Hallelujah! We Are Not Alone

  Simple thoughts this week.  I don't know much, but I know... God is Good! For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation. -Psalm 100:5 I KNOW - BIG DADDY WEAVE Click here to receive an email when new blog content is posted. https://follow.it/hallelujahe-we-are-not-alone?leanpub

I recently saw a shirt advertised with the words  Love Them Anyway  across the front. It spoke to me, so I ordered one. Have you ever come across someone that was difficult to love? Strangers you meet on occasion, co-workers you deal with each day, or even those connected by blood or marriage? Whatever the connection, God placed these people in our paths even if only temporarily. What we do in these situations speaks more about us than it does the other person.  I have many areas of my life that still need improvement, but when dealing with this particular situation, I’ve found that it helps to ask this question… Am I always easy to love?    In Matthew Chapter 5 , Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by telling us how we can be blessed and goes on to say to let our light shine before giving instructions that we may not want to hear.... love our enemies.  My prayer this week is that I never forget that even through all of my shortcomings, Jesus loved me anyw...

I was on my way to church one Sunday when I paid special attention to something I pass by almost every day. There's a narrow section of the lake that extends to the highway. Apparently, people think it's a good place to fish, because the evidence is just overhead.  A cable is tangled with many lines and lures from those casting in that area. Just as I drove past it that day, I glanced at my radio and the song playing was Cast My Cares . Immediately, my thought process took off.  How many times do we cast our cares and our burdens in areas that lead us to nothing but a tangled mess? The song, Cast My Cares , was written by the lead singer and a few friends, but the original idea came from David. Psalm 55 is considered an instructive psalm and was written during a very difficult time in David's life. His son was rebelling against him and his close friend had betrayed him. David said that he even wished he had wings so he could fly away from his troubles. Yet in the end, he kn...

I went grocery shopping at Aldi on Friday. I made sure to grab a quarter from my change jar before I left. If you aren't familiar with the store, you have to pay to use a shopping cart. The carts are attached by a chain and when you insert a quarter, the lock releases. When you return the cart and lock the chain, you receive your deposit back.  I approached the long row of chained baskets and prepared to insert my coin but found that someone had left one unlocked . After paying for the groceries and loading the car, I went to return the cart to its rightful place. Since it wasn't my quarter to begin with, I didn't feel right taking one in return. So I parked it just as I had found it, unlocked and ready to be a blessing for someone else that needed it. (If you're considering giving me a pat on the back at this point, don't. There's more to the story.) As soon as I stepped back and headed toward my car, the lady waiting behind me locked both my cart and hers then...

A few years ago, Rusty and I spent some time trimming the many overhanging branches and shrubs from the fence-line on my mom's property. I recently noticed how all of the branches we had cut back were once again reaching across the fence and encroaching on the property as if we had never touched them. I dreaded tackling the task again but knew if we didn't tend to it soon, the job would be more than we could handle. It would be overwhelming.  Have you ever felt like your life was becoming the same way? You may have job related pressures, lengthy illnesses, or family stress that creep in on you like over-reaching branches needing to be pruned, but feel like you no longer have the strength or energy to handle them.  The psalmist David knew where to seek help when he became overwhelmed.    In Psalm 61 , David knew that he had no strength on his own, but remembered how God had been his refuge and strength in times past. He began the psalm by asking Him to hear his prayer...

  Last week, I went to see a friend.  On my way inside, I noticed that although it was mid February, there was a Merry Christmas flag in the flower bed.  I started to pick on her about it, but decided not to give her a hard time. Yesterday, Rusty and I were headed out the door to church when I looked over and happened to notice that I still had a metal nativity scene in my own flower bed. I mentioned to Rusty that even though I walk past it every day, I hadn't realized that it was still there and I should probably put it up. His response was..."Yeah, I was wondering about that."   Have you ever noticed something going on with someone else only to later discover that you had something just as bad or worse going on in your own life?  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the importance of making sure we look at ourselves before we look at others.  Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own e...