Thoughts ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZONPRTOFF dateof comment Look Inside Data Conditions:Order: 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26| Dateof Comment 11/26/2025 God's favorite thing from us is obedience. Second is gratitude: 1 Chronicles 16:8 NLT Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Third is to honor his name in all nations. After all "Jesus is Lord"! Psalm 136:1,26 NLT Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. 11/23/2025 Isn't it interesting when people hate other people they always seem to get God into the equation. David had one of those times: 2 Samuel 16:5-8 NLT Shimei Curses David 5 As King David came to Bahurim, a man came out of the village cursing them. It was Shimei son of Gera, from the same clan as Saul’s family. 6 He threw stones at the king and the king’s officers and all the mighty warriors who surrounded him. 7 “Get out of here, you murderer, you scoundrel!” he shouted at David. 8 “The Lord is paying you back for all the bloodshed in Saul’s clan. You stole his throne, and now the Lord has given it to your son Absalom. At last you will taste some of your own medicine, for you are a murderer! Even David's answer to this mess was interesting: 2 Samuel 16:11-12 NLT 11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “My own son is trying to kill me. Doesn’t this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. 12 And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses today.” Was David foretelling what Jesus would say: Luke 6:22 What blessings await you when people hate you and exclude you and mock you and curse you as evil because you follow the Son of Man. 11/22/2025 When Adam sinned in the garden, God gave a curse about having to work hard. But is it really a curse, maybe God is protecting us against future sin. Look what David did with his free time when he was not with his troops: 2 Samuel 11:1-2 NLT David and Bathsheba 11 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. David was in a position of power and felt he could do anything he wanted. This same thing can separate us from God if we are not on guard. David sure dropped his guard: 2 Samuel 11:3-5 NLT 3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. 5 Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.” Sin 1. David knew she was married but slept with her anyway. Sin 2. The great cover up. When we try to hide our sin from him, God will thwart our plans to cover it up. He wants us to repent. Sin 3. Destroy whatever evidence is preventing us from covering up our sin. Sin 4. Pretend like nothing ever happened or blame it on someone else. When we start sinning, it can grow just like a snowball rolling down a hill. David sent Uriah to the front lines to be killed and got his wife as his. It was as though David believed he did nothing wrong. It seems that he wasn't even concerned about what God would say about what just did. It appeared that David separated himself from God. God is a God of justice and he used Nathan's rich man -poor man story to wake up David. David was ready to kill the rich man for killing the lamb of the poor man. Sin can do that. It clouds our judgement of whats right and wrong. When Nathan said, "You are that rich man", it was like being hit in the head with a hammer. David realized he was wrong. Just like Jesus does, God forgave David: 2 Samuel 12:13-14 David Confesses His Guilt 13 Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. 14 Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the word of the Lord by doing this, your child will die.” Even though Jesus forgives sins there is the consequences of sin that have to be dealt with. David had to deal with this: 2 Samuel 12:11-12 NLT 11 “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. 12 You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” The consequences of our sin can even ruin our future blessings that God was going to give us: 2 Samuel 12:8-10 NLT 8 I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 9 Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. 10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. We have to keep Christ in our minds to prevent things like this from happening. It is so easy to fall into these kind of traps and do sins like David did. So stay on guard. Our awesome God can still bring glory to his name even in our failures. With all the pain David went through, much of Psalms was written by him that honor our God's name. You can even be sent to prison for a sin and still glorify the name of Jesus just by witnessing to other prisoners. Your life will never be a waste if you give your heart to Jesus. He can use you anywhere! Jesus still "King of kings"! 11/20/2025 I never have been into dancing myself, but I do know that God likes when we dance with our hearts in his presence. The next time you celebrate a victory do what David did: 2 Samuel 6:14,16,20-23 NLT 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. 16 But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him. 20 When David returned home to bless his own family, Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. She said in disgust, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!” 21 David retorted to Michal, “I was dancing before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his family! He appointed me as the leader of Israel, the people of the Lord, so I celebrate before the Lord. 22 Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! But those servant girls you mentioned will indeed think I am distinguished!” 