From Mongolian folklore comes this helpful little fable of the boastful frog.

   Two geese were about to start southward on their annual autumn migration, when they were entreated by a frog to take him with them. On the geese expressing their willingness to do so if a means of conveyance could be devised, the frog produced a long stalk of grass, got the two geese to take it one by each end, while he clung to it by his mouth in the middle. In this manner the three were making their journey when they were noticed from below by some men.

   The men loudly expressed their admiration for the device and wondered who had been clever enough to discover it. Whereupon the vainglorious frog opened his mouth to say, “It was I,” lost his hold, fell to the earth, and was dashed to pieces.

   Moral: When you have a good thing going, keep your mouth shut!

Proverbs 27:2

Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.

Watch your mouth and give it some thought.

Gary

“All that glitters is not gold” is an aphorism stating that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so. William Shakespeare coined the phrase sometime around the 12th century. Billy nailed that one, but the Bible mentions the principle thousands of years before Billy’s mother had birth pains because of his arrival.

Proverbs 8:19

My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.

 Psalm 119:127

Therefore, I love Your commandments above gold, above fine gold.

Acts 3:6

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Does it glitter? Is it gold or is it fool’s gold?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Genesis 28:15 

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

God didn’t have much to work with in Jacob. He would be one a teacher would not want in her classroom. You wouldn’t want him for a neighbor. An employer would refuse his application for employment. However, God was willing to take him on. The Lord made promises to this boy and through him created a nation still in existence today.

If God could do that with old Jacob, He can still do that today with you and me. His promises are as valid today as they were then.

2 Corinthians 7:1 

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Hebrews 10:23 

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“Don’t Take Your Guns to Town” is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Cash. It was released in December 1958. It was the story of young Billy who put his guns on and went to town. He thought he looked the part of a gun slinger. He tasted liquor for the first time. The only thing the guns hanging at his side and booze in his stomach did was get him killed.

There are a lot of individuals going through life believing they are looking good but refusing to believe that one day they will be up against God. The Lord had something to say about such a fool.

Luke 12:20

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Think you can take God on? You’ll be the loser.

Give it some thought.

Gary

A few days before his death, Dr. F.B. Meyer wrote a very dear friend these words: “I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live.  It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the palace.  Don’t trouble to write.  We shall meet in the morning.”

– F.B. Meyer

We make a number of moves in a lifetime. However, there is one move where we don’t have to bother transferring our stuff. We can just leave here and appear there without getting dressed up.

2 Corinthians 5:2

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

The older I get, the more I groan. I’m ready, anytime.

Give it some thought and I hope to meet you there.

Gary

He never slapped anyone but me. He was my high school coach, and I reckon he’d just about had enough of my antics. Looking back, I’m sorry I didn’t get to thank him. There was something about boundaries I just didn’t understand. Because of some lessons I didn’t learn at home, people like him took it upon themselves to punish me for my offenses.

Scripturally, God would raise up enemies to punish Israel. Also, God uses situations to punish believers. Not a bad thing and we should be thankful for it. There are two ways to learn, the easy way and the hard way.

Proverbs 12:1 

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

Hebrews 12:11 

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

This is not for those who never do wrong, but for folks like this writer. The slap didn’t hurt; it was the echo that bounced off my soul that left a sore.

Give it some thought.

Gary

If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is “God is crying.”
And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is “Probably because of something you did.”
~ Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts

I don’t suggest doing that because it contains a lie. However, we all know from experience that God is hurt by our actions way too many times. Considering He went to the cross on our behalf, how should we act?

Romans 5:10

 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.

1 John 3:18

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Don’t hurt the One who loves you more than anyone on the planet.

Give it some thought.

Gary