What's important to my friends

should also be somewhat important to me,

if my friends are important to me. 

 

 

It's sad what it takes to begin discovering who your true friends are.

Anyone interested should look up:
1 John 4:7-12 and John 15:12-14.

Unfortunately it seems that even small sacrifices are too much for some "friends". Especially those who you didn't expect would consider it a sacrifice at all.

I'm sure there at least a few amens out there.

I am finding myself wondering exactly what is "friendship". I remember what it used to be but it seems that it is not the same these days. These days it seems that a friend is a friend as long as they are useful. And when they are not useful they are simply tolerated, or pushed away (until they are useful again). Would anyone care to offer an opinion?

"Heaven & Hell"

A
man spoke with the Lord about heaven and hell. The Lord said to the man
"come, I will show you hell". They entered a room where a group of
famished people sat around a huge pot of cooking stew. Everyone in the
room was starving and desperate. Each person held a spoon that reached
the pot but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their own arms
that it could not be used to get the stew into their own mouths. The
suffering was terrible. "Come now, I will show you heaven" the Lord
said.

They entered another room identical to the first,
the big pot of stew, the group of people and the same long-handled
spoons. But here everyone was happy and well nourished. "I don't
understand" said the man.

"Why is everyone happy here and miserable in the other room? Everything is the same."

"Here," said the Lord "they have learned to feed each other."

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Every now and then when I'm studying, something I am studying just begs to be posted. I don't know why. Maybe so someone else can benefit from it. I have been studying the book of James and this just needed to be posted:

James 1:

Listening and Doing  19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore,
get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly
accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But
the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and
continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he
will be blessed in what he does. 

I think this speaks for itself.

Philippians 2

 1If
you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any
comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any
tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

If life is filled with disappointment,
lower your expectations.

Aim high, expect nothing.

In relationships (all relationships)
Give all you can,
Expect nothing back.

Hard lessons to learn,
but sometimes life itself teaches the lessons.

I’m still learning.

Matthew 26:36Then Jesus went with his
disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here
while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

 39Going
a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I
will, but as you will."

 40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

 42He
went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible
for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be
done."

 43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Do you ever feel like this?

"My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I
will, but as you will."

Merry Christmas everyone!

What are you giving Jesus for His Birthday?

I'm giving Him more of my time for the next year.

Happy Birthday Shari_Sherbet!

"Don't
be afraid; just believe."

 

-Jesus-

I know this is long, but it seemed appropriate for today.

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures
forever. 2 Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has
redeemed you from your enemies. 3 For he has gathered the exiles from many
lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4 Some wandered in the
wilderness, lost and homeless. 5 Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. 6 “Lord,
help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their
distress. 7 He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live.
8 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he
has done for them. 9 For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with
good things. 10 Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron
chains of misery. 11 They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the
counsel of the Most High. 12 That is why he broke them with hard
labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them. 13 “Lord, help!”
they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. 14 He led
them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains. 15 Let
them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has
done for them. 16 For he broke down their prison gates of bronze; he cut apart
their bars of iron. 17 Some were fools; they rebelled and suffered for their
sins. 18 They couldn’t stand the thought of food, and they were knocking on
death’s door. 19. “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them
from their distress. 20 He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them
from the door of death. 21 Let them praise the Lord for his great
love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. 22 Let them
offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious
acts. 23 Some went off to sea in ships, plying the trade routes of
the world. 24 They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action, his
impressive works on the deepest seas. 25 He spoke, and the winds
rose, stirring up the wave. 26 Their ships were tossed to the
heavens and plunged again to the depths; the sailors cringed in
terror. 27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their
wits’ end. 28 “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved
them from their distress. 29 He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled
the waves. 30 What a blessing was that stillness as he brought them
safely into harbor! 31 Let them praise the Lord for his great
love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. 32 Let them
exalt him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the
nation. 33 He changes rivers into deserts, and springs of water into
dry, thirsty land. 34 He turns the fruitful land into salty
wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there. 35 But
he also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of
water. 36 He brings the hungry to settle there and to build their
cities. 37 They sow their fields, plant their vineyards, and harvest
their bumper crops. 38 How he blesses them! They raise large families
there, and their herds of livestock increase. 39 When they decrease
in number and become impoverished through oppression, trouble, and
sorrow, 40 the Lord pours contempt on their princes, causing them to
wander in trackless wastelands. 41 But he rescues the poor from trouble and
increases their families like flocks of sheep. 42 The godly will see these
things and be glad, while the wicked are struck silent. 43 Those who are
wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the
faithful love of the Lord.

