Thank you, Jesus.

Thank God it’s Thanksgiving!

I would personally like to thank my friends for being my friends, my wife for being my wife, and God for the abundant blessings I have received throughout my life.  I have a wonderful house with rental income, good employment, everything I need and many of the things I want as well.

It wasn’t always that way.  I used to have a bad attitude about everything.  The result was few friends (or none, If I had nothing), lousy employment if any employment at all, and a small apartment in run down neighborhoods or even living out of my car from time to time.

What turned it around?  My desire to change.  With that, I was able to accept the help from a few key people to become a fairly successful person.  These friends I value the most to this day.

These friends I am most thankful for; including my wife, who has been the biggest positive influence in my life  overall.

With these blessings, I have also been blessed with the biggest blessing of all; learning to care about others.  It’s still a long, uphill battle, but if I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, and since empathy is a Christlike characteristic, it is something worth pursuing, and its success is inevitable.  Again, I am thankful for important friends who encourage me.

That said, there are many angry people in this country right now, hurting people, frustrated people, because, politically speaking they did not get what we want.  At the very least they should be singing that Rolling Stones song.  “You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”  At the most they should be humbling themselves before an almighty God, asking why He allowed this to happen to them.  Unfortunately, most of them have chosen to reject God, and all God is doing is respecting their choice, and staying away from them.  And if good only comes from God, they will not receive any blessings.  They have nothing to be thankful for as a result.  Been there, done that.

First I had to put my faith and trust in Christ.  After that, God tore me down to my foundation, and then put key helpers in my path to help Him rebuild me.  This rebuilt person is the person people see now, not the angry, bitter, frustrated man I used to be; but a kinder, more gentile, confident, person who still has a long, long way to go to be the humble servant I want to be.

So, like any and all of us who profess Christ crucified, God is not done with us.  And regardless of the path God has us on, may it strengthen you, build you up, and be used to give glory and honor to God.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your wonderful gift of eternal life.

Elections last for only a few years...

But who we choose to follow in spirit lasts for eternity.

For Etenity, we have another election to take place.  This election only affects the individual as to how they vote; not all of society.  You can choose to follow God, in Christ, or NOT to follow God.  That's it; up or down; yes or no.  A yes vote means you get to spend eternity with Jesus, and No vote (or abstention from voting) means you get to spend eternity apart from God. (That would be in the place prepared for Satan and his angels).

What has made the United States of America the shining light on a hill for the world?  Not because we are perfectly good (heavens, we do a lot more wrong than good at times!) but because we for the most part, Americans feared God and tried to to what was right.  We have been the most generous, the most tolerant, the biggest defender of freedom against tyranny, and have had the greatest inventors in the 19th and 20th centuries. And when compared to most nations, we have done more good around the world than all other nations combined.

Yet over the last 50 years, we have removed God from our public presence.  And we have become less good.  We have become less prosperous.  We are less generous. We have become more ruthless, and what was once considered evil, is now considered right, and vice versa.

Today, less than half of Americans consider themselves Christian.  I imagine there are much fewer than that who have a relationship with Christ.

So, In America, we voted for a Capitalist.  A contrarian to politics as usual.  Socially liberal, with a huge passion for business.  And this election is good for only four years.  (Got that Clinton supporters?  Only four years.  If Barak Obama's opponents can endure eight years, you can endure four. ;-).   However, the choice each and every one of us makes in the eternal election lasts us for...well...eternity.  If four years of fear from being a political opponent to Donald Trump is bad,  how much worse will eternity be in opposition to God?

Cast that eternal vote for God, in Jesus Christ, today!  This may be your last chance to vote!

Forgive this repentant, lazy, foolish servant...

I was reminded today of something.  The parable of the rich and and his talents describes a rich man who gave each of his servants a sum of money (a talent is roughly 30 kilos of gold, worth about 2.5 million US dollars). The good servants double the rich man’s investment, the lazy one did nothing with his money.  The rich man on his return congratulated the good servants and punished the lazy one.We all have talents

All of us in Christ have talent, on loan, from God.  The question is, what do we do with our talent?  For example; my wife’s gift is in art, and hospitality,  She can put out an wonderfully decorated spread for Thanksgiving, Christmas, barbecues, birthdays and tea parties; which she does with a passion several days a year.  So, she does her part.  What is your talent that God has invested in you, that you are sharing…or burying?

I’m burying my talent.  I have some pretty good speaking skills (when prepared) and I can write on the fly with reckless abandon, yet I am not putting these talents to work.  When was the last time I posted anything here…FOUR YEARS AGO?  When was the last time I encouraged anyone here?  Wasting my talent.  I’ve been that lazy, foolish servant.

What if no one reads what I write? Then I write for myself, to encourage myself.  But I must offer up my talent, no matter how few read it.  It only takes one person to be encouraged, to make my efforts worthwhile.  And it doesn’t matter if I know about it.  Getting “likes”, or “shares” may reward me with an inflated ego, and some personal satisfaction, but they don’t give God the glory.

So, forgive me for ignoring this page.  At least once a week, I will write and share my some encouraging words; here, and on other groups and pages.  May you enjoy and be encouraged by these words.