The question for today is, how do you blind someone’s mind? In 1940 Hitler told the Germans that in five years they wouldn’t recognize Germany. He was true to his word because in five years Germany would be destroyed as a military power along with most of the country. How does a leader blind the mind? Offering something that is only an illusion to make one feel good would be my conclusion.

The Bible addresses the master of such illusions:

2 Corinthians 4:4 

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

He is good at creating blindness, but that doesn’t have to be the rest of the story because Christ can cure blindness. False religion is Satan’s masterpiece. Tapping into their pride, he makes folks believe they can be good enough to enter God’s heaven.

The truth is simple. We are sinners and God has provided a Savior.

Don’t believe the liar because the end will be more disastrous than what happened to Germany and its leadership. That disaster was temporal, but the other is eternal.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I just really appreciate people who serve well. Town managers, fire chiefs, police chiefs, community doctors, teachers, pastors and the list goes on. None of these individuals had an easy time because they all had to work with the public. Let me stress the word, work.

Paul’s letter to Timothy emphasized the need to be constantly ministering to believers:

1 Timothy 4:6

if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

Sounds like work to me. Good teaching takes time and study. Some individuals need careful attention. Some need correction. Some need to be rescued from false doctrine and vanity. With others, you need to take a stand against their carnality and pride.

The goalpost is to fight the fight, finish the course, and keep the faith.

Give it some thought and spend the rest of your time ministering to others.

Gary

If you have a constant diet of CNN, Fox, CBS or ABC, you might come away with the idea that the world is crazy. Over 2,500 hundred years ago, the prophet Jeremiah assessed his world the same way. He didn’t get it from watching TV, but he came to the same view. He wanted to get away from it all but couldn’t.

Jeremiah 9:2-6

Oh, that I had in the wilderness
A lodging place for travelers;
That I might leave my people,
And go from them!
For they are all adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.
“ And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies.
They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from evil to evil,
And they do not know Me,” says the LORD.
“ Everyone take heed to his neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
For every brother will utterly supplant,
And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.
Everyone will deceive his neighbor,
And will not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the LORD.

The refusal to know God leads to this chaos.  You can examine all that’s around you and come to one of two conclusions. The first is to become one of the problems and become a pain for others. The other is that the world needs salt and light which you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can provide.

Please make the right choice because we’d like to see a beautiful flower grow out of this manure.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I shook the governor’s hand as he was handing me a plaque thanking me for my service to the Maine EMS system. I felt a little foolish because I knew there were hundreds of people more deserving of this than I was. I’m not trying to be humble, just telling it the way it was.

The reason I was nominated is because of the many friends I acquired in my three decades of involvement with EMS. They are the ones who put my name into the hat. It was again proof to me that relationships can put you ahead of the line of others more deserving of acknowledgement than you are. I’m just setting the record straight. Not that I desired friendship to gain advantage, it was just a natural outcome.

Here’s what the Scriptures say about friendships:

Proverbs 18:24

A man that has friends must show himself friendly

It’s making friends with the right people.

Proverbs 22:24-25 

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

Many of my advantages in life are a result of good relationships. We are not an island but are connected to others, and these others can make all the difference in the world.

Think about it.

Gary

Over breakfast, a woman said to her husband, “I’ll bet you don’t even know what day this is.”

“Of course, I do,” he answered, as if he were offended, and left for the office.

At 10 A.M., the doorbell rang, and, when the woman opened the door, she was handed a dozen long-stemmed red roses. At 1 P.M., a foil-wrapped, two-pound box of her favorite chocolates was delivered. And at 4 P.M., a boutique delivered a designer dress.

The woman rushed up to her husband when he came home. “Thank you so much for the flowers, the chocolates, and the dress!” She exclaimed. “You’ve made this the most wonderful Columbus Day of my entire life!”

Always remember you’re not the sharpest knife in the drawer. If you don’t have enough information to handle a subject, don’t wing it.

Romans 8:7
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Don’t get it all wrong because of a carnal mind. Ask the right questions and get the right information.

Think about it.

Gary

It is a picture in a 1970 yearbook from my old high school. There is a girl jammed into a waste basket so tightly, she can’t get out.  Most people would look at that picture and think, What is that all about?  I’m not most people because I’m the one who put her there. This event was only in my memory for many years, but I discovered by looking at an old yearbook there is a surviving photo of this event. I placed her there just before the English teacher entered the room. It didn’t take the jaws-of-life to get her out, but it did take three of us boys. One had to hold the basket while the other two strained and lifted.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture is very limited unless you have a witness.  The Apostle Paul spoke of witnesses who saw the Lord Jesus after the resurrection.  Someday, we will be able to ask them about that event, for we just have a limited picture at this time.

1 Corinthians 15:6

After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.

How many memories do you have that could use some living proof?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Matthew 20:30

And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

This was no ordinary road. It was the road of recognition because two blind men recognized Christ. Many with their sight do not recognize Him as the Son of David.

It was the road of mercy because God shows His mercy to those whom the world believes don’t have a chance. Many of the world’s outcasts have experienced and appreciated God’s mercy. Many erroneously believe they don’t need God’s mercy.

It was the road of decision because these two made a decision for Christ.  Once a man said, “I’m not at war with God.” Poor ignoramus, he didn’t realize he was up to his eyeballs battling God.

Finally, it was the road of overcoming obstacles.  There were no medical, financial, emotional or prideful reasons not to cry out. Have you cried out or do you have an obstacle?

What road are you sitting alongside, blind and in need?

Give it some thought.

Gary