What Will You Do With Jesus?

      Jesus: He is the first and the last; the beginning and the end. He is the keeper of creation and the Maker of all things. He is the architect of the universe and the manager of all times. He always was; He is; and He always will be… Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated and will never be Undone. He was bruised to give healing. He was pierced to ease pain. He was persecuted to grant freedom. His death brought forth life. He was raised from the dead to give power, and He reigns in Heaven to bring peace. The world can’t understand Him and armies can’t defeat Him. The schools can’t explain Him and worldly leaders can’t ignore Him. Herod couldn’t kill Him, the Pharisee’s couldn’t confuse Him and the people couldn’t hold Him. Nero couldn’t crush Him, Hitler couldn’t silence Him, the New Age can’t replace Him and Donahue can’t explain Him away. He is light, love, longevity and Lord. He is goodness, kindness, gentleness and God. He is Holy, righteousness, mighty, powerful and pure. He is always right, His word is eternal, His will is unchanging and His mind is on me

      [Matthew 27:11-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-25; John 18:28-19:16] Pilate asked two profound questions: to Jesus he asked, “Don’t you realize I have power to either free you or crucify you?” and to the crowd he asked, “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” I once stood in the shoes of Pilate to make the decision… what will I do with Jesus? I could over-power Him, or I could crucify Him, ridding him from my life, or wash my hands of the whole thing and ignore Him, or believe in His resurrection from the dead, embracing the reality of the love God has for me. I chose the later and although I have been rebellious at times, my life has never been the same. Over the years of faithful study I have learned this of Jesus: He is my Redeemer; He is my Savior; He is my guide and He is my peace. He is my joy; He is my comfort; He is my Lord, and He rules my life. I serve Him because his bond is love. His burden is light and his goal for me is abundant life. I follow Him because he is the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful, the ancient of days, the ruler of rulers, the leader of leaders, the overseer of over-comers and the sovereign Lord of all that was, that is, and is to come. His goal is a relationship with me. He will never leave me, forsake me, mislead me, forget me, or over-look me. When I fall, He lifts me up; when I fail, He forgives me. When I am weak, He is strong; when I am afraid, He is my courage. When I am lost, He is the way; when I am blind, He leads me. When I stumble, He steadies me; when I am hurt, He heals me. When I am broken, He mends me; when I am hungry, he feeds me. When I face trials, He is with me; when I face persecution, He shields me. When I face problems, he comforts me; when I face loss, He provides for me. When I face death - He will carry me home. He is everything for everybody. He is everywhere all the time and is of service in every way. He is God. He is faithful. I am His and He is mine. He is truth, and I am secure in the fact that if He said it, that settles it. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). I have a friend who says, “With God, every day is a blessing and every meal a banquet.” Jesus lives! Jesus saves! He told his disciples, “…All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18) He is eagerly waiting. What will you do with Jesus?

In The Valleys I Grow

      I’ve been burning up the highway of late, running to the big city, mainly for doctor appointments. I do my best to get appointments as early in the morning as possible where my day isn’t interrupted; I just start it later than normal. I have to tell you, I’m so glad I don’t have to run that rat-race every morning to get to work. A couple of guys were overheard in the coffee shop the other day. One was telling the other: “Driving to the office the other morning, I looked over to my left, and there was a woman, in a brand new Mustang, doing 65 miles per hour, with her face up next to the rear-view mirror putting on her eyeliner! I looked away for a couple of seconds and when I looked back she was half way over into my lane, still working on her make-up!! It scared me so bad, when I jerked on the wheel to avoid the collision, I dropped my electric razor, which knocked the donut out of my other hand. In all the confusion of trying to straighten out the car using my knees against the steering wheel, my cell phone slipped from its perch between my shoulder and ear, dropping into the cup of coffee between my legs, splashing hot coffee on my trousers. That ruined my phone and disconnected an important phone call!! These woman drivers are a nuisance!” So I say, thanks but no thanks, you can keep your daily commutes. Stress comes easy to me and I’ve been a slow learner when it comes to properly dealing with it. I was put to the test early one morning last week. We were leaving the house, before the sun came up, going to an out-patient clinic for a test when it happened. Have you ever heard the door latch behind you and remembered your keys were still sitting on the table inside the house? I exclaimed to my wife what I had just done and I could feel her tension waiting for my rant to begin. I decided immediately to not throw a fit as I was prepared for such oversights on my part, having done such things in the past, and retrieved the hidden spare key to get back in the house. Without stress, we were on our way. It felt good to be in control and under control, something I’ve had to work on for a long time.

