Does anybody read the owner's manual anymore?

 New cars have an owner's manual, but it holds many surprises on its pages.

The owner's manual is very seldom read from cover to cover by new car buyers. We glance through it, look at the pictures and tuck it away in the glove compartment.

I didn't know that my SUV could sync to Wifi because I never looked at the manual.

I rode around in it for almost a year before I learned that the side back windows would pop out for fresh air, and I didn't know that it had a sunroof. I would have known if I had read the manual.

I thought my SUV had spark plugs like my old car until I read a section in the owner's manual about fuel injectors.

I saw the words flex fuel on the fender, but I didn't know that it could get up to 500 miles a tank if I used E-85 Ethanol gas. It was in the manual, I just hadn't read it.

When I really started reading the manual, I discovered scores of features I never knew existed and appreciated my vehicle more.

The Bible is our spiritual manual. It is made for us and given to us by our creator to show us how to live the Christian life, survive tough times, and grow in faith and love. It's all in the manual..the road to salvation, we just never really read it.

Proverbs 4:20-22 "My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body."

What do you think about that, we have what we needed all along, but we never looked at it.

I guess we all should spend a little more time reading the manual.

When we talk to Jesus, he listens!

 An old preacher in Mississippi had a peculiar rocking chair ministry. He never preached, he just listened.

It was a strange ministry that was conducted almost daily under the shade of a large oak tree in the summer months and around a warm fire in the winter. He had two rocking chairs. He sat in one and people who wanted someone to listen to them sat in the other.

Wives told of troubles in their marriages.

Newlyweds talked with him about adjusting to marriage.

Frustrated students talked about classroom anxieties.

The depressed told about their suicidal thoughts.

Sometimes addicts would talk to him about being helplessly hooked.

He always listened. He never judged them, and they always felt better after leaving him because he wrote them a Bible verse that seemed to address their problem and give them hope.

He never asked for a donation, although he did accept cakes, pies, and fruit. He had an effective "Listening" ministry that drew hundreds every month.

After he died, Many came and set in the old rocker and talked to his empty chair. In silence, they could feel his presence.

When we pray God listens to us. He knows our hearts, listens to our pleas and if we listen close enough, we will hear him speak to our souls.

1 John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

Speak to God, pour out your heart to him.

If you are sincere, he will hear you.

And he answers.

For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never worn

 They say Ernest Hemingway wrote the shortest story in the world. It had only six words: For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never worn.

These six words tell the story of someone who is selling a pair of unused baby shoes. When we think of the reasons, these six words unleash a multitude of situations.

Believe it or not, in literary circles, these six words are noted as the shortest story in the world because they say so much with so few words. Everyone who tells the story of baby shoes for sale will give it a different meaning.

The shoemaker sells the shoes because no one bought them.

The family facing bankruptcy sells the shoes because it needs the money.

The gambler won the shoes and sells the shoes to collect his winnings.

The auctioneer who sells the shoes highlights the fact that they have never been worn.

The story's genius is that everyone who reads the six words interprets them differently because each has a different life experience.

As Christians, we have a story to tell: Jesus loved, He died, he saved. These six words tell a story, too. It's our salvation story. Everyone who tells their salvation and thanks story will have a different story to tell.

Ephesians 2:4-5 says, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved."

Hemingway's six words was the shortest story ever told.

But the six words of Jesus' life: He loved, he died, he saved...is the greatest story ever told.

When phones ring at 3 a.m. it usually means trouble.

 It is not unusual for my doorbell to ring in the middle of the night; nearly always, someone wants to see the pastor.

The general rule is that whenever your phone wrong rings at 3 a.m. in the morning something is wrong. We wake and ask ourselves, what's wrong? Who died?

That is doubly true when someone knocks on your door or rings your door.

The phone may bring bad news, but when someone rings your doorbell, it's usually a plea for help.

At my house, sitting on my doorstep have been battered wives, runaway children, the homeless seeking shelter, and even drunks.

Once a man rang my doorbell and collapsed on my step. I managed to get his name and called 9-1-1. He lived, but since he was homeless the ambulance service sent me the bill.

