Bouncy House

Bouncy house. My son had a birthday party he was invited to today for a friend of his he plays soccer with. The party was in an auxiliary gym at a church by our house and when we got to the church there was a bouncy house set up for the kids to play in. My little guy had never been in one before because he had been too intimidated by the amount of kids that were in them other places we had been that had one. But today there was a smaller number of kids that were his size and he tried it for the first time.

He loved it. He jumped in there and then slid down the slide for the longest time. When the other kids stopped to play other games, he stayed right in there and had the whole bouncy house to himself. When it was time to go, some tears were shed as he had to get out of the bouncy house. I had to assure him that there would be another bouncy house somewhere in his future.

The joy he had today was clearly evident as he bounced and bounced and bounced his little heart out. It’s was a joy that he had never experienced before today. It was a joy that we as adults sometimes long for, but we are too old and weigh too much to find it in a bouncy house. That doesn’t stop us from looking for joy in the things of this world. But with every new experience, the joy we thought we’d find, disappears like a vapor and we are left looking for joy in the next experience.

The Bible tells us that our joy is not found in the things of this world, but only in Christ Jesus. “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” - 1 Peter 1:8-9.

Joy is different from happiness. Happiness is based upon current happenings, but joy is a feeling that is not dependent on the things that are happening in our lives. Joy is based upon the knowledge of know where our future lies, in Christ.

Have a great day and God bless.

House Hunting

House hunting. We spent the evening shopping for a new house. We went and saw three different houses all within about a five mile radius of each other. All three had their good points and all three had their shortcomings. We left the three houses narrowing it down to just two. We are torn between the two that we liked and we are having a tough time picking one we like better than the other.

We have spent the last fifteen years doing major renovations to our current house to get it exactly how we want it, but it’s time to move on to something else. It’s hard to leave a home that is the first home you bought, the house you brought your bride home to and the house your two children came home to from the hospital. Memories are hard to move away from.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Change happens throughout our lives: relationships, jobs, cities we live and even homes. We never lose the memories we have at the places we’ve lived, and we always have opportunities to make new memories the places we are going. We have to trust in the mighty hand of God that He will direct our paths and open doors for us to walk through. We have to trust that He will also close doors He does not want us to go through. “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” - Proverbs 3:6.

Have a great day and God bless.

Rules

Rules. They are like a fence, some rules are to keep us within certain boundaries and some rules are to keep harmful things out. Sometimes rules protect us from others and sometimes they protect us from ourselves. There are times that we don’t always like the rules and there are times we just don’t obey them. We disobey them by mistake and we disobey them on purpose.

I disobeyed the rules by mistake (somewhat) today. I was on the plane and the stewardess asked me to stop doing something because it was against the rules. It actually wasn’t against the rules they had outlined, but as much as I travel, I didn’t want to get on any lists as being a disobedient flier. I didn’t actually break the letter of the law, but I broke the spirit of the law.

We do the same thing with God’s Law. We know what the spirit of God’s Word says, but then we say, “what I’m doing isn’t exactly what God’s Word says!”  And so we go on breaking God’s rules because we feel that God really didn’t mean it that way. Or we think we are somehow above the Law of God. Of course there are some that will say, “we don’t live under the Law, we live under grace!”  True, but that doesn’t allow us to break God’s commandments.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” - Romans 6:1-4.

We follow God’s commandments, not out of fear of being punished, but out of love for what He did for us through Christ. God’s laws, statutes and commandments are just like that fence I mentioned earlier. They are there to protect us from others and from ourselves.

If you want to read a great chapter about God’s rules, statues and commandments, take a moment to read through Psalm 119. Read as the psalmist praises God for His law. Let us play by the rules God has established for us, not out of fear, but out of love.

Have a great day and God bless.

Hungry

Hungry. Ever have those days where you just feel hungry all day?  Even after you eat, you still feel like you can eat again a couple hours later?  That’s been the feeling I’ve had all day today. I skipped breakfast at the hotel and didn’t have anything all the way until lunch, once lunch came around, I ate pretty well. But just two hours later, I was ready for dinner but had to wait.

The there are other days, like on the weekends, where I may go all the way until mid-afternoon before I feel hungry for lunch because I have been working outside in the yard all morning. What makes our bodies have different levels of appetites on different days like that?  I’m not a nutritionist so I won’t try to answer that question. However, I think the same thing happens to us spiritually too.

I know there are days where prayer happens multiple times throughout the day as I am lead by the Holy Spirit, and then there are days where I might go all day without the prompting to pray. Same goes with reading the Bible and subjects to post on this blog. I might get two or three ideas in a day and then some days I struggle to come up with a topic all day and then it just hits me. Why are our appetites for the things of God different on a daily basis?

“"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” - Matthew 5:6. On days where we don’t “feel” spiritual, we have to hunger and thirst for God’s righteous. We must seek after God even when we don’t feel His presence. We must hunger for His Word even when we don’t feel like it. Every day is not a day of room service in the Christian life, there are days we have to go and pick it up ourselves.

There is a future day when we will not have to worry about being spiritually hungry any more, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  - Revelation 7:16-17.

