BEING TIRED

 

If there is one thing that stands out in my life it is being tired. Yes I'm tired in any way and in every way that it is possible that you can be tired.

I go to bed tired, and wake up tired. I go through the day being tired and I wait for time to pass so I can go to bed.

I'm tired of wars we can't win, and the tragedy that accompanies them. The finest men of our country are slaughtered and maimed to the point of their lives and families are destroyed.

I'm tired of politicians whose only interest is self promotion, and tired of being ruled by idiocy.

I'm tired of legislation that is designed to promote an illogical philosophy thought up by some ne'er-do-well, and is designed to exercise control over people.

I'm tired of some people taking advantage of others where some are made rich, and others struggle to survive.  

In short I'm tired of these and many other things.

Even though I'm tired - - it is no excuse to be slothful and become useless especially as it refers to the kingdom of GOD.

The Gospel has been promoted by Saints that were tired; those who have counted their ministry more important than their creature comforts.

John 4:6  Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

This scripture kinda grabbed me as I read and thought about it. Never had I thought about Jesus being tired. He had every reason to complain about his journey, but yet he saw his mission to the end.

As he sat at the well he saw an opportunity to do some good and proceeded to take advantage of the moment.  John 4:7  There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 

What occurred next was a dialogue where questions were asked and answered and promises made by Jesus. As the saying goes the rest is history.

This message was good for me. Even though I'm tired as Galatians 6:9 admonishes Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

There is a song whose lyrics are in part;

"Nothing's impossible I have found, For when my chin is on the ground,

I pick myself up; Dust myself off, Start All over again."

 

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

GOING TOO FAR

In an age where we try to push the envelope too far one might ask, “Where are the brakes”?
 

In a day when once you get to the top you can’t stay there unless you keep on pushing… until you have gone too far.
 

You might say in what area is this happening and the answer is everywhere and in everything.
 

The present day activities of politics are an area where we find that lying is just the way business is done. It starts at the bottom and has been perfected at the top.
 

Accepting responsibility is the “In Thing” for it comes without accountability. They are accountable to no one due to the fact they know where all the bodies are buried and those who should regulate wrong behavior walk in fear of being exposed themselves.
 

An area where we have gone tooooo far is substituting the righteousness man for the righteousness GOD.
 

With GOD that which is right is clearly stated and understood but the righteousness of man rides the wave of popularity as demonstrated by the old traditional conventions being dissed upon in favor ideas put forward by unseemly attitudes.

 Psalm 2:1 puts forward a question; “Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing”?

The answer is because they have thrown all restraints and consider it to be a desirable thing.

 

As always, eating forbidden fruit produces a degree of death.

 

I NEVER GAVE THANKS



Thank You Mom

Giving thanks is an act that can easily be feigned.

If they are words without meaning to you then it is just a pretence and is not worthy of the giver or receiver.

The 1929 stock market crash is conventionally said to have occurred on Thursday the 24th and Tuesday the 29th of October. These two dates have been dubbed "Black Thursday" and "Black Tuesday," something happened in between those dates; I was born on the 26th of October 1929.

During the days that followed some people suffered greatly in the great depression that was the result.  My father was employed but was sent from place to place to ply his trade. As was the custom in those days, out-of-towners stayed in boarding houses and so it was, my father, my mother and I dwelled in many places.  

Paper diapers hadn't yet been invented, so my mother had the pleasure of having to use a wash tub to wash my dirty diapers. It wasn't unusual to have to change the diapers a dozen or more times a day so you can see it was a busy time for her.

Of all the hundreds things she did for me growing up I can't remember ever really saying "Thank you mom."  I may have grunted out the expected obligatory thanks but I did that sparingly.

As I think back - - I just expected her to do all those things for me because of some unknown reason, thinking that I deserved it.  Instead of being grateful, to me it was no big thing. 

She carried me for 9 months, suffered through a home birth, and then put up with my foolishness for all those years, and still it wasn't until I had a family of my own that I started to return her kindness to me.

After being born again my attitude improved somewhat but there probably was and is still room for improvement.

When someone does something good for you, gratitude should be shown for their deed. It doesn't necessarily obligate you to them for some will use a suppose kindness as a control device over you.

If you have been saved by Christ one of the easiest things for you to do should be to thank him for his mercy to you.  Since we continually need forgiveness we should continually give thanks to HIM for his grace and long suffering.

The Psalmist incessantly does this very thing through the book of Psalms!

