish the work of the Spirit. Only when we embrace the weakness of ourselves apart from Christ can we become strong and "graced"enough to accomplish things for the true advancing of God's glorious Kingdom.
The song sings to me a melody of opportunity, of obedience and service.
I am in awe that God would save a wretch like me. I can do nothing to pay for the debt of salvation.
Thank you Lord seems so short and shallow, but it's all I have to offer.  I am without words on this autumn morning that can express the amount of gratitude that is in my heart.
God, let me be a better person today than I was yesterday. Let me strive to put a smile on someone's face by what I write, say and do.
God's grace is truly amazing.
Be blessed.

Faith is not 'seeing is believing'

Greetings:
 The statement “seeing is believing”, might seem to be contrary to process faith, but it really isn't.
In Hebrews 11:1 we read: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 
It takes faith to bring things from the unseen realm of the spirit into the seen realm of the here and now.
My friend, Dr. Johnnie Blount, from Bridging The Gap Ministries in North Carolina, says the phrase 'fear not' is mentioned 365 times in the Bible and there is a purpose in that -- to prepare us for each of the days of the year.
He says, “In order to see more, you have to see it...Everything you have today is what you saw yesterday.”
Dr. Blount is talking about seeing something in our mind before you see it with our eyes.
That's faith, the whole foundation to our Christian walk.
Our eyes are connected to the brain – our mind.
In physical terms, the eye sends what we see as a message to our brain, which  then processes that message into an image of what we see.
From a spiritual standpoint it works a little different.
We don’t have to wait to get to heaven to prosper and have our needs met.
Don’t agree with what the world that insists and says, “You could never have that.” and don’t say, “That’s too good to be true!”
Just like unbelief kept the Israelites out of a Promised Land for 40 years because it seemed just too good to be true, unbelief can keep us out of our promised land too.
If you’re speaking negative words of doubt and unbelief, you have a heart problem. “For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34, The Amplified Bible).
Through our spiritual eyes we can have victory.
Remember the words in Genesis 13:14-17 (NLT), “After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west.  I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”
When Jesus died on the cross, our inheritance was written, and stamped 'paid in full'. We have been given all that we can see in every direction if we have the faith to see it.
Just like Jesus said it takes faith to receive a healing, it takes faith to walk with more. We have to see ourselves through faith with a job or a better job, new opportunities, good health, a new vehicle, a comfortable house, with our bills paid or whatever it is that we are praying about.
Speak it today and believe it.
The past is our greatest enemy, the thing that strikes fear in us, holds us bback and deceives us into believing that we can not do it.
Be blessed.

Don't get weary

Greetings:
I've talked to several people in the past week or so who have been going through some trials and tribulations and frankly they are getting weary.
Whether we like it or not, and whether we ever want to fully face up to this reality, every single one us, saved or unsaved, will have to face a certain amount of trials and tribulations as we journey through life.
As a result of living in a fallen, cursed, and imperfect world because of what happened in the story of Adam and Eve, every single one of us will have to face a certain amount of trials and tribulations in our walk.
Unless you have a full understanding as to why God will sometimes allow bad things to happen to good people, you can have your personal faith levels in the Lord shaken to its very core depending on the severity of the storm that may have just struck you or a loved one.
The Bible tells us that God’s people can perish for having lack of knowledge – and not having the right kind of knowledge to fully understand why bad things happen to good people, especially to Christians, can cause you to perish in your own personal relationship with the Lord, if you allow it.
You can learn how to keep some of the adversity that may strike you in this life away from you if you can learn how to properly plead the blood of Jesus for deliverance and protection, along with learning how to walk with God’s anointing. If you can learn how to walk with God’s anointing in your life, then you can either keep a lot of these storms from ever hitting you in the first place, or you can quickly defeat them once they do come knocking at your door.
Until we get to the New Heaven and the New Earth after the millennial rule of Jesus from the city of Jerusalem, the curse of Adam and Eve will continue to stay in place on this earth, and as a result, we will all have to face a certain amount trials and unpleasant circumstances.
What gets many Christians in trouble is not having a full understanding as to why this has to happen to them in the first place, especially since they are now born-again believers who are serving a God who is supposed to be all-good, all-loving, and all-merciful.
Look what it says in James 1:2 (Amplified): “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.”
Being joyful in the midst of our trials is difficult to understand. It ranks up there with "in everything give thanks". We know that God is not trying to frustrate us or defeat us but to conform us to the image of His Son and in so doing He wastes no trial or circumstance, no adversity, no affliction, no sickness, no success, no failure  in achieving His end.  Remember God never commands to do His will in any area, that He does not also supply us the grace and power necessary to fulfill it
Just study the lives of some of the greatest saints in the Bible, and look at some of the severe adversity that each one of them had to personally face in their lives.
The apostle Paul is a perfect example. He literally had to face hell and high water – and that was after he was saved and working full time for the Lord.
We simply have to develop the mindset that we have to learn how walk through the trials by wearing the whole armor of God ,in the presences of God and with God's leading.
If you are willing to take the storm clouds head-on like David did with Goliath and like Paul did in prison, you have no idea how many other people you may be able to save, touch, heal, and deliver.
Remember to keep the faith and keep your eyes on God, no matter what happens.
Be blessed.

