Not your own!

Ephesians 2: 8

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...

I spoke to my youngest brother, Chris yesterday, and we had another great chuckle at the expense of our dear old Dad.

We agreed that our Dad was the greatest legal swindler we’ve ever met in our lifetime.

He offered many words of advice when each of us five (5) boy’s were in the process of negotiating a deal on anything.

“If you can’t steal it, you don’t need it!”...and...“Make an offer you’re red face embarrassed to make!”

Dad literally made thousands of dollars, buying and selling airplanes.

He made money the old fashioned way, he earned it! Granted, at times at other people’s expense J

I’m not a great negotiator by trade, but I know a great deal when I see one.

The gift of Salvation was the greatest deal I’ve ever received.

My Dad would be glad, that I didn’t have to overspend for this gift.

It cost God the Father everything He had, so that we could all have the deal of a lifetime.

If Salvation is such a great bargain, so why don’t we tell more people about it than we do?

If there was a screaming sale at Fleet Farm, I’d tell everyone I know!!

My Dad also told us boys... “If it looks to be good to be true...it might just be!”

Just be sure you know, Salvation is free, and it’s as true, as it is good... 

Let it Go!

Matthew 6: 25

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.”

I have a friend who just put their home on the market to sell.

When someone asked them... “What do you plan to do?” My friends response was... “I’ll live by the seat of my pants...”

I wonder if I have that much faith? Seriously, I wonder if I have that much trust in God?

Maybe if I put more emphasis on the spiritual things in my life, the physical would take care of itself.

Giving over control to God should look somewhat bizarre to most people.

Living by the seat of our pants, would be downright irresponsible for some folks to consider.

I’m not sure I like giving up control, but then I have to wonder how much do I know God, if really I feel like that.

Have you truly given up control over to God? How much do you really trust Him?

I like having control over how my day is going to go.

Maybe the problem isn’t God’s, but mine.

I like risk takers when it comes to trusting in God.

Especially when it’s them trying to sell their house, and living life only by what God provides. But please don’t ask me to sell mine!!

One day all that I thought was important, will be no more.

Near the end of my life, the One Whom I should’ve trusted all along, is going to be calling all the shots, whether I like that or not...

Mince Not!

Luke 20: 45 - 47

⁴⁵ And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes,

and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts,

⁴⁷ who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

The more I read the Bible, the more I understand that Jesus never once minced words.

He always stated the obvious, and was more interested in helping people, than leaving them in a bad place.

If they decided to stay in a bad place, that was on them.

I wonder if we the church, if we were more honest with one another, would we be in a better place?

I find it amazing that most people in the church will stay quiet, even if something staggering bothers them.

We tuck it away, and then it all bottles up, and the sin of a critical spirit takes over.

If Jesus never minced words, then maybe we shouldn’t either.

Isn’t that sort of hypocrisy, when we do one thing, and say another?

Maybe we should look out for people who say long prayers, but aren’t willing to speak their minds or be honest.

How disappointing to meet people today in the church who profess faith, but who won’t be honest.

It is possible that Jesus had it right, and we have it completely wrong?

Jesus was the same everywhere, in private and in public.

When you are alone, or with your family, or even in the public eye, are you the same?

I wonder what might happen to the church, if we were willing to be vulnerable and honest with one another?

Maybe the results would surprise us...

Forgive

Luke 6: 37

...”forgive, and you will be forgiven”...

I have many friends in multiple churches, and it seems that people leaving churches is at epidemic proportions.

Someone recently visited our church just a few weeks ago, that I knew left their home church recently.

I asked them one simple question following our service: “Did you leave your church the right way?” They didn’t return the following week.

What was I trying to accomplish? I was trying to encourage forgiveness, and send these people back to where they could get things right.

Our Winneconne church’s Adult Sunday School group has been studying a book entitled... “From Forgiven to Forgiving”, by Jay E. Adams.

Adams writes... “...because forgiveness is so thorough and deals definitively with transgressions, reconciliation is possible.

