One thing our little dog, Buttons, hated was cats. One time she even pulled a hamstring, chasing a cat. On this particular day, Paula and I were taking a walk along the highway when I spotted a cat on the other side of the road. I thought it best not to make a grab for the dog, for a car was approaching.  Unfortunately, at the last second Buttons spotted the cat and off she went. That turned out to be the last cat she would ever chase.

My application is this: Don’t let the things you hate in life destroy you. Remember, God made cats also. We all have a purpose, even cats.

Romans 12:19 

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Ephesians 4:26-27 

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Don’t pussyfoot around this one. Give it some thought.

Gary

 “We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves.”

                                                                                 – Michael Ondaatje

I think he had that one pegged. Life is complicated with enumerable challenges. How do we navigate through this swamp full of alligators and snakes? Glad you asked because the One who put us here has given to us the GPS to make it safely to the other shore.

Joshua 1:9 

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 

Mark 6:34 

When He went ashore, He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.

Give it some thought.

Gary

In 2 Samuel 22, we find four giants who were descendants of Goliath. David went to war with the Philistines and these four characters showed up. David couldn’t handle them like he did their father. His age was an impediment. Others had to recognize that about David and protect him from himself.

When I start not making sense in these devotionals, please be like David’s men and let me know. Be kind, but be firm. Everyone has a time to let go, but may it be in God’s time.

Isaiah 46:4 

Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

Psalm 71:18 

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come.

Psalm 71:9 

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.

Give it some thought.

Gary, one who is leaning heavily on these very verses

You know what a cubicle basically says? It basically says, like, ‘You know what? We don’t think you’re smart enough for an office, but we don’t want you to look at anybody.’
                                                                                          ~ Bill Burr

Someone has to do it and millions do. Some refer to those on an assembly line as drones, for they are doing the same thing every day without much thought. The irony is that we all need to make a living, and for the majority, monotony can be the daily, but necessary grind.

Over three thousand years ago, the smartest man in the world described it this way:

Ecclesiastes 2:22,17

What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?

Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

According to Solomon, if God isn’t in it, work is empty. However, Paul made it very clear that if God is in it, it is not for nothing.

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

Give it some thought.

Gary

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.
~ Bob Hope

Many an individual will give some lip service or church attendance to God, but deep down they believe they are all right without Him. No real commitment is involved. However, here are some scary verses:

Romans 2:4

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

2 Timothy 2:25

in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

Hebrews 12:17

For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Speaking of “hope”, a relationship with Him gives real hope.

Think about it.

Gary

 “And as the ax bites into the wood, be comforted in the fact that the ache in your heart and the confusion in your soul means that you are still alive, still human, and still open to the beauty of the world, even though you have done nothing to deserve it.”

– Paul Harding

Where did we come from? What are we doing here? How did we last so long? What happens after this?

God speaks to David the King, revealing some answers to these questions:

2 Samuel 12:7-8

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! 

God says I made you what you are today. Would God say the same of us?

Give it some thought.

Gary

A number of years ago two third-grade boys were sitting outside the principal’s office at Eagle Lake Elementary School. They were waiting for a hearing about some infraction against school policy. They knew they were both guilty and even Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran couldn’t get them off. The principal overheard one say to the other, “I think it’s time to pray.”

Had they done exactly that before, they might have avoided this whole thing. Sounds like they had heard of prayer, just never made it part of their lives.

Philippians 4:6 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Romans 8:26 

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

There is no excuse not to pray, especially if you know the Advocate.

Give it some thought.

Gary