"How did God do that?"

Greetings:
God's works are majestic, far beyond our own understanding.
Look around in morning and view a sunrise or in the evening when the sun slowly drifts to the horizon and produces a rainbow of colors before it drifts away.
Savor the beauty produced by the changing seasons in this part of southern Indiana.
 Have you ever asked yourself, "How did God do that?"
These are the products of infinite wisdom and power.
That means, we can't understand them and can only marvel at the creative hand of God.
We are instructed in the Psalms111and 112 to give glory to God, for the great things he has done for his people.
Psalm 111:2-5 reads: “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them. Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.”
How many times must God give proof of his omnipotence, and show what he can do, and before we realize there is nothing too hard for him to do?
We learn more about understanding God's ways in Psalm 111:10, which reads: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.”
Psalm 112 puts the spotlight on humans, declaring that happiness is to be found in a life honoring the Lord and living according to God’s commandments. Such lives will enjoy God’s blessings.  Having themselves experienced God’s mighty acts on their behalf as well as God’s quiet, steady action of blessing, they will share with the poor what God has given them.
Psalm 112:6-9 tells us there are rewards to trusting God, “Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.”
In a world touched by violence, relational and economic hardship, greed and unfulfilled desires, many of the psalms offer us an alternative way of thinking. The psalmists give something to each of us that we might cling to tightly as a life jacket of hope in an increasing evil world.
We must remember that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and understanding of God's ways.
Be blessed.

We didn't do a thing to earn our grace

Greetings:
Many might be asking 'What do I need to do to receive the blessings of God –– I have been praying, reading my Bible, going to church, and paying my tithes, yet I don’t seem to be able to get my prayers answered?”
What's wrong? What's wrong with me?
We must not fall into the trap of linking God’s response to our personal performance.
By definition, the word grace means unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor.
The Rev. A. W. Tosser expanded on that saying, "Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to bestow benefits on the undeserving."
We are undeserving, but through grace that is changed.
Grace has nothing to do with us.
Grace existed before we ever came to be.
Grace is God’s part. Faith is defined as being a positive response to what God has already provided by grace.
Faith is our positive response to God’s grace, or faith only appropriates what God has already provided for us. Therefore, faith is our part.
Grace and faith work together, and they must be in balance.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
It says we are saved by grace through faith, not one or the other. Think of it this way  — grace is what God does. Faith is what we do.
Salvation is not dependent on grace alone. If it were, everyone would be saved and going to heaven, for God’s grace is the same toward everyone. He has already given the gift of salvation to everyone through Jesus. It is by faith that a person receives what was done 2,000 years ago by Jesus on the cross.
It is now up to us to receive the truth by faith and make it a reality in our life.
Let the church preach preach the truth and message that is conscious of righteousness instead of a conscious of sin. This causes us to link our performance to all the other blessings of God.
God’s grace has provided not only for salvation, but also for every need of our life. That provision is not based on whether we are reading the Bible enough, praying enough, going to church, or even paying our tithes. Before we ever had a financial need, God created the provision. Before we were sick, God, through grace, provided our healing. Before we ever became discouraged, God blessed us with all spiritual blessings because God anticipated every need we could ever have and has met those needs through Jesus before we existed.
That’s grace.
Be blessed.
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Stand firm on the Word