      [Psalm 116] (v.15) “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” This death is the giving up of ones self and being freed from the chains of selfishness and sin, through the knowledge and wisdom of God. A friend and brother in Christ passed away last week and the following poem reminded me of his life’s history and I think reflexes many of our lives. “It’s In The Valley I Grow” by Jane Eggleston. “Sometimes life seems hard to bear, Full of sorrow, trouble and woe. It’s then I have to remember, That it’s in the valley I grow. If I always stayed on the mountain top, And never experienced pain, I would never appreciate God’s love, and would be living in vain. I have so much to learn, And my growth is so slow, Sometimes I need the mountain tops, But it’s in the valleys I grow. I do not always understand, Why things happen as they do, But I am very sure of one thing. My little valleys are nothing, When I picture Christ on the cross, He went through the valley of death, His victory was Satan’s loss. Forgive me Lord for complaining, When I’m feeling so very low. Just give me a gentle reminder, That it’s in the valleys I grow. Continue to strengthen me, Lord, And use my life each day, To share your love with others, And help them find their way. Thank you for the valleys, Lord, For this one thing I know, The mountain tops are glorious, But it’s in the valleys I grow!” Embrace the valleys of life and God will move mountains.

Get On The Ball

      A golfer’s ball landed on an extremely large anthill. Instead of moving the ball, he decided to hit it where it lay. After a mighty swing, with dirt and ants flying through the air, the golf ball lay exactly in the same place. He swung three more times with the same results. Two ants had survived the onslaught. One dazed ant asked the other, “What are going to do?” His fellow ant replied, “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get on the ball!” Getting on the ball, can express escape from several things, but we most probably relate it to the unwanted wrath of a supervisor or boss. It has its own chat-speak acronym, GOTB, which also covers, “Get On The Bus”, meaning get on board or you might get left behind. Anyway, according to the Urban Dictionary, to get “on the ball” is to improve ones present performance. “Tom is too lazy. He needs to get on the ball.” “Whoa! This job is scheduled to be finished by noon tomorrow. I better get on the ball!” As a side note, because it’s NASCAR season, the only sport still true to itself, and where one still gets paid for ones personal performance; I think it was Junior Johnson, NASCAR driver, car owner and crew-chief, who once told driver Darrell Waltrip, “Boy! You best get up on that wheel…” meaning he didn't think Waltrip was using the full potential of the car. He needed to go beyond what he was doing and squeeze every ounce of performance out of the car and himself. I think American’s have lose that will to “get er done” so to speak. We’re waking up victims of the day before and looking for someone to blame for our own incompetence. And if we can’t find someone to blame, alcohol, drugs and violence have become a perfectly reasonable substitute. If, as a country, we don’t get on the ball and lift ourselves out of the selfish irresponsible cesspool we’re in, we’ll not only loose what’s left of the family, we’ll also loose what’s left of God and country. It’s time GOTB.

      An old evangelist was discussing life with another man and how he might improve his lifestyle. “You know” answered the wayward fellow, “For a long time now I’ve been aiming to do that.” “Well” said the preacher, “quit aiming and start shooting.”