Have a great day and God bless.

Wrong Place. Wrong Time

Wrong place. Wrong time. Twice!  The last two times I have been in the Charlotte airport, I have sat at the same gate waiting for my flight. Both times it has not been the gate my flight was going out of, just an empty gate with all the seats open. So both times I sat and did some work and sent emails while I waited to go to the gate my flight was leaving from. For the second straight time, at the same exact gate, a service dog decided to stop right in front of that gate and relieve itself right on the floor.

Talk about sitting in the wrong place at the wrong time, how about doing it twice!  And they say lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice, but obviously dogs do!  I do not think I will be sitting at that gate any longer waiting for my flight and doing work, but could it really happen three times?  I’m not going to test it.

It made me think of people in the Bible who happened just to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. My mind automatically went to the story of Jonah and those poor gentlemen that happened to be on the boat with him when the storm came. The storm came because Jonah was running from God and He was trying to get Jonah’s attention. Those sailors knew that the storm was a punishment from God even though they didn’t know Him personally.

“But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.
Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.” - Jonah 1:4-5.

“Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, "What is this that you have done!" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.” - Jonah 1:10. Who is getting caught in the repercussions of you fleeing from the will of God?  Who in your life might be suffering from being in the wrong place at the wrong time because you are not being obedient to God’s voice?

Today is the day for you to repeat the words of Jesus, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done." - Luke 22:42b. Give up your own will and let God’s will be done in your life. Just like the storm stopped for those on the boat when Jonah was thrown out, calm the storm for others in your life by being obedient to God.

Have a great day and God bless.

Unity and Harmony

Unity and Harmony. There is very little unity or harmony found in our world today. Everyone seems divided over every single issue across the board. If you disagree with their position, you can no longer be friends, even if you agree on ninety-nine other topics. Division runs deep in our nation, and around the world, on things like politics, religion, race, human life and even sports. But Christianity doesn’t seem any different then the rest of the unbelieving world. We have divided ourselves up into different groups and argue if someone believes differently than we do.  Not a very good example for the unsaved to watch us bicker among ourselves.

We tend to all believe in the basic tenants of the faith: the big things of the Bible. But it’s the minute things that we like to argue about with each other. Things like Bible versions, end times, and baptism timing. All things that don’t make much of a difference to our eternal salvation, but things the devil likes to occupy our minds with.

The world is already the enemy of God’s children, we should not add fuel to the fire by arguing among ourselves. As outsiders watch us bicker and divide up into different groups, the enemy cheers as we become less and less effective to the lost. How can we be inviting to the unbelieving world if we are so unattractive as we argue with one another? People want to see something different about us than the world they are already living in. They want to see harmony and unity in believers.

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - Romans 15:5-6.

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” - Psalm 133:1.

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” - 1 Peter 3:8-9.

If someone is blatantly wrong in their theology, correct them in private, not on social media. If you can’t correct them privately, keep your comments to yourself and pray for them. Let us edify one another instead of tearing one another down over trivial things.

Have a great day and God bless.

Not Done With You Yet

Not done with you yet. Have you ever felt like your past has disqualified you from doing work for God?  I have, and it’s a total lie from the devil. If you are still alive, God has work yet for you to do for His Kingdom. It took a while for me to understand that, but now that I have, I no longer believe the lie that my past holds me back from my present and my future.

There are so many Biblical examples of people that had made mistakes at some point in their lives and God still used them for mighty things to His glory. Abraham was an idol worshiper. Moses was a murderer. Rahab was a prostitute. And I can go on and on all the way through the Bible. The point is that even though we all have a past, some worse than others, God’s not done with you yet if you woke up this morning.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11. God loves us even though we have a past. He has plans for us. Plans to give us a future and a hope that can only be found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you feel like you’re insignificant, don’t believe it. Each one of us has been given a gift from God to use to glorify His name.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” - Ephesians 2:1-10.

Have a great day and God bless.

Knocking

Knocking. We had a startle at our house last night with an unexpected knock on the door after 9:00. We were sitting in the living room and the kids were getting ready for bed and all of a sudden someone knocked on the side door to the kitchen. My wife and I looked at each other, kind of confused because we don’t get many people at our house at any time of the day. I got up and answered the door a little concerned as to who it might be. When I opened the door, there was no one around.

A little confused if we actually heard a knock, I sat back down in the living room when a knock came at the door again. This time I turned on all the outside lights to see if I could see anything before opening the door. There was still nobody out there when I opened the door. Now I knew someone was messing around, but the way the world is today I wasn’t sure what their intentions were. So I got a baseball bat and a flashlight and out the door I went into the night. After a short search, I saw some neighborhood boys running through the woods. Just kids playing pranks. It brought back some of my own childhood memories.

As I thought about the events of last night, the idea of knocking has stuck with me and the words of Christ in the Book of Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” - Revelation 3:20. In the context of the book, He is writing to a church that has become lukewarm and He wants back in. But the same is true for our hearts. When the Holy Spirit speaks to us that we need to accept forgiveness for our sins, Christ is knocking on our hearts wanting us to accept Him in. Only He can forgive us of our sins. Only He can give us peace with the Father.