23 So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her entire life. When you see someone dancing before the Lord be careful about your opinion about their moves or you can anger God to the point to have something happen bad in your life like Michal. When dancing is done to glorify sin, it is wrong. Let the Holy Spirit guide you to make the moves God likes. Dancing unto the Lord is action of excitement for him. If you are not the dancing type, just jump up once, then spin around while you say "alleluia", "Thank you Jesus", and/or "Praise the Lord". To finish up, "moon walk" like Michel Jackson did and you have a dance. Do not let legalism prevent you from dancing unto the Lord! Remember: "Dance unto the Lord, not men!" 11/19/2025 If we do not know our God, we may believe that he is unreasonable at times. Just like what happened here, God is made out to be the bad guy: 2 Samuel 6:3,6-7 NLT 3 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart 4 that carried the Ark of God. 6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God. What did Uzzah do that is so bad? Well, God gave instructions on how the ark was to be built so it can be moved: Exodus 25:12-15 NLT 12 Cast four gold rings and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13 Make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 Insert the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it. 15 These carrying poles must stay inside the rings; never remove them. The ark was to always to be carried by men so this scenario would never happen. And who was to carry the ark: Numbers 1:50-51 NLT 50 Put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, along with all its furnishings and equipment. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as you travel, and they must take care of it and camp around it. 51 Whenever it is time for the Tabernacle to move, the Levites will take it down. And when it is time to stop, they will set it up again. But any unauthorized person who goes too near the Tabernacle must be put to death. God gave instructions on how the ark was to be moved. He knew the best way to move it and he assigned the Levites to move it. I know that God had this all written down, but if we do not learn it, it can kill us. God has every right to get angry and warned that unauthorized people would die. As modern day adults we all know not to stick a metal fork in an electrical outlet or it will kill us. Isn't it just as important that all adults during this period should have known about treating God's Ark. We need to have as much passion about learning what God does not like as we do learning about things in our environment that can kill us. One final thought: You are an expert on a valuable piece of technology that you have moved many times yourself. You know what can happen if the proper procedure is not followed. You write it down with instructions and diagrams. You are called to another task and you give the moving procedure to some employees to move the technology. The employees, who think they do not need instructions, put it together without following the bosses instructions. When the technology is turned on, it shorts out causing major damage. Just like God, you will burn with anger because your instructions were not followed. Always follow God's instructions and take them seriously. Never take short cuts but follow each step as he dictates. Just remember this, he may have created these instructions for your life a long time ago. Jeremiah 29:11-12 NLT 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 11/18/2025 God gives us talents and God blesses those talents. When this happens we see results. The dangerous thing about this is when we take full credit for what happened. After all, I worked hard to make these things happen! What can happen to us when we become arrogant? This is the story about the rich man Nabal: 1 Samuel 25:4-9 NLT 4 When David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 he sent ten of his young men to Carmel with this message for Nabal: 6 “Peace and prosperity to you, your family, and everything you own! 7 I am told that it is sheep-shearing time. While your shepherds stayed among us near Carmel, we never harmed them, and nothing was ever stolen from them. 8 Ask your own men, and they will tell you this is true. So would you be kind to us, since we have come at a time of celebration? Please share any provisions you might have on hand with us and with your friend David.” 9 David’s young men gave this message to Nabal in David’s name, and they waited for a reply. David and his men have been hiding from Saul in this valley. David loves people and he has been watching over Nabal's possessions during this time and his workers knew about it. Nabal could care less about what David did: 1 Samuel 25:10-11 NLT 10 “Who is this fellow David?” Nabal sneered to the young men. “Who does this son of Jesse think he is? There are lots of servants these days who run away from their masters. 11 Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I’ve slaughtered for my shearers and give it to a band of outlaws who come from who knows where?” Does being arrogant make you stupid? When do outlaws who are hungry ask for food? They just take what they want. Nabal's wife took charge that day and prevented the slaughter of her family by graciously bringing goods to David's men. God did not forget though: 1 Samuel 25:37-38 NLT 37 In the morning when Nabal was sober {a party to exalt Nabal}, his wife told him what had happened. As a result he had a stroke, and he lay paralyzed on his bed like a stone. 