A Cowboy's Christmas Prayer

      “…Aaand their off!” Like thoroughbred’s exploding from the starting gate, holiday shoppers raced to be first in line for the limited supply, special buys, offered on “Black Friday”. I used to be an alpha perfectionist in everything I did, resulting in finding fault in everything everybody else did, but I never got over the top crazy wanting to fight over a parking space at WalMart. I have been known to wave a few gestures of expression and use some unsavory language while unloading my disgruntled feelings toward a fellow alpha, but it was generally with the windows rolled up and my wife grabbing my arm, pulling it down out of sight. My bark has always been more intrusive than my bite, because I learned very young, when you bite, you generally get bitten. Well anyway, I’ve never gotten involved in the buying frenzy of the holidays, and what I read and hear and see on TV is frightening. It makes no sense to me that people are willing to fight one another, in an exhibition of terror and hate, to purchase an item that they claim will be given to someone in love. Like the insurance commercial running on TV lately says, “The greatest danger we face in this world is other people”, a fact with an abundance of witness. Self-centeredness does not compliment our love for others.

      Sometimes it’s a simply life that shows love and gives thanks best. “A Cowboy’s Christmas Prayer” “…I ain’t much good at prayin’, and you may not know me, Lord; I ain’t much seen in churches when they preach thy Holy Word. But you may have observed me, out here on the lonely plains, a lookin’ after cattle, feelin’ thankful when it rains; Admirin’ thy great handiwork, the miracle of grass, aware of thy kind spirit in the way it comes to pass; That hired men on horseback and the livestock that we tend, can look up at the stars at night and know we’ve got a friend. So, here’s ol’ Christmas comin’ on, remindin’ us again, of Him whose comin’ brought good will into the hearts of men. A cowboy ain’t no preacher, Lord, but if you’ll hear my prayer, don’t let no hearts be bitter, Lord; don’t let no child be cold. Make easy beds for them that’s sick, and them that’s weak and old; Let kindness bless the trail we ride, no matter what we’re after; And sort of keep us at your side, in tears as well as laughter. I’m just a sinful cowpoke, Lord, ain’t got no business prayin’, but still I hope you’ll ketch a word, or two of what I’m sayin’. There ain’t no Merry Christmas for nobody that ain’t free, so one thing more I’ll ask you, Lord, just help us what you can, to save some seeds of freedom, for the future sons of man.”

      [3 John 9-10] In John’s letter to Gaius, he writes there is a man in the church there named Diotrephes, who is refusing to welcome God’s messengers. “…Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us” (the Apostles). He is “…gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.” Being first and always having your own way is very damaging to the spirit of others. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire…” (1 Thessalonians 5: 12-19) Don’t be spoilin’ God’s party.

      [Luke 17: 11-19] Ten men with leprosy met Jesus on the road and begged him to have pity on them. As they did what Jesus instructed to do, they were healed. One out of the ten men returned to thank Jesus for his healing. God has given us his Son, yet in our “celebration”, we put ourselves first, and fail to give thanks for the greatest of gifts.

Thank God

      A poor man was given a loaf of bread. He thanked the baker, but the baker said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the miller who made the flour.” So he thanked the miller, but the miller said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the farmer who planted the wheat.” So he thanked the farmer, but the farmer said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. He gave the sunshine, rain and fertility to the soil, and that’s why you have bread to eat.” As we enter the season of giving, showing our love to one another in special ways and giving thanks for the bounty we enjoy in this life, whether great or small, take time to remember where it ultimately all comes from. Regardless of how sophisticated, how advanced we may be scientifically, we still can’t create; we still can’t make a kernel of wheat. That has to come from God. God has supplied all the things we need in order to survive on this planet. “…Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17) When it comes time to share and give thanks for the bounties in your life remember, first of all it’s not yours, it never belonged to you. We are simply caretakers of what we possess. All we receive in this life will eventually be passed on to someone else. Give in the spirit that you never possessed it. Be thankful for what you have; care for it, for it is not yours; and do good with all that has been given you by your Father.


      [Psalm 32] “…Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Blessed means, happy. The Psalmist, David, tells of the days he suffered as he concealed his sin and the guilt was literally killing him. To be blessed, David needed to confess his sin to God, “…I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord – and you forgave the guilt of my sin’.” The happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life is when I have no guilty conscience for the wrongs I have done. When I go to my Heavenly Father in prayerful confession, asking for forgiveness of my sins, I know I am forgiven and it’s time to move on, for what has been forgiven by God, has been forgotten forever. The greatest thanks we can give this season is thanks to God, who gave his Son as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of man. And all who believe and are baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, buried with Christ to rise and live a new life, are blessed, for their guilt of sin has been washed away (Romans 6:3-12 & Acts 22:16) “The Brush” by Chuck Millhuff: Life started like a canvas; And God started painting on me. But I took the paintbrush from Jesus; And painted what I wished to see. The colors I painted kept running; And the objects were all out of size; I had made a mess of my painting; My ways now seemed so unwise. So I brought my painting to Jesus; All the colors, the pieces so wrong; In the markets of the earth it was worthless; But His blood made my painting belong. He worked with no condemnation; Never mentioned the mess I had made. Then He dipped his brush in the rainbow; And he signed it, ‘The price has been paid’. When I gave the brush back to Jesus; When I gave the brush back to Him, He started all over life’s canvas to fill; When I gave to Jesus the brush of my will. He worked with no condemnation; He never mentioned the mess I had made. Then He dipped his brush in the rainbow; And He signed it, ‘The price has been paid’. I thank God for his renewing power of love and forgiveness.