Is Christ knocking at the door of your heart wanting you to accept Him?  “For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:2. Today is the day of salvation. Have you accepted Him?

Have a great day and God bless.

Haircuts

Haircut. Me and my little guy went to get haircuts yesterday morning. It was just the two of us going to get all cleaned up and looking sharp. We ended up getting the same style haircut so we could both look “slick” as he put it. When we got done, the two of us complimented each other on how good we looked with our new haircuts. He’s come a long way since the first time he sat for a haircut. Now, he just sits there and lets Miss April go to work.

Sometimes we go a long time between haircuts and there is quite a bit of work to be done to get us looking like we once did. Other times we go even though we might not need it because we have an important event coming up that we want to look our best for. Our spiritual lives can sometimes take on the same condition as our haircuts. There are times we may go long stretches without confessing our sins to God and our lives seem empty and out of sorts. And then there are other times when our prayer lives are kept up to date and we feel like we are walking very close with the Lord.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9. For many of us, our prayer lives may be the weakest aspect of our spiritual walk, I know it can be for me. I find it much easier to pray for others than it is to go in prayer and confess my own sins. However, it is important that we keep our sins confessed so that there is no break in fellowship with the Father.

“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” - 1 John 1:6-7.

Have a great day and God bless.

Practice

Practice. We had night number three of soccer practice for the three and four year old soccer team. With that age group, it’s hard to get them to do much during practice, but we practice anyway and have a lot of fun doing it. We practice to get better even though the steps are little and hard to see, we do it because over time those small steps from practice build upon one another into habits that show progress.

The same thing occurs in our Christian lives. We don’t become perfect followers when we accept Christ as our Savior. We have to take small steps by allowing the Holy Spirit to show us where we need improvement and then we practice those things. Over time those small steps build into healthy habits that begin to show themselves to others. We call it “growing in Christ”.   “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” - Ephesians 4:15-16.

Many times we believe that we should automatically be good at all aspects of the Christian life when we give our lives to God, but that is not what happens. We are to continue to grow and practice for the rest of our lives. As we become better at some things, there are other areas of our lives that the Holy Spirit will direct us to work on. It’s a continuous journey of practice for the rest of our lives.

“Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress” - 1 Timothy 4:14-15.  My son had a meltdown today at practice because he didn’t think he was good. It was the third time he practiced soccer, of course he wasn’t going to be good yet. We think the same way as Christians, but as Paul told Timothy, “practice these things”. Even someone like Timothy needing to continue to practice.

Have a great day and God bless.

Superheroes

Superheroes. My son loves superheroes. He will pretend he’s a different one about every hour. Between Spider-Man, the Hulk and any others he can think of, he has their powers to shoot webs or smash stuff. I’ve never really been into the whole superhero thing. I think the only superhero movie I have ever seen is the original Batman with Michael Keaton. There seems to be a new superhero movie that comes out every month and I just can’t keep up.

What is it with our fascination with superheroes?  Is it the unique powers that they possess or is it the fact fact that we all have a longing to be saved from evil villains?  I think it’s a bit of both. Who hasn’t dreamt of having some unique superpower as a child?  Being able to fly, leap tall buildings in a single bound or be bulletproof?  It’s what childhood memories are made of.

When it come right down to it though, I think it is that desire to be saved from the evil in this world and have a feeling of safety in our lives. Superheroes deliver both of those in the movies but they don’t exist in real life. But God’s Word tells us of the greatest “superhero” to ever live. He had extraordinary powers but didn’t flaunt them. He knew all things yet kept many of them to Himself. He could escape death but decided not to for our sake. His name is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Philippians 2:5-11.

The greatest superhero story ever told is found in the Word of God!  He died so that you could be saved and spend eternity in safety like we long to have. Do you know Him?  Have you heard of Him?  He knows you and wants a relationship with you.

Have a great day and God bless.

Flat Tire

Flat tire. It’s been one of those weeks that everything seems to go wrong and it culminated with a flat tire. The pump in our well died last week, I had a strange load noise my car was making and both of those issues got fixed. But when I got home last night from getting my car fixed, I noticed that one of the tires on my truck was almost completely flat. I only use the truck on weekends to go to the landfill and such, but still, just another issue to deal with after a week full of issues.

Sometimes life gets us down and feeling “deflated” (pun intended), and we feel like we can’t get ahead and make our way past what’s weighing us down. We can get in a funk and let each new issue pull us further and further into a feeling of hopelessness. We feel that maybe God is punishing us for some reason we do not yet know about. Or we start looking back at our recent actions to see if we can figure out what we’ve done wrong that God can be punishing us for.

Truth is, God’s probably not punishing us for anything, we just live in a fallen world where bad things happen. Well pumps die, cars make noises and tires go flat, not because we did anything wrong, it just happens. But why do we automatically want to respond like we are being punished?  Do we see God as this Heavenly Judge just waiting for us to mess up so He can punish us?  That is not the God of the Bible. His grace is always abounding for His children. Now don’t get me wrong, He will correct His children when they need it, but that’s not His ultimate goal.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” - 2 Corinthians 9:8. The grace of God allows us to be able to look at the hard times and battles in our lives and know that we are not being punished for things but that we live in a fallen world where bad things happen to everyone. “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” - Matthew 5:45.

