Inspirations

  He lets me lie down in green pastures    Psalm 23:2     Yesterday, was “Tax Day”.    The day by which all good and noble Americans are required to render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar.   In my state, it is also the day on which you will remove your studded tires from your vehicle and drive regular tires.      So, I stopped at the tire store to have the tires changed.    It was quite a wait because many of us were doing the same thing.     Finally, about an hour later, good thing I had my phone, the tires were on, and I was ready to go.     As I was collecting my things, the lady at the counter said, “You’ll need new studded tires for the next winter.”   I was a little agitated right about then.   I had just bought new summer tires. Now I need to prepare to buy studded tires for the winter.   Give me a break!     She explained that the belts...

  Let   us   not  become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do  not  give up.   Galatians 6:9  Sometimes I hear things, and I hear them so often that I really don’t give them much thought.   It’s not that I don’t hear or believe them, I just don’t think about it.    Then I get a visual of that thought, and suddenly, my perspective shifts.    This happened to me twice within the last two weeks, with the same thought.   What was the thought?    Don’t quit.   Sounds funny, because we hear it all the time.   So, we skip over it as we read or listen.   Afterall, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before, right?   However, last week a friend posted a video of a long grueling and exhausting hike that she had made.   She had about a mile or two left to hike.   As I watched, the thought came to me, what if she had quit, turned around and said, “This ...

  On Sunday, after church, we went to a town about thirty minutes away.   On the way we drove through an area where they were working on the road.  It was no big deal.  We had lunch, bought some food for the week, and drove back home.    Later, as we were on our way to church for the evening service, I heard the ominous flapping sound that a tire makes when it’s flat.  Yikes!  I pulled over and while I was debating how I was going to change a tire.  A car coming in the opposite direction drove by and stopped.   As the driver appeared from the vehicle, I recognized him as a neighbor and fellow believer.  He approached the car, and asked if I had an air compressor to inflate the tire.  My answer, “Yes, but I’m not sure how good it is.  I’ve never actually managed to inflate a tire using it. I may not be using it properly.”   I produced it from the trunk of the car and handed it to him.  Within...

       Thinking back upon this year, it has been a year of ups and downs.  Most years are that way.  There were tears shed, and many laughs. While I couldn’t have predicted some of the things that happened this year, none of us can.  One thing I do know is that God was good and faithful, he always is.  As we look forward to the beginning of a new year, we can face it with confidence, joy, and peace because we know that whatever happens this year God is already there, and nothing that will happen this year can surprise him.   We can be sure that the year will bring both blessings and trials.  In fact, we can be sure that the year will bring both.  So, as we waltz into the new year, lets let God lead.   He knows the year ahead and the curves it will take, and he loves us more than anyone else.   We can trust him with each new year and each new day.

As I was washing my coffee mug, I thought of the quote, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”  If you want to help others, you need to take time to recharge.   As I was thinking, I was reminded that you get out of the mug exactly what you put into the mug.  If I put coffee in the mug, guess what I will get out of the mug.   That’s right, coffee.   If I put dirt in the mug, I shouldn’t expect to find water.  It struck a chord with me that I need to be careful what I allow in my mug (life).   I will certainly get out of my life exactly what I put into it.  I can’t fill my life with negative thoughts, improper, sexually explicit movies, course jokes, anger, and the like and expect to get patience, love, joy, and peace.   It just won’t happen.   If I fill my life with the things of the world, my life will look like the world.  If I want my life to look like Christ, I need to let Christ fill my life, and fill ...

                    We all know the story; Jesus has just fed more than five thousand people.   He sends the disciples ahead of him across the lake while he talked to his father.    While the disciples are in a boat in the middle of the lake, a wind violent comes up and the boat is taking a beating.   The disciples are fighting the wind and waves and suddenly, there is Jesus walking to them on the water.   Jesus speaks to the terrified disciples.    Impulsive Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water to Jesus.    While on the water, Peter suddenly has a reality check and remembers that people can’t walk on water.   Looking around at the wind and waves, he starts to sink.   Jesus reaches out and lifts him out of the water.   Then Jesus, says, “ You of little faith,” , “why did you doubt?”      ...