The truck in front of me, headed for Canada with his load of logs, rolled over into the ditch because of the road conditions.  My initial reaction was, this is going to take some time from me. He wasn’t hurt and I stayed with him until we could process the mess and get him back on the road. Hmm, just another day in the North Maine woods.

Always be willing to be involved in someone else’s problems because others were willing to be involved in yours when you had need. “What goes around comes around,” they say.

2 Thessalonians 3:13 

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

Luke 6:38 

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Give it some consideration when others need you.

Gary

The heading for the newspaper article read, “Fired Ellsworth Police Chief, Suspected of Working Drunk, Opening Brewery.” How come people who are deceived by drink can use the same substance to put others in jeopardy?  It goes along with the definition of the quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That former police chief will be a real help in putting people into the same kind of shame he experienced.

Does the Bible address this? Glad you asked.

Habakkuk 2:15

“Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!

Proverbs 20:1

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Stay away from embarrassment; stick with diet coke. Give it some thought.

Gary

In 1972, Mac Davis sang a hit song called, “Don’t Get Hooked on Me.” In it, he warned that he would only use the person and then set him or her free, damaged after what he’d done.  Many, and maybe some of you, have experienced people like that in your history.

The devil operates like that because he has no love for anyone and uses whomever he can. Don’t let him do that to you.

1 Peter 5:8 

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

James 4:7 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

2 Corinthians 11:14 

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Don’t listen to him because he is a dangerous being. Give it some thought.

Gary

She had shown me a picture of her basketball team taken some fifty years previously. Then she asked, “Can you figure out which one of those girls would be me?”

I knew I was treading on thin ice here. There was one rather attractive female in the picture, so I knew she couldn’t be that person. However, I was wrong. It was. I thought, wow the years have taken a toll on you.  I needed to change the conversation.

Now I look at pictures taken of myself fifty years ago and say to myself, “Wow, the years have taken a toll on you.” Pills, creams, operations and diets won’t change the inevitable. I should have had some words of comfort for her, but I was only thinking of myself and getting out of an embarrassing situation.

Leviticus 19:32 

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Be kind to me like I should have been to her. Give it some thought because what goes around comes around.

Gary

I’m behind the wheel 1978 GMC General loaded and crawling down a steep one-mile grade. I know the brakes are heating up, but the deep throbbing of the Jacob brake is music to my ears. That engine brake plays a huge part in a successful descent, thus avoiding catastrophe. Having reached the bottom of the mountain, I stop to allow the brakes to cool down. The smell of those hot pads greets my nostrils, and though it may seem crazy to some, I imagine that we both have an attitude of thankfulness.

I have people in my life like that brake. They provide the extra protection I need to successfully complete the journey. I’m thankful for them.

Hebrews 6:10 

For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.

2 Timothy 2:2 

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

The faithful hold you back when situations can get out of hand. Give it some thought and keep on trucking.

Gary

I was three years old when that photographer came around taking pictures. It was 1955 and I was the youngest of eight. My oldest sister had me on her lap with my hair all combed, which just wasn’t natural. The photographer put up a white sheet for a background and told us to smile and most did. Of all the pictures I possess, that is one of my favorites, just a snapshot in time.

Over the past four years, I have been giving you pictures contained in my memory bank. They are just snapshots in time and time is running out. We can’t go back there, so we should consider some of the snapshots we’ve been given of the future.

James 4:14 

Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Isaiah 43:18-19 

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Give it some thought.

Gary