I stopped at a local fast food restaurant to get two hotdogs with the works, a large fry and a milk. I was in a hurry and the restaurant takeout was also bustling with activity. Eating the fries as I drove along, I decided to pull over and enjoy the dogs. Something didn’t look right as I separated them from the napkin wrappers. Everything was there except the hotdogs. Disappointed, I returned to retrieve the rest of my meal. The owner and I both know stuff happens and my meal was readied quickly.

Speaking of stuff happening, consider this:

2 Corinthians 12:10 

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

If we are in the will of God, every strange situation we find ourselves in has a divine purpose.

Give it some thought and always check the buns before driving off.

Gary

I’ve known him since he was in diapers. He now stands over six feet tall and weighs two hundred forty pounds. His football coach said, “I want you to tackle me.”

He replied, “I don’t want to do that.”

Coach insisted, “I’m telling you to.”

That coach ended up with fractured ribs. True story.

Lesson is be careful what you’re asking for. Some individuals pray for patience, but do you know what the Bible says?

James 1:3

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Hebrews 6:12

that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

It’s okay to ask, but consider the consequences and accept them.

Give it some thought when you ask for a hit.

Gary

No man’s land is wasted or unowned land. It could also mean an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. Like so many that reject Christ, no man’s land has become their fearful and unfortunate territory.

Like the prodigal son, why not realize your situation and go home. Living in no man’s land is not the way to spend the time allotted to you on this earth.

1 John 5:20 

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

Numbers 23:19 

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?

Give it some thought and move to solid ground.

Gary

Jamey Johnson sings the following words which appear later in bold font.  I desire that my loved ones embrace what he expressed when I graduate to heaven. By personal choice, I don’t want anyone staring down at the shell I leave behind. It’s bad enough, they have to look at it now.  Like I said, that is my personal choice and you, certainly, are entitled to yours.

All my burdens are behind me
I have prayed, my final prayer
Don’t you cry, over my body
‘Cause that ain’t me, lyin’ there, naw

I appreciate His promise of a new covering and a permanent home.

Romans 14:8 

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

John 11:25-26 

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Just saying, how do you look at death? Are you giving it some consideration?

Gary

One of my favorite Bible teachers, Dr. McGee stated that Christian radio stations play music instead of getting out the Word of God because that’s what the market demands. The study of Scripture is not in vogue, resulting in shallow Christians.  Work and study are what’s needed for those who come to Christ, not a regimen of entertainment.

2 Timothy 2:15 

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Crack the Good Book open and put some sweat behind it. Discover what the will of God is for your life.

Give it some thought.

Gary

My kindergarten teacher said, “If you don’t eat those mashed potatoes, you can’t go out for recess.” When her back was turned, I slid all that mush into my pockets. She didn’t know whom she was taking on, and I was just starting my course of stupid decisions. On the playground, with a smile on my face expressing victory, my hand was squishing those potatoes from my pockets.

She was my grandmother, and I never did tell her what I had done. Poor teacher was probably suffering from PTSD by that time.

Some areas of defiance are just not worth the price. Does the Bible address decisions? Glad you asked.

2 Peter 3:17 

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

Heb. 3:12

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Today, I like mashed potatoes and would never put them in my pocket. Do you?

Give it some thought.

Gary

From an old country and western song, “You can put me in the cold water, but you can’t keep me down.” The meaning is I can be shoved around, but when I’ve reached my limit, shovers beware. There is a time and place where one needs to fight back. Christians are encouraged to fight, but they should be those who fight at the right time for the right things.

1 Timothy 6:12 

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

2 Timothy 4:7 

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

Ephesians 6:13

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Give it some thought.

Gary