A Wise Heart Proverbs 23.15

A Wise Heart Proverbs 23.15

My Friend had a note to himself on the door to his shop, " Work harder" At the time he was managing a business that, at the time, had a potential of growing to annual income of 6 digits. How could he be saying to himself to work harder? I am not sure of all of the implications to the motto. I think that most of it was to be an example to his sons. To be faithful to his family. Even though the shop was grossing more than just a few hundred some days, and most of the time by noon, some thing of the work ethic was in moral fiber of my friend.

Mean while I had had returned to the U.S.A. From the slow lane, in a foreign country, like living back in time, spending most of the week in a small village of a few hundred people. Getting out a few days a week and doing 40 mph out on the four lane highway seemed just fine to me. Now I was trying to make a go of it, make ends meet, and earn an honest living. For me, $20 an hour, in the construction sites seemed like plenty, but we were having trouble making ends meet, and we were not even paying rent! Marianne started working part time, and that was humbling. We had always done well with my wages from the woods. I had very little understanding of the seismic shift that was coming to our economy. I found myself working Saturdays. I even stayed home from church a couple Sunday's to be able to get a few things done around our home, which at that time was only 2 travel trailers.

The Lord had spoken to me years in advance a word that I needed and still need as I just turned 50 this year.

" Work smarter, not harder." For those who know me, hard work has never been a stranger to me. But wisdom in business management has always been something that I could use more of.

This fall another word came to me from Proverbs 23:15

My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; NIV

At first I took this to be some guidance in praying for my sons, for them to have wisdom, and for me to blessed with joy in seeing them succeed and enjoy the abundant life they have been promised in Christ. Today, after meditating on this and digesting the context, I can hear our Lord saying to me, " work smarter today, not harder, and my heart with rejoice over you, with singing!"

This summer I was in a real struggle to keep it together, mentally and emotionally. I was determined to work hard at paying down our debt. We are doing great in a few areas, and have never had struggles with a few of our accounts. By Gods grace we have never been late or behind on any payments. We have paid down certain loans, but one credit card keeps running up there. In July, we took on a few new cleaning contracts with our cleaning business. I had promised Marianne that I would quit working in the day, and only concentrate on the cleaning hours , so she would not have to work so much. Well, it did not happen. I worked my self to a frazzle, and debt did not go down. $30 an hour work kept coming in and I chose, not to say "no" except to a few really good big projects.

I have called it, " burning the candle at both ends." Paul wrote to the Thessalonians that he and his team worked night and day to not be a burden to the body there.¹ This is a great example of " spending and being spent"² for the sake of others being served in love and for the increase of faith in the hearts of Christs disciples, true?

May we each be led, as we know we are capable of doing, to serve one another with a pure heart. A mind that is protected by the peace that passes all understanding can be had for each of us, "today"; if we will give everything over to Our Father in Prayer. Look to see what he hands back to you on the to do list for today, and do not worry about the rest, ok? The following thoughts are describing more of what I have learned in the last couple months. May they be food for your soul. :) If there be anything note worthy of what Christ has wrought in me, all glory to him! G.W.

A Tender Heart An entry to my Face book wall, November 26^th 2011

Well, lately I have had a troubled heart. For a week, I was so stressed I did not feel safe driving. Yea, Greg, me having fears of being hit, or not able to concentrate enough so much that I was concerned that I might hit some one. I did hit a power pole and take my mirror off. AND locked the keys in my van 2X. Oh, well, its past and I am walking more humble than ever. Did you see the movie "Brave Heart"? Cool. What about all the broken hearts out there, anyone ever see one? I see them almost every day. Had one myself a time or two. The following is an excerpt from lesson 24 in the BLBible Institute course. I am learning from about 15 other teachers, some maturity and stability that I need in my own walk. A Tender Heart is what Jesus had³, and still has. I pass this on in hopes that it might encourage a few of my face book friends, and perhaps a family member or two also:

...maybe you have been betrayed by someone who you thought was a friend or a loved one. That hurts so deeply. Perhaps someone has undermined you, lied about you, or stabbed you in the back, who you thought was a strong supporter. Now, I am sure it has happened to most of us to one degree or another. If it has not, it will. It is just one of those guaranteed things.

