“I come from a stupid family. During the Civil War, my great uncle fought for the west!” – Rodney Dangerfield

Sometimes, you must decide whose side you’re on. Does the Bible address this fact? Glad you asked.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Wrong choice! If your commitment is not to Christ, your choice is wrong. Give it some careful consideration.

Gary

A convenience food today is chicken already cooked. In grandmother’s time, it was a chicken she didn’t have to kill personally.

–       Bill Vaughan

Times change and some things get easier while others get more complicated. Text messaging, TV, Facebook, YouTube, cellphones and AI can lead to insufferable consequences. Maybe the old ways were better even if grandma had to wring the chicken’s neck.  Some things don’t change, however.   The end for the fowl in question remains the same, dead. So, it will be with us, dead.

Jeremiah 6:16

Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
    and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
    and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Proverbs 22:28

 Do not move the ancient landmark
    that your fathers have set.

Consider the old ways and give it some thought.

Gary

The test was in Algebra 1 my freshman year of high school and I aced it.  A week later, the teacher gave the exact same test, and I failed it. He accused me of having cheated on the first test, and I hadn’t. It’s not that I hadn’t cheated before because I had. Maybe it was just a way that karma works. That’s how most would describe that event.

Looking back on that now, I don’t believe it was karma. However, I really don’t have an explanation for it. I did finish the course but not without some problems with him.

Today, I’m not so concerned with the things in my life that can’t be explained because of the mountain of things that I can explain. I really need to capitalize on them and not be so concerned on the former.

Colossians 3:2

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

There are things here we just must leave alone because there is no explanation. Give it some thought.

By the way, 3x+7=22 and x is 5.

Gary

He pushed the hundred-dollar bill across the table and said to me, “This is to preach my funeral.”

I said, “I won’t take the money, but I will do your funeral.” He was an old friend, a veteran, a man who had pushed through some difficult days and was now facing the demon of cancer, and it was winning.

He said emphatically, “You will take the money, and you will do what I asked.”

I said to myself, “Suck it in, Gardner, and don’t get emotional.”

In the journey God chose for me, there are many scenes just like that. I don’t like being in them, but who will be there for my friends and acquaintances? If someone leaves behind something worth remembering at a funeral service, I’d like to be part of it for their sake and those left behind.

Maybe you feel like he did. I’ll be there for you, and you can pocket the hundred dollars. Give it some thought.

Hebrews 11:4 

By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Gary

In football, progress is measured in yards with the goalpost always in view. It takes planning, knowledge of rules, practice, injuries, memorization of plays, force, equipment and perseverance to reach the goal post and win.

Such is Christianity.

2 Timothy 2:5 

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

2 Timothy 4:7 

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

1 Timothy 4:8 

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Pray to win. Give it some thought.

Gary

My friend Al sent me this from his memory bank and I thought it would make a good devotional.

Me boy, you are on point and 100% accurate !

I shared this before without this reference…  I got into a “Graveyard Spiral” in a Cessna 185, while flying in an extreme condition.   These are non-recoverable and almost certain death.  While in the clutches of this death spiral, from somewhere in the recesses of my mind, the Spirit of God had me recall a statement in the 185’s ” PILOT HANDBOOK” which says, “The Cessna 185 is inherently stable” Believing that guidebook, I released FULL control of the aircraft!   This happened just before the wings came off or the nose of the aircraft hit the earth/water!  We are talking SECONDS here! The Pilot Handbook for any aircraft is the “Bible” for every pilot.  The Word of God is the ONLY “Handbook” a believer needs!

You want to be “inherently stable” in ALL of life’s venues?  Here it is!  

Give it some thought.

Daniel 4:35

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?”

Gary

“If You Don’t Know Me by Now“ is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and recorded by the Philadelphia soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.  It’s about a man trying to convince his wife that minor conflicts shouldn’t keep them at a distance. That is so true in the human experience even with those we love.

Now let’s consider our relationship with God. How would you describe it on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best?  Is there some room for improvement and who needs to make that step?

Would God say to you, “If you don’t know Me by now?” Give it some thought.

John 17:3 

And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Philippians 3:10 

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death,

Matthew 7:23

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Give it some thought.

Gary