Two worldly friends went to Coney Island. The last “attraction” they visited was a shooting gallery where they had celluloid balls propelled by jets of water. The balls rose and fell, and when they fell, they fell out of sight. The idea was to hit them as you saw them. The first of the two friends shot all the cartridges in his rifle, but didn’t hit one of the balls. Then, the second man picked up a gun, took careful aim, shot once, and all of the balls fell. His incredulous friend said, “Bill, that’s the most wonderful shooting I ever saw in my life! How on earth did you do it?”

Bill replied, “I shot the fellow working the pump!”

Just a made-up story, but it does illustrate getting to the meat of the matter. The source of the problem must be addressed to win.

The devil is behind much of our world’s problems and he must be addressed.

1 Peter 5:8 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

James 4:7 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

2 Corinthians 11:14 

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Take aim at him because he is taking aim at you.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Christian writer and commentator, Warren Wiersbe, tells about a town where a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy. Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon. The child who was saved grew up to become a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime. The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who, years before, had saved his life; so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience. But the words from the bench silenced his plea: “Young man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged.”

The Scriptures are clear about the choices we make. We either take him as our Savior or Judge. The choice is ours.

Philippians 2:9-11

Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Adrian Rogers tells about the man who bragged that he had cut off the tail of a man-eating lion with his pocket knife. Asked why he hadn’t cut off the lion’s head, the man replied, “Someone had already done that.”

Sometimes we can tell a good story if we just limit the information a little. The Apostle Paul was not such an individual.

Acts 20:25-27
“And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

Give it some thought and don’t leave anything out.

Gary

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 14:33

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Can you say,  “It is well with my soul?”

Give it some thought.

Gary

In his book One Crowded Hour, Tim Bowden describes an incident in Borneo in 1964. Nepalese fighters known as Gurkhas were asked if they would be willing to jump from airplanes into combat against the Indonesians. The Gurkhas didn’t clearly understand what was involved, but they bravely said they would do it, asking only that the plane fly slowly over a swampy area and no higher than 100 feet. When they were told that the parachutes would not have time to open at that height, the Gurkhas replied, “Oh, you didn’t mention parachutes before!”

That’s the kind of bravery and commitment the Lord would have us exhibit. It doesn’t mean not having fear; it simply means do it.

Proverbs 28:1 

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Psalm 31:24 

Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!

Think about it, then jump.

Gary

I spent a fortune
On a trampoline,
A stationary bike
And a rowing machine
Complete with gadgets
To read my pulse,
And gadgets to prove
My progress results,
And others to show
The miles I’ve charted
But they left off the gadget
To get me started!

-Unknown Poet

Just do it.

James 1:22-25

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

Give it some thought.

Gary

At least three hundred ten people have died on Mount Everest, and that number slowly ticks up each year. Two hundred bodies still rest up there and will probably never be brought down.

Why do people want to chance that mountain? The high death rate seems to attract the type of person who might aim to “cheat death.”  Many others will say, “Because it’s there.” These goals don’t interest me because I don’t have the time, strength, money or willpower for such an undertaking. Besides all of that, God has given me my own special mountain as seen in the following verses:

1 Corinthians 11:1 

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Numbers 14:24 

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

You’ll never be sorry you followed Christ to new heights.

Give it some thought.

Gary