Don’t tell God how big your storm is; you tell your storm how big your God is…..
The Bible teaches us that the heavens were created by God for His pleasure. Hebrews 1:10, “And Thou Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:” Revelations 4:11, “Thou art worthy O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they were created.” The Bible compares the stars in the sky, in multitude, to the sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:12).
Scientists tell us that compared to other celestial bodies in outer space the earth is like a tiny speck of dust in a huge room with all the other specks of dust around it; or like a single grain of sand amid all the sand on all the beaches of the world. They tell us that if the earth were to fall out of its orbit and spin away into space, it would create no more disturbance than the dropping of a pea into the ocean.
Webster’s says a Light Year is a unit of distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year, or approximately 6,000,000,000,000 miles. That distance exceeds my capacity to comprehend. Then I read where the Hubble telescope took a picture of the M104, Sombre Galaxy which is 28 million light years from earth, contains 800 billion suns and in size is 50,000 light years across. How big is that? How big is the God that created it?
Why would we ever doubt that God can relieve any predicament of the human soul, and has the means and power to meet every human need? What fools we would have to be to think that our resources could run dry. God help us understand that our demands could never exceed Your supply.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Follow the Leader
Like many small towns, my hometown of Hapeville Georgia was divided down the middle by rail road tracks. When we went to the Post Office, to church, to school or to Wilder’s Ice Cream Parlor, we had to cross the rail road tracks. In those days, many trains went through every day and waiting at the crossing for a train to pass was a common, everyday experience. Initially, this was scary for a little fellow because the trains were so big, fast and loud. But quickly it became nothing more than waiting at a traffic light for the cars to stop.
When I was 10 or 11 years old, some older friends taught me this neat trick of placing a penny on the track in front of the train. After the train passed, you found the penny and it would be smashed flat. The penny came out oval shaped, looking something like a little copper football. We would carry this smashed penny around as a lucky coin.
For some reason, it seems we were not supposed to put the penny on the track until the train was in sight; I don’t know why this was, except it made the whole experience more exciting. It would take a second or two to get the penny balanced on the track, and then you ran as fast as you could to get out of the way of the train. One day Anthony slipped in the gravel and fell by the tracks, escaping the train by only inches.
We proudly told the story of how Anthony was almost killed by the train when explaining the game to new-comers. I guess it made us seem braver or gutsier or something, but it proved to be my undoing one day when Mama heard me telling the story to Charles. Mama did not find the game to be exciting, fun or intelligent and I was banned from the game for life.
I tried to convince Mama that it was a safe game and explained how “everybody was doing it”, but she didn’t buy it. I couldn’t guess how many times I tried to justify something I wanted to do by telling Mama “everybody else is doing it”, only to hear her say “if everybody else jumped off a bridge would you jump too” ? She never was one to go with the crowd.
Mama believed like Ezra (10:11), “…..separate yourselves from the people of the land…..”
“Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord…..” (II Cor. 6:17)
“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil….” (Exodus 23:2) As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. (Col. 2:6).
We all want to be popular and have people to like us, and sometimes it seems the best way to achieve that is to follow the leader and blend in. But following Christ has never been about blending in.
When I was 10 or 11 years old, some older friends taught me this neat trick of placing a penny on the track in front of the train. After the train passed, you found the penny and it would be smashed flat. The penny came out oval shaped, looking something like a little copper football. We would carry this smashed penny around as a lucky coin.
For some reason, it seems we were not supposed to put the penny on the track until the train was in sight; I don’t know why this was, except it made the whole experience more exciting. It would take a second or two to get the penny balanced on the track, and then you ran as fast as you could to get out of the way of the train. One day Anthony slipped in the gravel and fell by the tracks, escaping the train by only inches.
We proudly told the story of how Anthony was almost killed by the train when explaining the game to new-comers. I guess it made us seem braver or gutsier or something, but it proved to be my undoing one day when Mama heard me telling the story to Charles. Mama did not find the game to be exciting, fun or intelligent and I was banned from the game for life.
I tried to convince Mama that it was a safe game and explained how “everybody was doing it”, but she didn’t buy it. I couldn’t guess how many times I tried to justify something I wanted to do by telling Mama “everybody else is doing it”, only to hear her say “if everybody else jumped off a bridge would you jump too” ? She never was one to go with the crowd.
Mama believed like Ezra (10:11), “…..separate yourselves from the people of the land…..”
“Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord…..” (II Cor. 6:17)
“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil….” (Exodus 23:2) As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. (Col. 2:6).