When bad things come, and they will, sometimes many at one time, know that God loves you and He wants what’s beat for you. Let us not look at every obstacle as punishment from God. Let us look at it as a chance to run to Him and ask Him for grace to get through it.

Have a great day and God bless.

Nobody

Nobody. The Christian group, Casting Crowns, has an awesome new song out on the radio and the chorus goes like this:

“I’m just a nobody,
Trying to tell everybody,
All about somebody,
Who saved my soul”

That is who we are as Christians; a bunch of nobodies trying to tell the world about Jesus. The story isn’t about us, it’s about Him. God can, and will, use each of us and our talents to glorify Him by telling others about the saving power of Jesus Christ.

The song lists some of the “nobodies” in the Bible that did great things for God. Abraham was an idol worshiper before God called him. David was just a shepherd boy before God made him king. The disciples were just fishermen and tax collectors before God had them change the world. And Saul was a persecutor before God used him to write most of the New Testament. Just a bunch of nobodies who God used because they surrendered their will to God’s.

Maybe you feel like I do some days, insignificant and useless to God’s kingdom, but that is the furthest thing from the truth. When we submit ourselves to being nobodies, God can then use us greatly to tell others about the greatest “Somebody” who ever lived. We have to get past the feeling of having to change the world all in one day and just let God use us as He wills for this very day we are in.

As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3:30. Are we doing things for our own glory, or are we looking to glorify God in all that we do?  I believe that is a question we should be asking ourselves rather often just to make sure the things we do are being done with the right motives.

Have a great day and God bless.

Followers

Followers. It amazes me how many people from around the world follow Between Two Trees that I started about ten months ago. It seems to have spread like wildfire over the last couple of weeks. It is humbling to know that people are reading about events that are happening in your own life and can relate to those moments no matter where they live. But this blog is definitely not about the amount of followers, but more importantly, about who we are following: Jesus Christ.

I’ve heard it said so many times, “don’t be a follower, be a leader!”  I have a problem with that statement on a couple of levels. First, in order to be an effective leader, we have had to be a follower at some point in time. Following brings experience. We learn from others what works well and what doesn’t work at all. Second, if we all become leaders, who will we have following us?  In reality, we are both followers and leaders at the same time. We follow those that are more experienced than we are and we lead those that are less experienced than we are.

Jesus told his disciples, “Follow me.”  The Apostle Paul told others to, “follow me as I follow Christ”. We have to be very careful in who we follow to make sure that we are not lead astray. We also have to make sure those that follow us are of the same accord so that they do not cause division.

Who are you following?  Is it the wisdom of man or the wisdom of God?

Have a great day and God bless.

Fun

Fun. I have completely enjoyed watching the first few days of the Little League World Series. The pure excitement and joy on the faces of these eleven and twelve year olds makes it so enjoyable to watch. The pride in the faces of their parents as they are being interviewed about their children cannot be hidden. I enjoy watching these kids play so much more than I do watching professionals play.

I love how they get so excited for each other and pick each other up when they make mistakes. It’s not just their own teammates that they celebrate, if an opposing player hits a homerun, they all give him a high five as they circle the bases. There seems to be no animosity between the players or coaches on opposing teams. When someone happens to get hurt, you can see the concern the players on the opposing team has for that player’s welfare.

We can all take a valuable lesson from these kids. They have a complete understanding that what they are doing is playing a game, and at the end of that game, it doesn’t really matter who won or lost but if they played the best they could. What if we, as Christians, cared less about winning and losing this thing called life, and instead worried about “playing” it right?

What if we cheered on others like these kids do, whether they are on our team or not?  What if we, like the players lifted each other up when we fail instead of talking about those that messed up?  What if we beamed with pride for believers that accomplished something great instead of tearing them down and finding faults in what they did?  How much more will our Christian life reflect the life of our Savior?

These kids playing the game of baseball have such a wonderful faith in humanity at such a young age. They don’t care about differences they have with the other kids not on their team, they care about the similarities they share with them instead. “And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 18:2-4.

Sometimes children can teach us better than we can teach them. All we have to do is step back and look once in a while to see what innocence and faith come from those that have yet to be soured by the world.

Have a great day and God bless.

Water

Water. You really never know how important water is in your life until it’s taken away from you. On Tuesday afternoon we found that we no longer had water in our house. So, after checking the breakers and a few other things, we narrowed it down to either the well went dry because of the lack of rain the last two months or the pump in the well went bad. We did have a brief storm last week that we feel lightening may have went in on it and started the process of it going bad.

Luckily, after calling about five different plumbers, we got one to come out after supper on Tuesday and pull the pump and replace it. As I sat out there at the pump, with my little guy asking the plumber a thousand questions, I started thinking about the story of the woman at the well that met Jesus because He knew He had a meeting with her.

“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” - John 4:7-11.