Greetings:
Walking the Christian walk is not a recreational game.
It's a real war, but God has given us the armor to walk into any battle with our heads held high and ready for the front line duty.
To get geared up for this daily tussle between good and evil we have to know and stand on God's Word.
Former President, the late General Dwight Eisenhower once said, “War is a terrible thing. But if you’re going to get into it, you’ve got to get into it all the way.”
We do need to march into the battle confident in what God's Word says and promises to each of us.
It is vital for our survival as a Christian that we realize that when we became a Christian, we were drafted into God’s Army. Daily we are engaged in a battle with an unseen spiritual enemy that seeks to destroy us.
This is real and not some kind of mystical thing.
We have to understand this, otherwise, when trials hit, we will think that something is wrong. We will wonder why God has allowed this. We won’t understand the reality of our situation.
I really like the Amplified Bible translation of Ephesians 6:10-11, which reads: “In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
Put on God’s whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.”
What the Apostle Paul was telling us is we as believers must believe and claim our God-given righteousness and salvation, and be ready to speak God's Word with boldness.
Both the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit completely equip Christians to stand in this world, prepared to frustrate the assaults of the adversary. God has not left believers helpless. He has provided everything necessary so that His people can stand their ground.
The Word of God is the only true weapon we have been given — not our words, not our thoughts, but the Word of God.
If it says it in God's Word, believe it, follow it and do it. Speak the Word to our problems. Speak the Word to our situations. Speak the Word to the mountains of life standing in front of us. Speak the Word for happiness, peace and joy. Speak the Word.
Be blessed.

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Overlook the sandpaper people

Greetings:
How many of you know there are a lot of 'sandpaper people 'out there – even in our churches?
There are people that seem to rub us the wrong way no matter what. There are people that seem to bring out the worst in your feelings, thoughts and sometimes, even your actions.
Here's the truth my friends.
There is no perfect ministry.
There is no perfect church.
There is no perfect pastor.
No one walking this earth is perfect.
There is only a perfect Savior of imperfect people –– Jesus Christ.
None of us are perfect and have it perfectly together all of the time.
We all make mistakes. We all say the wrong things at the wrong times. We all lack the perfection of God, his Son and the Holy Spirit. Let us learn to be more tolerant and focus on that which is good, rather than the imperfections in others.
Wherever you end up in church you will always find things that you like and things you do not like. There will be people who cause you to be inspired to follow after Christ with more passion and there will be people that stir your frustrations into immobility. Instead of walking to Christ more each day, we are caused to do nothing, but complain and search for something better.
There will be church services that delight you and those that disappoint, if we take our eyes off Christ and forget about the reason that we gather together in fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters.
Love is always the answer. Grace is always the answer. Truth is always the answer. Forgiveness is always the answer. Mercy is always the answer. None of these can be separated. They must work together for the good of God who has called us to be his followers.
We can label each other by unflattering terms and break of a particular fellowship looking for those who have “the right Spirit” or “a true passion for Jesus” only to continue to find imperfect people serving a perfect Savior. The grass will always appear to be greener elsewhere, but will always have something wrong with it for the simple fact that people are involved with it.
So be at peace and content where God has placed you. Learn to bloom where you are planted, instead of withering away and become bitter. Learn to overlook those you perceive to have imperfections and shortcomings and love them anyway. Here's another truth nugget, they are probably thinking the same things about you.
Be blessed.
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Abandon ship, if necessary

