Category: Successful Living

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How to Live; How to Die

There are thousands of self-help books promising how to be successful or how to be effective. The Bible, by far, is the most powerful book and instructive book ever written. It tells us how to live. It also shows us how to die.

I have made the Word of God a part of my daily life for many decades. It is one of the most important things I have ever done. The Word of God was delivered into our hands by His servants who penned them thousands of years ago. It is an ancient book that speaks strongly to us today. There are none like it nor shall there ever be.

Learn with me from a few verses from the Apostle Paul to his spiritual son Timothy.

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Understanding God: Insights from a Lifelong Journey

I will soon cross over into my seventh decade of life. There are a few things I know now. I did not know them when my hair was brown and my energy was like the battery bunny. The main morsel of knowledge I now realize is how much I do not know. The body of knowledge seems to be as vast as the ocean and I am in a row boat.

I have read the entire Bible each year for close to thirty years. I understand many truths of the Bible but I still scratch my head about some things. It is the Word of God. How can a mere mortal like me understand the vastness and the depth of it? The short answer, I cannot. Yet, I keep studying and praying for more understanding of the Word of Life.

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King David’s Moral Crisis: Lessons in Repentance

King David had a moral crisis when he committed adultery with a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. He complicated and multiplied his sin by deceit and murder after it was revealed to him that she was pregnant with his child.

The husband of Bathsheba was Uriah. He was a trusted soldier of David and was numbered in the elite thirty-seven of 2 Samuel chapter 23. Uriah was ordered from the front lines for the sole purpose of obscuring his wife’s pregnancy as a product of adultery. Uriah refused to keep company with his wife out of concern for his fellow soldiers still on the battlefield.

David took the sin to an even lower level of murder. He wrote orders for Uriah to be put in the most dangerous position of battle guaranteeing his death. This strong faithful soldier faithfully carried his own death sentence to the commander of the army. He died in battle and David brought Bathsheba into his palace as his wife.

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Obscurity of Earth and the Known of Heaven

In the world of social media and in the nature of man, there is a desire by many to be recognized and perhaps even be famous.  Many want to become the next  TikTok or YouTube sensation.  Perhaps we should be more concerned about being known in Heaven.

We should not seek fame but seek to be more like Jesus. It is more important to be obedient to His purpose than to desire His help with our plans. If we are faithful to His purpose then we will be among those known in Heaven.

Most of us will live in obscurity on earth. The vast majority of us will be completely forgotten two generations after our death. Most graves are eventually unvisited. Remember, those old forgotten family photos that hang on Cracker Barrel Restaurant walls next to an old rusty relic were once real families.

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Instinct and Discernment: Radars of Protection

I am amazed at the programming in creation by our Creator. Mankind, being the pinnacle of His earthly creation, has the greatest capacity for logical reasoning. Animals including man also have instincts. Instinct is part of the intellectual design God “hardwired” into his creatures for them to survive in this world. Instincts are not things that need to be learned, yet they can be sharpened by experience and reasoning.

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Fake Fruit on Dead Trees

“Fake fruit on a dead tree”, is a phrase my pastor, Bro. Bradley Petrey, recently used in a sermon. It describes the look some folks try to portray in Christian circles. I told him, “I do not like the condition it describes but I loved the phraseology.”

Jesus used something similar when He said, “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. / A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:17-18 NKJV).

The fruit depends on the tree. Said another way, the tree determines the fruit.

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Saltiness of Christianity

Jesus used salt as an analogy to show the importance of being a true disciple. Salt performs two basic functions; it enhances taste, and it preserves. As Christians we bring flavor and meaning to a hopeless world. We also preserve society and order to a fallen world. How do we lose our salt factor?

Salt does not in itself deteriorate. Salt without its saltiness is contaminated salt. Salt is derived from the sea or from salt deposits in the earth. The substance we buy today is consistent and mostly free from contamination.

In the time of the New Testament it was not so pure. The water from the sea was evaporated leaving a residue of salt but the residue was not pure. It was often contaminated with other minerals and substances of the sea. If it became too contaminated, it lost its flavor or saltiness.

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True Discipleship Means No Alternatives

I find choosing a paint color a little frustrating because there are just too many options. I ate in a foreign restaurant where I had a choice of meat but no option for the side dishes. When it came to the side dishes, you either ate them or left them.  Of course, I usually ate them!

When it comes to being a true disciple of Jesus Christ, why do some folks think they have options?

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