In The Twinkling of an Eye                                                                  

Text; I Corinthians 15:52

At 11:59 last night it was 2011. At 12:00 it was 2012.  Ready or not an entire year was gone and another one began just like that. If you blinked or winked or twinkled your eye you might have missed it.  Time marches on and we have absolutely no control over it.  Which brings this question to mind – is a twinkling of the eye anything we have control over?  A wink is a controlled movement of the eye. The quickest wink lasts for a half-second. A blink is a reflex action of the eye and lasts somewhere between 300 and 400 milliseconds. A twinkle, also uncontrollable, is a reflected particle of light seen in the eye that travels at the speed of light.   It occurs in about a billionth of a second. Very quick huh? Just as quickly as 2011 became 2012 change comes constantly to our lives every single day.  We cannot control it, but as we enter into 2012 we do have an opportunity to try to get right what we didn’t get right before. This is our chance to put precious time into things that will endure and leave behind temporal things that are simply a waste of time.  When you think about it we actually have more control over where we will spend eternity than where we will spend 2012.  God left the decision completely up to us. We must choose – Heaven or hell.  This is a decision we should make quickly for in a twinkling of an eye the last trump will sound and we will be changed forever.  Jesus said, “Behold I come quickly.”  When He comes every eye – even winking, blinking, and twinkling eyes will see Him.  Then every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  As you begin this year ask yourself, “Am I ready?” Remember a twinkle travels at the speed of light. 

 

A Blank Page                                                                                                      

Text; Psalm 51

 

A blank page is usually thought of as a good thing – a new beginning with endless possibilities. Still, time marches on. Sooner or later blank pages are expected to contain something. If a blank page remains blank, an endless possibility slowly turns to failure.  The fear of writing something wrong enters the author’s mind, even though words can be edited.  Can blank pages be edited?  Every great story begins with a single letter on a blank page.  Our lives are all stories continually being written.  We each begin kind of like a blank a page.  Letter after letter, word after word, chapter after chapter is written day by day, month by month and year by year.  Time marches on.  What kind of story fills the blank pages of your life?  Does fear stop you from trying to grow and become all that you can be?  Don’t allow dreams of endless possibilities become what you deem to be final failures.   Mistakes happen, but God is a God of second chances.   He gives us opportunity after opportunity to restart.   Editing is available.  Today read the words of Psalm 51 written by David who indeed made a mistake.  God did restore the joy of salvation to David. David’s life went on after his repentance.  More blank pages were filled with wonderful things that David did that brought glory to God. 2012 is just beginning. There are endless possibilities available. Do no fear.  Fill the pages of this year with stories of you becoming all you can be to bring glory unto God – the Author and Finisher.

 

 

If God Had Wanted                                                                                                 

Text; John 10:10

 

One of my favorite senseless sayings of my mothers based on absolutely nothing is this: “If God had wanted holes in your ears, He would have put them there.”  I always told her, “He did!”  But of course, she was referring to holes in ear lobes which I and most people weren’t born with.  She just wanted to be right and attribute her rightness to God.  With our church being exercise conscious this month I thought of that saying when I read this one: “If God wanted me to touch my toes, He would have put them on my knees.”  This, of course, is just another saying based on absolutely nothing other than benefitting the person who wants to believe they are right and attribute the “rightness” to God in some way. Wrong!  God has called this fast and does want us to exercise not only our faith but also our bodies.  Here are some more exercise pointers to help you along and perhaps make you smile. Being part of the human race does not count as exercise. Don’t get excessive mental exercise by thinking up ways to avoid physical exercise.  Spending an hour on a stationary couch is not the best way to work your way up to a stationary bike.  If you started a strict running program yesterday and have only missed one day so far, you are not doing very well.  Did you smile? Great, you exercised the muscles in your face.  God wants us to be happy and healthy.  The joy of the Lord is our strength.  Rely on Him as you continue on in this Fit Faith Fast.  Also, remember the enemy tries to steal oh so many things from us.  One of those is our health.  Being healthy and exercising helps us to live the abundant life Christ desires for each of us.

 

 

New Tricks                                                                                 

Text; Ezekiel 18:27, 31, John 3:21, NAS

 

I have an old dog that has one old trick. Dixie chases shadows but sadly has she never caught one. She loves the shadows of birds and airplanes flying overhead in sunlight and her own shadow in the headlights coming up the driveway at night. Everyone drives cautiously because we know Dixie is always running to and fro in front of the car trying to catch her shadow.  The old dog truly needs to learn a new trick, because we fear this old trick is going to be the death of her yet.  I truly do not like the idea of us humans being compared to dogs, but how often we have heard, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”  Said “dog” is actually referring to a human who is very set in their ways.  Being set in one’s ways will not necessarily “be the death of you yet” as the shadow chasing dog, but there are certainly some habits that are dangerous and downright deadly. Do you believe there is hope of turning the old habits to new habits – old tricks to new tricks?  In Ezekiel, Israel is warned of the consequence (death) of the habits (the sins) they are practicing, but they are given hope if they learn new Godly habits.  When a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.  God does, therefore, seem to be a firm believer that old dogs can learn new tricks. People can change and break old sinful habits that are sure to lead to death. New Godly practices lead to eternal life. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."  Break old habits.  Make good Godly choices.  R U N?

 

Teach Us to Pray                                                                                                    

Text; Luke 11:14

 

There were three neighborhood ministers about to pray God’s blessings over a newly constructed community center.  One minister went down on his knees while another stood lifting his hands to heaven.  The third dropped to the ground and lay flat on his back.  Immediately they began to argue about the proper position for prayer. Nearby there was a telephone repairman.  He said, “Excuse me, but the best praying I ever did was hanging fifty feet in the air upside down from that pole over there holding on for dear life.”  There will more than likely come a time for all of us when the proper prayer position is not as important as God’s power to come and preempt perplexing situations. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He did not mention a certain position.  Jesus reminded us what to do when we stand praying (Mark 11:25).  Jesus Himself knelt (Luke 22:41), lay (Mark 14:35), and also hung high in the air, giving His life, on a cross praying.  We are told to pray always without ceasing.  The prayer, not the position seems to be most important. Soon after Jesus had instructed the disciples how to pray they were most likely with Him as He cast out a devil from one who was dumb.  Do you think they argued whether they should kneel or stand? Do you think the person who was possessed cared if they knelt or stood?  I doubt that those were the first words out of his mouth.  Lord, teach us to pray.  Lord, teach us to be unified and pray your blessings on the world around us, especially for those who are hanging on for dear life.  R U N?