Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ring-tailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The monkey will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and tug, screech and fight the melon for hours. But he can’t get free of the trap unless he gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and nab him.

Proverbs 28:25 

A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.

Luke 12:15 

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

What are you hanging on to that will put you into captivity?

Give it some thought.

Gary

When the 1960s ended, San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district reverted to high rent, and many hippies moved down the coast to Santa Cruz. They had children and got married, too, though in no particular order.  They didn’t name their children Melissa or Brett, however. People in the mountains around Santa Cruz grew accustomed to their children playing frisbee with Little Time Warp or Spring Fever. And eventually, Moonbeam, Earth, Love and Precious Promise all ended up in public school.

That’s when the kindergarten teachers first met Fruit Stand. Every fall, according to tradition, parents bravely applied name tags to their children, kissed them good-bye and sent them off to school on the bus. So it was for Fruit Stand. The teachers thought the boy’s name was odd, but they tried to make the best of it.

“Would you like to play with the blocks, Fruit Stand?” they offered. And later, “Fruit Stand, how about a snack?” He accepted hesitantly. By the end of the day, his name didn’t seem much odder than Heather’s or Sun Ray’s.

At dismissal time, the teachers led the children out to the buses. “Fruit Stand, do you know which one is your bus?”

He didn’t answer. That wasn’t strange. He hadn’t answered them all day. Lots of children are shy on the first day of school. It didn’t matter. The teachers had instructed the parents to write the names of their children’s bus stops on the reverse side of their name tags. The teacher simply turned over the tag. There, neatly printed, was the word “Anthony.”

I don’t mind my name and maybe you don’t mind yours either. However, God does have a new name for us that only He knows.

Revelation 2:17

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

Don’t worry, Fruit Stand. There is a better name coming.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Her name was Anna which means “gracious” or “one who gives.” She lived on the planet during difficult times but made something of her name. God identified her in His book which will live forever.

Luke 2:36-38

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

There are 500,000 Annas just in the United States. Question is, How many live for Him and don’t depart from the truth found in the Word? If I were an Anna, I would desire those words coming from God would be about me.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Out Came the Sun is a book written by Mariel Hemingway.   Born just a few months after her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, shot himself, it was Mariel’s mission as a girl to escape the desperate cycles of severe mental health issues that had plagued generations of her family. Surrounded by a family tortured by alcoholism (both parents), depression (her sister Margaux), suicide (her grandfather and four other members of her family), schizophrenia (her sister Muffet), and cancer (her mother), it was all the young Mariel could do to keep her head.

Individuals like this cause those of us who have enjoyed a normal life, to be amazed at how some escape such things. The other thought that comes to my mind is how we as Christians buckle under the slightest provocation that life can throw at us, when we have such promises in Scripture concerning overcoming.

Romans 12:21 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

John 16:33 

I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

1 John 4:4 

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Seven of the early churches were addressed by God in Revelation chapters 2-3. Every one of the seven contained this statement:

Rev. 2:2 about Ephesus, “I know your works”

Rev. 2:9 about Smyrna, “I know your works”

Rev. 2:13 about Pergamos, “I know your works”

Rev. 2:19 about Thyatira, “I know your works”

Rev. 3:1 about Sardis, “I know your works”

Rev. 3:8 about Philadelphia, “I know your works”

Rev. 3:15 about Laodicea, “I know your works”

If you’re a Christian, then you have a permanent record. Do works matter? The answer is not for salvation, but certainly for service.

Hebrews 10:24 

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

1 Timothy 6:18 

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

2 Timothy 3:17 

That the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

What’s the message? Work.

 Give it some thought.

Gary

It was the World Series and the New York Yankees were hosting the Milwaukee Braves. Hank Aaron stepped into the batter’s box only to be greeted by the ceaseless chatter of Yogi Berra: “Henry, you’re holding that bat wrong. You’re supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark.”

Aaron never spoke a word. As the next pitch crossed the plate, the home run king put the ball into the left-field bleachers. After rounding the bases and tagging up at home plate, he looked at the cheerless Yogi Berra and said, “I didn’t come up here to read.”

Aaron knew why he was there and he could sure prove it. I wonder how many of us really know why we are here. The Scripture certainly reveals our task on the planet.

Galatians 6:5
For each will have to bear his own load.

1 Corinthians 3:8
He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.

Give it some thought and it will improve your batting average.

Gary

In 1982, “ABC Evening News” reported on an unusual work of modern art-a chair affixed to a shotgun. It was to be viewed by sitting in the chair and looking directly into the gun barrel. The gun was loaded and set on a timer to fire at an undetermined moment within the next hundred years. The amazing thing was that people waited in lines to sit and stare into the shell’s path! They all knew the gun could go off at point-blank range at any moment, but they were gambling that the fatal blast wouldn’t happen during THEIR minute in the chair.

Some gamble with eternity, thinking they are ok, nothing can happen to them. An individual who does that is described as a fool in the Scriptures.

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?’

Proverbs 12:15

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Don’t gamble with eternity.

Give it some thought.

Gary