Just Picture It!

Are you like me? I’m always highlighting passages in my Bible and making notes in the margin. These notes can make for interesting reading when I reflect back on what God was saying to me at the time.


For example, it was on the back page of an old Bible I used in the 70s, that I ran across a note that says “Luke 6:38 – When we give to God, He gives to us.”

The scripture reads; “Give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

The first word in Luke 6:38 is “GIVE.” The word GIVE is a prerequisite – you have to do that for the promise contained in the verse to take place. You have to GIVE first in order for anything to be given back to you. If you want God to give to you, you have to give to Him. If you give Him everything, He will give back to you, not only in the same measure that you gave to Him, but above and beyond, He will pour out to you abundantly!

Test Him. Place your faith in the Lord by giving Him everything and watch Him give back to you far more than you gave to Him. Just picture it - You won’t have enough lap to hold all that God is going to pour out on you!

Milk or Meat?

In Corporate America, a lot of emphasis is put on setting and accomplishing goals. There are department goals and overall goals for the entire company. It’s so important that seminars are offered to teach the employees how to go about it.

When a company sets a goal, it challenges everyone to meet it. It becomes a competition and therefore they set their mind on winning. The overall result is that the Company grows bigger and better because everyone is challenged to do a better job.

So, why do Christians have such a hard time setting spiritual goals for themselves? And, why are we willing to accept the same old status quo in our walk with the Lord, and never grow up spiritually? Why are we content to remain on milk when we should be on meat?

If I’m going to grow spiritually, my goal must be to feed on God’s Word daily. I can’t grow without spiritual food. And then as I learn from His Word, I must put it into practice in my life. Another important goal is to grow in my faith in God.

In my quiet time with the Lord, I stumbled on to a scripture in Mark 11:24 that started me thinking about all of this. Jesus is talking to His disciples and He says, “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray, and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted to you.”

If I can paraphrase this, I think it’s saying; When you ask God for something, you should believe in your heart that it’s a done deal, then wait on Him to bring it about. I don’t think the Lord intended this to be extraordinary faith – I think it’s the kind of faith He wants all of us to have all the time.

So, my first goal is to read God’s Word daily and the second is to make my life measure up to what God's Word says. The third goal is to stretch my faith and not only believe that God can meet my needs, but that He will!

And how about you? Will it be Milk or Meat?

Holocaust Remembrance Day

It’s good to remember the terrible things the Nazis did to the Jews. Not because we want to remember – I mean, who really wants to remember all the ungodly acts that were perpetrated on millions of people by a dictator-led regime. A regime that set out to make a so-called perfect world that would be made up of what they determined would be a supreme race of people.

If we fail to remember, it says that we care nothing about the millions who suffered untold punishment, pain, and degradation in the concentration camps - or those who were murdered in the gas chambers.

If as Christians we fail to remember the Holocaust, it says that we care nothing about God’s chosen people, the Apple of His Eye.

“…He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.” Zechariah 2:8

If we fail to remember, it says that that we have learned nothing from it and therefore it may very well happen again.

This Sunday, remember the Holocaust and pray for Jewish people around the world to come to Christ, their Messiah.

He Has Risen!

Early Sunday morning several of Jesus' followers go to His tomb and discover that the stone has been rolled away. When they enter, the tomb is empty. Two angels standing nearby say to them, “Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen…”

Those words not only brought great hope to Jesus’ followers then, but they bring great hope to us today. Jesus declared victory over the grave and He says to those who believe in Him, I give you eternal life!

Do you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord? Romans 10:9-10 says, If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. If you’ve never given your life to Him, you can pray and accept Him as your Savior. Pray this prayer from your heart;

Father in heaven, I know I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for the things I’ve done wrong. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Savior and I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. Please come live in me and make me a new person. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

If you prayed that prayer, please email me at gtta@tx.rr.com and let me know about your decision. Include your address in your email and I will send you a Bible and some literature that will help you in your new walk with Christ.

Jesus loves you very much and He has an awesome plan for your life!

It's Friday, but Sunday is Coming!

