“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
(Matthew 6:25-27)
Hi Men:
I pray this week you have had quiet time “in” Christ……..
Isn’t it amazing that our smart phones can get a shot like the one above. I took that at the home of a dear friend of ours. Hummingbirds are sometimes called by scientists, “Flying Miracles.” I was going to share some facts on hummingbirds…… For example, they can eat 14 times their weight in one day, have a heart that beats 20 times a second and a tongue that splits in two and can move in and out of its mouth as fast as its heartbeat. As you all know, it can fly forwards, backwards, right, left, up, down and eat while flying. If we used energy like the hummingbird, we would have to eat 1,300 hamburgers and drink 15 gallons of water (mainly to cool our body down). Unfortunately we wouldn’t get a change to eat all those burgers, because our body temperature would rise to 725° F and literally catch on fire! They also have a pretty good GPS. Jane and I see them come back every year and make nests in the same trees.…………. I guess I did share some facts, but there are plenty more.
The main point I was going to make, is that we need to slow down and reflect on God’s amazing creation (even if it’s a blade of grass or a Cicada). Reflecting on these miracles will help us stand in “Awe” of our Creator God. If we have these miracles surrounding us now, just imagine what heaven is going to be like. “……….. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor 2:9) And don’t forget, if we love Him, we OBEY Him or we are liars and the truth is not in us (1 John 2:4)
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Well there’s sure a lot going on……….. Everywhere you turn morality is being thrown out the window and the same for reality (just call me Daniella since I have discovered that I am a woman trapped in a man’s body). This is Romans 1:28 in living color “………..God gave them over to a depraved mind…………” When I watched, “Paint the Wall Black: The Story of Nini’s Deli” for the first time, I wanted to borrow Vic Morrow’s Thompson Machine Gun and start mowing the bad people down (For you younger guys, Vic Morrow played “Sarge” on Combat)
Vic Morrow – 1965
There I go again, forgetting so quickly the words, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom 12:19). And we are clearly told by Jesus to:
“……… Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28)
This is not a suggestion, but a very clear command that is NOT passive, but calls for an active response. Isn’t it interesting when you reflect on those 12 men that Jesus handpicked, then spent 3 years discipling them. Jesus leaves the scene at His Ascension and those men become Great Commission focused (E2), change everything and end up being executed; some quite violently. So I guess the question to ask ourselves, “Are we in the game or on the bench?” “Are we wimps or warriors?” “Are we wasting our ammunition on secondary targets?” “Do we have a temporal focus or an eternal one?” Are we willing to take up our cross and follow Him? (Matt 16:24-26)………….. are we willing to die for Jesus?
“Yet you don’t know if you’re going to be alive tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14)
Why do we put so much emphasis on this life? Like my dear wife said to me early one morning a number of years ago as I was having a complaining spirit walking to the garage……“Dan, remember, this is NOT our home! We are not home yet.” I never forgot that morning………..Jane was spot on!
Look up, men!
Dan
(Galatians 2:20)
PS: I have attached The Glory of Easter by our brother Bill McCurine if you didn’t get a chance to read it.
“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
(Mark 8:38)
Men: This verse from Jesus’ own lips is NO JOKE! Read the article by Al Mohler after Walt’s devotionals below and tell me if Jesus is going to repeat the verse above to you on That Day! Terrifying……
Red Book – Day 102 & 103
“Every Christian and every Christian ministry will come to a reckoning—we must all decide here and now where we stand. Will we pivot or will we hold fast to faithfulness and the hope of the gospel?” ….. Albert Mohler
Pivoting to Surrender: A Warning for All Christians
Men: You will want to read this paper by Al Mohler. He is the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a regular speaker at the Ligonier Conference, etc. He is bold…….. I love where he said, “If we have to leave the buildings to the bats, so be it. We will shut it all down before we surrender our commitment to Christ, to the gospel, and to the unfailing truth of God’s Word.”
See attached PDF or (click here) to read it online. As one of the guys in the Friday Group said: “Pivot….what a nice euphemism for turning from the path of righteousness toward Hell” ……Wow………. So True
Here is an example of what we are talking about regarding the “unfailing truth of God’s Word.” This man, U.S. Senator and Reverend Raphael Warnock said this on Easter Sunday: “The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others we are able to save ourselves.” That statement flies in the face of everything we as Christians believe like these verses:
“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith.” (1 Cor 15:14)
“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Rev 22:18-18) Terrifying!!
“Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.”
Hebrews 13:13
“You cannot grow in grace to any high degree while you are conformed to the world. The life of separation may be a path of sorrow, but it is the highway of safety; and though the separated life may be painful and make every day a battle, yet it is a happy life after all. No joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ: Jesus reveals Himself so graciously and gives such sweet refreshment that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in their hours of rest.”
To read the entire devotional by Charles Spurgeon (Click Here)
This is from the book, Extreme Devotion. Many will remember this young woman. I can’t believe she died this month, 22 years ago at the Columbine HS Massacre. As the train of persecution heads down the track, it might be a good time to make resolve that you too will stand firm, knowing that the day may come that even family members will cause you to be put to death for Christ’s sake. (Matthew 10:21-22)