Living water!  As we sat for a few hours at the house with no running water (but plenty of bottled water) we came to realize how blessed we are to live in a place where water is not a scarcity. There are place around the world that people have to trek miles to get water and that water isn’t in any way clean enough to drink. But we also live in a country that has ample access to the Living Water, Jesus Christ, that those around the world do not have access to like we do. I pray that God’s Word goes out to those who long for this Living Water just like the woman at the well.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" - Romans 10:14-15.

“Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." - John 4:13-15.

Lord, give me this water so that I will never thirst again!  Praise God!

Have a great day and God bless.

Routine Maintenance

Routine maintenance. I had to bring my car to the shop today for some routine maintenance, like getting the oil changed and all of the fluids topped off. My car kept notifying me every time I started it up that it was time for some fixes. It’s nice that the newer cars nowadays have programs to alert you to the needs of the car. On my older truck, I just have to pay attention to that little sticker and my odometer to make sure I get the oil changed on time.

Just like our vehicles, we need routine maintenance in our physical lives, and more importantly, in our spiritual lives. We need to check ourselves and make sure that we are in God’s will for our lives and that we are doing those things that we control to make sure we are walking close to Him. Things like our daily devotional time, our prayer life and regularly meeting to worship with other believers at church.

Along with the newer cars on the road, we have a built in “system” that will alert us when things are out of kilter in our spiritual lives. The Holy Spirit works as that system to tells us that something is wrong. If we listen to the Spirit, we can confess our sins and get back in fellowship with God. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”- 1 John 1:9. However, if we fail to heed to the work of the Spirit, we will continue to drift further from the will of God and life will be tougher.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” - John 14:25-26. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to teach us all things, to direct us to things in our lives that need routine maintenance and let Him work in us to draw us closer to God. We have been given the Spirit of God for a reason, to direct us to His will.

Have a great day and God bless.

Home Makeover

Home makeover. We’ve spent the last 15+ years remodeling an old farmhouse that I bought before we were married. It’s been a painstaking task as we’ve pretty much done one room at a time as we have had the money to do so. But, it’s also been great to see the changes and have the ability to somewhat make the changes to fit our needs. It has not always been fun living in the house while we have been making the renovations, but it’s been nice seeing how the house has improved.

We have two upcoming renovations in our future lives. Our mortal bodies will be renovated into glorious immortal bodies and this old earth will be renovated into a New Earth. I am so looking forward to both renovations.

“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"  - 1 Corinthians 15:53-55. What a glorious day it shall be when this old sinful body will be changed into a sinless body to forever be with the Lord.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” - Revelation 21:1. “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” - 2 Peter 3:13. This earth that we currently live on will be burned up with fire and restored to its original state as a New Earth with a beautiful city in it called the New Jerusalem where God will reside with man.

Are you looking forward to the renovations that are to come?  First our bodies and then our home. There will be no time and energy that we will have to put into those renovation projects, they will all be completed by the Savior.

Have a great day and God bless.

Jury Duty

Jury Duty. My beautiful bride had her first day of jury duty today and it could last all week. That wonderful privilege of sitting in a courtroom all day hearing both sides of an argument in regards to either a criminal or civil case, in which you are responsible to weed out the lies and decide on the facts of the case. I have always found it interesting that both sides have very different “facts” of the case, yet both parties have sworn that they will “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. At the end of the trial, someone has been lying the entire time. One of my favorite black and white movies of all time is Twelve Angry Men.

As my wife has to sit there this week listening to the testimony of several witnesses and perhaps the defendant themselves, she will have to piece together the statements of all the individuals involved to try and figure out exactly what the truth is. There will be false statements that won’t add up with the rest of the stories and those will have to be thrown out in making her decision. She will need to take into account so many little details to come to her final decision whether someone is innocent or guilty.

When we stand in judgement before Christ, as either believers or unbelievers, there will be no jury listening to our testimony. There will be no opportunity for us to try to persuade others of our guilt or innocence. We will stand alone and give an account for our lives. “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” - Romans 14:12. We will not be able to hire a lawyer to plead our case, we will stand on our own accord to give an account only of ourselves.

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." - Matthew 12:36-37. Believers will stand before Christ to give an account for what they did with their lives as Christians, not for whether they have accepted Christ or not. Unbelievers will stand before God and give an account for all of their works and will be asked what they have done with Christ. Unbelievers will find their works are not enough to allow them access into the presence of God’s eternity and they will be cast out into Satan’s pit for the rest of eternity.

“For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” - John 5:22-24. What will your judgement day look like?

Have a great day and God bless.

Stains

Stains. Little kids and stains go together like peanut butter and jelly. My little guy was all dressed up for church today and by the time we made it through lunch, his nice pink button down shirt was covered with macaroni and cheese stains all down the front. As a three year old, we have come to the reality that his clothes are going to get stained when he eats, it’s just a part of life with children. All we can do is depend on the capability of the washing machine to get out the stains.

