Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone.

Even when we don’t know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.

When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him. Moral of the story: Just because you can’t see God, doesn’t mean He is not there.

‘For we walk by faith, not by sight.’

“One evening, after yet another of his magnificent concerts, world renowned pianist Van Cliburn was approached by an admirer who had been in the audience.

Obviously touched by the performance, the emotional fan grasped Cliburn’s hand and said:

‘I would give my life to be able to play the piano like that.”

The pianist smiled and replied, “I DID”

Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Have a great day!!

This is a beautiful song…I have copied the lyrics so you can see the message as well…..God Bless!

The timeless theme, Earth and Heaven will pass away.
It’s not a dream, God will make all things new that day.
Gone is the curse from which I stumbled and fell.
Evil is banished to eternal hell.

No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great “I AM.”
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

See all around, now the nations bow down to sing.
The only sound is the praises to Christ, our King.
Slowly the names from the book are read.
I know the King, so there’s no need to dread.

No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great “I AM.”
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

See over there, there’s a mansion, oh, that’s prepared just for me,
Where I will live with my savior eternally.

No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great “I AM.”
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.

All praises to the great “I AM.”
We’re gonna live in the light of the risen Lamb.

I realize it’s been a while since I have posted.  There have been many distractions, including the ice storm, that have taken my focus away from all reading and writing.

You know, the valley doesn’t always have to be very deep, but it’s still a valley.  I think I’m on the upward climb back to the mountain top.

I read a quote today that means a lot to me.

“Life is not about the breaths we take, it’s about the moments that take our breath away.”
-Anonymous

I’m thankful that I serve a merciful and forgiving Lord and Savior.  His love and grace take my breath away!!

God Bless!!

Here’s a great interview with Rick Warren.    He wrote the Purpose
Driven Life,  A highly recommended book.     

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now
having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an
absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,
‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in
California   
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: 
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? 
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were
not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. 
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body–
but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions
of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God
wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life
isn’t going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just
coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character
than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than
He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of
life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the
toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe
that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of
like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something
good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something
bad that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for..
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:
If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,
which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to
get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and
others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of
thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for
her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened
her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a
testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million
copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with
before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego
or for you to live a life of ease..
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety
and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide
what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit.. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from
the church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace
Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the
sick, and educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since
I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be
able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions?
Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or
am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God,
if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and
love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do
list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.
That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings. 
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD..

 My Bible study class has been studying the Beattitudes in the 5th chapter of Matthew.   Last week we studied Matthew 5:8….take a look at this verse and then the 5 points that follow.   We can see God!!  We can ONLY be pure in heart by the GRACE and MERCY of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! 

How to Become Wholly Holy

1. Pray regularly  

The Psalm writers often prayed for purity of heart. See, for example, Psalm 51:10, Create

in me a pure heart, O God, and Psalm 139:23-24, 

Search me, O God, and know my

2. Guard tenaciously

Purity of heart is one of your most precious commodities. Realize that all sorts of evil

forces will seek to rob you of it, so take precautions. Guard what your eyes see, what your

mind thinks upon, and what your body does. 

Offer your bodies as living sacrifi ces,

3. Read devotionally

A heart full of Scripture will engage in holy pursuits. Psalm 119:9-11 reads,

heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart

My greatest strength; attitude.  My greatest gift; family.  My greatest fear;
loneliness.

Fear, gifts, strengths, attitudes; all blessings from God.  Wow!  My Savior; the
Alpha and Omega! “

I am reading a new book that was given to me by a dear friend.  Andrew Murray wrote “Abide in Christ”  that was originally published in 1979.

Here is a quote that blessed and challenge me this morning.

“…as it was Jesus who drew you when He spoke, “Come”  (Matthew 11:28), so it is Jesus who keeps you when He said, “Abide” (John 15:4).”

Take some time to watch this video, to take these words to heart and to “abide” in Him today.

God Bless!!

“Did you know that after believers have served God perfectly for ten million years in heaven, not one of them will deserve God’s love any more than they did at the very moment they were saved?  When Jesus Christ died on the cross, God poured on Him the punishment for all our sin — past, present, and future.”

God truly wants to forgive our sin.  Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.   “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

He wants to forget our sin.  Psalm 103:12  ” as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

He wants to cleanse us from our sin. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

He wants to give us and abundant life in spite of our sin.  John 10:10 “10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

God longs to do all of this so much that He Himself endured agony of hell for every one of us.  That’s how much God loves sinners!!!!

Thank you Father God for sending your son Jesus to die for my sins.

Thank you Jesus for sacrificing your own life for my salvation.

Thank you Holy Spirit for reminding me how much Jesus loves His children.