“The Gambler” is a country and western song sung by Kenny Rogers. It has unknowingly some tremendous spiritual advice. That advice is don’t take direction for your future from a loser. The gambler never won and died broke.

Luke 16:22

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.

The death of a winner and the death of a loser is depicted in Luke 16. Don’t be a loser, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run.

Think about it.

Gary

Freedom from oppression and bondage from a foreign power: this is what is celebrated on this date. What a privilege to be recipients of such riches. The land of the free and the home of the brave is more than a song.

This is exactly what Christ suffered and died for two thousand years ago.

Galatians 5:1

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

It doesn’t matter the form of government or who is in office, the believer remains free from the wages of sin.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Trying to make it through life without God?  Good luck with that. Moses certainly didn’t consider that a viable reality. There are too many variables of uncertainty and hidden dangers.

Exodus 33:15 

And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

Obituaries teach us the value of this statement found in Holy writ.

Think about it.

Gary

They weren’t called Americans back in that day but Athenians. They didn’t have our technology, but they had our interest in the latest of everything.

Acts 17:21

All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.

Doing nothing sticks out in that statement.  If something can be extrapolated from the account in Acts 17, it is that not considering God in a lifetime is truly a lifetime of nothing.

Think about it.

Gary

I don’t fully understand how you wake up some morning and stare an old person in the face. Scary, but it seems to happen to almost everyone born on the planet. If life’s reality stares you in the face, consider the following verse:

Psalm 71:18

Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

I get it now. I’m here to reveal the Creator and Sustainer to this generation.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Anyone looking back over his or her life can think of things he or she is ashamed of, that can’t be corrected. However, there is one tremendous truth we can embrace that we are not ashamed of and that is the good news of salvation.

Romans 1:16

 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes..

My prayer for you today is that you have fully embraced the gospel and carry it as a badge of honor.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Where did we come from and why does the map of world nations look like a jigsaw puzzle?

The Athenians were highly educated and connoisseurs of good poetry so Paul tapped into that knowledge.

Acts 17:26-28

 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. ‘As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

The design and implementation of all that we see belongs to the author and creator of time and space.

Give it some thought.

Gary