Bank Account

Suppose I deposited 1440 dollars into your bank account every single day with only one requirement: You are free to spend every penny of it, but whatever you don't spend today can't be carried over to tomorrow; You would just lose it. What would you do? Well I am pretty sure you would spend every bit of it and not waste a single cent. Well God gives each of us 1440 minutes in every single day. We can choose to "spend" those minutes wisely or we can choose to waste them. Whatever is wasted, though, is gone forever. The definition of "wasting" time varies from person to person. But I would think anything that we do that doesn't glorify God would be wasting time. That does not mean that we need to spend all our time only praying, going to church, or reading the Bible. We can Glorify God with everything we do. We can Glorify Him while we are doing our jobs, while we are driving in traffic, and even while we are shopping at the grocery store. Today, let's ask God to help us find some additional ways we can Glorify Him. After all, our 1440 minutes are ticking away.

Colossians 3:23 says, "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."




Father, please help us to not waste anytime and to learn how to spend every minute Glorifying You. In Jesus name, Amen.

Philly Firsts

Philadelphia. It is an amazing city with an unparalleled history, richer than any other American city. Philly is a city of firsts. It served as our nation's first capital. It opened the first public school. It bought the first fire engine. It erected the first brick house, printed the first almanac, created the first botanical garden, opened the first zoo, started the first newspaper, opened the first hospital, and at least 100 other firsts. It was also the home of Charles Vansant, the first documented shark victim on American record. It happened along the Jersey Shore in the summer of 1916, and was the real-life inspiration for the 1975 movie Jaws by Steven Spielberg. In a span of less than two weeks, a rogue shark attacked 5 victims in New Jersey, four of which died from their injuries. What makes that year so unique is that only one person since then has died from a shark attack on the Jersey coast. Up until that summer, "experts" never even suspected that a shark could kill a man. Today, it seems nothing unusual to hear about a shark attack, although the chances of one dying from an attack is less than one's chance of being killed by a falling coconut! The summer of 1916 brought a strong heat wave to the N.E., and that also resulted in many more people venturing out into the water. Where is God at times like these?

That is a very hard question of which I feel nobody has an adequate answer. It is true that God performs miracles everyday. But most of the time, He chooses not to violate the very Laws of nature that He created. He put sharks in the water, and apparently, made them the kings of the water. They are perfect killing machines. Despite this fact, thousands and thousands of swimmers hit the beaches everyday, never to even be threatened by a shark. But we know it happens. And we know it can happen at any time man and shark mix in the shark's very habitat. Atheists use these incidences of shark attacks and other tragedies to argue that there is no God. How could a loving God allow such awful things to happen? I, just as you, have probably wondered that same thing many times. Why doesn't God help us in those times? My mentor explained to me that if God helped us all the time, so we could avoid danger, then we would expect Him to help us no matter what situation we got ourselves into. I have faith in God, but if I walk out in front of a car, I still expect to be seriously injured, if not even killed. We should have faith in God. But God also gave us a brain. Many tragedies could probably be avoided if people used the brain He gave them. Yes, it is very good to depend on Him completely for every single need that we have. But we should never expect Him to help us all the time, especially when we do foolish things that may increase our chances of being in a tragedy. We should use our faith. But we also must use our brains and the good sense God gave all of us.

Proverbs 15:33 says, "The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor."

Father, please help us to not only have faith in You, but also help us to make the right choices in life. In Jesus name, Amen.

Peter or Judas?

We all make mistakes. We go through stages of strengths and weaknesses. I guess that is what it means to be human. Like a football or baseball team that plays in a game, there will be some winning and some losing. The key is not if you win or lose, it is what you do after the game that matters. When you lose a game, it most definitely hurts. I have played sports my whole life and have been on more losing teams than winning ones. I know the feeling of getting beaten badly. But each time I had to make a choice. I could either give up, or I could move on to the next game. It is impossible to do both. One must make a decision, and then put their whole heart and soul into that decision.

In the New Testament, we learn a little about Judas and Peter. Both were disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Both were eager to learn all about Jesus. But both also made a terrible mistake. Judas betrayed the Lord, and Peter denied Him, even after he said he would never deny Him. The difference, though, was in what they did after their mistake. After both men realized they failed the Lord miserably, they took different paths. Judas gave up and committed suicide. But Peter decided to learn from his mistake, and as a result, he became an even stronger follower of Jesus. We, too, are faced with two options when we fail miserably. We can either learn from the experience like Peter, or we can wallow in our sin and never grow spiritually like Judas. Which one will you choose?

