Do you ever wonder why things happen? Do you ever ask God why things happen? We hear of a newborn baby dying and we ask ourselves and God why? We read about a young man diving off a bridge into ariver, breaking his neck and being paralyzed for life and we ask ourselves and God why? A person goes to the doctor and they’re diagnosed with cancer and they’re told they only have a few months to live and we ask ourselves and God why?

Why do bad things happen to good, Godly people? I do know that bad things happen to good people at times because of sin! I also know that God allows things to happen to us to draw us closer to Him!

The bottom line is, we need to trust God and know that whatever He allows to happen or whatever He’s doing is right! Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thy own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”

I’m a sports fanatic! Last week I was watching The Worlds Greatest Strong Man Competition! They pull airplanes and semi trucks strapped to their shoulders, and they lift heavy objects over their heads that weight hundreds of pounds. It absolutely amazes me what these men can do!

They are powerful, but their power cannot compare to the Word of God. You see, by Gods Word the world in which you and I live was created. It is the Word of God which saves a person. And it will be the Word of God that will destroy the wicked at the end of this age!

For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints

I have a lot of good friends, and I do believe I’m a good friend to many of them, but I do know one thing, friends will let each other down. In times of trouble some friends will turn their back on you and run like a scalded dog! This happened to Jesus on the night of His betrayal! One of his closest friends denied Him three times and threw Him to the wolves!

Trust me, if it happened to Jesus it can happen to you, and probably has, but not to that extent! I’ve discovered that there is one person who’ll always be faithful and true, and that is the Lord Jesus Himself! He has and always will be there for you when you need Him!

When you’re lonely, He is there! When you’re sad, angry, or discouraged, He is there! When you’re so happy that you want to stand on your head and do cartwheels, He is there! Do you sense His presence this morning? He is here, He is there, He is everywhere! I praise God that He wants to spend time with a sinful little man like me!

Revelation 19:11 says, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True….FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailShare

Every now and then I have to take inventory concerning the ministry. I go out into the garage and open all my suitcases. I check to see how many 72 inch balloons I have, these are the balloons we put kids in. I also check to see how much flash paper and animal balloons I have in my possession! I check my darts out for my blow dart gun, making sure they are straight and sharpened! This is something I do before every trip, for you see, I don’t want to get somewhere and not have what I need!

We also need to take inventory of our personal lives. We need to ask ourselves daily, “What am I doing for the Lord?” “Is what I’m fixing to say going to bring honor and glory to the Lord?” or “How is my attitude towards God and others?”

I truly believe God take inventory of the things we do and say. I don’t know if He writes it down or not, but I do know He remembers. He remembers the good and the bad. He’ll also forget the bad if we’ll ask Him for forgiveness!         Psalms 51:9 says, “Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.”

As we were driving into South Fork, Colorado last week I was amazed at what God had created. We were surrounded by mountains on both sides. On one side the mountains were covered with trees and on the other side the mountains were rocky and bare.

As I drove down the road I thought about all the bears, elk, deer, birds and bugs the mountains gave refuge to. I told Robin and the girls, “Isn’t God awesome? God knows where every animal and bug is on the mountain!” If God cares enough about little bugs to know where they are and where they live on the mountain, “How much more does He care for you and me?”

Sometimes people think God has forgotten or abandoned them. Well, be encouraged, He hasn’t! He knows your address and He knows your cell phone number. He knows what you’re going through today. He knows your needs and He knows your wants! He knows exactly where you are physically, mentally, and spiritually! God is here, there, He is everywhere!

If you don’t since God’s presence in your life today  it may be because of you! Have you met with Him recently? Have you call upon the name of the Lord? The Lord says in Psalms 91:15, “He shall call upon me, and I will answer Him: I will be with Him in trouble: I will deliver Him, and honour Him.”

Yesterday we left Houston to drive to Colorado for vacation. As we drove down the road I checked the temperature outside and it was 108. Boy, am I thankful that my RAV4 has a good air conditioner!

I remember going to church with Gail Blalock when I was a teenager. She had this old beat up car with no air conditioner at all. By the time we arrived at church it looked like we had taken a shower. The only relief we had was the wind blowing in our faces as we drove down the road.

Driving down the road yesterday I’d see some people who had no air conditioning at all and I felt sorry for them. As I write this devotional I think about all the people who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. When they die, they’ll go to hell, a place where they’ll live in torment forever, with no relief at all!

Jesus is their way out and it’s up to us to take Jesus to them!  I ask myself this question, “What am I doing to get the Word of God out?” You need to ask yourself that question as well! We are to sow the Word and let God take care harvest!

Two weekends ago our youngest daughter Miranda graduated from high school. Everyone was here to celebrate that occasion. There were 17 people in our house that weekend and we had a ball.

I was sitting in my recliner and listening to what was going on. People laughing upstairs and down, chatter taking place all around, and the grand kids putting on a show for their Mia and Paw Paw! We just hung out and had a week end long party.

Can you imagine what it’s gonna be like in heaven when we get there. People laughing, chatting and having a grand ole time! We get to see family and friends that have died and went before us. We’ll get to see the thief on the cross and the Samaritan woman that came to know Jesus at the well.

We’ll finally get to see the one who made it all possible by shedding His precious blood for us. We’ll walk down the streets of gold together and we’ll get to see the mansions Jesus has prepared just for us!  A party will take place and that party will continue for an eternity! Praise God for His goodness!

Last week I was camp pastor in Altus, Oklahoma at the Southwest Assembly Children’s Camp. God blessed in a mighty way as usual. There were 91 decisions made for our Lord and 44 of those were professions of faith. Let’s give God all the praise and glory for the things that happened there.FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailShare

Have you ever felt you’ve been hung out to dry by friends or family members? Everyone has felt betrayed by someone they love and highly respect. The key is, how do you handle that situation? I think we need to handle betrayal and disappointment the same way Jesus did!

Throughout His ministry religious leaders and men He trusted turned their backs on Him. Judas sold Him our for a few pieces of silver and old Peter denied Him three times. As He hung on the cross religious leaders  came by making fun of Him ! He was literally hung out to dry by His friends and enemies!

His response  was “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do! (Luke 23:34)  I was talking to Brother Alan Cox the other day about an incident that happened at camp and He said, “Bubba, I’m happy, and I’m happy because I have a short memory!” Something I’m learning is that people who are forgiving live happy lives, people who don’t are usually down right miserable!

I knew a man in Muskogee, Oklahoma who had received a heart transplant. Every Christmas there would be a huge red heart placed in his backyard for all to see as they drove by. For him to get this heart someone had to die and donate it! I don’t know if he knew who the person was or not, but if I were him I would have tried to find out and let his relatives know how much I appreciated the sacrifice!

We need to tell the world about the blood donor who saved our life, Jesus Christ! He shed every drop of His blood for us on the cross at Calvary so that we could be saved! Jesus says in Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins!”