38 About ten days later, the Lord struck him, and he died. When God blesses you, do not create excuses to not help people. Always give thanks to God because our talents are on loan from God. Many times he reveals things to us to allow us to do amazing things in our work. Getting cocky like Nabal and living for himself, really angered God. It also shows that we "DO NOT LOVE PEOPLE" I really believe God continues to bless those who bless his children in need. Blessing others in need: "JUST DO IT" 11/17/2025 A mistake many Christian make is assuming because they are going through so much bad stuff is because they did something to make God angry. Why else are my problems so much worse then the average person? Do you remember Job? Job 1:1, 8-12 NLT 1 There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. 8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” 9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” 12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence. Job lost his wealth, health, family and friends but Satan lost the bet. In the end, Job was better off than ever in all these areas. How often does Satan ask God to test those who love him? Jesus's disciples were on this list just like Job: Luke 22:31-32 NLT Predicts Peter's Denial 31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32 But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers." You may never know but what you are going through today may be from a challenge from the enemy that your relationship with God is not real. This is actually an honor to you that God believes in you to win the bet. God never loses at anything, so he is confident when he makes the challenge. Even if this may not be the case, Jesus said this: John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Again, Jesus is declared the winner!!!!!!! One final though; one can never can compare one's problems to another person's problems. Only God knows the entire story of each one of us. Just give it to Jesus so he can set you free! Pray so victory can be decisive! 11/16/2025 Our God Yahweh has some very interesting names in the Old Testament. One of the names I'm surprised he doesn't have is "Yahweh Last". If you read the Old Testament, you will notice that the people always seem to gravitate to foreign gods first and try to do everything on their own. They would never turn to God until the last moment just before they were about to be destroyed by some enemy or famine they caused by neglecting the real God. Many times even today we put God last. Now the cool name that God should have is "Yahweh First". If we truly love the Lord, he is going to be the first thing we think about each day. Instead of consulting the problems of today on our own, we will seek his counsel first. Before making any big decisions we pray to him first. I know that God thinks it is a cool name but it probably will never happen that name will stick. Because man has a tendency with all the distractions in his life NOT to put God first. God will tell you that I do not always put him first, either. But when we get up every morning say, "Yahweh First". Maybe this will get us pointed in the right direction. Jesus is Lord!!!!!!! 11/15/2025 How many of us when we are hopefully serving the Lord the way he wants us to, feel like the Lord is not paying attention when we serve. If you are like me, it is nice to have some affirmation of a job well done. God is paying attention but our attitude of serving needs to be like this: Luke 17:7-10 NLT 7 “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” OUCH!! Lord, I would like a piece of that humble pie! John the Baptist, who Jesus declared as one of the greatest men ever, understood this principle very well: John 1:27 NLT Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal. 11/14/2025 As a Christian, have you ever been told that you need to be street smart like your worldly counterparts. Even Jesus brought this up. A man swindled his boss and was about to be fired. Being old, he thought about a way to get the bills down on the bosses clients that owed him money so they would do great favors for him: Luke 16:8-9 NLT 8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. The Message also describes what Jesus said: Luke 16:8-9 The Message 8-9 “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.” Jesus was street smart. He won the argument about paying taxes to Caesar and used John the Baptist by asking the Pharisees if he was doing his job by human standards or was sent by God. His answer to these questions dumbfounded his critics. Luke 20:20-25 NLT Taxes for Caesar 20 Watching for their opportunity, the leaders sent spies pretending to be honest men. They tried to get Jesus to say something that could be reported to the Roman governor so he would arrest Jesus. 21 “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully. 22 Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” 23 He saw through their trickery and said, 24 “Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 25 “Well then,” he said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” AND Luke 20:1-8 The Authority of Jesus Challenged 20 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?” 3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” 5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied that they didn’t know. 8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.” After Jesus talked about us becoming street smart, he immediately followed up with this comment: Luke 16:10-12 NLT 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? He definitely wants us to use all the resources we have access to including the worldly ones. It all can be used by us to talk about and win hearts over to Jesus. Just don't scheme to do evil like the accountant who was busted. Lastly, always be responsible with everything you are entrusted with. Jesus - "King over finances!" 