But the question is: how do I react? How do I respond when I have been hurt, betrayed, or attacked? That is when it is the hardest to love. Do I harden my heart? I have been hurt so I want to harden my heart. Or do I become calloused and negative? If so, then God’s love is choked out. Do I become bitter, close my heart, or hold on to ill feelings? It is easy to do that, isn’t it? It is very natural, but it is not supernatural.

Jesus said, “As I have loved you, even so, love one another” (John 13:34). It is not a natural love. It is a supernatural love. If we become bitter, if we harden ourselves, if we get callused or cynical, even as pastors, then God’s love is choked out. It cannot flow. So the Lord wants me to run to Him. Only with His love can my heart be strong and yet tender at the same time. How do you keep a tender heart in this world? It is really easy to see how people get hardened in this world and how people get cynical or closed off. But with Christ, we cannot afford to do that because He has called us to love. We can keep a tender heart and yet be strong through the power of His love as He heals us.

Servant Leadership – Lesson 24 The Supremacy of Love by Wayne Taylor

1For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. - 1 Thessalonians 2:9 KJV

2And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. - 2 Corinthians 12:15 KJV

3 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29

Are you Listening? Deuteronomy 30:8-17

Are You Listening? Deuteronomy 30:8-17

It was a Wednesday night, and there I was fumbling through my Bible as the worship team was leading about 20 of us in some really nice songs. I was about to share with our church youth group on "Hearing God". My note book had two pages of notes, but still there was something missing. Where was that verse at? " His thoughts are higher than our thoughts...." This verse and several others came to mind, as I struggled to be better prepared to share. Having enough material to talk for 30 minutes was not the question. The few times that I know that my thoughts were the voice of God in my head and the circumstances proved it were clearly noted down.

Conveying what was really on my heart, and being able to concord with God-s particular intent to communicate with this varied group was really my need. You see, I have been a poor listener over the years. With my parents, with employers and teachers. Hearing and understanding what is being said is one thing. Doing and obeying is the second part that fulfills the purpose of having ears in the first place.

So finally the moment came to get up and start speaking. Thank God for angels. I have never really met or seen the spiritual kind, but many of the human kind have helped me very much. A brother had sat down by me and quickly offered from memory the verse in Isaiah 55, about God's thoughts and ways. I was less nervous than ever, yet, as normal, not knowing just which way this message was going to go. Sharing in my own church with out my family felt odd. No one asked, "Where is Marianne?" She and one of our daughters were working. One son was talking his GED test and our youngest boy was in an college class. I talked a lot about God, and came up with a few good illustrations. Never have I felt so un-accomplished. As I spoke we covered the subject Inductively, especially the pitfalls and the basic ways that God speaks to us. Many folks said "Way to go" like I just finished a good ball game. But the Scripture declares, " what sorrow awaits you when all men speak well of you" NLT I know that great teaching alone is not enough. The real need is to connect with these young adults and disciple them. They will be the church of the next generation. I thank God for our Pastors, Ray and Julie, who are the coaches of a great ministry team to the youth. They broke into small groups to discuss this area of life and pray together. Meanwhile I was able to connect with a new visitor, one of my grey haired age.

What would you do if you were standing on the tracks and you heard a train coming? Any of us would say we would jump off or run away from the tracks. But, how many of us linger, or test the Lord, just to see the train first, or how many of us rub against the fence of boundaries that he has laid out for us in life? Other times we deceive ourselves into believing that God's outline for us is too hard to understand or not even attainable. Here is what the Lord spoke to the nation of Isreal about listening to Him:

"And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; " Dueteronomy 30: 8-17

I know that my Father had not worked this area in my own life as much as he desires. I left that meeting with more need to draw closer to him and be listening like I should. A strong desire has been growing to really let Jesus have his say in every area of my life.There are so many other voices are playing in my mind. The radio, the TV, the Klove loop, ect... Marianne shared with me the other night that the things that people have said over the years have echoed in here mind from time to time. There are accusations and criticisms from loved ones that have stuck on her for years. Jesus said," The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63b Are my words bringing life to others?