      [Jeremiah 8:4-22] No matter how hard some of us might try, we can never get through this life alone. We not only need one another for physical support, we need our Creator for spiritual support. No one knows me, like me, and I don’t want you to know everything about me, because you won’t understand. And, no one knows me like God knows me, and He understands. Most birds sleep perched on a limb and do not fall. When I sleep there is no rhyme or reason as I move around on the bed occupying several positions throughout the night. Birds don’t fall from their perch because of the unique way God made them. The tendons in a bird’s legs are so constructed that when the leg is bent at the knee, the claws grip like a steel trap. The claws will not let go until the knee is unbent. How can we become the person God intended us to be? With a bended knee that will not let go of God. How will we escape the perverse generation in which we live? On bended knee. When the winds of temptation, trial and tribulation blow; when the storms of heartache and illness threaten, bend your knee and grip the grace of God. As we look at the age we are living in, (v.20) “The harvest has past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” It’s time to get on the ball, to be responsible for our own actions. It’s time to bend our knees and ask God for guidance and wisdom.

Getting Back Home

      A young boy, about eight-years-old, walks into a local mom-n-pop grocery store and picks out a huge box of laundry detergent. Trying to be friendly and helpful, the grocer walked over and asked the boy if he had a lot of laundry to do. “Nope, no laundry,” said the boy, “I’m going to wash my dog.” Concerned, the grocer advised the boy, “But you shouldn’t use this to wash your dog. It’s very powerful and if you wash your dog in this he’ll get sick. In fact, it might even kill him” But the boy was not to be stopped, carrying the detergent to the counter and paying for it, all the while, the grocer trying to talk him out of washing his dog with it. About a week later the boy was back in the store to buy some candy. The grocer asked the boy how his dog was doing. “Oh, he died,” the boy said sadly. The grocer wanted to say “I told you so”, instead, he said he was sorry the dog died, but added, “I tried to tell you not to use that detergent on your dog.” “Well,” the boy replied, “I don’t think it was the detergent that killed him.” The surprised grocer responded, “Oh? What was it then?” The boy looked up at the grocer and as serious as can be said, “I think it was the spin cycle.”


      For years, our national and local leaders have been ignoring their own advisers by passing special interest legislation and spending money imprudently, burying this country in generations of debt. The American public has been unaware of some of the underlying “real deals” being issued and now we all find ourselves in a spin cycle that could kill this country if we don’t act soon. We don’t need a stronger detergent, like scare tactics. We need a stronger determination to resolve our debt crisis and a good place to start, in my mind, is a ten percent across the board salary cut of every government employee. (That ought to bring the price of gas down.) Employee furloughs’ make no sense at all. Stop the frivolous spending! That’s all I got to say.

      [Jeremiah 6: 13-19] A man was using his GPS even though he knew the way. Before leaving home, he entered the address of his destination and then set off on his journey. The GPS had a specific route in mind, but it wasn’t the one he wanted to take. Any time he took a street not on the planned route, the GPS would redesign his trip based upon his current location and attempt to get him back on course. The GPS kept on saying things like, “Take the next right, then take the second left.” At one juncture it advised, “Turn around at the next opportunity.” No matter how far off course he got, the devise continued to give instructions on how to get back on course. He also has his home address programmed into the GPS. No matter where he is he can select, “Navigate To Home” and it will chart a course to guide him home. I don’t own a global positioning devise, but I do refer to my Godly Positioning System, the Bible, for guidance as I’m traveling through life. No matter where you are in your life spiritually, the Bible can tell you exactly where you are. Further, it can tell you where you need to be, and how to get there. Unfortunately, many treat the Bible like some treat their GPS. They refuse to hear the instructions, pursuing their own chosen course, choosing to turn a deaf ear to its pleas. Others stubbornly reject the message they hear from God’s Word to turn right, turn left or turn around. Consequently, folks end up in a spin cycle of disappointments and grief. You don’t have to be lost, headed for eternal destruction. No matter where you are in life, the Bible can tell you how to get home to God’s love.