Have you considered all the fighting going on throughout our country and in many families? With the reality that we have so much of what life has to offer, isn’t it sad?

For the Christian the battle is not outward but inward. If we followed the advice of Scripture, we wouldn’t have time to be fighting with others.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

This commitment will keep one busy and out of the hair of others.

Think about it.

Gary

It’s not a hymn but a song written and sung by Jackson Browne in 1972. The thing about the song is that it is a thought that we often find in Scripture.

Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand

I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can

Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?

Job mentions this concept in chapter 14

Job 14:1-3

“Man who is born of woman
Is of few days and full of trouble.

He comes forth like a flower and fades away;
He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

And do You open Your eyes on such a one,
And bring me to judgment with Yourself?

It can be hard on the eyes, but we must truly focus on what lies on the other side.

Give it some thought.

Gary

It’s difficult for me to understand why I never had a problem in making friends. Some people have real difficulty in that area.  When tragedy hit our home, many in our families were there immediately to get us through the difficult days. However, the thing I never really expected was the very meaningful support of those who were friends from my childhood. That friendship was never lost by the years, trials, distances, and belief systems.

The most significant friendship is found in Holy Writ.

Proverbs 18:24

A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Appreciate those relationships, and never forget they come from God.

Think about it.

Gary

I’d like to buy him for what he knows and sell him for what he thinks he knows. I always believed someone from my hometown came up with that statement; however, what I didn’t know is that it has been around for a long time and no one knows where it came from.

We might know some things, but we don’t know a lot of things. Then some of the things we think we know come from an unreliable source.

The woman at the well in John’s gospel is a case in point.

John 4:10

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Did you know that?

Think about it.

Gary

Liver to me is disgusting, and just the thought of cow’s tongue makes me gag. I have no use for golf, and there is no one in the world I like well enough to go fishing with.

Before you get upset, let me just say, all of us have things we reject and things we embrace in life.

However, when it comes to the Word of God, rejection can have serious consequences.

1 Samuel 15:23 

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has also rejected you from being king.

Saul would not get a second term in office.

Think about it.

Gary

Did you ever make a statement that you wish could be taken back? Sorry I brought such painful things to your memory.  We have all had such an experience at some time or other.

Even the Apostle Peter had those moments; Luke 9:33 states of Peter, “not knowing what he said.”

The best filter for this defect is not found at NAPA but is found in the Word of God.

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

Pass your words in His filter before they flow through your lips.

Think about it.

Gary

My Cousin who has been in this world a long time said to me, “I can’t believe how much you look like our grandmother.”  Sadly, she wasn’t kidding. Twenty years ago the mirror told me I looked like my father. Now the mirror tells me I look like my grandmother.  Time has a way of doing that.

Isaiah 40:8 

The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

Don’t try and handle me, for I’m fading fast. Handle the Word of God because it is a benefit now and forever without ever getting old.

Think about it, and thanks, cousin, for this devotional.

Gary