Now go back and read verses 1 and 2 again.

According to a high school psychology textbook, stress is "a
particular pattern of disturbing psychological and physiological
reactions that occur when an environment event threatens important
motives and taxes one's ability to cope."

In plain English, stress is the "wear and tear" our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment.

But not all stress is bad -- some stress is good. In fact, everyone
needs stress in their lives; without it, life would be dull and
unexciting. Stress adds flavor, challenge and opportunity to life.
Stress can pump you up, give you energy, supply that zest for living.

Stress is an unavoidable part of life. The challenges caused by
stress help to develop new skills and behavior patterns. The problems
occur, however, when stress becomes excessive. It can become
destructive and can turn into distress. Too much stress on your mind
and body can make you feel miserable, worried, sad and ill.

Contrary to popular belief, stress is not the pressure from the
outside--the divorce, the death, the burned supper, the vacation, the
isolation. Those are stressors. Your response to those situations constitutes stress.

Matthew 6:27 Who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life?

John 16:33 "I have told you these
things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world." (NIV)

Over
the past several months, I have noticed that most people who are going through a rough time, even if they will tell about it, refuse to ask for or accept help from others. I wonder if this is from a fear of needing help, or a fear of being rejected, or just pride getting in the way.

Just thinking out loud.

I went to the dress rehersal on Tuesday. It was awesome. If you are in Murfreesboro on one of the nights of this presentation, you have to go to it. If you don't, you'll wish you did. Then it'll be too late.

I am almost certain that some of you might have a response to this, but I have a question. I have not gone into diligent study about this, so help me out, please.

With the exception of Job, who was "tested" by God, where in the Bible was anyone "punished" by God or His people for any reason except that they either turned their backs on God, or persecuted His people?

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Christian Motorcyclists Association are presenting a motocross training event in November.

So I went to Vanderbilt to visit a friend who was injured in a motocross accident. There were 4 of us there from CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association). We prayed with the family and then we just hung out with them waiting for the doctors to decide what they were going to do. Well, it was only about a half an hour before things got really interesting. We happened to overhear someone say why they were there, and we asked if we could pray with them. They said yes, and we did. That's when the awesome God thing got started. People started to come to us to ask if we would pray with them. Of course we would. I think we must have prayed with about 6 families before we had to leave. Of course we also had discussions with them about their faith, etc. What an emotional evening.

I got the call yesterday, late in the afternoon. I was tired, and I didn't really want to go, other than to show my CMA brother that I was there for him and his family. I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I needed to be there, so I went. I am so glad I did. It was a real blessing. God will use us if we will listen to His promptings and not be "too tired".

This weekend we went to the Meadow Creek Motocross races in Crossville. This was my first experience with motocross. On Saturday they practiced most of the day. The track announcer, known as Bubba got married Saturday evening on a hill in the middle of the track. She married Virgil. Her real name is Valerie and his is Joshua.

Sunday was all out racing action. It was a blast to watch. It looks like it would be a lot more fun to participate.




By the way, we were there with our fellow members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Sunday started out with a Church Service on the bleachers. There were about 30 people there for service. We also got to open the "Riders Meeting" with prayer. We helped with registration, wedding set up, etc. We also prayed with some of the people there. Mostly we were just there to help out wherever needed. It's amazing how God can use you if you just make yourself available. Our motto is "Here when you need us". It was awesome. I was blessed.