Time

It seems to me that many dreads the start of Daylight saving and looks forward to the end of it for one reason. Many wish it would get left alone and some state don't have a Daylight Saving Time. Around this time of year I'm guilty of saying it and I'm sure you have too. "I get MY hour of____ back." For me, my fill in the blank is "sleep".  But where did I get the idea that the hour that I was sad about losing and getting back was mine to begin with?  Yes. I know DST was thought up by man and some say the concept of time was thought up by man also. But I believe that GOD almighty created time along with everything else! So the hour that returns on November 1st truly is another blessing, another gift, another tool, that I need to use for him. How appropriate that we get on the LORDS day.

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."   As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.  James 4:13-17

Grace & Peace

Blan

The Blue Bell Scenario

 I was sent to the supermarket to get some groceries and I texted my wife to see if there was anything else that she needed that wasn’t on the list. The reply was, “Blue Bell”. So, I go the freezer section to see what flavors I could choose from, only to find a sign on the door — “NO BLUE BELL CAN BE PURCHASED AT THIS TIME. In fact, there was a worker there who was taking the ice cream out of the freezer and stacking it on a cart to haul it off. Then, that night, the news reported that with the concerns about listeria, Blue Bell decided to recall everything and it will be approximately two weeks before more products will be back on the shelves. Also, it was reported how people in the local area are showing their support to the company. Things like: encouraging school kids to wear Blue Bell T-Shirts to school, doing something nice for the employees of the creamery, signing a “We Support Blue Bell” Card, and here’s my favorite! there’s going to be a community prayer services for the Blue Bell Company, its employees and for those who have become ill because of the infected ice cream! I think it’s safe to say that around here we take our Blue Bell seriously. We love our Blue Bell Ice Cream.

 Today someone has been told they have been found with a fault, a problem, or a sin. “Take them off the shelf! Shut them down, and don’t have anything to do with them until they can produce something better, contaminate free.”

 I’m just going to leave these Bible verses here and let you finish the scenario:

 Mark 2:17

¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

 Matthew 7:4-5

⁴ How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

 Galatians 6:1-2

¹ Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ² Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

 Maybe this could be a topic for discussion at the dinner table or while you at the restaurant after morning services. Maybe you want to use it for a Bible lesson or devotional. Just a little something to think about. Let me know what you discover.

 Grace & Peace

Blan

Daily Bible Reading Journal

So I've decided to blog a little about my daily bible reading, I’m going to share some things that get my attention.

 Today, part of my daily bible reading was Proverbs 1:10-19.

 My sons, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them Proverbs 1:10

The Hebrew word for entice is related to the Hebrew noun "simple".  One who is "simple" is easily enticed.  My first thought is, “Who doesn’t fall into that category?”  At some point we are all naive. Haven’t we all at sometime bought the “snake oil”, “Drank the Kool-aid” or looked into some “Ocean front property in Arizona”?  Here in Proverbs you have a parent giving his child some advice that, in many ways, comes from personal experience or things he has seen happen to others. Look at the warnings.  Warnings about being violent, verses 11-12, warnings about stealing, verses 13. Warnings about being allied with those who do evil and offer you things that are not there’s to give, verses 14.

Solomon says in verse 15 don’t go along with those people! In fact if you see them coming, cross the street and walk on the other side!  He goes on to say that these people are going to get caught in the same kind of trap that they lay for others, verses 17-18. And in the end, Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the lives of those who get it. Proverbs 1:19.

Isaiah 17:14 talks about how destruction is the destiny of those who steal from God's people. And long life is enjoyed by the one who "hates ill-gotten gain" Proverbs 28:16.

Those who choose to practice the kind of living that Solomon warns us about ultimately answer for their offences. One thing I always need to remember to stay out of trouble is to simply avoid trouble, and those who are involved in it. But it also requires me to get wise! Wise about seeking justice, loving mercy and humbly, being on the same road as God, Micah 6:8.

Grace & Peace

Blan