Ecclesiastes 12:10

   In Haggai 1:6-7 we read: "You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes." Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider your ways!   It’s funny how often people get caught in a feedback cycle yet never stop to consider why. There is an old adage, “ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results ”.  In this passage, God is rebuking his people because they can’t seem to get ahead yet they never stop to consider why. In putting everything else but God first in their lives, nothing in their lives seems to be working out. Yet they continue in the same pattern. Consider your ways!   It is a cry we need to hear today.  If things are not improving, it might be because we not doing anything differently. If we are stuck in the same rut, it might b...

  You probably heard the adage ‘ Don’t judge someone till you’ve walked a mile in their shoes ’. The idea is that when we place ourselves in someone else situation it might change our perceptive on how we think about them. The Bible encourages this for us but it goes even farther; it asks us too put ourselves in their stocks. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. Hebrews 13:3   The text of Hebrews here says for us to put ourselves in the state of prisoners. That might be hard to do. It is easier for us to think of a prisoner as someone who is getting the fate they deserve. That might be the case. Of course in this time frame, the folks in prison could have done nothing more wrong than being a Christian. Still the temptation is to shy away from in that state rather than put yourself in their place.   It doesn’t just happen to people in literal prisons it happens to ...

  Most people don’t think a lot about toilets until it quits working.  However, how humans dispose of waste is a very important issue.  At least 2.4 billion people, 40% of the world's population, lack access to adequate sanitation.  In the developing world, 80% of disease is due to poor sanitation.  Those diseases claim the lives of nearly 6,000 children a day – that is over two million deaths a year.  The inability of people to know and follow sanitary practices plague the world today and not only in developing countries.  Yet many government agencies overlook the problem. No one wants to talks about this ‘dirty’ issue.  It’s interesting to me, however, that this is an issue that the Scriptures deal with. Deuteronomy 23:13 instructs the Israelites  to have latrines outside the camp and make sure waste is cover up (This prevents run off into local water supplies) Leviticus gives instruction on washing pots and utensils so the...

  The ability to think is quite possibly the greatest gift given to mankind. We are not the fastest, strongest, toughest or most numerous beings of creation but our ability to think means we rule. Reasoning allows us to flourish and succeed. We can figure a way to overcome most obstacles. If we could stay united, there is much we couldn’t do (Genesis 11:6). However, even when we think we have it all figured out doesn’t mean that we are not dead wrong.   In Genesis chapter three, Eve is tempted in the garden to break the one rule that God has given to mankind. Satan is clever and makes his case with a small but profound life, “What God said isn’t true, you won’t die.” Why would Eve believe this snake over her creator?  The answer is she thought about it. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husb...