Jesus memorized scripture and quoted it. He used it to resist temptation, and it used it to reason with skeptics. He taught "new doctrine" that was always based on the intents that were already written. He pointed out that the purpose in studying was to know him personally.¹ Christianity is not a performance based religion. Its about relationship. Redemption is not achieved, especially in our acquiring knowledge about God. Any vital relationship requires two way communication. We work out our salvation², but "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints"³ is not a self improvement program, it's a gifted relationship. A friendship with Thee Almighty results in a godly, reverent, love and joy filled life.

Our Father has sent Holy Spirit to guide us into the truth. He will not speak on his own and lead us astray one degree from God's perfect will.⁴ May we hear that still small voice saying "This is the way, walk ye in it" ⁵ May we be listening when our Elders or parents say "I really don't think that is the best thing for you." If we are followers of Jesus, we will hear his voice.⁶ Whether it be spoken through Elders, angels, or the written word jumping off the page. Just keep reading and be familiar with things Jesus said, like "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life John 5:24 NKJV Then when real life events or relationship issues come up, we can know when our thoughts are His thoughts. Our Father's heart desire for us is that our choices will cause our ways to become his ways for our own good and for His glory. G.W.

1See John 5:39

2See Philippians 2: 12,13

3Jude 1:3

4See John 16:13

5See Isaiah 30:20,21

6John 10:27

Grace Is Not A Mystery Titus 2.11

Grace Is Not A Mystery Titus 2.11

It was a warm summer morning back in 1979. At 18 yrs of age I had already lost my license. As I was hitchhiking into town and noticed a car coming back and turning around to pick me up. It was Randy, a friend I had known in high school. Was he coming back to give me a ride because he knew me, or what had prompted him to turn around after passing a hitchhiker by? Well, first of all, who hitch hikes into town? I had studied the fine art of traveling across country by thumb for a couple years now, and no one gets a ride into town. The best place to catch a ride is just on the edge of town going out. Secondly, Randy had not seen me in three years.

The last time we talked he had come to my mothers home to see why I had dropped out of the Christian youth group where we had met. He smelled smoke and kept saying it looks like it was coming up from under the couch. I said, " no, there is nothing there," until it became visible and he looked under to discover my smoldering cigarette. That terminated our visit, as he left feeling very uncomfortable.

It had been three years of sex, and drugs, and rock and roll partying for me and now one of those Christians I knew from School days is picking me up. "This must some kind of sign," I thought to myself. "Did you pick me up because you knew me?" I asked as I got in the car. For a couple weeks I had been clean from using drugs and drinking. I had gone deeper into T.M. and Soul travel. For several days I had been seeking "truth" at an abandoned non-functioning commune farm a friend of mine knew about. What had gotten me to stop the drugs was a three day LSD trip that yielded nothing for me, and only destruction and pain for others that I was partying with. I was hungering for some thing that would last. Some thing real. What had really happened is I saw a young man, some one with a future, stick his hand right into a bon fire. Because of the drugs we were all on he did not perceive the pain to follow, but I will never forget his screaming. It was time for me to to find some thing better than all the trouble I kept getting into with the law. At that point I was able to quit going out and looking for the high, but was not able to quit smoking tobacco. As I stepped off that curb on July 13th 1979 I was about to experience grace, like never before. I had a variety philosophies and knew I needed some thing out side of my own powers, but up to that moment I had not given thought of going to Jesus for the help I knew I needed.

As a child, who Jesus had been was clearly taught to me. My parents would pray with me at bedtime, say a prayer at mealtimes, and read to me from a devotional book called "little visits with God." Through the traditions of the protestant church and at Sunday school I learned the basic bible stories of Christs' birth, life, death, and resurrection. Then one day, when I was about eight, I was playing in the back yard when a phenomena occurred. The sky was over cast, but out in the middle of the neighbors large field a light beam shone down though the dark grey clouds. I ran in to the kitchen and said, "mommy look, what is it?" My mother said, " Maybe its the coming of the Lord." I listened but did not understand, and then I went on back out to play. I never gave that experience any more thought until I was converted.

A couple of other experiences I had were with the Sunday school teacher at the local community church. My Dad would take me there on the Sundays that my Mom had to work. This lady was known for sharing the "good news" with every one. Even my foster brother who had returned from Viet Nam told of how had been cornered in her back yard for what seemed like hours as she compelled him to "accept Jesus in his heart." My invitation came to go into the closet at the end of a Sunday school class. I did so, by my own choice. On a following Sunday I chose to go into the same closet and pray again, trying to get what ever it was she was offering.

