Ecclesiastes 12:10

  Two researchers, Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz, discovered a strange reason people were not exercising: typeface.  They gave people written instructions on how to do a physical exercise. If the instructions were in an easy-to-read font ( Arial ), people estimated that it would take about 8 minutes to do the exercise and that it wouldn’t be too difficult. They were willing to incorporate the exercise into their daily workout. But if the instructions were given in an overly decorative font ( Brush Script MT Italic ), people estimated it would take almost twice as long—15 minutes—to do the exercise, and they rated the exercise as being difficult to do  Clarity, it seems, is everything.   In Colossians 4, Paul asks the church there to pray for his effort to spread the Gospel, specifically asking “ that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak ”. He knew that for his effort to bear fruit he had to speak in a clear way that people would respond to. ...

   American poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who once noted, “ For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been. ”   Regret often is more about what we didn’t do than what we did. When we do it, it brings joy. When we don’t, it brings regret. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda are bad words. “Going to do” leads to a life with nothing done.  Doing nothing might just be the worst thing you've ever did.   But it's worse than all that; it might just be a sin. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin . James 4:17   Not doing the right thing is wrong! Putting off what needs to be done is as sinful as any wrong act we might perform. It won’t just make us miserable, it makes us lost.    There will be many on judgment day that will cry out “What did we do?” They will have their answer. They didn’t do anything. They didn’t obey. They didn’t follow through. They didn’t do the thing ...

    A running joke in our family is when the wife will be trying to identify a person and she will give the clue, “He was in that movie with the person who did the thing that made the news”. Of course, the kids will be clueless, but I can often guess correctly. When you've been around someone that long, you can guess what they are saying even when they can’t really say what they mean.    In Romans 8:26, we read, “ In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words ”. Here we are told that even when we don’t know what to pray for or even how to pray, the Spirit of God is there for us, saying what we can’t say.  Yet that can only work when we have a relationship with the Spirit.    If we think our prayers are not what they should be, a great way to correct that is to draw close to God. When we get spiritually minded, the Spirit can hel...

    Abraham Lincoln once observed, “ If you approach a man and mark him as one to be shunned and despised… he will retreat within himself, close all the avenues to his head and heart .”  Once we make someone defensive, it closes our ability to have a productive conversation.  But it also works on us as well.  Often, when presented with something that hits a little too close to home, we get defensive. And in doing so, we miss out on the chance to grow and learn. If people often accuse us of not listening to them, it might just be that our defensiveness has us unable to hear them. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Galatians 4:16   Real honesty isn’t just in what you say but also in really listening to those who might be trying to help you.  It might not be flattering, but it might be productive.   The key to better conversation might be taking the defensiveness out of your ears.  

   A common expression today is “there are many roads to heaven”.  Two major surveys (USA Today/ Pew Research Center) had 52% and 57% of American Christians responding that salvation can be found in a way other than Jesus.  Even those who would say Jesus is the only way might claim that following Him could be done in many different ways.   But the Scriptures disagree. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6   Here we are told there is One God not many.  There is One faith not many faiths. There is One baptism, not various methods. There is One Lord, not many conventions.  There is One body, not many denominations    One not many. One not varied. One not however, we want. Before he went to the cross, Jesus’ prayer for his followers to “ that they m...

  Psalm 73 tells a story that we all have been a character in.  The author writes about how he almost makes the mistake of thinking that the wicked have it good.  He looks at their lives and sees they have it good. They live in nice houses, have good jobs, and have normal lives. He then considers, why am I serving God? If they get to do what they want and are still blessed, and I serve God and suffer for it, why should I do it?  This troubles him until he comes into the place of God. Then, he realizes the mistake he is making in his thinking.  He isn’t factoring in the time.  Everything the ungodly have is temporary, set up on a slippery slope. Soon, it will be all gone. Yet God will remain forever  That is when he sees why God is so important. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever . Psalms 73:25-26  We ma...

  Most folks think they are better than average. Maybe they are right.  A group of really bad people might just bring down the average.  So to test this researchers anonymously surveyed 85 folks between the ages of 18 to 34 in the same place. When compared to their neighbors, the participants rated themselves as more moral, kinder to others, more self-controlled, more law-abiding, more compassionate, more generous, more dependable, more trustworthy, and more honest.  They also rated themselves as higher on all these traits than "an average person", with one exception - law-abiding (that one they said they were average).  There was a reason they might have docked themselves in law-abiding, all the people surveyed were in prison.  They saw their neighbor, i.e. fellow prisoners, as below average but not themselves.   For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to thi...