Children aren’t the only ones to get stains on their clothes, adults can be just as bad. But what about the stains of sin in our lives?  There is no moral washing machine that we can throw our sin stained lives into that can make us clean again and ready to go on to the next stain. How do we go about washing away our sins and being made new again?  The old hymn is pretty clear the only way this can happen; “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

We shouldn’t get our theology from a hymn book, so what does the Word of God say about cleansing us from our sins?  “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” - Isaiah 1:18. Even in the Old Testament, before the incarnation of Christ, the answer to the cleansing of sins was the promise of One to come.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9. The first step of being cleansed of our sins is acknowledging that we have them. Then we must confess our sins and repent from doing them again. If we do that, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. Have you been cleansed or do the stains of your sins still remain?  God is waiting to cleanse you, all you have to do is ask.

Have a great day and God bless.

Hatred

Hatred. It’s such a strong feeling. What could be so influential in our lives that we actually hate it?  I can understand hating cancer or some other disease, but there should’t be any reason that we hate other people. People have strong ties to politics, religion, race and even sports teams; so much so, that they hate anyone that opposes their line of thinking. Hate has become so prevalent in our world today and just seems to grow exponentially every day. It’s almost to the point that I can say that I hate hate.

What are we to do as Christians?  We’re normal people too, who have strong opinions and feelings towards certain things, especially when it comes to moral topics. Should we get to the point of hatred towards others that don’t see the world through the same eyes as we do?  I would say no, and we should come to expect that the number of people who see the world through Biblical eyes will continue to grow smaller and smaller until the return of Christ.

So, what shall we do when we come across those that hate us for what we believe in?  Should we fight fire with fire so to speak?  Of course not. The great civil rights leader from the 1960’s, Medgar Evers, said, “when you hate, the only person that suffers is you because half the people you hate, don’t know it, and the other half, don’t care.”  Hate is like the picture of this snake below wrapped around a saw. He keeps tightening his coils thinking he is strangling the saw, when the whole time he is actually cutting himself to death.

“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” - Matthew 5:43-45. The only hatred that a Christian should have in his heart is the hatred for his own sin. We should hate sin in us as much as God hates sin in us.

“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” - Proverbs 6:16-19. These are the things we should hate within ourselves. We shouldn’t hate others because they sin differently than we do.

“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” - 1 John 2:9-11.

Have a great day and God bless.

Debt Relief

Debt relief. As I was flipping through the channels on the television the other night, I saw the same add multiple time for a debt relief company. They promised that they could help people get out of their overwhelming debt for pennies on the dollar. The idea of this sort of hit me the wrong way. Where is the accountability to the person who spent money that they didn’t have?  Now, this company is going to swindle the companies that they owe money to out of what they deserve. That just hit me the wrong way.

But, that is the society and culture we live in today: buy the things your heart desires and worry about how to pay for it later. It made me think of my grandparent’s generation that saved the money they needed until they had enough to buy want they wanted. Whatever it was they needed or wanted was going to have to wait until they had enough money to pay for it. They didn’t go into debt for their wants and they never had the need for a debt relief company. I believe this industry has sprung up in our generation as we wanted more than our pocketbooks could pay for.

In reality, we do the same things with our lives; we partake in sin that we are not willing or not capable to pay for. We make decisions according to the desires of the flesh and eyes and to the pride of life. “For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world.” - 1 John 2:16. If we had to pay for our sins right on the spot, we would think long and hard before we committed them. We look at sin as we look at buying something on a credit card: enjoy now and pay later.

As Christians, we have a “debt relief company” that goes by the name of Jesus Christ. When He left the portals of Heaven to take on human flesh, He came with the total understanding that He was here to pay the debt of the world’s sins for the glory of the Father. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21. Christ relieved the debt we owed for our sins; Christ paid it all. Those that have not accepted Christ as their Savior, are still in debt for the things they’ve done in the flesh.

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."  - Romans 4:7-8. Have you had your debt relieved?  Have you accept Christ’s death, burial and resurrection as payment for your sins?  Today is the day to call upon the name of the Lord to save you from the punishment of your sins. He has already paid your debt in full, He’s just waiting for you to accept Him.

Have a great day and God bless.

Homeless

Homeless. One of the things that is very noticeable as we drove through the areas around Los Angeles the last few days, was the amount of people that are homeless. At almost every stop light and stop sign, there were homeless people on the corner with cardboard signs asking for help. It’s disheartening to see so many people facing hard times like that. It tugs at your heart as a Christian, as you long to help everyone but knowing that you just don’t have the resources to do so.

The guy I was riding with mentioned that he tries not to give homeless people any money because he is afraid that they will use it for drugs or alcohol. I agreed that most will probably do that, and some will actually use it for food or towards getting a room for a night so they can shower and sleep on a bed. I told him that my job was to help when I can in those situations, just like Jesus asked us too; “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'”- Matthew 25:35-36. What they do with the money or things I may give them is their responsibility and they will be held accountable for their choices, not me.

As a society, we normally look down on the homeless like they are diseased, when all of us are just a few bad choices of being in the same situation they are. They are human beings and God’s creation, just like us, nothing more and definitely nothing less. Even the Apostle Paul had times of homelessness, “To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.” - 1 Corinthians 4:11-13.

There is a coming day that all who put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ will never face homelessness. For He tells us, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” - John 14:2-3. Why a glorious promise. If you know Him, your reservation in His Heavenly home is awaiting you. Praise God!

