The Days of Noah (Devotional)

I’ve got a question for you: Doesn’t it feel like we are living in the Days of Noah? What’s going on out there? Are you paying attention to what’s going on in the world?

On Friday, there was a shooting at a grocery store in Fordyce, Arkansas, and on Thursday you probably received an Amber alert on your phone about someone that allegedly killed multiple people was found in Morrilton, Arkansas. That’s too close to home. it’s getting dangerous out there.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 ^“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁵For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,^[^d^] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. ¹⁸Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

1 Corinthians 15: 50:^“I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When 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.”
⁵⁵“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

The other day I was leaving work. I walked out of the building to where our parking lot is and this strange feeling came over me, that I have never experienced before. I felt a strong feeling that Jesus could come back at any time, or I could die at any second. I thought, I might not make it across the parking lot to the truck. So, I walked across the parking lot and got in the truck and here I am. No-one knows when Jesus will return except the Father, but it sure feels like it could be any second. It feels like we are living in the time of Noah.

Matthew 24:36“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^[^b^] but the Father only. ³⁷For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴²Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

Men, I don’t know when Jesus is coming back, and I don’t know when I am going to die, but I know one thing for sure. I’m either going to die or Jesus is going to come back. One of those two things are going to happen, and that goes for all of us and I know we are running out of time.

Genesis 6: 11 “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,^[^c^] for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

^17 “For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

This is from Got questions .org 2024 I searched what was it like in the days of Noah:

“The biblical account of Noah begins in Genesis 6. Approximately 1,600 years had passed since the creation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26–27). As the earth’s population exploded in number, it also exploded with evil. Long forgotten was the righteous sacrifice of Abel (Genesis 4:4) as “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Verses 11 and 12 say, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” However, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (verse 8).

When Jesus described the events that will surround His second coming, He said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26–27). Jesus was pointing out that, although the people of Noah’s day were totally depraved, they were not the least bit concerned about it. They were carrying on the events of their lives without a single thought of the judgment of God. Noah is described as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), meaning he had spent years warning his friends and neighbors what the Holy God was about to do. No one listened.

The depravity and ungodly lifestyles of the entire world at that time were enough to cause the Lord to “regret that He had made man” (Genesis 6:6). Many scholars believe that part of the need to destroy every human being except Noah and his family was the sin mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4, when “the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” As evil reproduced and overtook the world, the most merciful act God could perform was to start over.

It is interesting that God allowed Noah nearly one hundred years to complete the building of the ark. Through all that time, God patiently waited (1 Peter 3:20). Scripture seems to imply that Noah preached to the people of that time about what was coming (Hebrews 11:7). They did not believe Noah and were content with their wickedness and idolatry. Their hearts were hard and their ears dull. No one repented, and no one cared to seek God.

Jesus said that the world will be much the same before He returns to set up His earthly kingdom (Matthew 25:31–33). He warned us to “be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Second Timothy 3:1–4 gives us a clear picture of the state of the world before Jesus comes and most likely also describes the world in the days of Noah. That verse says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” It is becoming increasingly obvious that, to understand what the world was like in the days of Noah, we only need to watch the evening news.” (Got questions. Org 2024)

2 Peter 3:8“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,^[^a^] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies^[^b^] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[^c^]

¹¹Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. ¹⁵And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸But 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.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

This is something that is on my heart is that only eight people made it on the Ark, eight people! When God destroyed the earth, he could only find eight people that were called righteous! There’s more people in this room right now. (Hopefully) And like I said before, it feels like we are living in the times of Noah.

But it doesn’t have to be that way Salvation is being saved or rescued from the penalty of sin. We are all sinners, and the consequence of sin is death—not just physical death, but eternal separation from God. To be saved from your sin, you must do three things: Ask forgiveness for your sins; be willing to turn from your sins; and believe that Jesus Christ—our Lord and Savior—died for your sins and rose again. If you have done these things, you are saved! You have salvation, which means you have accepted God’s love and forgiveness, are adopted into His family and have fellowship with His people—your fellow Christians. You are free from the power of sin—a child of God! The Bible promises you eternity in heaven (Romans 10:9-10). How Are We Saved? John 3:16-17 and John 10:10 tell of the great love God has for us. Because of His love, He wants us to come to Him just as we are. He wants to have a personal relationship with us and longs for us to talk to Him freely about our sins and our needs. God revealed His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins more than 2,000 years ago. Jesus understands us because He lived as a man on earth for 33 years. He lived a sinless life and paid the price for our sins by offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice on the cross. He rose from the dead three days later and went up into heaven, where He intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25).