We turn to the Lord when we are in real trouble, and he points in the right direction while giving us the strength to hold on. We have done this so many times that it gets routine. We call him in the morning evening and night. No matter when we call, he answers.

John 12:21 “Sir, we would see Jesus”

It's good to know that when we call him, he will answer.

As for the bill I got from the ambulance service...they finally wrote it off.

When you call on Jesus, there is never a bill.

He died for us on Calvary and any debt we owe for our weakness has been...

... Paid in full.

When you and God see eye to eye

When the old warriors said they had to pray on it, it was not a put-off or delay, they meant just what they said.

Sometimes their English wasn’t perfect, but we knew what the old folks meant when they said, “I gots to pray on it, me and the Lord. Me and the Lord got to see eye to eye on this matter.”

It meant they wanted to put a decision to the God Test before deciding.

Praying on it was a way of saying "Give me time to see if I take this action, will it be something that God would want me to do? Does it line up with what I know about the Goaly path? Is it the response, attitude or action that lines up with what God wants?

The answer usually comes when they pose the last question, “Will God be glorified by this decision?”

The old warriors believed that if they asked that series of questions to any decision, no matter how small, it will point them in the right direction.

The next step was to spiritually turn it over to Christ, then sleep on it. 

They felt confident that the spirit would guide them to make the right decision, even if those waiting on an answer didn’t like it. Because God approved, the old-timers were sure that God would make right in the end because they were following his will.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”

Now you know what to do. Pose the “God’s Will” questions to every decision. Then sleep on it.

God will reveal his decision.

Troubled with a decision? Ask God for guidance and…

Sleep on it.

Dimes on your ankles won't keep the devil away!

  In the south, it is common practice in the rural areas for women to wear anklets made with silver dimes.

  Many give such anklets to infants and young children who tend to keep the dimes all of their lives, attaching them to larger anklets as they get older.

  Wearing silver dimes on the anklets is part of a Southern Hoodoo suspicion that people who wear dimes around their ankles are protected from evil spirits. Somehow they believe demons, vampires, and devils are repelled by silver, so the old-timers gave silver dime anklets to the children.

  People still wear dime anklets, but Christians have found a better way to keep the devil away; they turn to God for protection. In fact, the Bible tells us that if we walk with the Lord the devil will keep his distance.

James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Now you have it. If you walk with the Lord, the devil will stay away from you, even if you don’t wear a dime anklet.

The devil is really not afraid of silver dimes.

He is afraid of the spirit of God.

The Devil beats his wife, Christ loves his

  There is an old saying that whenever the sun is shining with no clouds in the sky and it rains, that devil is beating his wife.

 Where did that come from? Most of us have heard it so long that we repeat it even though we know it’s just a saying.

  It seems that every country has a devil and his wife story about this weather phenomenon. In some countries, they say the devil is kissing his wife, the devil is spitting on his wife, and many other variations.

  What’s really happening is called a sun shower. A hard rain happens many miles away and is blown by the wind into an area where it falls with the sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. It’s a weather happening, but it’s hardly the devil beating his wife.

  That should be a good reason for Christians to love Jesus. We are the bride of Christ. We are his wife. What’s interesting is that there is no old saying that Christ is beating his wife. Why? Because Christ loves the church so much that he was willing to give his life to give her life.

  It’s the same way that good husbands relate to their wives: we love, protect, provide and honor them.

  Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”

  The wife who lets the devil beat her, must be from another generation.

  These days if you hear of the devil beating his wife, listen for a hard thunder roll...

   That will be his wife hitting him upside his head with a frying pan.

   Ouch!

Glad to receive hand-me-downs

Those who have had many sisters or brothers know what it means to wear hand-me-downs.

In a large family, hand-me-downs are a way of life. The oldest sibling gets the new stuff, but the rest is handed down from one to the other. The one who is the youngest gets all of the hand-me-downs.

A second brother who felt bad about himself always complained about receiving hand-me-downs. One day, he was all smiles and jumped up and down on the bed with joy.

He had received his older brother’s T-Shirts. Instead of sadness, each shirt made him happy because he found out that every shirt had messages, “You are the greatest”,”You are second to none” and “Ask me about the best brother in the world.”

