Category: Thought for the Day

There Are No Doors for Jesus!

I’m thinking about Jesus’ disciples in the locked room hiding in fear of the Jewish authorities. In walks Jesus who had no problem with any of the locked doors. We lock the doors in our life to keep people out, and even God. But God knows no locked doors. He’s always less than a heartbeat away in our lives. There is no door that can keep God out.

We turn our backs on God. We try to lock Him out of our lives. Or we simply don’t give Him the least bit of thought. That’s why the world is so very screwed up. We have done our best to shut God out of our lives. Just look around the world. It’s a mess because we have turned to ourselves rather than God. It’s called secularization.

The older I grown the more I realize that God is in control. I do my best to keep Him in my life front and center, and providing the direction in my life. And every time I manage to turn my back on God I find myself lost. Maybe the world wants to shut God out but my doors are unlocked and open to God. Not that He can’t walk through any locked doors.

If you’re having trouble making sense of this life, or your life in particular, open the door to God. Let Him in. He can walk through any door but you need to turn to Him. Listen for and to God because He is calling you in your life.

Enjoy the day and the rest of the week ahead!

Where is the World Headed?

I don’t know. But as I have written time and time again, I feel like we are the wandering tribe of Israelites in the desert looking for the Promised Land. We bicker and complain, with no vision or direction of where we are going. With the world on the verge of WWIII, we seem lost. We are lost.

To me, for me, God is light. When I walk away from Him, or even turn my back on Him, my world is a dark place. When I get back on course, I see the light.

I think God is my Promised Land. When he’s in my life, everything is light and clear. When not, dark and uncertain. This is all easier said than done because it’s easy to lose God, even though He is always less than a heart beat away. It’s easy to question God, even question His existence, when people are being brutalized, as they are in Ukraine. That’s why we are all struggling because we put God aside, or even push Him aside. You see death and destruction and it’s tough to think there is a God. How could He let this happen?

The evil forces in this world—call them devils, demons, whatever—want each of us to turn our backs on God. To question Him, to question if He is even real. That’s how they win when we get lost in the darkness in life. Just like the Israelites wandering years and years ago.

I’m doing my best to keep my eyes fixed on God. His way is the light, away from the darkness. I’m going to do my best to help shed some of that light on a world that is increasingly dark. A smile, a helping hand, a good act, a donation, whatever. It starts small but it grows.

Change happens one person at a time. Change with me. Listen for and to God. It’s one of the fundamental Secrets to Life. He will lead the way. Just let Him!

Have an EXCEPTIONAL day!!!

America’s Pampered Actors Versus The Actor Hero in Ukraine

There’s a reason why I don’t watch Hollywood award shows and don’t place over-paid, pampered actors up on a mantel. It’s just amazing to me that the morning news is dominated by one of those over-paid, pampered actors slapping another over-paid, pampered actor in the face. Meanwhile, the former actor who is now the President of Ukraine is watching his people dying and displaced. Our over-paid, pampered actors versus an actor who is a true hero.

What is wrong with us? I’ve written about this more times than I can count but we are a people lost in this country. Like the Israelites wandering the desert for 40 years for a journey that should have taken 11 days, we are lost. We have turned our backs on God, just like the Israelites. We worship false gods, just like the Israelites. We have no purpose, no future. The news is filled with war, killings, shootings, and just mean spiritedness. And actors acting like spoiled children.

There is only one path out of the desert we are wandering, and that path is God. He is there but we are not. We need to turn to Him, not away from Him. Life is really that simple.

There is evil in the world today that is more alive and at work than ever. Just look at Putin and Ukraine. Light blots out darkness. But we are letting the darkness blot out the light. Simply because we have turned our backs on God.

Change happens one person at a time. One person at a time turning to God, not away from Him. There is a Promised Land out there but we are nowhere close to it.

I’m doing my best to change and keep God in front of me. I hope you will join me.

Have an AWESOME week ahead in the light!

Go to Hell, Putin!

I mean that. Go to Hell, Putin. If you’re looking for the personification of evil in this world, it’s Putin. I won’t even dignify calling him anything else. Evil belongs in Hell and that’s where Putin is heading.

As I watch this humanitarian crisis unfold in Ukraine, it’s tough to control my anger. All the writing and praying I have done about not judging and loving all others has gone out the window. I’m angry. I want Putin dead. Though shall not kill is meaningless. I want Putin dead. One cheap life of a little man saves the lives of millions.

This is one of those times when I ask, “Why God?” How can you let this little dictator uproot an entire country? Where’s the sense in any of this? Don’t you feel the pain and suffering of your children? Why, God? Why? Why?

It’s time to pray. I know I need to pray myself out of this anger. I need to find where I can send money that it will be used to help the most. I need to settle down. I need to stay positive and try to help as much as I can.

I still want Putin in Hell. Sooner than later. Evil belongs in Hell and Putin is our generation of pure evil. Yes, it’s in Syria and elsewhere. I’ll stop here.

Pray! Pray! Pray! Stay positive, I tell myself. God’s way is not our way.

To all the people of Ukraine I offer up my prayers.

Thanks for listening to my rant!

My Gifts

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. Why? Call it a lack of inspiration, COVID malaise, or simply good old procrastination. Whatever, it is what it is. But as the New Year hit, and I started reflecting, coupled with hearing a sermon on gifts, I knew it was time to start writing/posting again. Why? Because I have a gift. No, not the “ego” gift of me but the gifts I have been given in my life. Starting with the gift of getting up this morning.