Psalms 106:1 Hallelujah! Give ye thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; for his loving-kindness endures for ever.

As I said it is easy to feign giving thanks, just saying the words, but the Lord knows the difference.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmSjw8ZaiBs&feature=related

 

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

 

 

ALL BOYS ARE LIARS

 

Liar

This is an issue where most mothers are in denial for they don't want to believe their sons could lie even when they know that they do.

Girls fall into this category also for they want to believe boys don't lie because then they must squelch their driven need for romance and pretty words.

Lying by boys is greatly increased in the teens and perfected in the twenties for it is there they fully understand the power of words and how to get what they want by using them.

There are few if any teen boys who understand the words "I love you," this is in part to the fact that their Libido comes into full swing.

This new force in their lives is something they don't understand and have little desire to control but rather they wish to express it in many ways.

At this time they are venerable to suggestion and can be led into that which is unnatural in GOD'S sight.  They can be given a false identity from which they may never recover. 

 

Satan himself is the author and finisher of this pseudo faith and convinces the subject that this is their norm.
 

It becomes a sign of manhood when lying turns into a power over girls and uses their natural desire for love to control them. The desire for girls to hear the words" I love you,” is overwhelming and it can only be repressed and sublimated to a standard of righteousness that is built into the girl's sub consciousness by Biblical principles.

Biological instincts were built into mankind by GOD for the needs of His creatures and are at the root of the family unit where real love can be nurtured.

 

The family unit is highest form of humanity and was created and blessed by the providence GOD.

But getting back to the proposition that all boys are liars I offer the testimony of all teen age girls who have had their hearts broken (temporally) by some teen boy.  

 

And as for the men, well they are just boys grown up and only tell the truth when necessary.

Some answers to the question by a girl in China, as she was asked, “Why are all boys liars?” were interesting; - - 

Well, it's just because most girls like liars, and most girls don't like truthful guys. It's all about a game.  It is because all girls can't stand the truth.  God gives each one of us one heart, but he gives boys two heads!
 

It's kinda cute to watch young boys make some beautiful vows with their tongues tangling and their eyes distracting!

 

And lastly; all human beings are liars; more men are liars because women are always in need of illusions, so it's just a way to meet their demands. 



 

 

 

A DOLLAR SHORT

 

When I was growing up many of the stories I read would always end up with; “and the moral of the story is” and then they explained what the point they were trying to make was.   They did this to either make sure I got the point or reinforce what I understood. Whatever the case was I depended heavily upon the moral of the story.

Another thing I depended on was sayings that had a measure of wisdom within them. These sayings help mold me into to the mess I am or at least I blame it on them. Some of my favorites are;

There are three faithful friends, an old wife, an old dog, and ready money. ~ Benjamin Franklin (I got two of those things right).

Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. ~ Winston Churchill

There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it. ~ Oscar Wilde

All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. ~ Sean O'Cassey

So many more, but the one that is like Paul’s throne in the flesh and that continues to goad me is; “a day late and a dollar short”.

This saying continues to point out my inadequacies each time I could have done better which is most often.

My retort to that demeaning thought hardly mitigates the distress it brings to the table, still I am able to function without perfection and meet the requirements of others with the same defect which is in most of us.

 

The truth of the matter is; we are an imperfect people, living in an imperfect world without any remedy except one. This remedy is rejected by too many without a proper hearing.

This remedy makes us perfect in the only court that counts, in the sight of GOD. This attained perfection in GOD’S sight demands and challenges us to perfect our lives through our conduct before the world.

Matthew 5:48 Be then complete in righteousness, even as your Father in heaven is complete. 

 

If it’s “to be or not to be” it is to be.  Although GOD will accept us being an hour late and a few cents short, the goal must always to be on time and fully paid up.

One last thing to remember; when the wine goes in, strange things come out! 

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

 

 

 

OUR 1936 PLYMOUTH

One Like our 1936 Plymouth

If I asked you what were you doing in 1936 what would your answer be? Probably many of you would say; the world had not yet been blessed with my appearing - - it had to wait a little longer until I arrived.

In the year 1936 I lived in North Carolina, in the town of Cliffside. I went to the first grade there, saw my first movie, and also got a baby brother all in Cliffside.  One other thing we acquired was a new 1936 Plymouth automobile.  It was bought F.O.B. at the factory where my dad went to pick it up.  It was a fine, brown, four door sedan with about 80 horse power, and hydraulic brakes.  We usually had a good car but this was something special.

