Not Without Help

It takes a very special sort of person to plant seed in the midst of a drought. However, over the past few weeks that’s exactly what a lot of farmers and ranchers in South Texas have done, not knowing if rain was on its way or not. For the past few days we’ve had a couple of drizzles, nothing to write home about, but this morning we awoke to thunder and pouring down rain. It’s been a long time since that’s happened and as it is a faith builder, it’s by no means a drought breaker. Most are praying right now that this is the beginning of a good thing, and the rains, that have eluded our part of the country for nearly two years, will return, blessing the land once again with life and prosperity.
In a Bible class of three-year-olds, the teacher asked, “And who was Matthew?” There was no answer. She then asked, “Well then, who was John? Certainly you remember him.” Still no answer. “Now children, you’re letting me down”, prodded the teacher, “surely someone knows who Peter was. Don’t be shy, speak up.” A soft quivering voice came from the rear of the room, “I fink he wuz a wabbit.”
The following is a poem by Ruby Leonard, a member of our congregation. It is entitled, Beautiful Feet. Beautiful are the feet, that carry God’s word; A message more precious, than this world ever heard. None of the greatest monuments, of any mans’ endeavor; Can compare with the word of God, whose message will last forever. The seeds that we are planting, deep in the hearts of men; Will yield the greatest treasure, when told and told again. The fields are white for reaping, so gather while we can; Keep working while the sun shines bright, across this fertile land. With joy we continue our labor, our feet happy as we go; Praising God with songs and hymns, He protects from the strongest foe. Let’s take the message everywhere, wherever we may roam; Until our work on earth is finished, and Jesus calls us home. Thank-You, Ruby.
[1 Corinthians 3: 1-17] A well-known author displays a photograph in his office so he can see it daily. The framed picture is quite simple. It is of a turtle sitting atop a fencepost. Although not be obvious to most, the author valued the photo because it reminded him of a lesson he learned long ago: “If you see a turtle on a fencepost, you know he had some help.” A turtle simply does not have the physical ability to scale a fencepost, coming to rest atop it, all by himself. It is equally impossible for man to get into heaven without help. It took men like Peter and Paul, Timothy and Titus, along with the rest of those chosen by Jesus, to travel about the known world of the first century planting the seed, the Word of God (Luke 8:11), into the hearts of men. Today, it still takes a very special sort of person to continually plant that seed and nurture it, not knowing if it will ever grow. But, with God’s help, it does. Any farmer will tell you, preparing the ground and planting the seed doesn’t produce a crop. The seed must be watered and protected from damaging weeds and bugs. Yet the farmer will readily admit, it is God who produces the growth. So it is with the Word of God. Preachers, teachers and evangelists are constantly planting and watering, but without God there can be no growth. Eternal life can only come through the Word of God, Jesus. (John 1: 1-14) I can have the seed planted in my heart and have others teach me of God, but if I do not live God’s will, my spirit will not grow to maturity. I thank God for men like Vurel Vick.

Who Will Take The Son?

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. Their collection included works of Picasso and Raphael. The two would often sit together and admire the great works of art. The son was called to defend the honor of his country and went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later there was a knock on the father’s door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I’m the soldier whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day. He was carrying me when a bullet struck him in the heart, killing him instantly. Your son often talked about you and your mutual love for art.” The young man held out his package, “I know this isn’t much, I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.” The father opened the package to find a portrait of his son. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. With tears in his eyes, he thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the painting. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me”, insisted the young man, “it’s a gift.” The father cherished the gift the rest of his life. The portrait of his son was the first painting he showed to visitors before any other of his collection. After the man’s death there was to be a great auction of his art collection. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having the opportunity to purchase one for their collection. The first painting offered was that of his son. The auctioneer ask for a bid. There was silence. Someone shouted from the back of the room, “We want to see the famous paintings! Skip this one!!” But the auctioneer persisted, “Who will start the bidding? $100; $200?” Another angry voice came forth, “We didn’t come to see this simple painting! We came to see the Van Gogh’s and the Rembrandt’s! Get on with the real auction!” The auctioneer continued, “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?” Finally a voice came from the back corner of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son, “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a poor man, that was all he could afford. “We have $10”, cried the auctioneer, “who’ll give $20?” “Give it to him for $10, let us see the masters”, came a plea from the crowd. “Won’t someone bid $20?” The crowd became angry. They wanted more worthy investments, not the son. “Going once, going twice, SOLD!, for $10.” A man in the front row said, “Now let’s get on with the auction!” “Sorry”, said the auctioneer as he laid his gavel down, “the auction is over.” “What about the paintings?” insisted the collectors. The auctioneer explained, “When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. Only the painting of the son was to be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The one who takes the son, gets everything.”
[John 3:16-21] To inherit a home in heaven, one must become a child of God. The proceedings for adoption into God’s family are: Hear The Gospel; Believe The Gospel; Repent Of Your Sinful Ways; Confess Jesus As The Son Of The Living God; Be Baptized For The Forgiveness Of Your Sins; And Continue To Live In Faith Until Death. Eternal life is found in Jesus. “The Son! The Son! Who will take the SON”?

