Silence

 

When I was in junior high school, my uncle Gray was teasing his daughter and my aunt about women talking.  Carol and Aunt Gerrie protested, claiming that they could control their mouths.  So, Uncle Gray bet them a trip to watch the Baltimore Orioles play that they could not go 24 hours without talking.  Sunday morning came.  I walked into church and spoke to Aunt Gerrie, but she said nothing.  I asked Carol what was going on, and she said nothing.  I asked her brother Gene what was going on, and he explained the bet.  We had a lot of fun trying to get them to speak, but they held on, and they won the bet.  But I don’t remember if they got the free trip to watch the Orioles play or not.  Actually, Uncle Gray may have used the bet to get himself a trip to see the Orioles as well.  Hey, in the Bible, Israel was told not to speak at all as they marched around Jericho for seven days!  Joshua commanded them in Joshua 6:10, “… Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout.”  But on that seventh day, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua commanded the people to shout, for the Lord had given them the victory.  And when the people shouted, God made the walls of Jericho to fall down flat, and the armies of Israel walked right into Jericho!  God gave them a tremendous victory because they obeyed and kept quiet until the appointed time.  Hey, do you obey God too?  I hope you are not like Achan who disobeyed God.  But that’s another story.  Obey the Lord and He will give you the victory!

The Gym

 

Some people go to the gym to work out and some people go to the gym just to go to the gym.  They like to be seen with their little sweat bands and head bands, and their matching shorts and tee shirts.  They have their cute little gym bag with their Nalgene water bottle with the sipper spout.  They go to the gym, but they hang out at the smoothie bar and talk.  Oh, they may take a selfie with an exercise machine in the background, but they never break a sweat.  Hey, there are folk who go to church just like our friends who go to the gym.  Some go to church to worship God, but many go to church just to be at church.  They like to hang around with the good people.  They like to dress up and look good so that they can tell everyone at work on Monday that they went to church on Sunday.  But church never makes a difference in their lives.  They never break a spiritual sweat.  That’s because they are professors and not possessors.  They know about Jesus Christ, but they don’t know Jesus Christ.  And when things get tough, they can’t make it because they are spiritually flabby.  The apostle James warns in James 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”  Hey, get honest with God.  But more importantly, get honest with yourself.  Are you an authentic Christian?  Then act like it!  Or are you just a pretend Christian?  You need to get honest and trust Jesus.  Get real ... really!

Bookcover

 

My wife likes to shop at Aldi’s.  I do not.  They have great prices, but I miss my name brand items and they don’t have plastic bags to put our stuff in.  As we were shopping, I collected five empty boxes and put them under the shopping cart to put our items in at checkout.  But I was late for a doctor’s appointment, and we were in a hurry.  At the self-checkout, I tried to pack our purchases quickly and carefully, but quickly was more important.  So, I ran out of boxes.  My wife said, “Gerald, just buy one of Aldi’s paper bags.  They’re only 12¢.”  She was right, so we got home with an Aldi’s paper bag.  And as I was emptying the bag, I got nostalgic.  When I taught Junior high school years ago, the first day of school’s assignment for the next day was to bring in paper grocery bags the next day to cover our schoolbooks.  Being OCD, I showed the students exactly how to do it.  And being OCD, I’ll show you exactly how to do it.  Hey, I’m in good company, because the apostle Paul was OCD too!  Paul said in I Corinthians 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”  Paul didn’t just tell the people in Corinth how to be a Christian, he showed them how to be a Christian.  Can I make a bold application?  If a new Christian wants to learn how to be a Saint of God, can they follow your example?  Like my finished book cover looks sharp, will their new life in Christ look sharp if they follow your example?  Think about it.

Patience

 

This may come as a surprise to you, but I am an impatient person.  I don’t like to wait at a traffic light.  I watch the light going the other way, and when it turns yellow, I am ready to go.  I like to get a split-second head start on my green light.  And doctor appointments frustrate me.  Why do I have an appointment for 9 AM when everyone knows that the doctor won’t see me until 10 AM?  Now I know why it’s called a “waiting room”.  I get done with supper at Cracker Barrel and can’t wait to get the check.  I look around for the waiter and fume, “What’s taking so long?”  But have you ever noticed that God isn’t in a hurry?  He has all the time in the world.  It could be that God is using difficulties in my life to develop patience in me.  James 1:3 & 4 says, “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  Actually, the only way to overcome impatience is to be patient.  counterintuitive, right?!  And God is wise enough to send us difficult situations to help us to develop patience.  So, be careful what you ask for: don’t ask for patience, or God will give you trials to develop your patience.  Ask for wisdom during your testing, and you’ll get patience … for free.

Witness

 

Years ago, I was traveling on rain-slick Highway 153 when I saw a semi-truck plow into a pick-up truck.  I helped the man and woman and their twelve-year-old daughter out of the over-turned truck to safety.  No big thing.  But then, six months later, I was summoned to court as a witness in the family’s lawsuit against the trucking company.  When I got to the witness stand, the bailiff held out a Bible, asked me to place my left hand on it, raise my right hand, and repeat after him, “I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”  Wow!  What a serious statement that I had to affirm.  Hey, that’s what the apostles of Jesus were asked to do in the book of Acts.  They were asked to repeat the truth about Jesus … the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  And they did.  And what were they called?  You guessed it, “witnesses”.  Acts 4:33, “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”  They obeyed the Lord’s command to be witnesses.  Hey, are you obeying the Lord’s command to speak out for Him?  If you are, you are a witness.  Good job!  Keep it up!

Words

 

When I was about seven years old and my brother, Phillip, was about five years old, we were riding in the car with our parents.  Suddenly, a police car blew by us, lights flashing and sirens blaring.  My little brother said confidently, “That policeman is going to murder someone.”  My mother corrected him saying, “The policeman may have to shoot someone, but he isn’t going to murder them.”  Then, with my infinite wisdom, I spoke up and said, “Don’t say what you don’t know what is.”  My dad opened his mouth to correct me but thought for a moment.  Then he shrugged, closed his mouth, and dropped what he was going to say.  What I had said made sense … well, sort of.  Hey, the words of little children may not always be accurate.  They speak from their limited understanding.  But the good Lord always has the right things to say.  In Psalm 12:6 we find, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”  Hey, you can trust the words that God speaks.  They are true.  Why not take a few minutes and read some of His words right now.  Then read them every day!  Daily Bible reading is a good habit to get into.

Dominion

 

The word “dominion” is very interesting.  I think of a king when I hear the word dominion, because a king has dominion over his realm.  A good king keeps wickedness under control and assures that good people thrive under his dominion.  God is the King of the universe, but in Genesis, God gives dominion to man to rule over the earth.  Mankind is not given the animals and the earth’s resources to plunder, but man is given the responsibility to rule carefully over God’s creation in God’s stead.  The apostle Paul warns us that death has dominion over our bodies because of the power (dominion) of sin.  But praise the Lord, someday, dominion will be restored to the proper King of kings in the end times.  The little one-chapter book of Jude gives proper praise to the King of glory and says in verse 25, “To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”  Well said, Jude, well said!  Hey, are you giving the King of the universe His proper place in your life today?  Think about it.