11/13/2025 When we begin to live our life apart from God and begin to indulge in worldly things, this can happen like what happened to Saul: 1 Samuel 16:14 NLT 14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear. Since fear is not in God's vocabulary, I feel God commandeered one of Satan's angels to mess with Saul. It really messed with his mind. When the Holy Spirit leaves, there is an empty space left for demons to live in. How many people have let this happen in their own lives? I am not a musician but I do know that certain frequencies and tones can influence emotions. 1 Samuel 16:23 NLT 23 And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away. Music, if played with lyrics that honor the name of King Jesus and have the proper frequencies and tones, the devil and his minions will always flee. For example; I am not saying this song is bad because I have listened to it before. Blue oyster cult sings the song "Fear the reaper". Its frequency and tone do not honor our King in any way and the demons will not flee when it is played. They may actually enjoy it. Now on the other side is "Amazing Grace". Jesus loves this one and the demons will flee every time it is played. I would like to know what melody came off of David's harp. It had to be amazing! Watch, because people may call some music "Christian", but its not. We need to examine the lyrics, which should line up with God's word, and discern what the Holy Spirit thinks of the melody. God is not instrument specific but to him music is a good part of worship. One pastor shared with me that too many times worship music is played to honor the musician's talent. It OK to be talented but you should be only concerned that what I am playing is honoring the "Name of Jesus". Really, all of us should ask this question, "What I have planned to do now, will it honor our King or will it embarrass the Holy Spirit?" The Holy Spirit likes a clean house including our bodies. Even cleaning the toilet makes him feel better. All the little things we do matter to the Holy Spirit. This clean thing may seem funny but I tell you this that demons mostly hide out in dark dirty places. Jesus removed demons from a man who lived in the cemetery. Others, the demons threw their host on the ground to get them dirty. Satan's motto "If God likes it, I am going to do or be the opposite." Jesus -"Master over all demons" His death took back the enemies authority over the earth and now it is His! 11/12/2025 God calls us to do things for him. He usually has a plan how to proceed with that calling. God had a big job for King Saul to do: 1 Samuel 15:3 NLT 3 Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.” Why is it when we know what we are suppose to do, we try to justify our amended actions by putting God in the equation? 1 Samuel 15:14-15 NLT 14 “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded. 15 “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.” Putting God into an amended action that was our thought did not work at all for Saul. In the end this happened: 1 Samuel 15:34-35 NLT 34 Then Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him. And the Lord was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel. I was about to continue to the next chapter because I said to myself, "I would never do that." Then God showed my an event in his calling. God's dream was to bless the people in the ghetto on east Colfax and I was to help him do that. He just loved the hearts of the people who lived there. They would worship him anytime. That is how much they loved him. Even though I wanted to stick with God, I wanted to do something for the needy in Fort Collins. It seemed to go nowhere fast. I told God this will help the needy in Fort Collins and you know about all those verses talking about helping people. This was when I realized I was a lot like Saul doing my thing. I am grateful that God humored me a little bit, but it fell flat on it's face. I had to learn about the heart God sees and the dreams that God has. He wants me to give my time here. He also knows that I am not capable of giving 100% in two places. If I pursued my idea any longer, God may have also said, "I am sorry that I gave this ministry to him." When God tells us how to accomplish a task, let's do it his way. Avoid the shortcuts and creating excuses to change things up. What is so cool about doing things 100% God's way, there is no way to mess things up. Today, I have no desire to do the Fort Collins ministry because I know God want me here. As long as their hearts stay focused on Jesus, I could be there a long time. Who knows if the people in Fort Collins hearts turn to God like the ghetto he may have a change of plans. God never starts a new plan until the old one is secure. Jesus Christ - Commander in Chief 11/11/2025 Have you ever thought about Jesus coming to the world to set it on fire. I had to read this in many translations about Jesus setting the world on fire. They all say the same thing: Luke 12:49-51 NLT Jesus Causes Division 49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! When I light fires, it is to burn the weeds to kill the seeds and remove the trash. Nothing but ash is left which is ugly. But wait until spring when green life begins to appear. Soon you have a pasture of lush grass. Is Jesus talking about the purification of mankind? Another thing about fire it is not discriminatory. It will burn down any fence that is in its path. This means that the people sitting on the fence are going to have to jump on one side or then other. One side is with Christ, the other is the world. This allows for only one master. Or does the fire represent the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: Acts 2:1-4 NLT The Holy Spirit Comes 2 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. Because Jesus