Dumbbells

 

OK, I am not an exercise freak.  But I do have these two 5 lb. dumbbells that I use to work out my arms.  I like to keep them in the living room so that I am reminded to use them while watching TV (It’s sort of like drinking diet Coke while eating ice cream).  But my wife doesn’t like the dumbbells in the living room because they “ruin the décor”.  Oh well.  So, yesterday she was going to move them back to the bedroom where she thought they would look better, only she had to pick them up.  After trying to pick up my dumbbells, she decided that they looked fine right where they were.  What she thinks is too heavy, is what I use to exercise with.  It’s all in your point of view.  Hey that’s exactly how each of us deals with the struggles of life.  God has taken me through pain and suffering and taught me to bear it.  My sized dumbbells, so to speak.  I have lost both parents in death, but my four children haven’t gone through that pain yet.  But they have lost grandparents in death … their sized dumbbells.  And my grandchildren haven’t gone through what their parents have gone through yet.  They have much smaller sized dumbbells in life.  Each of us are at different stages in life’s struggles.  But remember, in each struggle, God is there with you.  Paul said it best in I Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”  As you struggle with difficulties in life, the dear Lord will meet your need and give you the strength to deal with the heaviest dumbbells that you can handle.  Just look for that way of escape and trust your loving heavenly Father.

Downhill Uphill

 

In our neighborhood, we have a small street (with no painted centerlines) that makes a sharp, 90° turn … while going downhill.  When drivers are on the inside of the curve downhill, it’s easy (or relatively easy) for them to stay on their side of the road.  But when drivers are on the outside of the curve going up, they tend to “straighten out the curve” driving in the middle of the road to get up the speed to climb the hill.  Usually, no one is coming, but sometimes … well, it can get a little dangerous.  A week ago Wednesday, my right shoulder was hurting, and I was driving with only my left arm when I came around the outside of that curve going up the hill (refer to the sentence above).  I couldn’t negotiate the road as well as I usually do, so I “cut the corner” just a little bit.  But an oncoming driver didn’t show any mercy, honking his horn long and loud.  What a rude dude!  No understanding at all!  I was doing the best that I could while he showed no compassion at all!  But then I realized how often I was unkind, like that other driver.  Often, when another driver drifts onto my side of the road, I crowd the middle of the road to “teach the other driver a lesson”.  Jesus said in Luke 6:31, “And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”  This is called The Golden Rule.  Hey, If I think that the other driver should be understanding of me, I should be understanding of other drivers too.  And when an uphill driver comes over onto my side of the road, I need to remind myself that he may have shoulder problems just like me too.  Well, he could.  Hey, you have a choice today: kindness or honking; understanding or crowding.  The choice is up to you.

At Chick fil-A

 

My wife and I have a Wednesday night ritual: we leave for church an hour early and stop by Chick fil-A to eat supper.  I use my points and she doesn’t have to cook, so it’s a win, win situation.  We usually eat in the car, but last Wednesday, her friend was eating with us, so we went inside.  We sat at a middle table, so I pulled a chair out to accommodate Kathy’s wheelchair.  I slid the unused chair over against the middle wall where the customers line up.  A few minutes later, a cute little family with four kids came in and walked up to the counter.  Everyone stepped around the chair except the little two-year-old boy.  He walked right up to the chair (which was in his way), climbed up onto the chair and off the other side continuing to the counter as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.  I chuckled at his directness … or stubbornness, whichever one you chose to call it.  He is the one in that family with the vinegar in him.  He will be a leader when he grows up.  Even at the age of two, I can already tell that nothing is going to stop this kid.  He just needs a little shaping and molding.  Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Vitamin Scam

 

I take vitamins every day to maintain my youthful physique.  OK, so I’m just trying to stay alive.  I take biotin for my splitting fingernails, vitamin C for a healthy immune system, Glucosamine for my old joints, fiber for … well, you know why I take fiber, and gummy vitamins.  I ran out of vitamins, so I went to the store to get more daily vitamins.  They had a bottle that said, “Advanced Multivitamins for Him. 60% more.”  So, I bought the bottle.  But when I got home and read the directions, these gummies are dosed at three per day instead of two a day.  Sneaky advertising, to say the least!  I must take 50% more gummies to get 60% more vitamins.  Not very cost effective.  Hey, I’m glad that the Lord doesn’t use technicalities when He offers me salvation!  When I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I REALLY got a bargain!  I traded my dirty sins for eternal life in heaven!  What a deal!  Not just 60% more, but eternal life!  A great deal!  II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”  Thank you, Jesus for my eternal life!  You are the Real Deal!  Yes, You are!