It's Only The Devil

Have you ever had “one of those days”? How about “one of those weeks”? I know that’s a dumb question, because unless you live under a rock, you’ve experienced having everything going wrong in life all at once. It seems, when mechanical things want to break down, they all want to break down together. When illnesses come around none of us is exempt from sharing in the misery. Nor can any of us avoid the mind-boggling exploits of a computer problem. I was so there last week. I have upgraded all my work computers to accommodate some new programs and somewhere along the line, the newest of the computers decided it didn’t like what I was doing and refused to function. I had already cataloged a lot of material using the new program when the silly thing froze up. To make a long story short, a major file on the operating program was lost and by the time the computer was functioning again, all my previous work had been lost. My overconfidence in myself failed to remember that the computer is mechanical and for the first time in a long time, I had failed to back-up my work. However, what I want to tell you is this. Even though I’ve had “one of those weeks”, I haven’t really beat myself up for my stupid mistake, nor have I gotten overly excited, ragging bull angry, about the situation. I found someone to help me with the problem and I’m back on track again, lesson learned. In fact, I feel good about my reaction to this test of life. I guess maybe I’m still not too old to learn. I gave it all to the Lord and he found a way to bail me out.
A sergeant in charge of new recruits at the firing range ordered, “Men, when I blow the whistle, I want you to shoot at will.” One of the young men jumped up and began running across the field as fast as he could. “Who is that and where is he going?”, barked the sergeant. A young recruit volunteered, “That’s my friend Will, sir!”
Scientists have long recognized that bees are intelligent creatures. Many believe that this intelligence is the product of millions of years of natural selection. But the extremely fast learning ability of the bees puts in doubt the millions of years and instead shows the hand of the Creator. Researchers at Princeton University decided to find out if bees were smart enough to find their food source if it was moved. The researchers moved the bees prime food source fifty meters farther from the hive. In less than a minute the bees found it. They moved the food source another fifty meters away and again the bees found it in less than a minute. The researchers repeated the exact fifty meter move three more times documenting the same results. But, during the next fifty meter move they found that the bees had discovered the pattern of movement and were already waiting at the new location! No matter the problem, God is there to help.
[1 Peter 5: 6-9] Lately I’ve discovered the true meaning of, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) When things seem to be going awry I’ve discovered that, no matter how far away I’ve moved from the sinful world with study of God’s word and repentance of my lifestyle, the devil always finds me and tries me again. But, that’s okay. I’m now trying my best to recognize the evil one as soon as he shows up. I tell myself and others, “It’s only the devil trying to tear things up, again.” Peter says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Resist evil, and live.

Growing In Knowledge

I’m in the process of upgrading my computers and learning some new computer programs, pretty much a challenge for anyone. Just upgrading the operating programs can at times be a headache. One gets used to a certain way of rapidly working along, but the upgrade has a few new twists (improvements) that take time to get used to. Well, the upgrades were needed to accommodate some totally new unfamiliar programs I will be using on a regular basis. As it’s been said time and again, if we’re not learning, we’re not growing, we’re dying. I seem to be growing all the time, but not from knowledge.

I often get emails titled, “Things I’ve Learned” and most of the time the statements contained within are truthful and reflective of an honest life. “I’ve learned ...the best classroom in the world is sitting at the feet of an elderly person; that being kind is more important than being right; that you should never say no to a gift from a child; that I can always pray for someone when I don’t have the means to help them in some other way; that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with; that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes; that we should be thankful that God doesn’t give us everything we want; that money doesn’t buy class; that under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved; that the Lord didn’t do it all in one day, so why should I think I can; that to ignore the facts doesn’t change the facts; that love, not time, heals all wounds; that the easiest way for me to grow is to surround myself with people smarter than I am; that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile; that life is tough, but with God, I’m tougher; that the less time I have to work with, the more I get done; that when I harbor bitterness, happiness docks somewhere else and, that I can’t always chose how I feel, but I can chose what I do about it.” More to come some other day.

