Ecclesiastes 12:10

  There was a rancher in Oregon named Bill Brown. He was known for often writing checks on any paper available. This included things like envelopes, soup can labels and newspaper margins. Now, most banks wouldn’t accept his kind of check but Bill Brown was a very rich therefore very important customer, so the banks in his area would cash the checks without question.   It wasn’t the surface the name was written on that mattered but the name written on the surface.  In 2 nd Corinthians 4, Paul speaks about the privilege we have because of our involvement in the ministry of Christ. Yet he warns us that we, “ do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake . In fact, he tells us “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves ”  It is not about the person the message is written on but the person that is has written the message. ...

  It’s one of those cliches in movies and TV shows, when a person is being held by an adversary they exclaim, “Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”  Because who would want to do it the hard way?   Turns out a lot of us…   Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard. Proverbs 13:15   In the preceding proverb, we are told that good understanding makes things work better, yet so many times we do things without much thought . The hard way it says is when one acts treacherously. The word here is used for people who act selfishly without thinking of anything but themselves.   If you want things to be easier, spend some time thinking about what and why you are doing what you are doing. Think about things from another’s perspective.  Think about what will and will not work. Think about the consequences. Think about it. Don’t just go headlong on a path without considering where that path might lead. ...

  It only took one shot to bring down the giant.   For days Goliath had bellowed out his challenge to the soldiers of Saul, “ Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me .” But no one dared face him .   It’s not hard to figure out why. Just look at the measurables. On paper, nobody was going to match up. He was bigger, taller, stronger, and better armed. His armor weighed more than you did.   That is why everyone cowered in fear rather than face him.   Everyone that is but one shepherd boy.   David isn’t afraid. Goliath is big but not bigger than his God. God has helped him to take down bigger game before and he has no doubt he will do it again.  Yet there are plenty of others that doubt. His Brother. His King. Even his Enemy. Go home, they said, you need this, they said, you are worthless they said.   For David, it isn’t about what he is not. It is about what he can do. We might think a slingshot isn’t a good weapon, b...

  There is a part of Jesus' first miracle that I love. The story goes that Jesus was at a wedding in Cana when they ran out of wine. Jesus solves the problem by turning six stone pots full of water into a wine that impresses the headwaiter and takes a situation that would have been embarrassing to the family and making it one that brought them praise.  But the part I love is the why. In John 2:3-4, we read: When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come."  Jesus was hesitant to do anything but it was the insistence of his mother that pulled him into it. She tells him the problem and when he gives himself an excuse to not act, she just goes on ahead and tell the servants that he will tell them what to do!  Jesus, it turns out had a momma a lot like I did. She gets you to no matter if you say you will or not.  Moms have their way of pe...

   Near the end of David’s reign as king, he commits a great sin. He decides to number his people. The census isn’t wrong but the prideful act of the King is.   As punishment, David is given a choice by God, “ either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, even pestilence in the land ” (1st Chronicles 21:12-13). David chooses the pestilence, figuring it would be better to be in God’s hands rather than men. As the destroying angel reaches the threshing floor of Oran, David cries out to God, “ Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father's household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued”.   This story literally emphasizes the Biblical point that the “ wages of sin i...

    In our modern world, you have to be careful to protect your identity. Once a thing like your social security number was freely given, but now it’s wise to be protective of it lest someone steal it.   If your number is 078-05-1120 it is already too late.   This number is the most misused S ocial S ecurity N umber of all time. It reported that over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. In reality, it belonged to Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher a secretary at E.H. Ferree company. The company was selling a new wallet and her boss placed a sample card in it to show how it could hold a Social Security card and used her number on the sample. The wallet was sold at Woolworths stores across the country. Even though the card was obviously not legit (it was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face) many purchasers of the wallet still adopted the SSN as their own. Even 40 years after th...