Paper Towel Dispenser

 

At cardiac rehab in the men’s locker room, there are two lavatories with paper towel dispensers on each end.  I use the one near the door because … well, it’s near the door, and I’m lazy (the other lavatory takes two extra steps, a total of four, coming and going).  Two weeks ago, I noticed that the paper towel was not winding out as far as it had been.  A problem with the automatic dispenser.  Then last week, it was even shorter.  So, Monday, it only rolled out two inches!  Not even worth using.  So, I had to waste four steps to go to the farther lavatory and the farther paper towel dispenser.  I’m not a paper towel mechanic, but I think that the battery is going out of the paper towel dispenser.  Hey, I know some church-goers who are just like our faulty paper towel dispenser.  Their decline is incremental.  First, they miss a service once in a while.  Then they stop going on Wednesday evenings.  Then they skip a Sunday night here and there.  Pretty soon, it’s only Sunday mornings … when it’s convenient.  The same thing happens with their giving.  And their Bible reading and prayer in the mornings suffer the same declension.  Hey, it’s easy to cool off and become complacent!  The church at Laodicea had the same problem.  Jesus Christ said in Revelation 3:15-17, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”  Hey, can I make an application?  Wake up and get with it!  Don’t be satisfied with just lukewarm Christianity!  God hates it and you hate it!  It is as useless as a two-inch piece of paper towel on dripping wet hands!  Repent and get back to where you want to be with the dear Lord!  You’ll be glad that you did!

Don't Be Afraid

 

I heard a good quote today.  Alistair Begg was preaching about Naomi and Ruth.  When Naomi saw the kindness of Boaz to her daughter-in-law, Naomi told Ruth to go back to the threshing floor that night and tell Boaz how she felt.  After Ruth spent the night with Boaz at the threshing floor, she came home to Naomi with an apron full of grain.  Naomi asked her what had happened, and Ruth “told her all that the man had done to her” Ruth 3:16.  Nothing wrong had happened that night, so Ruth wasn’t afraid to tell Naomi everything.  Here is the quote, “When you go out on a date, don’t do anything that you would be afraid to tell your mother about.”  Alistair went on, “You may be thought of as a prude or as old-fashioned, but you can be truthful.”  Hey, keep no secrets from those whom you love.  Live your life so that you are never afraid of telling the truth to your parents or to your spouse.  Live your life like an open book.  Live your life with honesty and respect.

Leave the Light On

 

I remember years ago when our grandson would spend the night at our house.  Greyson had great fun at Marmie’s and Granddaddy’s house.  He didn’t have to eat what he didn’t want to eat, and he didn’t have to do what he didn’t want to do … within reason.  He did have to pick up the Legos that he had spilled all over the basement floor … but Granddaddy helped.  We raced to see who could pick up the Legos first.  He won!  Poor little sucker.  After a bath and prayers, Greyson went to bed.  But he wanted me to leave the lamp on.  He said that he would feel better if I left it on.  Hmm.  When you’re seven years old, isn’t it a comfort to have a lamp on at bedtime?  Oh, I remember those days well, don’t you?  Do you still sleep with a light on?  Not judging, just asking.  So why is it that we feel comforted when we leave a lamp on?  We know that all the doors are locked.  We know that we are safe.  But, of course, there are many scary things in the dark.  Things that we cannot see.  We don’t know what they are, because we can’t see them, but we just know that they’re there.  But a lamp left on reveals that there isn’t anything there.  A lamp dispels darkness and reveals only peace, comfort, and security.  King David nailed it when he said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  God’s Word is a comfort to us and gives us peace, comfort, and security.  God’s Word dispels the darkness in our lives ... that is if we read it.  Hey, why not read it right now?  It’s much better than reading Facebook.  Really.