Greetings:
As we open our eyes and get going about our business today, I am reminded to never forget to call upon the Lord for guidance and wisdom.
It's important to realize that no matter what we are facing on this day and other days, we need to understand that we are not alone and we are just walking through a particular situation. We don't have to stop and dwell in the tough times. They are only temporary.
Don't allow fear to paralyze us into immobility in the middle of  'the valley of the shadow of death'. God is there walking with us hand in hand. He is strengthening us. He is lifting us. He is making a way for us where our eyes and minds say there is no way. He is lining up people and situations to bring us out of that tough place into a place of overcoming and victory.
We need to put 2:Timothy 1:17 (New Living Translation) deep in our heart and stand on it when the mountains seem too talk to climb, when there looks like there is no hope, no answer, no way out or up.
The passage reads: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Speak life and peace when you are going though a rough stretch in your walk, Call on your faith to be strengthen. Rise up hope in situations where it looks like there is not hope. Speak victory. Speak the Word. Speak the power that we have in the name of Jesus to the situation. Command it – don't ask it – command it to leave.
I'm also reminded that we can glean much good life advice and wisdom from a ship.
A ship is designed to take us places. So if our friendships, companionships, relationships, partnerships are not taking us anywhere that is pleasing to God, then we should abandon ship.
Be blessed.

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This is the day the Lord has made

Greetings:
This is the day the Lord had made let us be glad and rejoice in it.
Many of us have heard that phrase before, but do we believe it? Do we practice it? Do we believe it down in our hearts? Can other people see it?
On this day let us examine the person that we reflect to others. Let us be aware that many others – even non-Christians are watching us very closely.
I've heard that we are the best Bible that some people will ever see. Think about that.
People look at us as Christians and their perception of what it is like to walk with God is projected in how we talk and act.
I, like many others, fall short in this area all too often. My heart knows and my mind knows, but sometimes our heart and mind seem not to be connected to what comes out of our mouth or the actions that we take. For that, I am truly sorry.
The Word of God commands us to be Christ-like.
1 John 2:6 (New Living Translation) reads: “Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”
That seems like a daunting task, but if we read God's Word, learn God's Word and get God's Word down in our hearts and ask for God's help it is possible.
This morning I am reminded of  Isaiah 11:2 (New Living Translation) which reads, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.
That should be our daily prayer as we arise and go about our daily duties.
On this day, my prayer for each who read this is to be blessed and given the knowledge that we are commanded to be Christ-like in our dealings with others. Let the love of Christ shine brightly today.
This is the day the Lord has made, let us be truly be glad and rejoice in it. Let us each be a blessing to someone today.
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"God, see what is in my heart'

Greetings:
On this mid-week morning let us be thankful and praise God for another day to walk and talk and enjoy the wonderful things of life.
God is merciful and good, even though we truly don't deserve it.
As we begin this 40 day vigil toward Easter Sunday and the celebration of the great resurrection –– known as Lent –– let us be in prayer and ask God for a greater understanding of what it all means.
Show us God how to walk on the right path and make the decisions that are pleasing to you.
I was guided to Psalms 139 and 140 this morning in my quiet time and the words seemed to jump off the page and spoke to me loudly.
There are times that we, like King David, are troubled and it seems the whole world and everyone in it have turned against us. They talk about us. They plot evil against us. They want to see us fall. They set hidden traps along the way for us to trip up and fail.
But through it all, God is with us.
Each day let us examine our hearts and cast out all that is not of God. Let's put our selfish nature aside and focus on those things that are pleasing in the sight of God.
During this Lenten season, let us learn to walk closer with God with our eyes on the cross and the perfect sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. Let us daily mediate on what the shed blood of Jesus signifies and how it has changed the lives of believers in terms of healing, deliverance and salvation.
In Psalm 139:23 (New International Readers Version), we read: “God, see what is in my heart. Know what is there. Put me to test. Know what I am thinking. See if there is anything in my life you don't like. Help me live in a way that is always right.”
That's a beautiful lament and prayer for each of us to consider each day. Invite God to examine our actions and our thoughts.
Do we miss it and mess up at times? Yes, we do, but God is there in those times of shortcomings to lift us, guide us and help us to make right out of a wrong situation if we heed to the instruction of his Word, repent and then move on.
Too many time, we like to linger around and beat ourselves up for the days when we've missed it, instead of looking ahead to what God has in store for us.
In Psalm 140:6 (NIV) we read another gem that spoke to me. There are many times when we don't have it figured and struggle to hear God.
The passage states: “Lord I say to you, 'You are my God'. Lord hear my cry for favor'.”
How many of us really realize that God's people get favor in ways we don't understand and never will, but it happens?
The ways of God are amazing to me. We have to remain steadfast to his Word. Be watchful and confident in our prayers and be very thankful in all things, all situations and all conditions.
We are never alone, even when it feels like it. God's Word says he's there with us. All we have to do is trust him and walk in faith.
Be blessed.
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Stay connected in prayer

