Deceived

 

When I was a kid, we went to see the Baltimore Orioles play about once a year.  That was about all that my dad could afford.  But we watched the orioles on TV most weekends.  I had a little transistor radio with a single wired earbud that I used for the west coast games.  I had to go to bed at eight o’clock, but my dad would let me listen to the baseball games as long as I was in bed.  In the early sixties, Baltimore had a relief pitcher named Hoyt Wilhelm.  He didn’t pitch very fast, and he wasn’t very clever, but he had a knuckle ball that was incredible.  Paul Richards, the manager of the orioles, would use Wilhelm in later innings as a relief pitcher.  “Old Sarge” as he was known as, would come into a game, and if the orioles had the lead, he was unstoppable.  The catcher, Gus Triandos, had a special catcher’s mitt with a 41” circumference to corral the knuckle ball.  When Old Sarge pitched his knuckle ball, batters just couldn’t tell where the ball would go.  But neither could Wilhelm or Triandos.  The knuckle ball was slow, but so deceptive that batters would swing at what they thought was an easy pitch only to find that they had struck out.  Hey, that’s how Satan deceives us.  He comes at us with his sucker pitch, and we fall for his trick every time.  Satan’s temptations are so slick and so enticing that we are fooled into ignoring God’s warnings.  Paul said in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  Just like batters thought Old Sarge’s slow-moving knuckle ball was an easy hit, we fall for Satan’s lies.  But don’t be deceived.  Satan will lie every time.  Trust God.  He will never let you down.

Moulding

 

I have a pair of shearling slippers that were a gift to me 3 years ago Christmas.  They are fleece lined and started out fitting kind of tight.  But, as time went on, my foot began to mold the fleece slippers, and they felt better and better.  After a year, they fit perfectly.  And after 3 years, they fit like an old pair of comfortable gloves.  My slippers and feet are a perfect example of Romans 12:1&2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  My feet are doing the transforming and the slippers are being conformed.  May I be conformed to the image of the dear Lord today, is my prayer.

Little Choices

 

Life is made up of little decisions that seem to be insignificant but can have tremendous consequences.  here is a great example: I know this isn’t the way that you should do things, but this is how it happened to me:  When I was a senior in high school in 1967, my dad encouraged me to go to college.  I had a pastor who attended Tennessee Temple College, and I had a cousin who attended Bob Jones University.  Both good schools.  I got applications from both schools, but I couldn’t decide which one to choose.  The application fee was $25 for Bob Jones and the application fee was $10 for Tennessee Temple, so I chose Tennessee Temple.  At Temple I met my wife, who was from Michigan.  I had never been to Michigan, and otherwise, would never have met her.  We had four children, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild (so far).  And all of this was because of a little decision that I made one evening in 1967!  If I had decided to attend the other college, the trajectory of my whole life would have been different.  Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5&6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”  I am so glad that God directed my path to Tennessee Temple, where I joined the Concert choir where I met my future wife, Kathy.  Hey, God has continued to direct my steps in a wonderful way!  Let God direct your steps.  He will!