Power

I almost had a melt-down Sunday morning.  I was getting ready for church, got out my electric toothbrush, and … nothing happened.  The built-in rechargeable battery was dead.  I have another toothbrush, but lately, I have been using it to brush out my mustache.  So using that particular toothbrush (mustache brush) was out of the question.  So, I had to brush my teeth manually moving the bulky electric toothbrush back and forth; up and down.  I was reminded of the not-so-bright man who got a job cutting firewood.  He came into the shop at the end of his first day with his chainsaw in hand.  The boss said, “How’d you do on your first day?”  The man said, “I cut down two trees.”  The boss said, “What?  You’ve got to do better than that!”  At the end of the second day, the recruit proudly said, “Well, I got four trees cut down today.”  The boss replied, “What?  I’m going out with you tomorrow to see what the problem is.”  So, in the morning, the boss went with the not-so-bright man to the forest.  They selected a tree, the boss picked up the chain saw, and started it up.  The recruit jumped back saying, “What’s that noise?!”  Funny story, but we think that we can face the challenges of life without the power of the Holy Spirit!  We approach life’s problems in our own strength attempting to do spiritual battle without the necessary spiritual armor.  Hey, without the Lord, Satan will chew you up and spit you out!  You are no match against the forces of evil!  Paul sized up the problem in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”  And Paul gives the solution in verse 13, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”  You can’t fight against Satan any more than I can brush my teeth with a dead electric toothbrush.  And if you try to fight against the powers of evil in your own strength, you will be like the not-so-bright man cutting a tree down without any power in his chainsaw.  Hey, don’t be not-so-bright.  Put on the armor of God.  And then stand.

 

COPS

 

My wife and I like to watch the Cops TV program.  It seems like the perpetrators always have an excuse, no matter how unbelievable it is.  One line that we laughed at was when the suspect had marijuana in his pants pocket, and said, “But these aren’t my pants!”  The cops pull over a driver when he is driving unusually slow or driving erratic.  When they confront the driver, his speech is slurred, his movements are slowed, and his eyes betray his impairment.  After a roadside sobriety test, the driver is arrested for “Driving Under the Influence”, DUI.  The apostles were accused of drunkenness in Acts 2.  Because they were speaking in other tongues (drunken jabbering to the skeptical Jews), they were accused of SUI (Speaking Under the Influence).  The unbelieving Jews just couldn’t accept what they were hearing.  Paul said in Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”  Just like drunken drivers are controlled by alcohol, we as Christians should be controlled by the blessed Holy Spirit.  We should be LUI … Living Under the Influence.  The influence of the Holy Spirit, that is.

Blood Assurance

 

I have a dear friend (and former student) who is undergoing chemo treatments.  Keep Miss Karyn in your prayers.  When I saw her post on facebook a couple of days ago, I was reminded to visit Blood Assurance here in Ft. Oglethorpe and donate two bags of platelets.  I began donating in 1972 when a ten-year-old student in our Christian school was diagnosed with leukemia.  Since then, I have donated 28 gallons of blood … not all at once!  It’s easy for me to do, but a lifesaver for cancer patients who need platelets to help them recover from weekly chemo treatments.  By the way, why not make a blood donation yourself this week?  Contact Blood Assurance online at bloodassurance.org.  Now back to my story after the commercial.  William Harvey discovered the blood circulation system in 1628.  But the dear Lord had designed the circulation system thousands of years before that discovery.  Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses wrote in Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.  And then 14 centuries later, the precious blood of God’s sinless Son Jesus was spilled on Mt. Calvary for my sins and for your sins.  Hey, have you appropriated that blood sacrifice for yourself?  If not, message me and let’s talk.