First Love

"I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place" (Rev 2:2-5)

Sounds like a good church at first. They were hard-working, didn't tolerate evil men, they persevered in the midst of adversity, and they even tested those who claimed to be apostles, just to make sure their doctrine was sound. But Jesus told them plainly REPENT! They'd done all the right things, but they'd forgotten the most important thing of all- loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.. You could say they made their church and their doctrines more important than the relationship they had with Christ. And Jesus made no bones about it, unless that changed, He would come and "remove their lampstand". In other words, their church would be taken away. From God's perspective, if you don't love Him first, then you shouldn't "play church".

Lord, hear our prayer- Help us love you more than anything or anyone, always!

Taking Refuge

"O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

Everyone finds refuge in something. For some it's sports, watching or playing their favorite game or maybe even reading a good book. In these things we find safe haven. Nothing bothers us when we've escaped into our refuge of choice. But God wants us to find our refuge in Him, to run into His arms when we need a place to escape to. His Word says "blessed is the man" who does this. What does it mean to be "blessed". It means to "be so happy as to be envied".. I'm learning how true that is. The more I take refuge in Christ, the happier I am. And of course, the reverse is true. When I drift away from His presence, life gets pretty miserable.

Politics of the day

Often I find myself caught up in some worthless political debate. Seems everyone has an opinion, and everyone thinks they're right. In prayer, God's told me time and time again to avoid such foolish chatter. The reality is, unless the people of this world fall on their knees, repent and turn back to God, it doesn't matter who gets elected! The end result is, without such a revival, we're quickly headed for judgment. God in His mercy has waited and waited. Instead of repentance, He sees violence, immorality and every evil imaginable. When His hand of judgment falls it will be swift and sure. Even if every person bands together, kicks out every corrupt politician and elects a near perfect governing body, it won't matter. Politicians can't change the hearts of people. And that's the real issue, the world has abandoned itself to wholesale evil. God cannot and will not sit idly by forever. His hand of judgment will fall soon.

Miner Story

In the land of coal, the story's told, of mining men, so brave and bold,
who spent their days beneath the ground outside a small West Virginia town..

As the locals say, one fateful day, as the miners started to earn their pay -
the walls of the coal collapsed on the men. Nine were found to be trapped within..

News of the nine trapped in the mine, reached the town in a moment of time.
Everyone left their daily routine to rescue the men from the fearful scene..

With hearts so loyal, with sweat and toil, eight were freed from the blackened soil.
Still one miner remained within, but no one there could rescue him..

When an expert team arrived at the scene, they realized the need for a drilling machine,
a special device to pierce the ground, but such a device could not be found..

The media heard what had occurred, the word went out and the nation was stirred.
Everyone listened throughout the land, watching them try to save the man..

Deep in the nest of the rugged west, a company heard of the miner's distress.
They'd made a machine for just such work, one that would bore through rock or dirt..

They sent it by flight to arrive overnight, along with a crew to the mining site..
Though the cost was truly immense, the company did it at their expense..

With speed and skill, they began to drill, they rescued the man trapped in the hill..
As he emerged to the morning air, he noticed the people standing there..

He saw his mother, his father and brothers, the camera-men and hundreds of others.
He saw the machine that rescued him, over the mine where he just had been..

He didn't know why, but he started to cry, as he looked at the people standing by..
They heard him say 'How can this be?' 'Why was all this done for me?'

All that was done, to simply save the one, might be a work of fiction neatly spun..
But one thing I know & this is very true - like the miner, you're worth saving too!