A father was home alone with his two-year-old daughter while his wife was out shopping. The daughter had received a ‘tea set’ as a gift and it had become her favorite toy. While her father watched the news on TV, she offered him a ‘cup of tea’, which was, of course, just water. The daughter brought daddy several cups of tea which he was ‘thankful for such yummy tea’ after drinking each miniature cup. When his wife returned home he encouraged her to linger in the room to see the cute thing their daughter was doing. Sure enough, here she came with another ‘cup of tea’. After watching her husband drink the ‘cup of tea’ she commented, “Did it ever occur to you the only place she could reach any water is in the toilet?” I’ll bet he could just die.

[2 Timothy 2] The chapter contains advice from Paul to Timothy on the attitude one must have to serve Christ as a minister of the gospel. I feel everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ is a minister of the gospel and should live in such a way that their life preaches Jesus and the grace of God. Jesus clearly stated to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36) Paul’s greatest advise to Timothy is to keep worldly things out of the church, for they will destroy God’s truth. Do you study God’s word? Are you adapting His word to your way of living? If you’re learning spiritually, you’re growing spiritually. If not, you’re dying my friend, an eternal death.

He's In All Things

Haven’t we been having some beautiful weather the past few days? Dark, gloomy, overcast and a cold north wind filled with a constant drizzle of rain. Just exactly what we’ve been praying for. A week ago there was a lot of indecision about spending time planting anything in the ground due to the lack of moisture and not wanting to risk the capital it would take in these uncertain economic times. This morning at coffee, one man said he was ready to plant just as soon as the rain stops and it dries up a bit. Go figure. Planting and seeds were always a mystery to me and the faith of a farmer, to say the least, always impressed me. First off, a seed has to be dead and dry before you can even use it. Then, what comes from the seed is a tremendous return and an impressive display of its strength. Take the watermelon seed for example. No bigger than a pinky fingernail, and if you figure it out, weighing in at about 4500 seed per pound, what it does for a living staggers the imagination. When introduced to proper soil and moisture content combined with warmth and sunshine, the little watermelon seed takes off its coat and goes to work. It gathers, from somewhere, 200,000 times its own weight and forces that enormous weight through its tiny stem to build another watermelon of its own kind. Not only that, it builds several on a single stem vine. The outside of each melon has a covering of green, within that a rind of white, and within that a core of red. And scattered throughout the core of red are hundreds of tiny seeds, each one capable of doing the same work over again. Who developed this plan? Where did that little watermelon seed get its tremendous strength from? Where did the melon get its color and flavor from and how does it pass it on to the next melon? ...Mysteries of life.
Did you hear about the new groom who asked his wife as he arrived home from work, “And what has my bride been doing all day?” With a proud wide smile she answered, “I filled the salt shaker.” Puzzled the groom asked, “And that took all day?” “It certainly did”, she said. “It’s not easy getting the salt through those little holes!”
One Sunday, little Johnny attended a new Sunday school class. Naturally his parents wanted to know how he liked it. “Real good”, he said. His mother asked, “Who was your teacher?” “ I don’t know her name”, replied the boy, “but I think she must be Jesus’ grandmother.” With a little giggle his father asked, “Why do you say that?” Seriously the boy explained, “The way she bragged about Jesus, she must be his grandmother.”
[Psalm 104] Until you can explain the watermelon, do not be too sure you can set limits on the power of the Almighty, or tell just what he will do and how He will do it. The most learned men in the world cannot explain the watermelon, but the most ignorant man in the world can eat the watermelon, and enjoy it. God has given us all the things we need and He has given us the knowledge to use what He has provided. And the truth that He has revealed to us is infinitely more important for our welfare than it would be to understand the mysteries that he has seen fit to conceal from us. The inspired words of the writer of the book of Hebrews, (Hebrews 4: 12-13) tells of the power found in God’s Word (the Bible). “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Can you ever be where God is not? ...Peace.