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Pebbles In the Pond
Hello Joes and Janes;
Drops in a pond
Each of us affects the world, (pond) we live in. Sometimes events reach far and wide as with the shooter in Newtown last Friday. Creating huge waves, while others create small ripples with a quite hug of a small child. I would submit that our view of the pond is often altered by what the mainstream media chooses to show us and what they choose to keep out of the picture.
My encouragement to you is to make the jump into the pond each and every day. Whether through making a new friend, mentoring someone younger than you or sharing Jesus with someone… you can make ripples that reach out across the pond. Often we will never know what that small effort does to affect the life of the one who receives your gift. I think back over the years of people who affected my life in great ways through small efforts that they probably don’t realize.
Make the effort to make a splash today!
Regular Joe
I Have Returned
After a long absence from writing due to illness, work overload and various other trivial excuses I have returned to writing on my blog. I hope to write at least several times a week and write much more on the 5 G’s of preparedness while still doing some devotional materials. I hope that you will find my writing useful to you!
Regular Joe
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall…
Good Morning Joes and Janes;
I recently purchased several books and a DVD on preparedness. Some books were e-books and are on my computer while the others are sitting on my shelf. I believe they all have a lot of good information in them and I hope to share some with you in the months ahead. However if I don’t make the time to actually read them and put the knowledge they contain into action then they are useless. That is what today’s devotional in James is talking about.
James 1:22-24
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
The part about looking in the mirror reminds me of times I walk into a room to get something but then forget what I was after….but I think James has a different point. Sitting in church on Sunday morning, reading a passage of the Bible every day or watching a sermon on TV are all great things to do, but if you never actually take that message and change how you live your life; then really it is just a waste of time. Actually internalizing and putting into practice the Word of God is what changes our lives for the better.
Every morning at least we make a trip to the bathroom, look in the mirror and wash up, shave, brush our teeth and other activities, often not really seeing ourselves. Stopping to really look in the mirror can be a frightening experience! We can see lines that were not there before, wrinkles, blemishes we don’t envision in our minds eye of how we look. James says that listening to the word but not doing it is like looking in the mirror but then just forgetting what we really look like. Going out into the world with that mental image of ourselves, not the true image of what we are.
Self examination in the mirror can be hard. Self examination of our hearts can be even harder; but that is what is required to realize our need for God and our need for changes in our lives.
Have a great day in the Lord and don’t forget to really take a look in the mirror next time you get a chance.
Regular Joe
Professing to Be Wise, They Became Fools
Hi Joes and Janes;
Just a few thoughts on this Saturday. If we were not in such dire financial straights as a Nation these two stories would be more humorous than they are. Both came to my attention this week and involve money that came out of your pocket assuming that you are paying taxes. With over 16 Trillion in debt and 100 trillion in unfunded liabilities I just wonder if we could not have figured these things out on our own with out paying someone money to study it.
Item #1
Hold on to your seats, you won’t believe what you are reading, but…..Mermaids are not real! NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration after years of research has determined that there is no evidence that aquatic humanoids exist.
NOAA Says Mermaids are not real
Update on July 9th 2012; Please note the comments and links by Keith regarding this story. I was in error as to the length of study and actually the reason that NOAA put out this news release. My thanks to Keith who reads regularly, and though we disagree on some major areas of life we always have civil dialogues and stimulating discussions. That is where learning and change of opinion and thought occur.
Item #2
Again, sit down, you are not going to believe this next research tidbit! Most fireworks injuries happen in a 30 day window around the 4th of July! Among the facts that they discovered after a costly study are these:
65 % of all fireworks related injuries happened during a period starting 15 days before the Fourth of July and ending 15 days after the Fourth.
Hmmm… I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that most fireworks are used during that period? I am guessing that a significant number of the rest occur around New Years….. but then that is just me.
Of the fireworks-related injuries sustained, 68 percent were to males, and 32 percent were to females.
Males are more likely to use fireworks than females…. sounds very sexist to me…but fits with my experiences since I was a young child and no one paid me for my opinion.