His brother bought shirts with love messages to his younger brother, who he knew would get his shirts. It was a message of love that was passed down and received.

The love of God was passed down to us through 42 generations until Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The message wasn’t on a t-shirt but it was clear that God loves us.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That second brother’s mother was worried when he opened the drawer and found the last set of hand-me-downs from his brother. It was several pairs of jeans with holes in them.

The brother jumped up and down with joy.

Jeans with holes in all the right places! He had nothing but praise for his older brother!

What better gift could he receive with hand-me-down bleached white jeans with holes in them!

That’s really cool!

Juneteenth is official, and so is our salvation

 On June 19, 1865, the slaves in Texas received word that they were no longer slaves; they had been freed by President Abraham Lincoln.

They had been free for 2 1/2 years but didn’t know it because slave masters in Texas didn’t tell them about freedom which came to most slaves on January 1, 1863.

The Texas slaves celebrated their freedom every year since 1865. They called it Juneteenth. It caught on, and all over the country the descendants of former slaves marked their calendars and celebrated what became known as Black Independence Day.

Two years after Mr. Lincoln proclaimed the slaves free, Congress passed the 13th Amendment, but it wasn’t law yet until it was approved by most of the states.

While that was happening, Mr. Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865.

In June of that same year, the Texas slaves heard about Mr. Lincoln’s death and the 13th amendment.

In December of the same year, the states made the end of slavery official.

For the slaves, Juneteenth became their Independence Day.

Now the Congress of the United States has made Juneteenth a national holiday.

It all kind of makes us remember that Christ set us free through his word. But it really wasn’t locked until he shed his blood for us on Calvary. His death and resurrection set us all free.

John 8:36 says, If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Juneteenth is official in law and in our hearts.

No matter what the enemy says, God has the last word

Sometimes things situations seem dark without any solutions until we remember that God has the last word.

Through man’s eyes, everything is dark until God shows us the light at the end of the tunnel.

Sometimes, defeat seems imminent until God shows us the victory.

Sometimes, our weakness only reveals the path to failure until God renews our strength

Sometimes, our frustrations overrun us till we forget our God can make a way.

No Matter what the enemy has in store for us God has the last word.

Look what Isaiah 59:19 says, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.” 

So, if you are troubled by the devil’s work, remember God has the last word.

The benediction is for you, don't leave without it

We hear benedictions at the end of religious gatherings, and we wait for them because they are personal. 

There are a few benedictions that are general, but we are encouraged most by the ones that are personal. They pronounce blessings for us personally, and not just for the crowd.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, believers would often travel many miles to bring sacrifices and to worship. No matter how long they had to wait or regardless of the weather conditions, not a soul would leave until the priest raised his hands and gave the benediction or the blessing.

Even today we still wait for the benediction. Generally, the pastor raises his hands and issues the blessing on all who shared in the worship and gave offerings of time, talent, and resources. Those that leave before the benediction miss their special blessing. 

We need every blessing we can get, especially ones that are personal.

Look Numbers 6:24-26. Count how many times this benediction says "You."

It reads  “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you; be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

There are six "Yous" in that blessing. It's no doubt, it's meant to be personal

It has your name on it.

It's good to know that God blesses every one of faith, but it's even better to hear his word say ,"You" six times.

That's personal. 

Waiters get tips, God gives favor

 In my college years, I worked as a waiter at a seafood restaurant. The base pay was $56 a week ($1.40/hour), but a good waiter made much more than that in tips.

I turned waiting tables into a science. I learned the tastes of repeat customers, and read up on their hobbies. I asked about their golf game, fishing trips, grandchildren and read magazine clips about things that tickled the fancy of my customers

I always had a good joke, a quote, a compliment on their attire, or something interesting to say.

My goal was to get the “tip.”  To get the tip, great waiters do more than just ask, “Do want more water?” They aim to create an enjoyable experience that makes customers feel good about going out for a meal.

I was good at it and sometimes I earned $350 a week. The tips made the difference.

Through Christ, we are saved from our sins, but God grants favor to those who go above and beyond to minister to others. 

