Who do you trust?

 January 9

A winter storm is howling at BWI Airport in Baltimore. My flight to Tampa is delayed as crews plow the runways.

 

Finally it is our turn to take-off. While I pray the plane roars down that snowy runway and up into the swirling storm clouds. The aircraft shutters and shakes for until we climb above the storm. It is a smooth flight to Tampa.

 

When I entered that plane I had totally given up control and put my life in the hands of that pilot.

So why struggle giving the controls of my life to the Lord? Why can't I trust God to pilot my life’s journey? After all, who has had more experience?

 

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

(Proverbs 3:5)

Convicted and Lesson Learned

 

January 7

 He said his name is Bill Young and he was looking for work and needed some money for breakfast.

I handed him a couple of dollars and mentioned softly that he might have a better chance of getting a job if he didn't have alcohol on his breath.

 I asked him if he knew Jesus. He took a small Bible from his sack. He turned to Luke 16-19," you read it," he said. handing me his Bible. It is about the rich man and poor Lazarus eating crumbs.

 “ The poor man died, and angels took him to the place of honor next to Abraham."  I stopped. "Read the next line," he urged. “The rich man also died, was buried and went to hell and was suffering terribly."

I stood convicted of my arrogance and smugness.

 "Judge not that you be not judged. (Matthew 7:1)

Why I Finally Quit Smoking

January 6

 

January 6, 2013

 

At age 14 I started smoking. I felt dizzy and was sick to my stomach but I continued to smoke.

At 30 the Government warned tobacco could be harmful to your health.  I continued to smoke.

My dad finally quit when his doctor said he had emphysema. I continued to smoke. After some chest pains, I switched to a pipe and decaffeinated coffee. I continued to smoke.

 One night my son Rob, then seven, asked, " Dad can you get heart disease from smoking a pipe?"

 I hadn't heeded the other warnings, but when God sent my son, I heard the message. I quit! For good at age 40.

Come to think of it, God sent His only son with an important message for all of us. Hear him!

 

“I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” (John12:47)

John Glenn Looking Back at US

 January 4

It is a full moon and a pleasant night to walk around the neighborhood. I muse how the ancients viewed this same moon, fearing it and even worshiping it.

 

John Glenn, the first American to orbit our planet and have a moon’s-eye- view of earth, takes another trip 36 years later. Now 77, Glenn catches the world’s attention on his "flag lap" around earth. Walter Cronkite is back to report the event and the Australians light up their country for Glenn, as they did in 1962.

 

From space Glenn says, " Looking at the Earth from this vantage point, looking at this kind of creation and to not believe in God, to me, is impossible."

 

Right on.

 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Leaving Home for What?

 

January 3

 

On a walk around my neighborhood, I notice a small boy pulling a little red wagon with a suitcase in it. He starts down the street. As I near the house a man comes out, looks in the direction of the boy.

 

"Leaving home are we," I ask? The man nods.

 

That boy is testing his boundaries but what he really wants to know is that his parents still love him.

 

As a child of God, I have walked away from my heavenly Father. I didn’t get far and I desperately wanted to know that God still loves me.

 

God tells us all the time that He loves us. We just have to pay attention and listen.

 

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever."
(Psalm 136:1 NLT)

Flight Delayed...Canceled

 

January 2

My flight from Hartford to Sarasota is canceled.

 I call Joy and she says "Look around and see who you can help. Go do the Lord's work."

As I hang up the phone I spot a man in a wheelchair looking at his ticket. I wheel him to the next gate. The agent sees us a waves us forward.
The agent redoes Harold's ticket (we are on a first name basis now. He turns to me.

 "Oh I'm not on his flight," I tell him, “I ‘m going to Florida but my flight to Charlotte was canceled." More clicking on the computer.

 "I can get you to Tampa. Will that help?"

Tampa is only an hour away. I arrive home in time for dinner.

"Lord when did I see you a stranger and take you in? Surely I say to you when you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to Me." (Matthew 25:38-40

Best way to start a year

January 1

 

It isn’t a typical start to a New Year.

 

My wife Joy wants to let God orchestrate this New Year. At Christmas Joy asked that we give Jesus something on His birthday. We realized that meant giving something of ourselves. Lord, I thought, give me the opportunity to share this idea with others.

 

The day after Christmas the associate pastor of our church called saying,” I was praying for someone to talk on New Years resolutions and how they differ once you become a believer…and your name kept coming to mind.”

 

What a way to begin a year, in His will.

 “In all your ways acknowledge Him.

And He shall direct your paths.”
(Proverbs 3:6)