Not Thots

        Throughout God's Word, especially in the New Testament, He tells us about and explains the gifts that He gives us. There are so many uncountable blessings that He lavishes on us also. But those are not listed as "gifts", per se. Gifts, as we know them, come in all sizes, values, and levels of delight.  Some gifts are huge and exactly what you asked for, and there are some that get a reaction of "this is cool"! Others get, when you open them, a very forced smile and "Well, okay', or 'Meh'". Thank you, but next one please!   Today's gift topic gets ranked below all of these by most people.  We all have heard of, perhaps studied, and hopefully experienced the "Gifts of The Holy Spirit" as listed in 1 Corinthians 12. You know the ones; wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. These gifts are available to everybody in the...

        Do you have a mailing address in the land of Er? This is where we take up residence when we feel that we NEED something that we don't have in order to be happy.   When we think that we have to be thinner, richer, smarter, hipper, an influencer, stronger, healthier… you get the idea.   You never settle down peacefully in the Land of Er. Ever. You just wind up at a different dry, thirsty place on the same stretch of road. Somewhere that is just as unfulfilling as the place that you just left.    The concept of letting out a cleansing sigh with a smile on your face and the thought that "all is well with my soul" is as foreign to you as the idea of smelling the number 5.   Jesus came to give us peace. His peace. And that, my friend, looks unlike anything this world has to offer. Believe me, because I’ve tried most of them.   The unmovable truth that you have to deal with is the fact that you cannot gra...

        Is your love cold towards your neighbor? Not so much the folks next door, although those people are included. Your neighbor is anyone you occupy this planet with. Even those thousands of miles away.  Every single one!  This includes those who are vastly different from you and your lifestyle. Those who are of a different religious belief, race, economic class, political party, or, heaven forbid, a radical ideology…   I think that we can all agree that it is not easy to get along with everyone, let alone love them. Even while the world clamors for "Peace, Unity, Brotherhood, the family of man and coexist". It's on billboards, bumper stickers, in Academy award speeches and shouted by the tolerance bunch. And we are sick of them all, to one degree or another.   If only there was a real remedy. Something workable that would reach across these chasms.   We had been warned over 2000 years ago by Jesus that this would happen in ...

        What was Jesus was really saying in Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23? There is so much misunderstanding, false assumptions, and erroneous teaching about this Scripture;    "You must deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me."    When Jesus was telling this to the disciples, He had not gone physically to the cross yet, neither had He been physically carrying one around.  So, since He ALWAYS leads by example, what was this "cross" that He was referring to?   Purpose. His purpose. Your purpose.   And His purpose was to be The Messiah on a cross.   Yes, the physical cross was in his path, but that was ONE day out of his 33 years of earthly living. After that one day, he was done with the physical wood & metal of the cross! Yet, He lives even today, still fulfilling His purpose, being that Messiah.   This is the same lifestyle that He wants from us.  As we willingly and ...