Some people think they give God an hour on Sunday and He should be happy with that. Others think He is a get-out-of- jail- free card like in Monopoly. The ones who have come to realize He is a constant companion have it all together. Without Him on board in our lives, we are quite useless for time and eternity.

Here’s how the hymn writer put it:

I need thee every hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like thine
Can peace afford.

I need Thee, O I need thee;
Every hour I need Thee!
O bless me now, my Savior–
I come to Thee.

Isaiah 30:20-21

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

Trouble comes in different forms to make us realize this journey is not possible without Him.

Give it some thought.

Gary

The Hunchback of Notre Dame exposes the decency and humanity of a hunchback named Quasimodo. As the story unfolds, we perceive that the crowd only sees him as a monstrous freak. The crowd was wrong. Human beings must be trained or taught to see the inner person as God does.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Look at the people around you and understand looks can be deceiving.

Give it some thought.

Gary

In Acts chapter sixteen, we see the Apostle Paul using the miraculous gifts given him by the Holy Spirit. Some exorcists tried to imitate what Paul was gifted to do and the results were disastrous.

Acts 19:15-16

And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 

The people of Ephesus quickly discerned between God’s representatives and those that belonged to the Devil. Even the evil spirits knew Paul by name.

What kind of preachers have you been watching or listening to lately.

Give it some thought.

Gary

There are things that need attention at some future time. There are things that never have to happen. Then there are the things that must be done now. Jesus had a “must” list.

Luke 2:49

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

John 4:4

And He must needs go through Samaria.

Luke 4:43

And He said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.

John 9:4

I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Matthew 16:21

 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.

Do you have a “must” list?

Think about it.

Gary

I’d like to share how God has led in the past forty-four years. Mountain View Bible Church is going thru the Bible in thirty-nine months. This will be the fifth time we have done that in our adult Sunday school class. After this month, I will have completed a book report on all sixty-six books of the Bible. We have done word studies with about seven hundred words found in the Scriptures. We’ve had nursing home ministries at two local nursing homes in our area that required a different preparation. Since Covid 19, these devotionals have been going out for two years.  On top of that, I couldn’t keep track of the weddings and funerals that needed clear presentations.

In a nutshell, I have binders full of illustrations and a lifetime full of experiences in my head. I’m not ready to hang it up, but I see the porch light in the distance.

Thank you for the many who take the time to read these short thoughts from the Word. I especially thank those who have prayed for this ministry and responded on occasion. Some of you have caused me to believe these are meaningful.

1 Peter 5:1-4

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;  and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Please excuse me, but another old song from my past came uninvited to my frontal cortex. It was sung by Skeeter Davis in 1962 (I was 10). It’s about a woman who placed all her eggs in one basket and all were broken. Nevertheless, the sun kept on shining, the stars kept on glowing, and the sea kept rushing to the shore. Her world ended, but the real world kept on going like nothing was wrong.

Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world?
‘Cause you don’t love me any more

Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world?
It ended when I lost your love

I wake-up in the morning, and I wonder
Why everything’s the same as it was
I can’t understand, no, I can’t understand
How life goes on the way it does

Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world?
It ended when you said, “Good-bye”

No one seems to really care, except the one with the broken heart. That’s not right because God always cares. He cares for sparrows and there are 1.6 billion on the planet. Who cares if one falls to the earth? God does.

Matthew 10:29

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

Matthew 10:31

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

You may lose a love, but you can never lose a world under the watchful eye of the Creator.

Think about it.

Gary

Two caterpillars were crawling across the grass when a butterfly flew over them. They looked up, and one nudged the other and said, “You couldn’t get me up in one of those things for a million dollars.”

What he was saying is, I want to stay here and never be found up there. Many in our world would prefer to stay here than to take wings and fly. It reminds me of the old hymn, “I’ll Fly Away.”

Some glad morning when this life is over
I’ll fly away
To a home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away

I’ll fly away, oh, Glory
I’ll fly away
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by
I’ll fly away

Just a few more weary days and then
I’ll fly away
To a land where joy shall never end
I’ll fly away

You don’t have to be one of the Wright brothers to know flight is possible.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Come on, Orville and Wilbur, get ready to fly.

Give it some thought.

Gary