His name was Saul and he was on the road to Damascus. He had the authority from the Jewish officials to persecute the church by whatever means necessary. Unbeknown to him, that road was leading to heaven.

Jesus knocked him off his high horse and asked him a soul-searching question. The account is found in Acts nine.

Acts 9:3-5

As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

It was a life-changing moment in time. After this account, his name would appear over 140 times just in the book of Acts. He would have twelve epistles to his credit and three missionary journeys. At Rome, he would lay down his life for the cause of Christ.

Have you ever been on this road?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. In 1970 he wrote and sang, “Everything is Beautiful.” The children are heard singing the chorus of the song, using the hymn, “Jesus Loves the Little Children“, in the background.

Ray even used a portion of Scripture in his song.

Jeremiah 5:21

‘Hear this now, O foolish people,
Without understanding,
Who have eyes and see not,
And who have ears and hear not:

The song was to make us see the need to overlook our differences and join hands. On the last stanza, the statement was made, “The world’s gonna find a way.”

It’s been over fifty years since I listened to that song from the jukebox. The world still hasn’t found the way, but Jesus does love the little children and He has made a way.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Most of Harold’s music was comedy, but this one was no laughing matter.

Give this some thought.

Gary

His name was Adam, and if there had been a phonebook, that’s the only name that would have been in it. This was a very intelligent man because he could do something that you can’t do and that is-name all the animals. He even had the privilege of speaking with God.

Yet with all of that advantage, the thought struck him that he could make a go of it in this world without God’s presence. Now that’s a dumb thought for the smartest man in the world. It didn’t work out very well, and the repercussions are still being felt at the present time.

What the first Adam messed up, the second Adam rectified.

Romans 5:15

 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 

I’m so glad that God sent us another Adam to clear the way for us in relation to what the first Adam destroyed.

Give it some thought.

Gary

H. Spurgeon claimed that 98 percent of the people he met—including the criminals he visited in England’s prisons—told him that they believed the Bible to be true. But the vast majority had never made a personal, life-changing commitment to Jesus Christ. For them, “believe” was not an active verb.

Jonathan Whitfield was preaching to coal miners in England.

He asked one man, “What do you believe?”

“Well, I believe the same as the church.”

“And what does the church believe?”

“Well, they believe the same as me.”

Seeing he was getting nowhere, Whitfield said, “And what is it that you both believe?”

“Well, I suppose the same thing.”

Many Christians seem to know as much about what they believe as that coal miner.

Abraham is called in Scripture, “the father of all who believe.” His first step of faith was leaving home at seventy-five-years-of-age because God told him to do so. He placed his future completely in God’s hands. Like us, he wasn’t perfect, but you can see God working throughout his life.

Genesis 12:1

 Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

Does the Word of God speak to you about life? It should.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Robo calls, sleazy politicians, religious shysters and fake news abound in the world of our day. It seems at every turn someone wants our mind or wallet or both. If there was ever a time a believer needs to be anchored in truth, it’s today. James addressed this issue almost two thousand years ago.

Ephesians 4:14

 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

No, you don’t need a free hip brace, your computer’s working fine, and please don’t put warrantee insurance on that old car.

Other than that, grow up and don’t get caught up in the crazy of our present day. Stick to what counts for an eternity.

Give it some thought.

Gary

We couldn’t make the turn because the convertible we were riding in was going too fast. Skidding into an old adjacent road, the car finally came to stop just feet from a 30-foot-drop to the river.  The three of us exited the vehicle, without a word said, and sat on the guardrails for a period of time in silence.

Five and a half decades later, two of us are still alive and the other died of natural causes. Had that car rolled or gone into the river, it would have been a recipe for disaster. With no seatbelts in that convertible, and obviously no life vests, the outcome would have been tragic.

Some teens had similar experiences with different outcomes. We made no professions of faith at that time, nor was God ever considered to be any part of our lives.  Only one verse comes to my mind consistently when my memory takes me back through the years:

Psalm 23:6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

You can call it luck, the draw of the cards, or Jupiter being aligned with Mars, but I’ll go with the aforementioned verse.

Think about it.

Gary

“I Am a Rock” is a song written by Paul Simon.  Art Garfunkel sang it with him in 1966 and the rest is history.

The song is about someone who thinks he is a rock because a rock feels no pain. Good luck with that theory because everyone feels pain unless you have emotional congenital analgesia. (I just made that up.)

It’s also about being an island not connected to anyone. The problem with that is we are created to be part of a community, and breaking away only leads to unbearable loneliness.

It’s about having books and poetry to protect you. That offers about as much protection as a windbreaker as you stand between the tracks waiting for the freight train to hit you.

The lyrics claim memories sleep. The problem is they are easily awakened and become daytime nightmares.

The music we listened to in our youth offered us nothing of value and only distorted an already messed-up world view.

The Scriptures offer reality with a definite hope for eternity to anyone who will listen and enter into its truths.

Psalm 19:7-11

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

Let’s face it: those singers/songwriters couldn’t prepare us for life’s realities.

Think about it.

Gary