Got to Give Him Credit

Posted on December 28, 2017 by jesustrek

A man was driving down a city street, frantically looking for a parking space because he was in danger of being late for an important meeting. Even though he was not a particularly religious fellow, he was desperate enough to resort to prayer.

“Lord, take pity on me,” he implored. “If you find me a parking space, I promise to go to church every Sunday, I will stop swearing and I will give up drinking!”

Miraculously, a parking spot opened up right in front of the building.

The man looked up and said, “Never mind, Lord. I found one myself.”

Sometimes we human beings tend to take credit for things that God does. That’s why God told the Israelites ahead of time that they were not taking the promised land on their own; God was giving it to them.

“Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are stiff-necked people.”—Deuteronomy 9:6.

Let’s make sure that we give credit where credit is due, especially when the Lord is involved!

 

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Cause of Illness

Posted on December 26, 2017 by jesustrek

Deanne Bland prepared the Sunday morning bulletin for her church each week. One Sunday morning she heard snickering from the pews as people read the bulletin. Quickly grabbing a copy, she found the cause. The sermon title for that day was: “What Makes God Sick: Pastor Joe Smith.”

There is something that makes Jesus sick. We find it in Revelation 3:16, where Jesus says, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Lukewarm Christians make Jesus want to vomit.

Have you checked your temperature lately?

 

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Brain Power

Posted on December 22, 2017 by jesustrek

Recently I have noticed that I don’t seem to be as sharp as I used to be. So I went to a health store and paid a lot of money for some pills that promised to stimulate my brain.

When I got home and told my wife that I had bought some pills to make me smarter, she asked, “What’s in those pills anyway?”

“I don’t know. Let me see what the label says.”

It was only then that I learned that I had paid a lot of money for what were essentially caffeine pills.

“Oh, no!” I exclaimed. “I could have gotten the same effect from drinking an extra cup of coffee!”

“See there,” my wife replied. “You are getting smarter already!”

“Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?”—Proverbs 17:16.

 

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Asking and Receiving

Posted on December 22, 2017 by jesustrek

It was just a few days before Christmas, and a Sunday School teacher was valiantly trying to teach a lesson on prayer to her excited young students.

“Ask and you shall receive”, she quoted. “Do you know who said that?”

One young person replied, “Santa Claus?”

I think the answer she was looking for was “Jesus”.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”—Matthew 7:7-8.

 

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Unappreciated Gift

Posted on December 20, 2017 by jesustrek

A son who had spent a lot of time working on a drawing to give to his mother was dismayed that she had failed to display it on the refrigerator.

“Mom”, he said, “Why didn’t you put the picture I gave you on the refrigerator?”

“Well, son,” she answered, “For one thing, there is already a lot of clutter on the refrigerator. And for another thing, you are 47 years old!”

Sometimes we don’t appreciate all the gifts that people give us. But let us never fail to appreciate the gifts that God gives us—especially the greatest gift of all—His Son Jesus!

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”—2 Corinthians 9:15.

 

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Out of Control

Posted on December 19, 2017 by jesustrek

On Monday, December 18, 2017 at 6:00am, Amtrak passenger train 501 left Seattle, Washington on its way to Portland, Oregon. About 18 miles south of Tacoma, something went terribly wrong. The train jumped the tracks and most of its cars plunged off an overpass onto the busy Interstate 5 below. At least 3 died in the crash, and several people were seriously injured.

While the investigation of the crash is on-going, preliminary reports say that the train was travelling at 80 miles per hour in an area where the posted speed limit was 30 miles per hour. Other factors may have played a part in the accident, but it seems safe to say that excessive speed was a major reason the train went out of control.

If your life seems to be barreling out of control right now, better slow down before something bad happens! Take time to pray, read Scripture, meditate and seek God’s will. Do whatever it takes to allow God to keep control over your life.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is…self-control.”—Galatians 5:22-23.

 

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Bad Company

Posted on December 18, 2017 by jesustrek

Bethany Lynn Stephens

On Thursday, December 14, 2017, Bethany Lynn Stephens, of Goochland County, Virginia, was taking her dogs for their usual walk when the unthinkable happened. According to the police report, her dogs suddenly turned on Bethany. The two pit bulls, each weighing over 100 pounds, violently attacked their owner, knocking her to the ground and then mauling her to death. Goochland County Sheriff James Agnew said, “I hope I never see anything like it again.”

Animals aren’t the only ones we have to watch out for. Some people are bad news. The Bible says “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). We had better be careful who we allow near us, or something bad might happen to us.

 

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More on Stress

Posted on December 15, 2017 by jesustrek

Yesterday I wrote about how whales that have been caught in fishing nets show levels of stress that are remarkably higher than the average stress level for a whale. I applied that to how the Christmas season brings more stress, and urged readers to focus on what is truly important—God and his kingdom.

There is another way we can apply this illustration.

The Bible warns that there is a danger of becoming tangled up in sin. Sin is a great source of stress in people’s lives. Once they get caught up in: sexual immorality, greed, lust, lying, gossip, stealing, bullying, etc., their stress levels often go through the roof.

The antidote for this kind of stress is repentance. Leave your sin behind and watch your stress level come down as you live in obedience to God.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”—Hebrews 12:1-2.

 

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Stressed

Posted on December 14, 2017 by jesustrek

Research shows that whales that have been caught in fishing nets experience a great amount of stress. Bayla, a young female whale, showed stress levels eight times higher than normal after she was found entangled in synthetic fishing ropes in January, 2011.

We humans are, of course, prone to stress as well. The Christmas season is a time of year when the many extra activities and obligations can seem to entangle us in a nerve-wracking web of entrapment. We must be careful that we don’t allow the blessings of the season to be taken away from us because of stress. We must focus on what is important and remember our priorities by putting God first this Christmas season.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry…”—Matthew 6:25.

“”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”—Matthew 6:33.

 

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Financial Words of Wisdom

Posted on December 13, 2017 by jesustrek

The following statements are attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”

It is too bad that our nation has neglected common sense in our collective attitude toward financial matters. This has caused us to adopt practices that bring a lot of financial pain and suffering in people’s lives. Hopefully, we can turn this around and restore some time-tested financial principles that will benefit all people.

“Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord; all the weights in the bag are of his making.”—Proverbs 16:11.

 

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