It Is What It Is

      Well, the elections are over and the results are what they are. The winners claim it’s good that things will remain the same and the losers claim it’s a shame that things will be the same. The majority of candidates running for office had very little to say about how they would improve or build upon the great effort put forth by their current elected leader, no, rather all I heard is how wrong the office is being run and how inappropriate the policies of the current leadership are for the people. It’s like telling me about all my faults. I already know the problems we face in government today and it makes no sense to me that all anybody wants to do is make the problem bigger. Go on TV and tell me that greed is running rampant in government and it’s time to repent of this behavior. Ask me to pray for you that God will grant you wisdom to lead and give you the courage to stand up for the moral rights of the righteous citizens of this great country. That would be someone worth supporting and voting for. Quit borrowing money to pay the debt on the borrowed money that’s paying the debt on borrowed money. What Washington is doing is against the law for me to do. Why can’t anyone be honest without being accused of treason? It doesn’t matter who got elected, we have a new collar and lead; now, “Heel”! Or you could shuck your collar and lead.

      His teacher asked the class what their favorite animal was. When it came time for the kindergartner to answer he said, “Fried Chicken”. She said he wasn’t funny, but that couldn’t have been right because the whole class laughed. The teacher sent him to the office. He told the principal what happened. He laughed and told the boy not to do it again. His parents had taught him to always be truthful and honest. He told his dad what happened and he said she was probably a member of PETA and explained they love animals very much. The next day the teacher asked what their favorite live animal was. He told her it was a chicken. She asked why, just like she asked the other children. He told it was because you can make them into fried chicken. She sent him to the principal again. He laughed and said, “Don’t do it again.” The youngster couldn’t understand why the teacher didn’t like it when he was being honest with his answers to her questions. The next day she asked the class to tell her what famous person they admired most. He told her, “Colonel Sanders.” The principal fell out of his chair.
      [Habakkuk] “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This being true, read Habakkuk and see if today’s world isn’t the same as in his time. The teacher also said, “…Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12: 9-14). What if the Lord came tonight, and the way I lived has not been right? What would I give to turn back time, if the way I’d lived was not in line? If I knew the savior, but left Him behind, and lived my life as though I were blind, what would my fate be in the end, if I didn’t follow Jesus, my devoted friend? I’ll have to answer for my own fate, for at the last minute it will be too late, if I didn’t take time to fully prepare, and devote my life under His care. He’s given me time to get it right, and patiently wait both day and night. His coming should be my greatest hour, as He comes for me in a flash of power. God help me prepare for that sweet day, just help me stay in the narrow way. When life gets hard and I want to flee, I’ll strive to be ready when you come for me.

Get a Full Understanding

      I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard enough. This election year has reached a crescendo of in your face he said, she said mud slinging I’ve never experienced before. If everybody is in the wrong, as being portrayed by the candidates and their supporters of every office open for public election, it becomes evident why nothing constructive is getting done in our governments. Political correctness and fame have log jammed any sense of wisdom of accountability to, and representation of, the citizens of this country thus the citizen must get more involved. I pray you will vote, or have voted, this year and I also pray you don’t just sit in your easy chair gripping any more. The internet offers easy, instant, access to all elected officials with only a few minutes of searching. More time is spent every day texting and Tweeting our government dislikes, to folks who can’t do a thing about it, when access is available to the source for action. They don’t ignore you, but the old saying still holds true: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”. Want a better government? You are the government and elected officials are your representatives. Don’t tell me, tell them! That’s all I got to say about that.

      There’s a lot of confusion in this world because of too much information received too quickly or the lack of proper instruction of what to do with the information. Case in point: An Italian, a Scotsman and a Chinese man were hired at a construction site. The foreman showed them a pile of sand to be spread as a landscaping base. He said to the Italian guy, “You’re in charge of sweeping.” To the Scotsman he says, “You’re in charge of shoveling.” And to the Chinese guy, “You’re in charge of supplies.” The foreman returned later in the day to find the pile of sand untouched. The Italian man told him, “I no hava no broom. The Chinese fella ina charge of supplies hasa disappeared.” The Scotsman tells the foreman, “Ah could nae get meself a shoovel. Ye left th’ Chinese gadgie in charge of supplies, boot ah couldna fin’ him neither.” The foreman storms off toward the pile of sand to look for the Chinese gent. All of a sudden the Chinese man leaps out from behind the pile and yells, “SUPPLIES!!!”
      Then there is information received from others that doesn’t necessarily ring true with the facts, a very difficult thing to deal with if not investigated thoroughly. In the comic strip, “One Big Happy” by Rick Detorie, Ruthie, a big story teller, and reminds me of my grand-daughter, is spinning a tale to her brother about a “…very bad girl”. Her mom fixed her some cottage cheese and the girl sassed her mom, “I hate this…” In the next panel appears and old man in the clouds and Ruthie narrates, “When God saw this he got all worked up…” (next panel) “So he sent her a spider that turned her into a pillow of salt!” (next panel) Ruthie instructs her brother to wait as she looks for her mom to check on something. (next) “Mom, I think I messed up! (next) “Is ‘Little Miss Muffet’ a Bible story?” Mom, on the phone simply replies, “Nursery Rhyme…”
      [Acts 17: 10-34] Without the full teaching and study of the Bible, the church has suffered over the years, because too many people take for granite what they are told is the full truth. While Paul was in Berea, John records “…for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” While in Athens, the Greeks didn’t settle for just one lesson, they wanted to hear more for a better understanding (v32). Our salvation is incomplete without study.