Revelation 21:7 says, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things."

Father, teach us to be like Peter. We can't avoid mistakes. But through Your perfect Power, we can overcome our mistakes. In Jesus name, Amen.

Popcorn

There's nothing like a big bowl of popcorn while watching a good movie! The best kind of popcorn is that stuff at the movie theaters...yum! Because it is not always convenient to go out to the movies, we sometimes have to just settle for the store-bought kind. It is pretty cool how heat can make those small, hard kernels transform into big, soft popcorn. But why do some of those kernels just refuse to pop? It seems that in every bag of popcorn I have ever bought, there's always a few stubborn little kernels.

When we accept Jesus and turn our lives over to Him, He transforms our hard hearts into soft ones. He can do things with our hearts that simply defy logic. I have found that through Jesus, I have more compassion and understanding for others. He took my hard heart and transformed it into soft popcorn. He wants to change all of our hearts. But He can not do it all by Himself. We must want to be changed, and we must ask Him to come into our hearts and take up residence. Don't be one of those stubborn kernels that just refuse to be popped. Open the door to Him, and feel Him transform your life like he transformed mine. I can tell you that opening my heart's door to Jesus was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life! Have you made that decision? God can do more with our hearts than even Orville Redenbacher can do to a pile of kernels.

Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."

Father, thank you for transforming my heart and life. I pray for those who may not have accepted You, yet. I ask You to give them strength to step out in faith, and into Your loving arms. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ooops

It was during this week back in 1985 that Coca-Cola made the biggest mistake in its history: The powers-that-be decided to change the 99-year formula to something different. It was something different, all right. Did you ever try the New Coke? Saying it was horrible would be an under-statement. In fact, it was so bad that the Coca-Cola Company was forced to change back to its original formula just 79 days later. This was the biggest marketing blunder in history.

We all make real dumb mistakes. Once we realize our mistake, it can be very hard to admit it and go back to the way we were doing things before the mistake. We can use Coke as an example to help us when we make a dumb mistake. They made the biggest mistake of all time. But they recognized the mistake, took accountability for it, and then restored the original formula. Since those dark days in the spring of 1985, Coca-Cola once again thrives as the leading soft drink maker in the world. I doubt very seriously, though, that they will ever experiment with their formula again.

God understands that we are only human, and that we are going to make some real dumb mistakes sometimes. The worst thing we could do is to be stubborn about it. Instead, we too must be willing to admit our mistakes and then go through the necessary steps in which to correct those mistakes. But God is ready to help us. His Word promises He will never abandon us no matter what mistakes we make...small, medium, or even big, dumb ones.

Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”


Father, thank-you so much for your precious Son, Jesus. Thank-you for forgiving our sins and for giving us such a great role-model.

Two-For-One Deal

I love those buy-one-get-one-free deals! It is awesome feeling to get something for free. But this day and time, one must be careful about two-for-one offers. If you notice the new things on TV ads, most will give you a second product absolutely free..."just pay shipping and handling". Ah! That's where they get you. That extra shipping and handling charge is expensive. And guess what? You can't tell them you don't want the extra "free" item. I tried! You must take the "free" item with your purchase. So although the extra item itself may be free, the extra money you will pay for that "free" item is expensive. Beware of two-for-one deals!

But the Bible promises us a two-for-One deal that has no "catch" to it! In 1John, we are told that if we deny the Son, we also deny the Father. But, the opposite is also true. If we accept the Son, we get the Father automatically! Isn't that awesome? In other words, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we also get God, His Father, at "no additional charge". That's not just a god. That is THE God!! God Almighty! As wonderful as this is, there is the other side of it that is tragic. Some people believe in God, but they don't believe in His Son, Jesus. Then according to this truth in 1John, they really don't have the Father at all. As Christians, we must let people know that simply "believing" in God will get them absolutely nowhere. It is only through accepting His Son Jesus that we will truly have Salvation and Eternal Life. Do you want God? Then there is only one way: Accept His Son Jesus. What an amazing two-for-One deal!

1John 2:23 says, "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

Lord, again, thank you for sending your Son Jesus! I accept Him totally by faith. Teach me to explain to others that in order to gain You, we must first accept Him. In Jesus name, Amen.