Greetings:
I love the Lord this morning and thank him for opening my eyes and granting me another day on this Earth.
God is a God of comfort, peace and strength and I am grateful that he is ever-present and always a prayer away.
How many of you know that prayer is a privilege and a duty?
Growing up, when I was in college my mother used to always tell me to 'phone home' when I had received my destination.  In those days we didn't have the always connected cellphones. We used the rotary kind that youngsters only read about or see in a museum. I was instructed to call home at 9 p.m. by placing a collect call and asking for myself. My mother would answer and say 'no, he is not here'.
It was our signal. She knew that by calling everything was okay on my end and I also knew everything was well with her. The good thing about the call was it didn't cost a dime, because there was no charge when the collect call was not accepted.
Praying to God is kind of like that.
We are to call on his name in prayer. There is no charge.
All we have to do is talk and listen to him.
Prayer is nothing more than conversation with God.
God is never asleep or too busy to listen. There is never a bad connection or a bad time. You never get a busy signal or voice mail or get put on hold. You have unlimited free minutes—and hours.
You don't have to be in a sacred chapel to pray, just find your place of comfort and peace.
Early mornings are a good time for me to chat with God. The quiet time is special and I gain strength to meet the challenges of the day.  It's a time for me to go over my prayer list and intercede for others – lifting up their needs and petitions.
I pray a lot in my car – while commuting to and from work. I wouldn't recommend closing the eyes during the car prayer time, but it is a great time for me to again, get alone with God and voice my thanks and love for him. It's a time to see guidance and it's a time for me to simply listen to God as he speaks through his Holy Spirit.
Our heavenly Father cherishes prayers offered with complete honesty and sincerity, even if they include respectful complaints. The prayers in the book of Psalms certainly portray candid honesty.
We also must pray God's Word. Pray and voice his scriptures in your prayers.
Let us never forget that God does answer our prayers. Possibly it's not on our time schedule.
He responds in the way that is best for us spiritually, and that sometimes means the answer is "no" or "not now," or the answer is something other than what we expected or wanted.
Take the time to pray. If you don't have time to do that. You are too busy.
Be blessed.
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The mirror to our soul

By faith, we are bringing in the Spring season.

Greetings:
This morning, I am reminded of God's love for each of us. The love is beyond description and comes without any strings attached – other than to say 'yes' and a willingness to follow God's leading.
We are all disciples of Christ. No theology degree is needed to fill that role. We only need to be willing to follow God's Word.
God’s Word is the mirror to our soul, and as we look into it with humble hearts, God will reveal places of error and fault. Just as a person looks at himself in the mirror and doesn’t present himself publicly until all the blemishes are covered and everything is just as it should be, so too are we to present ourselves spiritually.
Romans 12:1 says that we need to present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices unto God. We cannot do this unless we look into the mirror of the Word so that we know where we need to change. Identifying where we need to change is no more complicated than being in God’s Word and humbly yielding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Change is as simple as confessing our sin, repenting of it, and by faith walking by the Spirit in obedience. Satan battles us and tries to tempt us and destroy our faith.
 For those who ignore what they see in the mirror, Satan already has won his victory, but as we change, there will be opposition.  Yet Christ is able to strengthen us to stand against the wiles of the devil. Our willpower alone won’t enable us to resist temptation. We need the grace of God and the faith to believe. Christ is our sufficiency, and our ability to be sustained in holiness and obedience is dependent upon our faith in Christ’s power, grace, and faithfulness. May God give us grace to believe the truth of Scripture and the strength to walk in it.
Be blessed.