The parts of the body most often injured were hands and fingers (an estimated 46 percent); eyes (an estimated 17 percent); head, face, and ears (an estimated 17 percent); and legs (an estimated 11 percent).
Apparently there is a relationship between hands and fingers being used to light fireworks and the injury rate….who would have guessed that one! Head face ears and legs were next in injury… I wonder if it has anything to do with them being less likely to be clothed? Perhaps full body and head armor should be required. Maybe a safety officer assigned to each individual using fireworks.
Burns were the most common injury to all parts of the body,
Boy! who would have thunk that one!
This report goes on in detail for 50 boring pages. I will not bore you. But here are a few of my own ‘research data for absolutely free;
- If all fireworks are outlawed then the only injuries that occur will be from illegal fireworks.
- The majority of deaths that occur from hanging also include rope burns to the neck
- Injuries from gun accidents include puncture wounds from bullets 98% of the time. (once in a while you only get grazed)
- People who propel themselves at speeds over 10 miles per hour in vehicles are more prone to injuries than those who walk everywhere and
- the injuries of people riding in or on vehicles are more severe than those of people who are walking.
CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission
In summation the previous articles reminded me of a Bible verse that I thought I would share
Romans 1:22-23
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
And one final thought before I leave….I wonder if I am more likely to injure myself while using power tools in the week ahead than if I stay home and sit at the computer? I wonder which one will pay the bills? I wonder if power tools should be banned? I wonder if Obama will send me some more of ‘his stash’ so I can stay home and be safe.
Have a great Saturday!
Regular Joe
When the Lord is Silent
Good Morning from the Bitterroot Valley;
It is a beautiful, clear morning and a doe and buck Blacktail deer just walked past my window heading across our front lawn. The buck had four points all in velvet. God has created so many things in nature to appreciate. Speaking of God, usually I sit down in the morning and within a short time have a definite direction that I believe he is leading me in for a devotional. I don’t know why, but today I am not getting a message. Why are there times when the Lord doesn’t seem to communicate with us? Or is he communicating and we are not tuning in? Hard questions that I certainly don’t have an easy answer for. I am including some verses from Proverbs today but I will let you read them and God can speak to you through them.
Proverbs 10:16-22
16 The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.
17 He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
18 He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
21 The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.
22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
I am onto the final stages of the house remodel I have been working on. A partial residing of the home, new windows and doors, and a new coat of paint. The owner was very excited when she got home, to see her home all painted in a new color! I had just begun painting the trim on the front of the house. She said, in her excitement she had a new home. That did make me happy but I was thinking on the way home that it really was the same house on the inside. Those thoughts lead me to think about spiritual applications, (I think God was speaking). Any way, often we try to dress up our outside appearances to people around us through clothes, or putting on ‘airs’. We are struggling with problems in our life but when we see someone at church or the store that asks how we are we say; “Oh I’m doing fine”.
The person who doesn’t know Christ as personal savior can put on any clothes, have any amount of money and do all sorts of ‘good deeds’ living an exemplary life to the world; but still be lost in sin on the inside. It is kind of like that new coat of paint that I put on the outside of that house; the inside is still the same.
Which brings me to a question that people have asked me before; “How do you know that God exists?” My answer is that when I asked him into my life I felt internally changed. I had a peace that I did not have before. When I am driving down the road in my truck I am not alone. I have the “Comforter” with me. Now people may say that it is all in my imagination, but not if they have shared a similar life experience. To those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as personal savior and Lord of their lives they can not understand and may think that it is all ‘foolishness’.
I am heading out to finish painting trim today. I hope and pray that you have the “Comforter” with you today as you go out into the world.
Regular Joe
Related articles
- Fresh Off The Press; 3500 Years Ago (5gsandacupofjoe.net)
- In the End Every Tongue will Say the Same Thing (jesuscarriesme.com)
- “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world” (worryisuseless.wordpress.com)
- Fools! (packetsofpeaceandpromises.wordpress.com)
- Light in the darkness (wonderingpreacher.wordpress.com)
5 G's and a Cup of Joe 