Bible Contradictions

One of my favorite topics to talk and write about is apparent contradictions in the Bible.  I don't believe there are any, though I admit, it can sometimes be hard to reconcile certain verses.  Without knowing Hebrew or Greek, many times the anomaly can be directly attributed to translation errors.  If you have trouble reading an ordinary King James version, I would like to recommend a newer translation.  The New International Version (NIV) or the New American Standard Bible (NASB) might help when studying God's Word.  These versions, and some others like it, do a good job of clarifying passages by using our modern-day dialect while still preserving the main idea from the original manuscripts.  The kind I have is a parallel Bible.  It contains the King James version on one side of the page and the NASB version on the other.  By using this type of Bible, I have been able to settle in my mind what I once believed were contradictions.

"Contradictions" can also be perpetuated, not because of translation errors, but because some people mis-interpret the definition of the word.  What exactly is a contradiction?  Logically speaking, a contradiction consists of a logical incompatibility or discrepancy between 2 or more statements.  Put another way, a thing can not be both "a" and "non-a" at the same time.  For example, it can't be both day and night (non-day) at the same time and place.  As another example, suppose two witnesses to a bank robbery are testifying in court.  One witness said he saw one man in the bank while the other witness claimed he saw two men.  Is this a contradiction?  No, not at all.  The two statements differ but are not contradictory.  In fact, both statements are complementary.  There may have been 2 men in the bank, but our first witness only saw one.  This is very similar to an event in the Bible that some people believe is a contradiction.   Matthew 20:29-34 says that Jesus healed one blind man near Jericho, yet Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43 say there were two blind men healed by Jesus.  For whatever reason, Matthew chose to only mention one man.  Again, this is not a contradiction.

As I stated earlier, I love to debate and debunk what some believe are Bible contradictions.  If you have one and can't reconcile it in your mind, please Email me.  I would love the opportunity to research your question or topic.  By doing this, I am able to grow and understand more about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I want to know all I can about Him.

Can Jesus Do That?

Can Jesus mend your broken heart? Can Jesus turn your financial situation around? Can Jesus take away your aches and pains? Can Jesus change your negative attitude? Can Jesus help you or your children in school? Can Jesus give you wisdom? Can Jesus help you find a better job? Can Jesus take away your addictions? Can Jesus transform you into a better person? Can Jesus _______________________________ ( you fill-in the blank)

In the 9th chapter of Mark, a man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus for healing. The demon spirit in the boy forced him to writhe uncontrollably on the ground. The father explained that sometimes the spirit would throw the boy into the water in an attempt to drown him. The father cried out to Jesus, "Have mercy on us, and help us if you can." Jesus replied with one of the most-quoted verses in all of Scripture. Jesus said, "What do you mean if I can? Anything is possible if a person believes." Jesus has healed the blind, the sick, the lame, the possessed, and has even resurrected the dead. There is absolutely nothing facing you or me today that Jesus can't swing in our favor. The key is that we must believe. Do you believe this?

Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Father, I believe in You. I know there is nothing that You are unable to accomplish. Help me to be the best that I can be. In Jesus name, Amen.

Bad Hair Day

I found this on the Internet and wanted to share it. What a great devotion about attitude!

There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and saw that she had only three hairs on her head. “Great,” she said, “I think I’ll braid my hair today.”
So she did, and had a wonderful day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head. “Hmm,” she said, “I guess I’ll part my hair down the middle.” So she did, and had a wonderful day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only one hair left on her head. “Wow,” she said, “today I get to wear my hair in a pony tail.” So she did, and had a wonderful, wonderful day. The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that there wasn’t a single hair on her head. “Thank God!” she exclaimed. “I was running out of things to do with my hair!” ATTITUDE is everything! Let’s be grateful for the things God has given us and have a wonderful day!

Father, thank-you for life. remind us to be thankful for what we have, and not sad for what we don't. In Jesus name, Amen.

Salvation By Faith Alone

The more I learn about Peter, the more I like him. We all know of how he denied Christ on the night Jesus was arrested. We also know of how Jesus forgave Peter. Peter was the sort of man that I would like to be, that is when he was wrong, he was quick to admit it and to start doing the right thing. In the Book of Galatians, again we see Peter doing the wrong thing. He had shifted from preaching Salvation by grace to Salvation by works, namely, the works of the Jewish faith in the Old Testament. Paul called him on it. In fact, Paul confronted Peter in front of "them all". Again, Peter saw the errors of his ways and repented. Lord, teach me to be more like that when I am wrong.

This debate of salvation by works and salvation by faith is one of the biggest dividers among Christians today. Because of what I have read from God's Word, I am a firm believer that we are saved by our faith in Jesus, and not by any good works we can perform. We do good works because we are saved and not in order to be saved. Paul states in Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified." In other words, we can not be saved by going to church, being baptized, giving to the poor, keeping the 10 commandments, or any other good work. Sure, we should strive very hard to do these things, but these things don't "earn" us everlasting life. In fact, Eternal life can not be "earned" at all. It is simply a gift from God. And the only way we can accept that gift is by accepting Christ as our Personal Savior. Have you accepted God's free gift? I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, "Jesus Christ: Our get out of HELL free card."