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Soar like an eagle

Greetings this icy Sunday morning.
I was fortunate enough to get an up close view of an eagle as part of a presentation at a local bird festival on Saturday.
My camera was clicking during the presentation trying to catch the perfect image of this great creature of the sky that you normally only see from afar.
The eagle is such a majestic creature. I'm in awe of its size and structure. Its plume of feathers is beautiful and perfectly situated to provide it with the ability to soar in dominance over most of the birds of the sky.
I was reminded about how God's creative hand formed this great bird. We can learn life lessons from knowing about an eagle.
There is much truth in Isaiah 40:31 which reads: “But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Eagles flock together. As the old saying goes, "Birds of like feathers flock together". Eagles do not mix with other birds but always only enjoy to fly in the high altitude of the eagle only. We soar alone in the spirit realm with God the Father many times.
Eagles see a long distance for prey or its enemy. Eagles have strong vision and so are able to identify its prey and focuses on it until it gets the prey and at the same time it is able to see from afar its enemy. We as the children of God are focused on our reward which is to kill the unbelief, sorrow, depression and eat the positive things of peace, joy and righteousness. Evil forces think they have the  ability to attack our nest which is our home, finances, relationships, health, spiritual well being and our spiritual wholeness. Let us praise God for the strong vision and the ability at various times to outwit the enemies plans completely.
I've learned through reading that eagles are the only birds that love the storm. When all other birds try to flee from the storm and hide itself from the fierceness of it, eagles fly in to it and will use the wind of the storm to rise higher in a fraction of seconds. It uses the pressure of the storm to glide higher without using its own energy. It is able to do this because God has created it uniquely with an ability to lock its wings in a fixed position, in the midst of the fierce storm winds. The storms in life that we face are trials, tribulations and temptations. As we face the stormy wind of afflictions in life, the Holy Spirit helps us lock our mind in a fixed position with the grace of God through faith in the finished work of the Cross, which helps us not to spend our energy but just stay in the storm and enjoy the lift and height of heavenly mindedness in a greater and greater altitude.
Eagles test before trusting. The female eagle during courtship always takes a male one in to the air after picking up a twig from the ground and goes to a certain height and will drop it for the male to chase it. Once the male catches hold of it and brings it back, the female flies in to a higher altitude and drops it in the same way. This is repeated until the female gets an assurance that the male one has mastered the art of seriously picking up the twigs in real love and affection. Once they get hooked up in trust, the father and the mother eagle mate for life. And they work together as parents with both tending to duties like keeping the eggs warm and protected until the eaglet is hatched. We should follow that example.
Eagles train their children to maturity.  While in training the mother eagle will throw the eaglets outside of its nest and the eaglets will get scared and will always try to come back in to the comfort zone of the nest. Slowly the eagle will begin to remove the feathers, rugs and soft grass inside its nest step by step so that the eaglets can be trained to fly like them. The eaglets may feel that their mother and father are doing cruel things to them. Many times we as believers try to stay in the comfort zone of the old season that the Lord has kept us to grow for a time. But the Lord takes us in to situations that may seem very cruel as we start to bleed because of the hardship of thorns we face in the new season, but the Lord's motive in doing it is to make our fears flee and teach us to soar in faith. Because of the thorns we feel inside the comfort zone of our old and outdated season, we slowly jump out in to the new season like the eaglets jump out of the thorny nest.
When the eagles get older and weak because of the worn out feathers which slows down its flight speed and maneuvers, the eagle retires away in the rocks or its nest and will pluck away all its old feathers until it is completely bare. It waits until a new set of feathers grow and come out of his body. It stays in the hiding place until all the new feathers come back to make it fly dynamically and royally again without much effort or toil.
Likewise, when we grow weary,we wait in the presence of the Lord to help us rise up with the new feathers of faith by renewing our minds with the Word of God.
There are so many lessons to be learned from eagles.
Be blessed.