We all have gifts. As I said, getting up in the morning is a gift. Having my puppy who is all over me with love in the morning is a gift. The morning kiss from my wife is a gift. Smelling the air is a gift, as is the amazingly starry night in Northeast Pennsylvania. We all have gifts that we don’t look on as gifts. Especially in many cases the gift God gives to all of us equally—the gift of His only Son. And what a gift that is!

It’s really easy in these COVID days of variant after variant to overlook the simple gifts we have in life. It’s always easier to focus on what’s wrong versus what’s right in our lives. But the gift of Jesus is something we should never forget because it’s the gift that keeps on giving. It we let it.

You want a New Year’s resolution? Mine is to look at all the gifts I have been given. Not the gifts under the tree at one time of year, but the gifts I have, no matter how small, day in and day out. And the gift of Jesus is at the top of the list. It’s a gift that I have day in day out, regardless of how the day is going, my situation in life, or anything else. And it’s no small gift at that!

Happy New Year! I wish you a healthy, safe, and blessed year ahead. Keep those gifts close and treasure them!

Ask, Search & Knock

Matthew 7:7 really says it much better than I can:

Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

It’s that simple. Great life advice. If you ask it will be given; search and you will find; just knock on the door and it will be opened. Now, this isn’t about some genie in a magic lamp. There is no rubbing the lamp and three wishes. But God will give you what you need (not necessarily what you want, but what you need), will help you find, and will open doors for you. One door might close in your life but another will certainly open.

I’m going to focus in the next few blogs on Bible verses that are really great verses to live life by. But none of those will work, like Ask, Search & Knock, if you don’t LISTEN for/to God. He’s always there. Less than a heartbeat away. You just have to get in the game and engage.

Ask, Search & Knock. Try it!

Let Your Light Shine!!!

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s pretty dark out there. I just don’t mean COVID dark. It’s just dark in general. Bad things all around, in this country and beyond. There is one thing that you can do to shed some light on a darkening world. Let your light shine! And shine brightly!!!

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.‭‭ Matthew‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭

John said it all too well:

 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4-5

John was talking about the coming of Jesus and His life that is the light of the world. And that light shines in the darkness and the darkness can’t overcome it. Will never overcome it.

So, let’s get down to earth. What does this all mean?

You have the light of God in you because you were made by God. That light is intended to be shone, not hidden in the darkness. So, let that light shine. How? Start with a smile. Help. Give. Lend a helping hand whenever you can. Don’t get mad. Be happy. Rub good off on others. Anything good is letting your light shine. The light of God in you. Anything bad is hiding that light in the darkness.

Look for ways today and tomorrow to let your light shine. One light after another may just start shining light on this dark world of ours.

Have a TREMENDOUS day shining your light!

Where is God???

Inside. Inside of you, inside of me, and inside of every living person. That’s where you always find God. The problem is we look outside of ourselves for God and outside these days is not a pretty picture. There’s strife all across the globe punctuated by a terrible pandemic. We look outside and nowhere we look can we find God. But that’s because more so than ever we aren’t looking for God, and certainly not looking for God inside of us.

God created all of us. He’s woven into the fabric of our DNA. Our DNA is God’s DNA. He is always inside. He never leaves. The problem is we don’t look for God. We don’t give Him a thought. We certainly don’t LISTEN for and to Him.

You want to find God in your life? Just LISTEN. There’s a reason why I list LISTEN as the first Secret to Life. But in order to hear God in your life you have to take the time to LISTEN for and to God. He’s there. You have to be there. You have to find quiet time and open your mind and heart to God. It takes just a little effort to tune out the world and tune into God.

Try it. Look for God in your life by taking the time to LISTEN for and to God. Boy, what a difference living becomes. Looking at all the chaos on the outside becomes almost calming when we find God in our lives.

LISTEN! It works if you give it the time, mind, and heart!

Enjoy!!!

Is There God on 9/11?

Yes, it may not seem like it, but there is a God on 9/11. There is always God on every 9/11, as well as the 364 other days in the year. When you look at the twisted wreck of 9/11 from 20 years ago, and all the lives lost on that horrific day, it’s tough to believe there is a God who would let this happen.

And 20 years later, we may not forget that day today, but in this country we’re forgetting the Americans, and friends of America, we left behind. Where is God in that?

God doesn’t cause human events. We humans cause human events. We’re quick to blame God for everything when all He does is love us. He knows that our lives are not even a blink in the time of eternity that awaits spending with Him. How we handle ourselves on this earth, during this brief time we have, is a proving ground and prep for that blissful eternity. Bad things like 9/11 20 years ago and this 9/11 in Afghanistan will always happen if we let them happen. We are in control. God is just watching His children and how they react and what they do.

It’s a tough day to do anything other than remember.

Throwing the First Stone

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7

I don’t think I have ever lived through a time like now when people are so quick to judge and throw stones at others, sometimes for what they said 40 years ago. Get real!!! News flash: I’ll say it right here and now that I have said stupid things, done stupid things in the past. I’ve made many, many, many (did I say “many” enough to make a point) dumb things in the past. But I have tried to grow and learn from my mistakes. But I still make some today.

I’m not perfect. And neither are you. And neither are the politicians and self-righteous pundits flooding our cable news airwaves. We are all born in the image and likeness of God. We are children of God. But imperfect children trying (hopefully) to move towards Godly perfection. In fact, that’s what I think our earthly stay is all about. Learning and growing. Maybe not to perfection but towards it.

When I go to cast that first stone my visual is Jesus bending over and writing in the dirt and challenging anyone without sin to cast the first stone at the woman caught being unfaithful. Says it all because I am never without sin. Although there are some who very obviously think they are perfect—without sin.

Jesus is writing up on the clouds challenging those of us without sin to throw that first stone.

Have a GREAT week!!!