knew of the prophet Joel: Joel 2:28-29 NLT The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit 28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike Jesus after talking about the fire said, "I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished." I have experienced things that totally have taken my peace away. It doesn't even register compared with what he was about to go through. This "baptism of suffering" is probably what made him mention the fire. Again, this is my opinion. I have no scriptures I remember to back me up. I would love to hear your comments. No one other than Jesus has changed the destiny of mankind more than he has. What he did was necessary as far back as Adam and as far into future where men are present. Now who else would do what he did and not sin. JESUS IS LORD!!!!!!! 11/10/2025 Making vows and oaths are extremely dangerous especially when you are in an emotional state. For example: Judges 11:30-31 NLT 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, 31 I will give to the Lord whatever comes out of my house to meet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” Jephthah end up killing his daughter because she came out first. What a waste of a beautiful life! 1 Samuel 14:24 Saul’s Foolish Oath Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening—before I have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one ate anything all day, How dumb to make your men hungry when they are fighting a battle. It takes nourishment to keep one in top form. Even worse is when you do not tell everyone. If the people did not stop him, Saul was going to kill his son Jonathan. Jesus also has something to say about oaths and vows: Matthew 5:33-37 NLT Teaching about Vows 33 “You have also heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not break your vows; you must carry out the vows you make to the Lord.’ 34 But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. 35 And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. 36 Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. 37 Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one. Jesus said, "Give a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one. You definitely have a problem if your word means nothing to you. I have sold corn at a lower price than I could have today. It cost me money. Even the person I sold it too knew it also and saw that my word meant something by delivering at the lower price I agreed to. He will want to always do business with me if I continue to keep my word. Remember this: It is just as much of a sin to break your word as it is a vow or oath. Make your word count when dealing with God and man. Lastly, think about your word, vow, or oath to make sure they are not stupid like the ones I mentioned here. Thank you Jesus for putting up with us when we do dumb stuff! 11/09/2025 When Israel became nervous when the realized that it was wrong to ask for a king, Samuel consoled them with these words: 1 Samuel 12:23 As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. Was Samuel asked to pray for the people by God himself? Is it the responsibility of the priest to continually pray for the people? Or did Samuel pray because it was the right thing to do? One thing for sure, Samuel said that it would be a sin If he stopped praying over the people. We do know that if God asks us to pray for someone it would be disobedience if we did not pray. James said you need to grow: James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Paul final advice to the church include: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Jesus will tell you that I could be praying more in my own life. Samuel is right when we shorten our prayer life that it is sin. How many more people could be saved today just by power of our prayers. The enemy loves a short prayer life because it gives him the power to do the things he wants. He is a master of using distractions to stop our communication with the Father. This is an example of what the enemy fears: Matthew 17:14-19 NLT Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy 14 At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” {demon thought he won this match.} 17 Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well. {demon loses against Jesus} 19 Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” Mark 9:29 NLT 29 Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.” {demons tremble at the prayers of the righteous. Jesus won because he prayed!} One final thought why did Jesus say, "You faithless and corrupt people!"? This is my opinion; I believe Jesus reads the hearts of men and his disciples. His disciples are slow grasping the spiritual side of God and try doing things too much man's way. They need to believe God's way is the best. Now, the crowd is a different story. They only want Jesus to get what they want. They were really not that interested to understand the man who is doing the miracles. Those two things together were a major disappointment to Jesus. Not only should we continue to pray to weaken the enemy and please Yahweh, let's position our hearts towards honoring Jesus himself. It is not to honor ourselves by seeing what we can get out of the deal. Jesus is Lord!!!!!!! 11/08/2025 When you realize that you have messed up like the people of Israel did when they asked for a king: 1 Samuel 12:22 NLT 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people. As long as we don't reject him, it looks like he is with us for the long haul. Even those who have rejected our Lord, he is never far away. He is waiting patiently for us all to come home. Just remember Jesus hold the keys to salvation. Ask him into your heart today, if you have not done so already. John 14:6 NLT Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 11/07/2025 I bet a lot of you are like me and make lots of cracks about the politicians and the dumb things they do. The sad part is that I leave it right here and do not take full advantage of my options. Even though they are what they are, Paul has some advice for us about all people: 1 Timothy 2:1-2 NLT I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them {This is the hard part; to give thanks for someone who is clueless.}. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This verse applies to everyone in our ministry. This includes college students, law enforcement, fire and the people in the ghetto. You also have people in your life that need to be prayed over. We all seem to do dumb things from time to time. Pray that God gives us wisdom to figure this out. Then we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. Jesus "King of kings" and "ruler over all authority"! 11/06/2025 I am sure that I am not alone in this kind of situation. You work all year and things seem to be half way working then when you begin to harvest your work, it turns out to be disappointing. Of course, the enemy makes sure that you know about others who did the same kind of work you did but everything turned out much better for them. His next step is to make you envious of those people to the point your jealousy makes you hate them. The guy who beat me I know him and he is cool and he deserved his reward. Not to say that I was a tiny bit jealous, still. Next the enemy convinces you that you are a failure. As the results came in I was feeling this emotion. Why does he do it? He wants you to become so discouraged that you will not fulfill the mission God called you to do. Being discouraged can put an end to God's calling on your life. It got me down enough that I felt like not writing anymore comments. The enemy almost had me here. The next thing I did was share my feelings with my buddy and we talked about it. His words of encouragement and not seeing the entire picture, which has Jesus in it, got me back on track and that you all need to know it is never over. Jesus said there would be times like this: John 16:33 NLT I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. I am still experiencing just plain weird things from the enemy. But Jesus is willing to help out: Matthew 11:29-30 NLT 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Even with all that is going on today, I feel more at peace now. Philippians 4:7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Never forget "Jesus is Lord"!!!!! 11/05/2025 Have you ever tried doing something that just never seems to work. You keep trying but eventually you just give up in frustration. God has had those moments too. It even broke God's heart: 1 Samuel 8:5-9 NLT 5 “Look,” they told him, “you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have.” 6 Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. 7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.” In verse 7 you can tell God is frustrated and is tired of reasoning with his people. God did not abandon his people and had Samuel tell them what a human king will do to them. The scare tactics did not work. 1 Samuel 8:18-20 NLT 18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.” 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” If you get a king who loves the Lord like Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, this is good. Those who do not love the Lord will not be good at judging anything. They could be your next king. We should not want men to judge us in place of God. Psalm 7:11 NLT 11 God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day. When God is leading you into battle, you will never lose. Men cannot make this claim because they will always lose in the end. Wow, they turned God down in favor of a finite man. God's final word was that, "I will not help you when your so called king turns on you." Think about this: Just because your neighbor is doing it does not make it right or the best solution. This trap can be devastating when it goes against the ideals of God. 11/04/2025 Now you know you are physically close to God when this happens: Exodus 34:29-35 NLT 29 When Moses came down Mount Sinai carrying the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, he wasn’t aware that his face had become radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. 30 So when Aaron and the people of Israel saw the radiance of Moses’ face, they were afraid to come near him. It took a long time before this glow to wear off of Mose's face. Jesus's disciples had a chance to witness this presence of God first hand by being there with Jesus: Luke 9:29-31 NLT 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31 They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem. Other than being a spectacular site, what was meant by "were speaking about his exodus from this world"? Because we serve a Holy God, Jesus was sent to fix this problem of sin that keeps us away from God's presence. His shed blood allows us to enter into the throne room of God. I feel Jesus was to answer to all generations past and present. Everyone has been waiting for Jesus to fulfill prophecy. I know they were encouraging Jesus and talking about all the prophecy that was about to be fulfilled. Could you imagine that in the short period of time left, that all who God has called will be able to enter the presence of God in heaven. I am sure they told Jesus about the great thing that was about to happen when he was done with his calling. Man, now that is inspiration! Again this is my opinion. It sure does make you think about their conversation they must have had!