Have a great day and God bless.

Tired

Tired. Yesterday was a long day of traveling from one side of the country to the other. It started out very early on the east coast and ended late on the west coast. After about twenty hours of being awake, I was finally able to get to bed last night, but my body had me back up early again this morning because that internal clock didn’t care that I had traveled three time zones yesterday. So, to say the least, I’m tired again this morning.

There were things I wanted to do here yesterday when I arrived, but plans changed and I just went with the flow. I figured that I would catch up on those tasks when I got back to the hotel last night, but I was exhausted when I got here and they didn’t get done. So, as I woke up early this morning, I was able to catch myself up with the items I didn’t get checked off my list yesterday. It made me think about getting things done in eternity.

I have been teaching about Heaven in our Sunday school class and one of the items that we had discussed last week was that whatever things we want to complete in Heaven that do not get done on that day, we will have lost no time to get it done. Eternity loses no time. When we go to bed one day, and wake up the next, no time has been lost. Whoever we didn’t get to talk to on one particular day, can be spoken to the next day without feeling like we ran out of time. Nothing will corrode, no one will die and we won’t feel like we missed something.

I look forward to an eternity where time and tasks are not a priority in life. The idea of not having to rush through things because time is running out will not exist. I look forward to not being tired because there is not enough time in the day to get everything done. Oh, what a glorious time that will be. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30.

Have a great day and God bless.

Explosion

Explosion. During my layover between flights this morning, I stopped at one of the little places in the airport to grab some breakfast since I had started out so early this morning. I chose a thing of fresh fruit and a drink. They didn’t have anything but water and soda to choose from, and I’m not a big soda drinker, but I grabbed a Dr. Pepper and went on my way to my gate. I put the bottle of soda in my back pocket as I walked from one end of the airport to the other.

When I got to my gate and sat down, I put the bottle of soda on the floor and ate my little package of fresh fruit. After about ten minutes, I reached down and got my soda and when I opened it up it exploded all over me. I figured that after ten minutes, any shaking that had occurred from being in my pocket while I walked had settled itself. But, there I was, sitting at the gate with my lap soaked on my left side from my knee to my belt. Nothing like starting your long journey to the west coast with soda soaked jeans.

Things don’t always go the way we plan them to go. When we hope for just smooth sailing, sometime there are unexpected events that change our day. I had a decision to make this morning as I sat with wet jeans: either be angry at what I had done or go on with the day knowing that at some point my pants would dry and everything would be back to normal (but a little sticky). I chose not to be mad at what happened, I just grabbed some additional napkins and dried my jeans the best I could.

Things happen unexpectedly in our lives and we always have twobdecisions to make: be better or be bitter. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” - Ephesians 4:31. As believers, we are to live our lives without bitterness, without wrath and without anger. All of these things cause us to allow sin to creep into our hearts. As Christians, what do we really have to be bitter or angry about?  We’ve accepted the free gift of grace from God by accepting Christ’s payment on the Cross for our sins. That alone should keep us from being bitter or angry.

Have a great day and God bless.

Growth

Growth. Every time that someone I haven’t seen in a while sees my kids, the first thing that usually comes out of their mouths is, “man, look how much they have grown!”  The same response happens if I send someone pictures of the kids. I’m not sure if they expect them to stay the same size for years on end, or if that is just a common response when they’ve seen them for the first time in quite a while. Little ones grow so quickly from month to month, but they slow down some as they get older.

As adults, most of our growing is done outward, as we gain weight, our hair grows grey or maybe even goes away, our eyes grow dim and our memories grow distant. Age takes a toll on our growing. But what about growing spiritually?  As we age, that is one thing in our lives that should continue to grow stronger and not grow weaker. “The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” - Psalm 92:12. There is no reason, other than our own slack in doing so, for us to not continue to grow in our walk with Christ as we age.

“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” - Ephesians 4:15-16. Our Christian lives should continue to grow in Christlikeness. If we aren’t growing, we’re dying spiritually.

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” - 1 Peter 2:2-3. As we grow, our desire for the deeper things of God should grow as well. We should be moving from the simple things of God (milk) and into the deeper things of God (meat).

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” - 2 Peter 3:18.

Have a great day and God bless.

Listen

Listen. It’s a hard thing to do sometimes, to actually listen to words that are being spoken to you. I was curious as to what was the difference between hearing and listening, so I googled it to find out and this is what I learned. Hearing is accidental, involuntary and effortless. On the other hand, listening is focused, voluntary and intentional. Hearing is the simple act of perceiving sound by ear, but listening requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences.

How often do we just hear words as noises in the background, never really processing what is being said. I’m sure we are all guilty of just hearing what our spouses and children are saying and not intentionally focusing on listening to their words. I’m sure we are just as guilty as we sit and listen to the preacher on Sundays. Things may distract us and our minds may wander allowing us only to hear God’s Word and not listen to what is being said.

“Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” - Psalm 34:11. Listen to me and I will teach you!  Learning comes by listening and not just hearing. We hear so many sounds and words throughout the course of our day, but what do we really take time to intentionally listen to?  “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.” - Proverbs 8:34.

