Choices

 

I am trimming down a bit (trying to) and was in Lowe’s when a gnawing in the pit of my stomach hit me.  And at the checkout counter there were candy bars and other sweets to fill my empty stomach.  But a protein bar on the top row caught my eye.  It was chewy with peanuts and chocolate, and it would be a better choice than the sugars on the shelves below.  So I got it and semi-enjoyed the snack.  Two days later, I was in Costco and found a box of 42 chewy protein bars, so I bought them to keep available for when the munchies hit me.  The box was $11.49.  Not a bad price.  But then I began to think.  That protein bar at Lowe’s was $3.88 for one protein bar.  And at Costco $11.49÷42=27¢ each.  And $3.88÷$0.27=14.37 or a whopping 1,437% markup!  Not a bad profit margin for Lowe’s!  Hey, when you’re hungry, you take drastic measures.  Esau did just such a thing in Genesis 25.  Esau sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob for a bowl of lentils!  And what a bargain that was!  Hey, don’t make poor choices today.  Think before you act.  Make choices that would please the good Lord, and you’ll be glad that you did.

Adoption

Two of my five grandchildren are adopted.  I am so glad that there were two mothers who chose adoption over abortion, and because of their brave decision, I have two lovely grandchildren.  I was present in the courtroom when each of those adoptions were final.  They were both emotional moments.  But as I recall those adoptions, I noticed that the children paid nothing.  The parents paid the lawyer’s fees, home inspections, court costs … everything, but the children paid nothing.  Hey, that’s how I got into God’s forever family.  God paid for my redemption with the sacrifice of His dear Son on the cross of Calvary.  A tremendous price was paid for my freedom from sin.  But I paid nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Nil.  EVERYTHING was paid by my heavenly Father.  Paul said in Gal 4:4&5, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”  By me accepting God’s offered salvation, I became a child of God … for free!  But, just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is no such thing as free salvation.  I may get a “free lunch”, but someone has to pay for it in order for it to be free for me.  And my salvation is free to me, but it was paid for with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  And that free gift of salvation is offered to you as well.  Hey, won’t you accept the free gift of salvation?  If you have any questions, message me.  Do it right now.

Scary Movies

 

Why do le like scary movies?!  Some of the commercials on TV about a scary movie actually scare me.  No, just the commercial scares me!  I think that the reason people like scary movies is that the “scare” is not real.  If you are actually being chased by a rabid dog, that’s real and that’s scary.  But if someone on TV is being chased by a rabid dog, you know that it’s on TV, and it’s not real.  You get the thrill of the scare without the danger of a real rabid dog bite.  Hey, Peter said in I Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  Satan is real, and Satan is lurking around the next corner to pounce upon you, chew you up, and to spit you out.  But Jesus has bought you as His dear child and Jesus has Satan on a short leash!  Satan may roar and scare you, But Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Universe is standing right there with you.  Don’t be afraid!  Satan’s roar isn’t real - at least not to you, a child of the King!  Don’t be afraid!  Stand safely with God!

The Real You

 

Who is the real you?  Are you what you think about yourself?  Not really.  Are you who others think about you?  No again, but you’re getting close.  The real you is what you think that others think about you.  We are constantly living to please others - or at least trying to please others.  When I was in the fourth grade, I thought that I had skinny arms.  And all I had to wear were short-sleeved shirts.  So I wore this hideous multi-colored sweater every day to school over my short-sleeved shirts to cover my (perceived) skinny arms.  I thought others thought that my arms were skinny.  But EVERY fourth-grade boy has skinny arms!  That ugly sweater looked much worse than my (perceived) skinny arms.  No one ever mentioned my skinny arms to me, but that’s what I thought that they thought.  Hey, God made me exactly how He wanted me to be - skinny arms and all.  And God made you exactly the way that He wanted you to be.  He made you for a special purpose, and that is to glorify God.  God gets glory in using ordinary people.  Paul said it best in I Corinthians 1:26-29, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”  When a great person speaks eloquently, people are in awe, but when an ordinary person speaks eloquently about the good Lord above, people are amazed, and God gets the glory!  So, God is looking for ordinary people who will speak to others of Him.  God might even be looking for people with skinny arms.  Who knows who God can use?  May be even you!