Guys I don’t know all your hearts, but God does. I don’t know your walk with Christ. But if you need to talk to someone about that. There are people in this room that you can talk to.

Do Something (Devotion)

Have you heard the song by Matthew West called Do Something? I just happen to have the words to the song, let me read them to you:

“I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
So I turned my eyes to heaven

I thought, God, why don’t You do something?
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery
The thought disgusted me

So, I shook my fist at heaven
Said, God, why don’t You do something?
He said, I did, I created you
Now listen

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
Oh, it’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

Na-na, na
Na-na, na
Na-na, na
Na-na, na

I’m so tired of talking
About how we are God’s hands and feet
But it’s easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It’s alright, somebody else will do something

Well, I don’t know about you
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire
I wanna be the one who stands up and says
I’m gonna do something

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something
Yes, it is, c’mon

If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something

We are the salt of the earth
We are a city on a hill
We’re never gonna change the world
By standing still
No we won’t stand still
No we won’t stand still
No we won’t stand still

If not us, then who
If not me and you
Right now
It’s time for us to do something

If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something (na-na, na)

It’s time for us to do something
It’s time for us to do something (na-na, na)”

Songwriters: Matthew West. For non-commercial use only.

Men, we can’t sit on our hands, we need to be the leaders of the church. Let’s see what the Bible says about Men in the church:

As leaders of the church, men have a great responsibility. Paul told the elders at Ephesus “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

And elder must hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict: (Titus 1:9 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

Peter said, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; not as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2, 3 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

“Younger Christians are to submit to their elders: “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5 Bible Gateway NKJV 2024)

Can we change the world? We may not be able to singlehandedly change the world, but we can change someone’s world.

The floor is open to any suggestions on how we can serve the church and the community?

The Woman Who Fears The Lord (Devotion)

You may know that Manuela and the girls are out of town visiting family in Germany. And I already knew how much she did for the family but, you really do realize how much of a contribution your wife makes when she is gone.

Yesterday, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the heels of the bread. And I normally go around the heels of the bread. That is where I am at right now.

Men cherish your wives. They are a gift from God. They certainly do a lot for us and others.

Proverbs 12:4: “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

Psalm 128:3: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

Proverbs 31 The Woman Who Fears the Lord 10-31 21 virtues of a God-Fearing Woman. I am not going to read that one to you. When you have time read Proverbs 31 10-31.

And there may be some men in here that the Lord has gifted with singleness. You can use that to your advantage by having more time to serve.

Proverbs 31 10-31 The Woman Who Fears the Lord

¹⁰^[^d^] “An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than jewels.
¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
¹²She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³She seeks wool and flax,
    and works with willing hands.
¹⁴She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar.
¹⁵She rises while it is yet night
    and provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
¹⁶She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷She dresses herself^[^e^] with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
²⁰She opens her hand to the poor
    and reaches out her hands to the needy.
²¹She is not afraid of snow for her household,
    for all her household are clothed in scarlet.^[^f^]
²²She makes bed coverings for herself;
    her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³Her husband is known in the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴She makes linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
²⁵Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹“Many women have done excellently,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands,
    and let her works praise her in the gates.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2024)

Planting Seeds

My family and I just returned from visiting Germany, we were celebrating my wife’s 40th birthday in her homeland with her twin sister and the rest of her family, and we got a chance to spread the good news about Jesus to some family members.

My wife’s daughter downloaded the Bible app on her phone and is reading the Bible daily. I spoke to my daughter and her boyfriend was very receptive to what I had to say about Jesus and being a believer, mainly what it means to be saved by God’s grace. He even stated that he has read my blog. After visiting with us, my daughter watched “Breakthrough” and inquired how to get K-Love on her phone. I would call that a breakthrough!

My wife also had some very promising talks with her Mom that may have opened the door to her curiosity.

We spent time with two old friends that are mutual friends as well, that we shone our light on and also piqued their interests in the way we are living, no longer drinking alcohol, and one stated, “he needs more Jesus in his life”, I even played K-Love on his Google speaker.

http://www.klove.com/

This trip to Germany to celebrate the life of my wife and her twin sister, turned out to be an opportunity to shine our lights and plant seeds, all we can do now is pray and continue to shine the light and trust that God will convict their hearts.