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Find rest

Greetings:
On this cold and blustery morning – with a feel a snow and ice moving into our area – let us pause and thank the Lord for another day to open our eyes, put our feet on the ground and the ability to enjoy God's creation.
Let the soothing presence of the Holy Spirit flow into our bodies and let peace reign today.
Try to depart from troubles and concerns and let the presence of God's grace and mercy replace them.
Even when things look bad on the surface, let us have confidence that God remains in control of all of the outcomes.
Let day be the day to understand how to rest in the Lord.
There is no true rest when there is a shadow of doubt in your belief of a true and living God, a breathing, seeing, moving, fast-acting God – an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God.
When illness, suffering, difficulties, anguish, confusion, fear, weakness, worry overwhelm, we mut rest in His Word. His Word enlightens us, strengthens and comforts us. The Word is God as is says in John 1:1.
To rest in God is His will for us. To be still in His presence and be confident in Him and His power are what He truly wants us to be.
Let's search and see our place of rest today and breath in God's goodness, his peace and his love. Your day will be a good one.
Be blessed.
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Walk with us today

Greetings:
On this morning we pray for peace and compassion today. Big decisions are ahead of us today and we ask for the Lord's blessing and guidance.
You are the God of understanding, wisdom and mercy and we appreciate it so much. Let us walk in grace today and standing under the protection of the Holy Spirit and an army of Godly angels who battle the forces of evil that are lurking around us.
God, you are the author and creator of all we are or that we will ever be, despite what those who believe in evolution have taught us in our schools.
We know the truth and with the truth we enjoy the freedom of knowing the difference. We choose to believe in our ever-present omnipotent God who is powerful, just and good.
Look around and look at the majesty and magnitude of God's creative touch. View the beauty and the complexity of nature and its various animals, insects, fish and birds of all sizes, the landscape, oceans, the rivers, the flowers, the plants, our weather patterns  and the tiniest of things such as a grain of sand.
Who would dare deny God's hand in all we see, hear feel and the things we touch?
God on this day we praise you and thank you for your loving hand around us, guiding our steps in our daily walk.
We pray for our nation and its leaders on this day and ask that your kindness, wisdom and mercy be poured out on this land we call home.
Let us be reminded that we are all sinners who have fallen short of God's desires, but by his mercy and the shed blood of Jesus, we are miraculously forgiven, redeemed and made right in the sight of God by his grace. We don't deserve any of this, but God has given us a path to sunshine and eternal life.
Each day we are reminded that you are a good God who loves us more than we can ever imagine.
Let is never forget to pray for those who have not heard about your salvation and those who have heard, but chose not to believe.
Remember to lift those up in prayer who are hurting, poor, confused, neglected and lost in earthly terms and spiritually.
Never forget to pray for you enemies and remember someone prayed for you when you didn't believe, when you didn't walk with the Lord and when you were lost.
God in his amazing grace bent down and picked each of us up.
Let us smile and not fret because God has given each of us another day on this planet earth, in this great nation and in the family of believers.
Be blessed.
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Aim high and walk in faith

Greetings and good morning.
Let us take time this day to have a conversation with God – meaning we will talk to God and listen to God. God's presence is such a blessing and calling on him is a great uplift to our mind and spirit.
Strive today to understand that God's ways are higher than our ways and many times we don't get pr see the whole picture at first. At times, things may look like they are falling apart or spiraling out of control. Actually, these may be the times when things might just be falling into place.
Trusting God means what it says.
We must have faith to see the big picture and the outcome in God's time. Walking in faith builds our faith along with our patience. Sometimes, we just need to slow down and let God be God.
Thank you Lord for you majesty, power and abilities that we can't even comprehend. Help us today to be better at just letting go and letting God take the steering wheel of our lives.
Be blessed.
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Be kinder than necessary

Greetings and good morning.
 Let this be the day to open our eyes to God's majesty around us. Even in the midst of trouble and tribulation we can praise and be thankful to God. We have breath on this day and that in itself is reason enough to be filled with joy. Look around, there is always someone who needs your prayers, a kind word or just an encouraging look.
God has placed you to be a blessing. Let us all be kinder than necessary, for everyone we meet may be fighting some kind of battle that we don't know about. Never forget, we serve a kind, loving, merciful and forgiving God.
 Remember we are all sinners and unworthy of God's mercy or his presence, but by his grace and kindness, we are redeemed and loved each and every day.
Be blessed.