Father, thank-you for drawing me to accepting Christ. I pray for those who have not accepted Your free gift. Please draw them too, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

If It Weren't For Bad Luck...

Do you remember that Hee Haw song, "Gloom, Despair, and Agony On Me"? That song still cracks me up when I hear it. I can't help but to sing right along with it. I love the line, "If It Weren't For Bad Luck, I'd Have No Luck At All." We can all relate to that can't we? Bad luck just seems to be par for the course. I remember once in the summer of 1996 I had a string of bad luck that I will never forget. If I was faced with two choices, one good and one bad, I would get blindsided by a choice I never even considered...and it was far worse than the bad one. It is almost funny now looking back on it. I did survive. I try to remember that when a string of bad luck pops up, the law of averages will eventually swing some good luck my way.

As a Christian, I have to wonder if "bad luck" is really all that bad. We know that God will never put more on us than we can handle. We also know that He is completely aware of every single thing that will happen to us. So if He allows it to happen, and God can be nothing but good, is it really bad luck at all? It sure seems like it. But God can do and see what we can't. That is, look at the big picture for our lives. For all we know, that seemingly bad luck we are getting might be just exactly what the good Lord knows that we need for some special job He has planned for us. I wish I could be more like Job. He was a perfect example of bad luck. But not only did he accept it, he also praised God through it. Was that luck? No way! God knew exactly what He was doing. Now don't get me wrong. I am not going to beg God for bad luck. But if I keep in mind that it is all for some bigger purpose that He has in store for me, I can at least struggle through it. I will NEVER give up on my Jesus, bad luck or not!

 

Nahum 1:7 says, "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."

Mention My Name

Recently, a friend of mine went to a job interview at a local company. I personally know many of the "top dogs" at that company, and I told my friend that when she got in the interview, to mention my name. She got the job! I am not sure if she ever mentioned my name in the interview or not, and even if she did, I doubt that had any bearing on their decision. My guess is that it probably didn't because she was very qualified for the job. And for all I know, maybe she did mention my name but got the job in spite of that. I encouraged her to mention my name, not because I think I am such a good person or because I have so much pull at that company. I wanted her to mention my name so in case they wanted to call me and get the "scoop" on her, I could brag about what a great person she is and how she would be such an incredible asset for their company.

I think that is what will happen to us on Judgement Day in heaven. First of all, we are all full of sin. The Bible teaches us that no human is immune from it. Further, God is a perfectly Holy God, therefore He can not even look upon sin. But when we stand before God on that day, we have a "friend" whom God loves very much. If we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, all we have to do is mention His sweet name in the "interview". By doing this, God then sees us as sin-free. Wow, what a powerful name! The blood that Christ shed on the Cross was accepted by God as a ransom for our sins. My friend who got the job got it because she was qualified for it, not because she mentioned my name. But when we stand before God, we will not be "qualified", but the name of Jesus will have the Power to give us Eternal Life anyway. God is so awesome! His grace is sufficient for all of us, even for me!

Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Father, I am in complete awe when I think about how much You love me. You sent Your only Son to die in my place. I know I can never repay You for what You have done for me. But I do accept Your gift of Jesus Christ. Thank-you, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Twister

In the movie Twister, the scientists invented some electronic sensors that could record valuable information about tornadoes. The only problem was that those sensors had to be injected directly into the storm. The scientists would rush into the path of an on-coming twister, set out their instruments, and then hope the storm passed directly over so it could swoop up the gadgets. It was almost a one-in-a-million shot, and the danger to their lives was great. Most of the time they failed, but their belief was that all the failure would be worth just one success. The information that would be gathered could potentially save hundreds or even thousands of lives in the future.

We read in the Gospels that when the people heard Jesus might be coming their way, they would gather up all the sick and lame and wait for Him to come along, in hopes of His healing. Some had so much faith that they believed just touching Jesus' garment as he strolled by would heal them. One soldier even believed that Jesus could save someone from a distance; Jesus did not actually have to be there to heal. Today we have learned a lot more about the healing power of Christ. No, He does not have to physically touch us to change us. We don't even have to wait around and see if He will be coming our way. We can go to Him, and we can do it right this very minute. Do you need healing in your life? Is there a certain situation that you are facing that is driving you crazy? Is your heart broken because of a broken relationship? There is no reason to wait for Jesus to come by; He is already right here with you and me. All we have to do is ask for His help, and He will hear us immediately.

