Scam

 

I tried to scam my dear wife this morning, but it didn’t work.  I told her that I had oatmeal with raisins for breakfast.  She looked a little skeptical, and rightly she should have been, because I had three oatmeal cookies with raisins in them.  Actually, the cookies had all of the oatmeal ingredients in them.  Well, mostly.  And they were healthy.  Well, mostly.  How many times in life do we lie to ourselves saying that our lives are mostly good?  We do the right things … most of the time.  But the dear Lord expects more than “close” from us.  I Peter 1:15&16, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy … Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”  The good Lord sets the bar pretty high!  But the Lord expects so much from us because He has given so much for us!  I Peter 1:18&19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”  Holiness is not preached very often in our churches today, but God expects purity from us.  After all, we are part of the body of Christ.  We belong to Him.  Don’t try to scam the Lord.  Like my wife and my oatmeal breakfast, the Lord won’t fall for our almost-good-living.  The Lord sees every move that we make.  Yes, He does.

Laurel Wreath

 

Are you watching any of the Olympics this summer?  I was put off by the Christian mockery in the opening ceremonies, but that’s a discussion for another day.  In the apostle Paul’s day, games of running, wrestling, and endurance were celebrated.  The winner was given a laurel wreath to wear around Rome for the rest of the day.  But after such preparation, dedication, and focus, the accolades lasted only a day.  The wreath withered and was tossed aside the next day.  But we Christians work to obtain a heavenly reward given by our heavenly Father.  Let me be clear: we are saved by grace alone, and after we are saved, we work to please our Savior.  Paul said in I Corinthians 9:25, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”  Hey, are you working for earthly gain, or working for a heavenly reward?  One is temporary, but the other is eternal.  Seems like one is much more important than the other.  Think about it.

Wake Up at Home

 

When our children were young, we enjoyed the relaxation of going over to some friends’ house and playing Rook well into the night.  After wearing themselves out playing, our kids would fall onto a couch or a chair sound asleep.  After the last card game and our final goodbyes were said, I would scoop up the little ones, and carry each of them to the big back seat of our old ’71 Ford sedan (no seatbelts back then).  Then when we got home, I would gently carry them into the house and tuck them safely into their own beds.  In the morning, they would wake up at home with no idea how they got there.  They went to sleep in one place and woke up the next morning at home.  And someday, our tired old bodies will fall asleep in death, and we will wake up in our heavenly home.  Our heavenly Father will safely carry us from earth to heaven without any help from us.  We will wake up at home in our eternal abode.  Psalms 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”  Hey, if you aren’t sure about your relationship with your heavenly father, please message me and we can talk.  I can show you several promises from God’s Word, the Bible.  You can trust what God says.  After all, He loves you so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to pay for your ticket to heaven.  Don’t hesitate; contact me right now.