Favor is God’s way of leaving us a tip. Being saved is the base pay, but his favor which he gives through grace and mercy is the “tip."

Look what Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Daily we work to build God’s kingdom. We walk with the king in the beauty of holiness.

We get a heavenly tip when we go out of our way to help others experience the love and mercy of God as well.

The good news is, God is not cheap. 

He’s a big tipper!

God has a hall of fame, too

   It’s easy to get upset when it seems that others, less worthy, get the honors you deserve; unless you have a humble spirit.

   Nobody knows this better than Jerry Kramer, an all-time pro-football great with Green Bay Packers. Kramer, by any standard, was among football’s greatest players, but it took 45 years for the Hall of Fame to recognize his life work.

   He played 11 seasons, which included 130 games. He was a part of three Pro Bowl Teams and the 1960s All-Decade Team.

   Despite all of the records he broke, the Hall of fame skipped over him for others. He was nominated 10 ten times and let down ten times.

   Anyone else would have been bitter, but he was thankful for all of the other others he received over the years. 

   However, some didn’t forget his work and in 2018 he was nominated for the 11th time, and this time he was immortalized in the Hall of fame.

   Often what we do for God seems insignificant. It is often ignored. 

  We often watch others receive credit and praise for lesser contributions that we have made. 

 

  We may get passed over down here, but God sees what we do. He will reward us with a “well done” and our work will be immortalized in heaven’s hall of fame.

   Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

   Don’t envy others who may be taking credit for your work; It’ll make you sick. Be happy that God knows what you do, and that’s all that counts.

   Welcome to the Hall of Fame

In case of trouble, find your safe place

Most families plan for emergencies, including insuring that everyone knows the location of the safe place.

Some live in regions that are vulnerable to instate fires and floods. Families usually discuss and even practice what they are to do in case of a sudden house fire or flood that separates family members.

In our house, we practiced crossing the street and standing under the tree in our neighbor's yard in case of fire. If separated, we knew to find each other under the tree. We also knew, especially if there was a fire, that if one of us was not under the tree that it was possible that one family member may be still in the building.

It's good to have safe places to go in case of storms and hurricanes.

The storms of life usually happen suddenly and with little warning. When we have done everything that we know how to do we turn to God for shelter. He is our safe place.

That's the thought of Psalm 91: 2 says, “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

When life suddenly explodes all around us, it’s good to know that we can turn to Lord who will be our fortress.

He will protect us.

He is our safe place.

Living water doesn't come in bottles

 In Hot Springs Arkansas there is a fountain on Main Street, in the middle of the city, that offers free water.

The fountain delivers pure spring water, right out of the ground. It has absolutely no contaminants in it, no color, no taste, and no chemicals.

It comes out of the fountain 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 140 degrees.

People from around the world come to Hot Springs because it's the only place in the entire National Park System that offers geothermal water as a potable water supply; that means you can drink it without treating it.

People who visit the Town can drive up in cars and trucks and fill up bottles, jugs, and cans with spring water free of charge. 

Everywhere else in America people pay for bottles of water to drink, but in Hot Springs, anybody who wants a gallon or a hundred gallons of drinkable water can get it free.

Jesus said the good news that he brings to the world brings and hope. He called it living water, or water for life and anyone who wants it can get it for free.

In John 4:13 Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

Wars have been fought over water and water rights because we need it to live.

Jesus offers us Living water, for free.

And we don’t have to go to Hot Springs to get it.

In this life, you must hoe a straight row

 When I was young, I spent summers with my grandmother on a plantation in Pantherburn, Mississippi. Old-timers taught us life lessons while we worked the fields.

My uncle said, "Boy, you got to learn how to hoe your row. In these fields and as as you grow up to be a man."

I was five years old, trying to work with a hoe that was nearly three feet taller than me. I watched the grown folks cultivating empty fields and chopping rows for planting cotton that seemed like a mile long, and every row had to be straight.

At the end of the day, everybody had done two or more rows and they were straight as arrows. My little row was about half a football field and was crooked; it looked like spaghetti strips.

