False Guides

The world screams for your attention. Your job, your spouse, your kids, your own needs and desires. Everybody wants a piece of you. And everybody wants to tell you how to live. Television. Facebook. Google. Friends. Family.

Who do you listen to?

Who really matters? Is it your boss? Your spouse? Or is it you? Who will lead you to where you need to be? Not necessarily where you want to be. Where you need to be. There is only one answer.

His voice never lies.

If you listen to anyone else, anyone of this world--including yourself--you follow a false guide. The only true guide is God. His Holy Spirit, our Guide and Counselor, speaks only truth. He tells us what is right, what is good. His advice never fails. Listen to anyone else, and maybe it will work out. Maybe it won't. Are you willing to take that chance?

I have been lead astray many times.
 

I have listened to those other voices. I have walked the path of selfishness. I have been down the road of the world. I listened to those false guides, and before I knew it, I was lost. Often I was far away from where I needed to be before I ever realized I had strayed. 

It is so easy to get distracted. The world is so very loud, including that inner voice that is not of God, but of myself. I want. I envy. I desire. I think I know what is best for me, and I go after it. I listen to the worst false guide of all: Myself.

He does speak!

God reaches out to us. He speaks to us from within, that small, quiet voice that is so easy to ignore. We allow ourselves, or the world out there, to drown Him out. He lets us chose our way. Not because He desires for us to be lost, but because He desires us to seek Him. Were there no choices for us to make, faith would not matter.

We do make a choice, though. Every day, every second, we chose. Will I listen to God, or will I listen to those other voices. Truth, or false guides? Who will I follow? Do I desire what feels good, or what is best? The choice is mine. And yours.

What guide have you chosen?

Have you chosen to listen to Him to show you the way? If so, tell us about it!

Never Give Up!

Times come when you want to give up. It doesn't seem worth it. Nothing is going your way. You can't see how things could get any worse. Or better.

Don't give up!

Things probably are not as bad as they seem. Tomorrow, or next week, life will straighten out. If you give up, you cannot succeed. If you keep fighting, you will overcome. What you accomplish may be different from what you set out to do. Your endgame may look a little different from what you first imagined. But that's OK!

Plans change!

The only guarantees in life are death, taxes . . . and change. Life is not static. The world continuously moves, morphs, and evolves. Nothing stays the same. Your goals must change, or you may never reach them. And if you do, without new goals, you will accomplish nothing more.

In becoming an author, I thought I was almost there. I got signed by a great agent. I had a really good manuscript, one my agent said was publisher worthy. I had several publishers interested in my work. Everything was falling in place.

Until everything fell apart. In an instant, with a single email, it all came tumbling down. Christian fiction has changed . . . you have to have a platform. Platform? What is a platform?

It's change, that's what it is!

New Goals mean new strategies.

In order to obtain this platform, I have to come up with new strategies. At first, that was overwhelming. Marketing, networking, outreaching . . . blah, blah, blah! I am an author, not a marketer! I'm an introverted, disorganized, undisciplined creative! How am I supposed to market that? It'll never work.

But that's what Moses said. Nine times he failed with Pharaoh; then God succeeded. That's what Peter said. Then Christ rose again. That's what Satan says. Do you believe him?

We, you and I, can change. We can do things differently. We can overcome the doubts of Satan and realize the plans God has had all along. We can do whatever it is we feel we have failed at. All we have to do is change.

I am on that road. I am changing. It is hard, and I don't like it . . . But with God, all things are possible.

What about you?

What challenges have you faced that required you to change? I'd love to hear about them!

God of Mercy, Grace, Truth, and Justice

     An excerpt from a future book, tentatively titled The Wrong Side of the Daisies. A conversation between God (the Voice), and a man by the name of Jon. If this sounds too harsh, refer to Revelation 3:14-22.

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      "It disgusts me," the Voice answered, "when men refuse to take a stand for what is right and good. I have told you what those things are, and those things which are wrong and evil. I have instructed you to stand firmly in support of the one, and opposed to the other. And yet, most do not. Even when it is for their own good, most are too lazy, too self absorbed, too hard of heart and blind to put forth the effort to stand firm. When faced with opposition, they back away, pandering to false truths of tolerance, liberty, their version of 'love your neighbor.' They believe my word is too strict, that I myself do not stand so firmly for, nor against, that which my word says. What do you think, Jon?"

      "I think your word is right, and you stand for what it says."

      "My word is me and I am my word!" God's voice thundered. "I have spoken what is true, and what is true can never be changed. What is right is right; what is wrong is wrong. These things will never pass away. My feet are firmly planted in what is righteous and good, and my right hand strongly opposes all which is evil. There are those who claim to speak in my name who say otherwise, who claim to know that I am a God of tolerance, a God of compromise. They are wrong. I am God of truth, God of justice. I am also God of mercy, God of grace, but they abuse my mercy and grace, thinking it allows them freedom to do whatever evil they desire, and to tolerate the evil around them. Because of that, they disgust me. What do you do when something disgusts you, Jon?"