Psalm 55:17 says, "Evening and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice."

Dynamite!

Back a few years ago, Paul Harvey did a Rest Of The Story story that I liked very much. I'm going to try to re-tell the story in the familiar Paul Harvey style:

Alfred was rich and famous. He was an inventor. One day he was reading his local newspaper when something very shocking caught his eyes. He found an article about himself. The shocking part was that he was reading from the obituaries. Although he was very much alive, somehow the newspaper was claiming him to be dead. As he continued to read his own obituary, he started getting a sick feeling in the pit of his belly. You see, Alfred, a very smart chemist and physicist, had just recently invented dynamite. And although he was also very interested in other things such as drama and poetry, the newspaper was portraying him as a killer. The bulk of the obit emphasised the fact that he had invented something that blew-up and killed people. Not wanting to be remembered that way, Alfred pledged the rest of his life and riches for the betterment of humanity. In his will, he directed the establishment of a foundation to award annual prizes for achievement in chemistry, physics, literature, and efforts toward international peace. Alfred, better known as Alfred Bernhard Nobel, has one of the most prestigious awards in the world named after him. The Nobel Prize also includes a cash prize of almost a million dollars. In 1968, the prize field was broadened to include an award in economic science.

If you could read your own obituary today, would you be proud of your accomplishments? Alfred Nobel was given a "second chance" to change his impact on the world. Would you be remembered for good things or for bad things? When we allow Christ to live through us, we are also able to make a big impact on people around us. A big and good impact! No matter how insignificant you may view yourself, you are most important to God. And He wants to do some great things through you! Will you allow Him to do it?

Romans 12:21 says, "Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good."

Father, teach us to allow you to live in us and to guide us. Your will is perfect. No matter what a mess we may have made in our lives up to this point, we know You have the power to change all of it in a split-second. Thank you for loving and caring for us this much. In Jesus name, Amen.

Twists and Turns

Back a couple years ago, one of my students taught me how to solve a Rubik's Cube. I was amazed at how quickly he could line up all the colors and get it solved. It never took him longer than 2 minutes! He would hand it to somebody and ask them to "mess it up" for him. The incredible thing was that regardless of how "messed up" they made it, he immediately went to work and solved it like it was nothing. I was absolutely amazed! I am proud to say that since he taught me, I can now solve it in under two minutes as well. And it does not matter how messed up it gets, I can get it back good as new!

Our life can be like a Rubik's Cube. It does not matter how much we twist and turn the cube, it will always be "messed up". The only way to get our life's pieces back together is to put them in the hand's of the Master! Jesus can "solve" our life's problem in a flash. Why do we continue to twist and turn on it when all we do is make it worse? There are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different ways to twist and turn the Cube, and there are probably many more ways than that to mess up our lives. But regardless of the number of ways to mess it up, or how messed up it may be right now, hand it over to the Master! Jesus is willing, able, and ready to "solve" your life's problems. Trust me, He can, and He will get it back together. But you have to turn it over to Him...

Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall."

Father, I know there are many people out there with broken lives. Please encourage them to turn it all over to You. You are the Master! In Jesus name, Amen.

Give Freely

I wanted to share with you what my daughter Bailey did last night at the grocery store. While we were buying a few items, she came up to me and asked for a couple dollars. I reached into my wallet and took out two bucks. As I was handing it to her, I guess I just naturally asked what she needed. She said, "I am going to donate it to the lady outside who is collecting for diabetes research." I thought to myself, "instead of buying some junk?" I was very proud of her at that very moment.

But then the funny part hit me: It is so easy to be generous with somebody else's money. I nearly laughed and wondered why she didn't just ask for 5 or 10 dollars. Bailey has a kind heart, with my money or with her own. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I would have given those same two dollars to the lady outside. I guess the bottom line is that the money was given, and hopefully it will do some good. Is it truly the thought that counts? This time, it was my 16-year old's thought that counted the most. I love you, Boo.

Psalm 112:5 says, "Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely."

Father, thank-you for Bailey. She is such an awesome young lady, and I am so lucky you chose me to be her daddy. In Jesus name, Amen

Cherokee Indian Tradition

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 earth, and shook his stump, but he never removed the blindfold." It was the only way he could become a man"!

Finally, after a horrific night, the sun appeared and 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.

Father, thank-you for watching over and protecting us.  Teach us to always depend on you.  In Jesus name, Amen.