We all want to be popular and have people to like us, and sometimes it seems the best way to achieve that is to follow the leader and blend in. But following Christ has never been about blending in.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Angels
Angels
Pop was into his eighties and driving a Ford almost as old as him. I had tried numerous times to get him to buy a newer car, but he always said it was foolish to buy anything new at his age. He said he didn’t even buy green bananas. He was alone and southbound on busy Interstate 75 when the Ford died and stranded him between exits. Because of his age and arthritis, he didn’t ambulate so well and was pretty sure he could not walk to the next exit. Of course he didn’t have a cell phone because “at his age he didn’t need any new fangled, wireless telephones”.
He was telling me the story a few days later and I expressed concern, saying something brilliant like, I bet you were upset and worried. Pop said no, he really didn’t worry he just talked it over with the Lord. Within minutes a pick-up truck with two young ladies in it pulled in behind him on the side of the Interstate and asked if they could help. He told them the situation thinking maybe they could give him a ride somewhere or send help for him. One of the young ladies was a mechanic and the other was her sister. They were in town from Florida for a NASCAR race.
Pop’s angels made emergency repairs to the old Ford and then drove it to a nearby dealership for permanent repairs. Only after receiving assurance from the dealership that Pop would be going in about an hour did his NASCAR angels leave him.
The Bible teaches us that the Angels of God are given the wisdom to know all things that are in the earth. They excel in strength to do His commandments and hearken unto the voice of His Word. They are Spirits sent forth to minister to believers. Angels are exceedingly numerous, inconceivably powerful, and are concerned about the physical well being and safety of believers. Although angels are spirits, we are given numerous examples of them being visible in human form.
I believe there are “full-time” and “part-time” angels. I believe there are angelic spirits from God that are full-time angels. Then I believe God gives all believers the opportunity to be “part-time” angels. Something like a “weekend angel permit” to help others in need.
We need to be alert to our “weekend permit” opportunities, and make good use of them or God could give these privileges to others who will appreciate them. If we lose these opportunities, we also lose the blessings that come from them. The Bible says, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully……God loveth a cheerful giver”. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”…..“Give and it shall be given unto you……”. These promises are for physical, emotional and spiritual needs; they are financial, material, help in the time of need, comfort in time of sorrow or loneliness, and wise advice in times of decisions. They apply to all phases of our lives, cash in on them. Pop did.
Pop was into his eighties and driving a Ford almost as old as him. I had tried numerous times to get him to buy a newer car, but he always said it was foolish to buy anything new at his age. He said he didn’t even buy green bananas. He was alone and southbound on busy Interstate 75 when the Ford died and stranded him between exits. Because of his age and arthritis, he didn’t ambulate so well and was pretty sure he could not walk to the next exit. Of course he didn’t have a cell phone because “at his age he didn’t need any new fangled, wireless telephones”.
He was telling me the story a few days later and I expressed concern, saying something brilliant like, I bet you were upset and worried. Pop said no, he really didn’t worry he just talked it over with the Lord. Within minutes a pick-up truck with two young ladies in it pulled in behind him on the side of the Interstate and asked if they could help. He told them the situation thinking maybe they could give him a ride somewhere or send help for him. One of the young ladies was a mechanic and the other was her sister. They were in town from Florida for a NASCAR race.
Pop’s angels made emergency repairs to the old Ford and then drove it to a nearby dealership for permanent repairs. Only after receiving assurance from the dealership that Pop would be going in about an hour did his NASCAR angels leave him.
The Bible teaches us that the Angels of God are given the wisdom to know all things that are in the earth. They excel in strength to do His commandments and hearken unto the voice of His Word. They are Spirits sent forth to minister to believers. Angels are exceedingly numerous, inconceivably powerful, and are concerned about the physical well being and safety of believers. Although angels are spirits, we are given numerous examples of them being visible in human form.
I believe there are “full-time” and “part-time” angels. I believe there are angelic spirits from God that are full-time angels. Then I believe God gives all believers the opportunity to be “part-time” angels. Something like a “weekend angel permit” to help others in need.
We need to be alert to our “weekend permit” opportunities, and make good use of them or God could give these privileges to others who will appreciate them. If we lose these opportunities, we also lose the blessings that come from them. The Bible says, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly: and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully……God loveth a cheerful giver”. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”…..“Give and it shall be given unto you……”. These promises are for physical, emotional and spiritual needs; they are financial, material, help in the time of need, comfort in time of sorrow or loneliness, and wise advice in times of decisions. They apply to all phases of our lives, cash in on them. Pop did.
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