A solid foundation for reconciliation is laid, embarrassing matters are never raised again, and the forgiven and the forgiving are free

to go on together as if the sin never occurred.”      Wouldn’t it be great if it worked that way in your home church?

Do we have forgiveness all messed up? Is it possible that if we don’t forgive, Jesus won’t either?

That seems to be the implication in today’s verse, but not many people see it that way...or want to see it that way.

Do people really have good reasons for leaving churches?

Actually, the one’s I have heard lately are frankly, pretty bogus.

Most people communicate their decision to leave, with everyone except the leadership of the church.

I wonder how many people tell the real truth about why they’re leaving?

Let’s be sure we understand the implications. All this is going to be sorted out one day, and those refusing to forgive will have to explain they’re actions.

Whatever happened to... “speaking the truth in love?” (Eph. 4:15)?

Get away!

Mark 6: 46                ESV

⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

I can’t speak for you, but often times my life is filled with stressful situations.

Church life can take its toll, and so can life in the real world.

I seem to juggle stressful situations back and forth, and don’t often deal with them one at a time like I should.

It’s a never ending battle, but sometimes I forget that Jesus had a plan to deal with stress.

Jesus had so many people following Him with expressed neediness, that they had to be everywhere He turned.

He actually got in a boat one time and went away, so the neediness didn’t crush Him.

Do you have a plan for problem solving? Do you have a plan to deal with the stresses of life?

Everyone wanted a piece of Jesus, so much so, I wonder if Jesus even took time to eat on certain days?

People were smothering Jesus, and the local church leaders didn’t like Him either.

That sounds like a perfect incubator to grow stress.

What was Jesus’ solution? He found a quiet place and just got away, with His Father.

How often do you get away with your God? The One who has the world in perfect balance, is also a great stress reliever.

Jesus had a “to do” list too, but He always took time for the important things in life.

The pressures in life are always magnified, but Jesus was no stranger to working things out the right way.

Maybe take that stressful issue or issues to Him this morning, and join Him on the mountain...

Glory Filled!

Psalm 79: 18 - 19

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

39% of all millennial people say their stress has increased in the last year.

What’s a millennial? A person born in the 1980’s/1990’s.

More young people in this millennial group are diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders than in any other people group.

52% of these kids say that stress has negatively affected their sleep habits.

I went on a spring walk yesterday, for a specific purpose. Part of what my intention, was to shed a few of my winter pounds.

The real purpose? To spend some quality worship time with God.

While on my one hour journey, I noticed these small spring flowers trying to break through the dead leaves.

I had to stop and notice the creation, and then I gave thanks to the Creator for supplying them.

Maybe that’s why young people are all stressed out? Maybe that’s why folks are robbed of true joy?

Is it possible that we might even have to stop and smell the roses once in a while, so as to clear away the cobwebs of depression?

When are you going to notice, that the whole earth is filled with His glory?

There’s nothing like a simple spring flower, to chase away the blues.

He does inhabit the praises of His people...for I felt it in a very real way, yesterday...

Your last Flight!

1 Thessalonians 4: 17       KJV

¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air...

Late yesterday afternoon I came back from a walk with Debbie, and turned on the TV.

One of the channels I turned to had an air race going on.

Airplanes were flying fast and low around pylons, and every time I see an airplane in the sky, I think of my Dad.

My Dad was a great aviator, but I never took any interest in airplanes of any kind, but one day perhaps I’m going to fly.

I’ve attached an article probably written in the early 1950’s about an ice rescue my Dad was a part of with his airplane.

He actually landed his airplane on the ice to rescue some crazy ice fisherman.

I’m sure these fisherman breathed a sigh of relief when they got rescued.

Seriously though, my Dad never talked very much about this day. It was just routine for him.

The event revealed in this text of scripture is going to be the rescue of all rescues.

Our Heavenly Father is going to rescue all sorts of people, and that event could happen as soon as today.

Are you ready to meet the Lord in the air? Those who are, will most certainly breathe a sigh of relief.

You’d be surprised at how many people who haven’t a clue of what I’m even taking about. It’s called the rapture.

Frankly, this is a flight that you don’t want to miss for anything in the world...