I’m so glad that God doesn’t just hear us but he listens to us, taking our pleas and prayers to heart intentionally. “For he says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” - 2 Corinthians 6:2.  God is waiting to hear our cry for salvation. He is listening intently for unbelievers to cry out to Him for help. He is willing to save the lost.

As the world begs for peace, love and acceptance, do we hear them or are we listening to them?  Are their pleas just background noise in our lives or are we concentrating on what they are saying and processing their need for a Savior?  Be intentional. Be focused. And be voluntary in what the lost are saying to you. Introduce them to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have a great day and God bless.

Shoes

Shoes. We went shopping this morning for new shoes for my little guy. We signed him up to play soccer for the first time this fall so we had to make sure he had all the right gear before his first practice this Thursday. We had to get a pair of shin guards and socks and most importantly new soccer boots. There aren’t a whole lot of places that make soccer shoes for a three year old, but we finally found him a pair and to say he’s excited is an understatement.

Since we’ve been home, he’s had to put them on again and wants to go outside and try them out. I love his new found excitement in playing a game I grew up playing and loved all the way through college.  It’s a sport that has taught me a lot about life and being a teammate. It’s a sport that helped me improve my abilities in the other sports that I played.

As I was putting his shoes on in the sports store, the Bible verses from Ephesians all of a sudden popped into my head, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” - Ephesians 6:13-17.

“As shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of peace”(v. 15). The Gospel of Jesus Christ give us peace, peace from the penalty of our own sins, peace with the Father and peace with others. This newfound peace that we receive from the Gospel makes us ready to withstand the wickedness of this world. It makes us ready to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

My son is ready to start his soccer career this Thursday and it will be an exciting few days as we await the arrival of that first practice. He will be ready to go out there and at least run around and tire himself out for an hour or so. Are you ready?  Not to run around a soccer field, but the share the peace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  The world is looking for peace, and they aren’t able to find it in any “thing” but only in the Savior. But the world need you to share that peace with them. That’s our mission and that’s Christ’s command to us, “And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” - Mark 16:15.

Have a great day and God bless.

Dead End

Dead End. I remember growing up in a little neighborhood where all the kids spent all day outside playing with the other kids in the neighborhood. It was a mix of boys and girls of different ages and abilities and the older ones looked after the welfare of the younger ones. We played in people’s yards and we played things like kickball and wiffle ball in the streets. We always had to stop and clear the road when any cars came through, but most of the drivers understood we were playing and were very patient.

If we didn’t want to be bothered with stopping as much, we would all make our way down to one of the dead end streets in our neighborhood and play there. With no through traffic, our games were interrupted less often. The dead end streets always seemed to be the best places to play. I remember one of the streets had a vacant wooded lot and we went in and build a small bmx track to ride our bikes in. Dead end streets were a valuable life experience growing up.

Now that I look at life with a whole new set of eyes as a Christian, I can see that the dead end streets that this world promises lead to nothing but eternal destruction. You can watch television commercials and think your whole life could be fixed if I just had this product or that job, but in reality, the only way your life can be fixed is through Jesus Christ. It reminds me of what the Apostle Paul said about one of his former colleagues for Christ, “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” - 2 Timothy 4:10.

Demas fellow in love with this current world and not only deserted Paul, but it seems he deserted his relationship with Jesus Christ, if there truly ever was one. A prominent US pastor and author recently renounced his relationship with Christ for the love of this world sending shockwaves through the Christian community. Begs the question, did he know Christ or just know about Him. There are many people in this world that think they are Christians because they know about Jesus, but in reality are not Christians because they don’t know Him.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:2.

Have a great day and God bless.

Sharing

Sharing. It’s hard to share our possessions with others, especially as young children and it doesn’t seem to get any easier as we grow older. Having a three year old just confirms what I already thought I knew: people don’t like to share. Why is it that we feel that the objects God blesses us with, somehow are ultimately ours and not still His?  God is the ultimate example of what it means to share. Sharing is different from giving.

We are much more apt to “give” somebody something that belongs to us than we are to “share” in our belongings?  Why is that?  I think it comes down to having an obligation to still be connected in some way to what we share. When we give something to someone else for them to take ownership of, we rid ourselves of any obligation to what is done with that object. We know that whatever it is we gave away is no longer ours and will probably never return back to us. We can cut our connection to that object and move on.

But when we share, we are keeping our connection, and we are also opening ourselves up to a relationship with someone else over our object. We still have ownership but someone else now has part in our object. A connection has been made between the two people that are now sharing in ownership of the object. There is an obligation by both parties for the well-being of that object.

As Christians, we don’t “give” the Gospel away. We don’t tell people of Christ and then walk away with no connection, like we’ve done our part and now it’s over and on them. We share the Gospel of Jesus Christ because we retain ownership, but we are inviting others in to share in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We now have an obligation with those that we share the Good News to make sure we continue to foster this new relationship and water the seed that we have planted.

Just as Paul told Timothy, “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. - 1 Timothy 6:18-19. Share the Gospel and be obligated to see your sharing through to the salvation of lost souls.

Have a great day and God bless.