From noon to three, the sun is obscured and the whole earth is under a veil of darkness. It's Friday, and God’s Son, the Savior of the world hangs on a cross, dying for the sins of the world. His followers are dismayed. He told them what was to come, but they couldn’t fathom it.

The time of Jesus’ death is near. In His last words He cries out, “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit.” Although His enemies tried to kill Him, who can kill God? In the end, of His own will, Jesus gives up His life as a sacrifice for our sins.

They take Him down from the cross and place His body in the tomb of a rich man. A large stone is placed over the opening. Soldiers are stationed to guard the entrance. It’s a sad time for Jesus’ followers. They grieve His death, but more than anything, they can't comprehend what has happened.

What they don’t understand is that Sunday is coming and with it, a new hope will go forth over all the earth!

Picking Up The Cross

When it comes to books, my favorites are biographies. Long before going to the mission field, I devoured as many books written about missionaries as I could find. Missionaries from the 1700 and 1800s became my heroes. Not only did these Godly people have a passion for taking the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost, but many of them were willing to follow their call into lands that were primitive, unexplored, and dangerous.

I know you’ve heard of Dr. David Livingstone. Born in Scotland in 1813, he gave his life to Christ as a young man. Later, he sailed for Africa, dedicating himself to a country that basically had never heard the Gospel. Imagine if you will how hard it would be to evangelize small villages of people that were literally scattered over hundreds of miles, all of them far from civilization. Today, that same area covers ten different nations in Africa.

Dr. Livingstone was not without his critics. Some accounts of his life from the 1800s are very hard on him. He has been blamed for his wife becoming an alcoholic and for leaving his children without a father while he traipsed all over Africa. However, few would deny that his influence can be seen today. Wikipedia reports that in the year 2000, there were an estimated 380 million Christians in Africa.

In heaven, Dr. Livingstone will no doubt receive many rewards, including millions of souls who will stand and testify that they were saved because he dared give his all and take the Gospel to Africa. It challenges me to do great things for God and to deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow Him.

First Things First

Growing up, I didn’t realize the valuable lessons I was learning by simply observing the actions of my Mother. My parents didn’t own a home. Over the years they rented various and sundry houses that we lived in.

Mother was pretty ingenious. She would sublet part of our house to families or single people while we lived in the other part. The income she earned was not “extra” – It had to be combined with my Father’s income to barely sustain our family of six!

Things were always tough financially, but Mother insisted on two things; giving a tenth of her income to God, and paying the premiums on the small insurance policies she had on each family member. She thought it would be disgraceful if anyone died and there was not enough money to bury them.

One of the houses we lived in had a second story and Mother rented the upstairs to a large family. They were good people and good tenants, but one month when she went to collect the rent, they didn’t have the money to pay her. She knew about hard times and her heart went out to them. She gave them some extra time, even though she didn’t know how our family was going to make it without the income. And as always, she prayed.

A week or two passed, and one night, while we were all sleeping, the family packed up all their belongings and left owing more than a month’s rent. Mother was devastated, but with the Lord’s help, she stretched the food, and we simply did with what we had. Miraculously we got through it.

Several months passed and once again Mother was struggling with finances. An unexpected need had come up and although she had the money to pay for it, she would only have enough left to pay either her tithe or the insurance premiums. Not both.

She wrestled with the decision. It was important that she pay the insurance or she could lose the policies. She questioned herself, “Maybe the Lord wants me to pay the insurance – after all, it’s due,” but deep inside, she knew better. “Okay Lord,” she said, “I will put You first and let You take care of the insurance.”

Later that day there was a knock on the door and there stood the former tenant who had left with his family in the middle of the night. He said, “I’ve come to pay the rent I owe you. I’m sorry we left without saying anything, but I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t face you!”

Mother was overwhelmed with joy. Not only did she have her tithe set aside, but now she could pay the insurance too. God had miraculously provided for her need after she put Him first. She was curious about why the man had come at that particular time, so she asked, “Why did you come today to pay me?” The man said, “You know, I was going to put it off, but something came over me and I knew I had to drop everything and come right now.”

Mother’s list of priorities had the Lord as number one. In her soft Arkansas drawl she probably would have summed it all up like this; “You know, if we take care of the Lord’s business first, He’ll take care of the rest.”