My uncle looked at my crooked rows and said, You can't hoe a straight row if you just looks at what's in front of yo' feet. You got to fix your eye on something at the end and go straight to it. It's that same way in life too, boy. Fix your eyes on where you trying to go and not on where you at right now. Ifn' you take your eyes off your mark, it's nary impossible to go straight."

I had my uncle in the fields, in life however, I learned in Sunday School that everybody needs the Lord keep to keep reminding us keep our eyes on the prize or we are subject to hoe a crooked roe every year.

I guess that's the meaning of Proverbs 3:6 says, "In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

My uncle taught me how to hoe a straight row, but learning how to finish my roe, was another lesson altogether. It takes a lifetime to do that.

From my uncle to you, "Don't get distracted, keep your eyes on the prize."

An expensive perfume won't make a nasty spirit sweet

   Some of my friends laugh at me when I tell them that my favorite cologne is “Old Spice.” They tell me that’s a cologne from wayyyyy back in the day.

They are right, I like it. I’ve been wearing it since I was in high school.

  Around the world, people spend tremendous amounts of money for perfumes and colognes.   

   The most expensive perfume in the world costs $1,800 a bottle. It is called Jean Patou’s Joy. It’s the most expensive because each bottle is made from 10,600 crushed jasmine flowers and 28 dozens of roses per bottle. 

    The most expensive men’s perfume is Eau D’Hadrien Annick Goutal Perfume – $1500 for a three oz bottle. It includes citron, lemon, Sicilian lemon, mandarin, and ylang-ylang, which are but some of the citrus fruits that have been blended to create its unique smell. 

    For me, Old Spice tops them all, primarily because it only costs 11.85 for a 4.25-ounce bottle. .What’s in it? Mostly Water, Fragrance, Benzyl Alcohol.

    I figure if I have a nasty spirit, the most expensive cologne in the world won’t do any good. the Bible says our lives send up a sweet aroma to God. That doesn’t come in a bottle.

    Ephesians 5:2 “and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

    God won’t check the labels on the aroma we send up before him, he'll check the spirit of the person from whom it originates.

    I guess my Old Spice will have to do in this life. 

    When I get up there, it won’t matter because there will be sweet spirits everywhere

    Stay sweet.

Sometimes, we just need a little help

   There are some people who go out of their way to help others; sometimes they even sacrifice their own safety and security to do so.

  You know them, they are:

•   The neighbor who helps you move into a new house.
•   A co-worker that takes a long drive with you, just to keep you company.
•   An acquaintance that volunteers to help you with a project.
•   The friend that listens as you vent your frustrations.

  All of these are examples of those who go out of their way to help us, with no requirement that we do the same.

  Many people help us because we are quick to help others. the Bible says anyone who wants friends, must show themselves friendly. That also means if you don't help others, don't complain when people leave you to fend for yourself, by yourself.

  Difficulties are easier when we have someone to help us, or even to listen to us complain as we cry on their shoulders 

  It’s tough when you have to face your challenge alone.

  Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says, "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. 

  It is good to have friends, but it is even better to know that our Lord will never leave us alone; he's the best friend we can ever have.

  He’s always by our side. 

Makeup hides lines that tell the real story

Suppose the look you had on your face five minutes ago was frozen on your face forever, what would that look be?

Time has a way tracing caricatures of our personalities onto our faces and locking them. It will take a ton of make up and a few plastic surgeries to hide what’s written on our faces.

In the theater, make up artists highlight or try to hide certain lines in our faces that reveal secrets.

For example, when there are deep lines between your eyebrows, it usually means that you frown a lot.

The superciliary arches, or the lines in your forehead reveal that you think a lot.

The nasalabial folds are the lines that run from your nose to your mouth on both sides. If they are deep, they usually mean you laugh and smile a lot. 

Lines under the eyes and dark depressions usually indicate worry, stress, depression or a lack of sleep.

These lines are drawn in our faces by time, they tell who we are and give hints to what type of personality might be hidden behind our makeup.

Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a few personality traits that could paint a love set of lines on our faces. The verse says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

These personality traits tell the story of who we should be, the lines on our faces tell the real story.

They can be hidden or masked...

... but they can’t be undone.