Delight in the Lord and he will make a way

Greetings:
How many of you know that you know that God knows what we want before we for ask it?
In addition, how many of you know that God has his own way of doing things and sometimes our plans are not his plans?
Also, how many of you know that when you give something to God, he is able to make sweet lemonade out of sour lemons?
I am reminded of the words written in Psalm 37:4-7A, which read:
“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;”
I experienced this lesson in an exciting eye-opening fashion this past week in a most unlikely way.
To put this into context, for Christmas I received from my wonderful wife a gift of two tickets to the Purdue-Michigan State basketball game that was conducted this past Thursday night in West Lafayette, IN.
Arrangements were made for both my wife and I to be take off work on Friday so we would not have to take the three-hour drive home after the night ball game and could stay overnight with our daughter who lives in West Lafayette.
I was so looking forward to going to the game and to top off the experience Purdue officials were going to honor one of the greatest players to ever suit up as a basketball Boilermaker, Glen “Big Dog” Robinson that night. Robinson was going to be at that game. As a tribute, the school was offering a miniature 'bobble head' statute of Robinson to the first 3,000 fans who entered Mackey Arena that night.
Now “Big Dog” is one of my favorite Purdue players and I thought it would be so cool to be able to arrive early enough to get one of the bobble heads.
If you're not a Purdue fan, I know you won't understand, but the Big Dog was a big deal during his playing days for the Boilermakers.
Nonetheless. as the game date approached I was comfortable in knowing that both my wife and I would not be able to leave Greene County earlier enough to arrive at the game much before 6-6:30 p.m. – which was probably not going to be earlier enough to get one of the bobble-heads.
The story of going to get to go to the basketball game got complicated about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
I was scheduled to be off work to go to a doctor's appointment in Bloomington, so my normal time for going to work was much later than normal.
I left the house just a few minutes before my wife in order to scrap some of the ice off of her van windows.
I was chipping away at the ice when I saw my wife coming towards me with a couple of things in her hands. All of a sudden, almost like it was in slow motion, I saw her fall.
She fell to the frozen, ice-covered ground hard.
I knew she was hurt.
After she laid there for a few minutes, so she could catch her breath and regain some sense of if she was really hurt bad. Her right ankle had been bent back under her body in a direction in which God did not create it. She had a badly sprained  ankle – with a lot of pain coming from the backside of leg.
I was able to get her into the house.
Thank the Lord her leg, her ankle or her hip wasn't broken.
As the next couple of days went on she was in a lot of pain and Wednesday night came and we determined that a trip to the basketball game would not be a wise thing to do. So I made a call to a friend, offering him the tickets to the game.
He wasn't able to go. Three more calls were made on Thursday morning to other individuals offering the tickets to them.
None of them could use the tickets.
I really wanted someone to be able to use the tickets.
Finally, I placed a post on Facebook offering the tickets to anyone who wanted to use them at no cost...just come and pick them up.
Within 10 minutes, a young woman from Jasonville posted that she would like them, if I hadn't already found someone to take them.
I told her if she came to my newspaper office in Linton, the tickets were hers.
She came about 30 minutes later and said she was delighted to get them because she wanted to take her young son, who I would estimate to be around 10, to the game.
I felt good about giving the tickets to someone who truly wanted to go to the game.
As I was driving home after work, the tickets came to mind and I kind of really wished for a moment that that I had been able to go to the game. It was a selfish thought, but that tiny little bobble head was really something I desired. I really wanted it to place on a shelf of Purdue memorabilia that I have at my house.
That night, my wife and I watched the game on television and were relieved that because of heavy winds and stormy conditions outdoors, that we didn't have to make the trip to the game.
How many of you know that God was still in control of the situation?
The next I was at my office, and the woman who works the front counter came walking in and handed me an envelope and a boxed up bobble-head of Glenn Robinson from the game the night before.
The card in the envelope read: “Thank you for help making memories for my son. It was a great time.”'
Wow, I was so touched and humbled that God was able to turn a really bad situation into a blessing for some other folks. In addition, I had the bobble head that I had desired.
The small material token from the basketball game will be something that I treasure, but the lesson behind that bobble head will be something I won't forget.
Be blessed.