A different version of you exists in the minds of everyone who knows you.

-Author unknown

Now chew on that for a while before you go on. Shakespeare said, “All the world is a stage and we are the actors.” When we pair the first statement and Shakespeare, if we are honest, we should have an uncomfortable feeling.

Truth is we should cease playing parts and discover what the will of God is for us. He has a perfect one for every believer.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Peter 2:15 

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

Ephesians 5:17 

Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

 Give it some careful consideration.

Gary

They were going to shove that tube up Dad’s nose. He grimaced in pain and looked at me. My father couldn’t stop them, but I could.  I said, ”Don’t do that.” Dad was dying and didn’t need any more needless pain. How do you help someone die? At thirty-two, it was new to me.

I just had to be there and ask myself, “What would I want done for me in a situation like that?”  I pray my grandson is there when they try to make me live longer.

What would you do? Here’s the answer.

Matthew 7:12

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Give it some thought and be there.

Gary

“City of New Orleans” is a country folk song written by Steve Goodman. It describes a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans in bittersweet and nostalgic terms. According to the song, this would be its last trip.

Do you know in this creation everything has an end?  Life as we know it, Satan’s antics, man’s rule and the present universe will be dissolved. Since there is an end to so much that is familiar to us, what ought we to do? Good question. Peter gave us the answer in his last epistle.

2 Peter 3:11

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

2 Peter 3:12

looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

Give it some consideration.

Gary

As we walked up to a woman, a friend asked me, “Gary, do you know who this is?”

I replied, “No. “

The friend added, “This is so-and-so.”

She was someone I hadn’t seen in fifty years. I looked at her more closely and asked, “So-and-so, are you in there?”  That was not an appropriate response on my part. Time changes everything and is oft cruel on the exterior.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Give it some thought and be careful with quick responses.

Gary

The movie “The Passion of the Christ” was a box-office hit, but Christ wasn’t the actor. It was another person trying to imitate Christ. This has been going on now for almost two thousand years. The fact that there are so many false Christs is astounding. However, Paul addressed it in the early church with the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

Paul was saying, “We have a problem here, Houston.”

The only way to be sure that the Christ you received, the Spirit that indwells you and the Gospel you embrace are the right ones is to check out the Scriptures.

Give it some careful consideration. There’s too much at stake to fall prey to the father of lies.

Gary

 Wife: I’ve just come back from the beauty parlor.

Husband: Was it closed?

Not a funny joke for everyone and can be very dangerous for others. However, I want you to consider the difference between outward beauty and inward beauty. Does the Bible address it? Glad you asked.

1 Peter 3:3-4

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Sometimes you can’t improve on the outside, but we can all improve on the inside.

Give it some thought.

Gary

His mother died when he was eight. When he was a teenager, he took offense that his two friends, who were brothers, would give their mother a hard time. One day he couldn’t take it anymore and told them in no uncertain terms, “You have a mother and you should be thankful for her.”

Are you thankful for what you have that others don’t have? Let me mention a few things: salvation, the Holy Spirit, the promises of God’s Word, and heaven before you. Be a thankful believer. Others are watching.

Ephesians 5:20 

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Give it some thought.

Gary