My dad had a new job in Oakland California, and we had to travel from one coast to the other, which was about 3000 miles.  It was a hot and dusty trip; my brother was only 6 months old, and was a little cranky for good reason.  I wasn't allowed to be cranky so I just endured the trip.  There were only two lane highways and many detours every so often. It took us around 6 days to make the trip and I was glad we had that nice new car to ride in.   

In those days there weren't any motels, as we now know them, but you could rent a cabin for the night.  All along the highway we would see signs saying cabins for rent then it was just a matter of selecting the best looking one.  I thought this was grand, because they were just like a small house.  It gave my mother a chance to wash diapers, and get ready for the next days drive. 

Most of the travelers had an evaporating water bag hanging on the front of their cars in case they got thirsty or their car overheated. They claimed that the water evaporation would cool the water inside the bag but it seemed to me that it was always hot. 

In the South where I had lived everything was green, but as we came West, from Texas on, it was very dry, especially in the Mojave Desert. 

I felt that the trip aged me, but we finally arrived in Oakland, and my dad started his new job, and I entered the next phase of my life for I had arrived in Canaan land at last.

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

 

THE PRINCIPLED LIFE

                                   

 

Our immediate question to answer is, “What is the Principled Life?”

Life implies some living is going on!  It also implies some one is doing the living.  For our purpose, let us say it is me doing the living!

Principles are guide lines for the way I live my life.  The source from which the principles are derived is most important.  They may be God centered or man centered.  If they are man centered, they will be conditioned.  The effort is made to expunge our guilt nature because we have a sin nature.  The Hope is, if we can balance our Good and Bad deeds, tipping the scale in favor to the good side, then we are alright. 

 

This should be acceptable to me and make me feel good about myself. This principle allows me to feel better if I have much more good than bad.  A person who is wrong in both heart and head could still appear to be good using this principle.  It could take on the appearance of being Spiritual.

Being man centered starts with man, continues with man and ends with man.  In today’s world, it is most acceptable.  Many times it appears to be better than being God centered.  The reasons for this are; it is more liberal.  The old rule, “I’m OK You’re OK” applies!

When standards are violated, blame is automatically shifted from the offender to society if at all possible. When this is not viable, then prescribed penalties are minimized almost out of existence.  This makes us feel good.  If we enforce the rules, then we feel bad about our self, and this penalizes us, so we do what is necessary to feel good. 

 

Man centeredness is extremely politically controlled.  Scholastically control and economically controlled. 

 

These are the Big Three, all other controls are a by product of these.  They use many tools such as Raw power (conform or else).  Media; here we are told what to think and believe.  Ridiculed, unless you conform to the Spirit of the World you are unacceptable.  The Plan of man centeredness is to allow no one to escape its power!

When anyone would suggest that the force behind this is Spiritual, the Master Mind Satan himself, they are ridiculed and attacked viciously.  All the tools are brought into play.

So what do we do?  It seems to be easier to just conform, join the crowd and become of the number. Or do we realize there is a better way, not an easier way, at least on the surface!

There is a different way.  It is called  “The New and Living Way.”  It is always new.  New every day, although it is always the same way.  It is the God centered way or the God principled life.

In it God is held as being most important.  His wishes are our command.  His goals are our highest purpose.

To conform my life to a God Principled life, I must find the starting place which is with God Himself.  Everything I am or do is a product of Faith in something

So to start building a God principled life, I start with the revelation of God.  The Bible contains all I need to know!  In it there is an explanation of who God is, what he does, why he does it.  Of man’s relationship with Him.  The problems that need to be overcome.  In other words; God’s remedy for man’s dilemma.

“God IS,” is another way of saying “I AM”.  While “I AM” speaks of the totality of God, “God is” also includes the access and availability of God to man!  This is why I can say, I AM, because “God is”.  (If God wasn’t, I wouldn’t be)  So I am because “He is.”

Because He is  “The Great I AM” everything is of Him.  Everyone is debtor to Him.  I have a debt that I owed, which I could not pay.  Only God could pay my debt.  This he did in Christ Jesus!  God wrote across my debt; “Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb”  By this act, God freed me from all that held me in Bondage of every kind and loudly proclaimed; This is the way, walk ye in it.”

The God Principled way – my God centered life, starts each day with the knowledge that he is worthy of satisfaction with my life this day.  My goal is to always do those things which are pleasing to him, this day!

I study His principles that are to govern my life.  Neither individuals or groups or experiences can detour me from this purpose.