Inside Goosebumps

I was praying the other day, and I was talking to God, telling him that I was a sinner and thanking him for sending his only Son to die on the Cross for our sins. I thanked him for being a sinner saved by his grace. I told him that I had backslid for a while, that I had gotten away from going to Church that I only prayed when I wanted something, used to drink alcohol (I’m not saying drinking is a sin. I’m saying I told God that I quit drinking and it’s best for me not to drink) and was asking for his forgiveness, but I told him I was back that I was thankful for all his blessings and how I didn’t deserve them, but he continues to bless me anyway.

And I got the most peaceful feeling I have ever had. I felt goosebumps all over my body, but these goosebumps weren’t on the outside of my body, they were on the inside of my body and they traveled from my head to me toes real slowly. I was thanking God for his presence. I was feeling the Holy Spirit. It was amazing and I didn’t want it to end. It lasted for a few minutes. I believe God was telling me it’s alright, that I’m back now, going to Church, worshiping him, reading the Bible, shining my light, spreading the good news about him to others, and that everything is going to be alright, as long as I don’t take him for granted again and continue on his path he has set out for me.

The Importance of Knowledge in our Walk with Jesus

What does the word “walk” mean when referenced to our relationship with Jesus? In our Sunday school lesson we are studying Colossians 3:5-11. Colossians 5 “So put to death the sinful, earthy things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature, and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Holy Bible, Gift & Award Edition, New Living Translation, second Edition)

In my Sunday school lesson it says “Paul offers two very good reasons why the sins in 3:5 must be avoided. First, the wrath of God is coming for those who practice such things. God’s wrath is real against those who sin and the Bible is full of examples in both the Old and New Testaments. Specifically, Paul mentions that God’s wrath is coming upon the children of disobedience. This key phrase is mentioned two other times in Ephesians 2:2 and 5:6, related passages. Paul uses this phrase in Ephesians 5:6 after listing some of the same sins in that letter. The wrath of God is serious and often met with eternal consequences.” (Baptist Expositor, Learner 2019)

It goes on to say “The second reason Paul offers the Colossian believers as to why they should put these sins to death is because this is how they used to walk. The key word walk speaks of ones behavior and is a repeated word from 2:6. Paul used the word previously to speak of how the believers should now walk in Christ, but here in 3:7 he is referring to their behavior before Christ when they lived in these sins. There was a certain time in the past when these sins were part of their ongoing lifestyle. The point of emphasis is that these sins were part of their past, but should not be part of their present. Just like all believers who have committed their lives to the Lord, there are certain past behaviors that are no longer appropriate.” (Baptist Expositor, Learner 2019)

“Walk” in this Sunday school lesson refers to our behavior before and after accepting Jesus into our lives and one of the questions in the lesson is Colossian believers should put these sins to death is because this is how they used to walk. And the new man (after accepting Christ) is characterized by a renewal to knowledge.

The more we study our Bible and meditate on it, the more we learn what is expected of us as Christians. We’re to leave the sinful earthly nature behind and live a life pleasing to God in our renewed life.

Doing What We Want To Do

I was at an event called Fields of Faith Wednesday at Bearcat Stadium in Mena, Arkansas. Before I go any farther, I want to explain what this is.

Fields of Faith is a student led event where students invite, pray for, share with and challenge their peers to read the Bible and follow Jesus Christ. The venue is an athletic field to provide a neutral rally- point where a community can come together.

And it was awesome seeing young adults come together and worship Jesus. There was pizza provided by a local pizza place, there was a band. There were testimonials and guest speakers. I would certainly call it a success.

But I heard the phrase doing whatever we wanted to do in some testimonials and this applies to us at Church as well, sometimes we hear someone say that they just did whatever they wanted to do when they were younger or before they were saved, referring to going out drinking, getting drunk, passing out, doing drugs, cheating, lying, stealing, basically living Worldly. Instead of doing whatever we want to, shouldn’t we want to follow Jesus, shouldn’t we want to do the right thing, read our Bibles and worship God. The more we read the Bible the more we learn how we as Christians need to live our lives.

I’m not trying to pick on the kids. It’s just some constructive criticism that applies to all of us even at Church. And I’m not trying to sound better than anyone either. I’m a sinner too. I just want to change the perception that living for Christ is a choice we should want to do as opposed to living a sinful Worldly life. We can still do what we want to do and live for Jesus Christ and leave the Worldly sinful life behind. It’s the least we can do for Jesus since he died for our sins and with the grace of God we can all have everlasting life in Heaven, all we have to do is believe in Jesus.

Are you doing whatever you want when you read the Bible, go to Church, pray and worship God or are you doing whatever you want and living a sinful Worldly life?