Once again, at 14 I had more encounters that were invitations to give my life to God. When an African American Evangelist held a meeting at the fairgrounds in our Nebraska town, another foster brother and I went into a side room after the service for counseling and prayer. The next morning I remember looking at the booklets that I was given and they were like a tech manual for equipment that I knew nothing about. About a year later I got invited by a fellow shop class student to a picnic. I did not know it at the time, but he had mustered all the courage he could to be able to ask me if I wanted to go. No one knew how tore up I was about our family life at home being broken and about to end in divorce. When the an invitation was given at the end of the outdoor meeting I fled forward and cried with pain for the Savior that I was hearing about. For that summer I hung out with a lot of the kids that revolved around a Saturday night bible study for youth. It was only a message that I retained as long as I was looking at it. It reached my mind but not my heart. The one relationship that I needed the most was not there. Eventually, when school started up and I tried and failed at sports, I started working part time and hanging with the wrong crowd. The summer friends slipped into the past and my search for a new identity began.

One night we were partying and I felt like I was going to overdose. I cried out to God and pled with him that if he would save me I would serve him. I did not forget my promise the next morning but neither did I seek him out. As I went on my way in life, chasing girls, wrecking cars, and landing in jail 3 times, my misery deepened. Finally, late one night I called a pastor that my Mom knew. This man had taken me to lunch once while I was in high school. He was trying in a very nice way to challenge me to commit my life 100% to God. Now here I was calling him out of the blue, and telling him I was ready to sign a contract with God. He said, "Greg, sleep on it and call me again tomorrow." Well, tomorrow never came. I spaced out his open invitation once again. He was testing me, and I was still was not ready. In the moment of crisis I was crying out for help to get relief from my troubles, but I had not been sincerely ready to submit to Jesus' authority.

Now I am riding in the car with Randy, who had been in and out of the air force, gotten married, and was living a "normal' life. He bought me a cup of coffee. He did not say much, I did most of the talking. I realized this was my day to be a disciple of Jesus, he was just marveling. I was asking him to take me back to the park where I had once prayed for a Savior in my life. Now I was praying for a Savior to keep me from the wrath that I deserved for my sins, not just save me from the troubles and hurts that had offended me. Now I wanted to know what it meant to let Jesus be Lord and have complete control of my life. Jesus was revealed to me in a new way. Has this grace been made known to you? Here is what it taught me. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age," Titus 2:11,12

I did not become instantly perfect. But I was delivered from smoking. I was never tempted to use drugs again. A grace came over me in the area of morality. A significant sign of a converted person is their choice to change friends. I brought some friends with me over from the dark side and we started walking in the light together. Others that I tried to help, or old friends that I went to see just did not feel right to be around. Another old friend just showed up at my house one day, and said," what do I need to do, I want to be saved, and I heard that you have changed, Greg." The next Sunday a few of us "long hairs" we went into the little country church to listen to that preacher friend my mom knew. It was not about "going to church" for me. The desire to hear God's word and be able to converse with him was so strong. I was learning new songs and loved to sing to God. Reading the bible and attending bible studies was a big help in getting to know who God is, and how I should be living.

It took almost a year to pay my debts and restitution's. When I was released from probation, I took to the road again, heading out west. There was something about the adventure of hitching. It was not just about getting to the destination, it was about the places your find and people you meet along the way. The next year, while hitching a ride, I met my wife to be. Her and her cousin picked me up. Like many other Christians I met in the early days of my walk, there was a common joy we shared. The joy of our salvation.

30 yrs later Marianne and I are on the same road together. It is a narrow path following Jesus. She has been raising 9 children and taken in a few extras from time to time. After 32 years of following Jesus I have learned that there is a ditch on each side that I can easily fall into. One side is called religion where one can be stuck in pride and play acting, which the bible calls hypocrisy. A ditch on the other side is something I can fall back into if I let the cares of this life, or the pleasures of sin tempt me back into old ways again. There is grace freely flowing from the throne of God and I need it like never before. May we each learn to humble ourselves and receive it abundantly. G.W.