      "I get rid of it."

      "And so shall I. Because they refuse to stand for what is right or against what is wrong, I shall rid myself of them. I will vomit them from my mouth like the vile and tasteless filth they are. They believe they know who I am, but they know me not at all. Because of that, I shall not claim them, and will throw them far from myself. Then they will realize, despite their 'wisdom' and 'understanding,' that they have nothing."

      Jon stood silent, waiting. What he was waiting for, he didn't know. But he had the feeling the Voice had more to say. He was right.

      "If only they would open their eyes to see, and their minds to understand, then they would know. They would throw away their useless 'understandings' and clothe themselves with the truth of my word. In knowing me, they would see that my way is right and good, if not easy. They would see the value in taking a stand, and I would find worth in them once again."

      The Voice paused, and when it resumed, a tone of sadness had crept in.

      "But very few will. For most, their hearts are too hard, their minds too corrupt, and their desires too strong. They will hear my truth, but ignore it. Continuing in their ways, they will be neither for me, nor against me. They will claim me, but will not lend credence to my truths. By their inaction, their refusal to hold to what is right and despise what is wrong, they will lead even more astray than those who openly oppose me. They are the tools of the enemy, and as such they will be cast into the fires of my judgment unless they repent."

To Those Who Have Served

Thank you.

It is not enough, but it is a start. For all the men and women who have and do serve our great nation, Thank You!

I am very proud to claim a number of veterans in my family: A sister and her husband; two grandfathers; an uncle; a nephew; a niece; and more. I also have many friends who have willingly and courageously sacrificed a part of their lives so that I may live mine with the freedoms and liberties afforded to me because I am an American. Is thank you enough?

These men and women have served our nation; it is because of them that we are who we are, where we are, how we are. Make it personal: You and I would not have the lives we know if not for our veterans. We would not be free. We would not be independent. We would not be Americans if not for them. Is thank you enough?

In the air, on the sea, over the land, in times of peace and strife, through stifling heat and bitter cold, across mountains and deserts, braving ocean waves and swells, they have served. Through mud, sweat, tears, sand, dust, and yes--even blood--they have continued on. For me. For you. Is thank you enough?

No corner has been too far, no enemy too great, no obstacle too high, nor fear too deep for them to overcome. They have cried, they have collapsed, they have lost and they have mourned, but never have they failed to rise and stand again. Is thank you enough?

How many have we lost? How many have given their all, everything they had, and were, and could be, for our sake? How many never enjoyed the freedoms they provided and protected because they were too busy sacrificing for us? How many never saw home again? Is thank you enough?

There is no end to what could, and should, be said. They deserve all that they have given us. They deserve more than we have given them. These words are not enough, but they are all I have.

Thank you!

Patience

Do you know a synonym from the Bible for patience? How about long suffering? That pretty well defines patience for me--to suffer long. I fear I am not a patient man by nature.

I should be patient; I grew up in a very small town (it doesn't even qualify as a town; it is officially a village). If something was going to happen in my home town, you had to wait for it, and if you weren't careful, you missed it. And we did not have a store, a gas station, or, until I was a teenager, a soda machine. If you wanted anything, you had to wait to go to the town where I went to High School 12 miles away--which had 1,400 people. That was the happening place. K-Mart and a grocery store with more than 5 aisles was 30 miles distant. And I'm not ancient, people--we're talking the 80's and 90's!

Another reason I should be patient is my two older sisters. Their idea of fun at the end of the school year was to have me sit at a makeshift desk and play 'school.' They were also my transportation, when they were old enough to drive and I was not. Think I ever had to wait to go somewhere? Yah, maybe! And along the same lines, I have been outnumbered my entire life. I have two sisters, no brothers. I entered a profession (physical therapy) which is traditionally female dominated. I have two daughters, one son. That alone should have created a patient man; but it has not.

Or maybe it has. The past two weekends, I have traversed a pitch-black river 5 hours before daylight just to claim a desired hunting spot. What did we do for five hours? We waited. Patiently. Suffering long. My before-mentioned children--13, 9, and 6--have required some degree of patience. Have you ever watched 5-year olds play soccer? That is long suffering! I think youth soccer is partly God's answer to my prayers for patience. As they say, be careful what you pray for!

Now, my patience is being tested again. I have entered a bizarre netherworld know as Publishing. In this place, time is warped, if it exists at all. My oldest sister brought home from the Army the phrase, "Hurry up to wait." She said they had to run everywhere they went, only to wait once they got there. That's kind of how I feel now. I spent months, even years, staying up half the night (or more) to write, edit, rewrite, revise, rearrange, rewrite . . . you get the point . . . at fever pitch to be able to send a manuscript into this strange world of publishing. And now? I wait. Suffering. Long.

A strange thing, this patience. A strange thing indeed!