Just Believe

I couldn’t sleep last night. I’ve got insomnia and I had this article stuck in my head. I got up twice to literally put pen to paper in the dark so I don’t wake up the rest of the family. I was up first at 1:30 am and again at 2 am. My best ideas come at night when I can’t sleep and if I don’t write them down, their gone the next day, no matter how much I rack my brain, I can’t remember it.

I was up last night wondering what it’s like to be a non-believer. What’s it like to not believe in God? You can either choose to believe in God and Jesus or you can believe in nothing or maybe you believe in science. Don’t you think it takes more energy being a non-believer than it does being a believer? It’s kind of sad, when you think about it. How do you fully love if you don’t believe in Jesus? That’s a big part of being a Christian, is to love like Jesus or to try, how can we ever love like Jesus, but as a Christian, we must love one another. If you don’t believe in Jesus, it almost sounds like the absence of love.

What does it take to be a believer? I’m no expert, but I think it takes a person with an open mind and a willingness to believe in something greater than yourself.

Something that I think we take for granted, is the sun rising every day. Another miracle that we take for granted is the miracle of human life leading up to child birth. I don’t believe that these things just came about on their own. I believe that God created all living things and created Heaven and Earth. Genesis 1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of waters. 3. Then God said ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. 4. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day’ and the darkness ‘night.’ And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day,” Holy Bible NLT, Second Edition. But I believe in the bible, if your an atheist you don’t believe in the bible.

It’s hard for me to fathom not believing so I’ll chose to Just Believe.

Strengthening Your Walk With Jesus

First of all, I am a sinner just like you! But, in my opinion, surrendering to Jesus Christ and accepting him as your personal savior is the easy part. It’s strengthening your relationship with Jesus, improving your walk with him is the hard part, and I wouldn’t really say it’s difficult, but it takes time.

First, you need to pray to strengthen you relationship with him, secondly, to be able to hear what God wants from you or which path you should travel, you need to read your Bible and finally attend Church. It may be hard to find the right Church for you, maybe it’s not the first Church you visit, but keep looking for a Church that fills your spiritual needs. It should be a place where you feel loved and a place where you feel overcome by the Holy Spirit and when you accept Jesus into your life (with faith), ask him to forgive you of ALL your sins (with faith), pray to Jesus, read your Bible and attend a loving Church with the Holy Spirit, God will certainly bless you and your cup will runneth over.

In Psalms 23 it says “¹The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ²He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. ⁴Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. ” New International Version (NIV).

Also after accepting Jesus into your life you’re going to be faced with choices everyday. It could be anything from to drink alcohol, try or do drugs, gossip, go to work or stay home, who you associate yourself with, to how you treat your neighbors. There are many choices we are faced with on a daily basis that either strengthens or weakens our relationship with God, and as Christians we need to make good decisions.

We must also love one another. John 13:34 says “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another”, New International Version (NIV). To love like Jesus loved us might just be the hardest commandment to live by because Jesus loved us so much he died for our sins, but we have to try to love one another as much as we possibly can. God Bless You and I look forward to writing more.

My Cup Runneth Over

I have been strengthening my walk with Jesus and spending more time building a relationship with him (my wife and I have joined the Church, my wife and I have been reading our Bibles, daily, and I have been praying more) and I can see small miracles being performed everyday.

I commute 1 hour and 45 minutes one way to work and the road I travel is heavily populated with deer. I pray that the deer stay on their side of the road and they have. I have passed deer right on the shoulder of the road. I try to slow down and move over to the other lane, if it is possible. I pray for my safety when I travel to and from work and the last few months have seen a lot of rain and thunderstorms to include hail, strong winds and sometimes tornadoes. And God is looking out for me, whether that means my boss sending me a message to work from home, or the storms along my way dissipating and weakening, missing me, or me being allowed to adjust my time to travel to and from work, whatever the case may be God is taking care of me.

Our Pastor at Church is also leaving and we’ll be looking for a new one. God put it on my heart to be a part of the committee to search for a new Pastor and I didn’t tell anyone about this feeling to be a part of this committee, but one of the Deacons unexpectedly asked if I wanted to be on the pulpit committee. It was such a welcomed surprise and an honor to be nominated, God certainly works in mysterious ways. While I don’t want to lose the current Pastor we have, I certainly don’t want to stand in the way of God’s will and I look forward to helping find a Pastor to fill the void of losing the current one.

I feel blessed beyond measure, my cup is definitely running over and I believe the more time you spend getting to know Jesus, reading your Bible, spending time at Church, attending Church events, helping when you can, and praying the more you will be blessed. And I feel Blessed!