Man Two Man

25. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27. Finally, the woman died. 28. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her? 29. Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

Thought of the day….

I’m sure you have heard the Abbot and Costello skit “Who’s on first.” You know, Who’s on first, What’s on second and I don’t Know’s on third.  Many families are just like that. They are confused about, Who should be on first.  In many marriages either one or both spouses spend all their time on their children and neglect each other or they spend all their time thinking about self gain and neglect the others. In either case God gets the third seat. Family is of utmost importance to God and at final judgment we will be held accountable for our families. However, no matter what, God should be first. He should start your day, be in your day and finish your day. The correct order should be God, spouse, and then children. You may be saying “well why would he say that, I can’t put my children last”, and remember I didn’t say neglect them. Ok, let’s look at life.

1. You get married and have 2.2 children and they grow up, go to college and get married themselves. Ok, now you’re left with just you and the spouse.
2. As we get older life happens one of the spouses dies and now you are left with just Jesus that has walked with you and carried you through many trials.
3. Then someday you die and stand before the Lord in awe and wonder, singing Holy, Holy, Holy is He, the Lamb of God. Just you, by yourself.

In today’s scripture, Matthew tells sort of a parable to illustrate what I am saying as well. Life on this earth is short. So short, sometimes it feels like a blink. When we get to heaven, and live there for eternity, we will be like the angels; there will be no husbands, wives, or children. Only praise glory and honor in worship to God. All the more reason to have a relationship with God today, putting Him and His plans First.

Today I ask, who’s on First?

But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Thought of the day….

The world is our greatest temptation and drags us away from what is truly important in life. I heard in a sermon this morning and statement that rang so true to today’s world. “We wish for things we don’t need, buy them with money we don’t have, to gain the approval of people we don’t like.” We are running in circles trying to find something that satisfies us, when the one that truly quenches our thirst is a simple prayer away.

Today I ask, do you want your thirst quenched? Just call on Jesus!

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Thought of the day….

Today’s verse comes from the story of “The Prodigal Son.” I’m sure you remember the story of a young man who leaves his father and takes his inheritance and squanders it away. He then finds himself living a life that the father would not approve of and is shameful of the life he is living. When he is at the end of himself, he comes home to the father and the father welcomes him home without question or judgment.

Today’s thought is a true reflection of us and our heavenly father. We can be so far away from him, live in filth, live a life we are ashamed of, but if we come to Him in repentance, he welcomes us with open arms. He welcomes us without question, without condemnation. How wonderful it is to serve a Father that loves us so much, that while we were sinners He died for us.

Today I ask, are you willing to come to Him and let Him forgive you of anything and all you have done?

(About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

Thought of the day….

Five thousand men! Wow! Can you just see that many men hungry to hear the word of God! Several years ago I went to a ‘Men at The Cross’ event in Dallas, Texas. There were probably one thousand men present in the assembly. As we began worship and hearing God’s word it was amazing to see hundreds of men stand to their feet and surrender themselves to God. You could see the passion and love of God on the expression of their faces.  We as men tend to hold things inside and resist fully surrendering to God.  When they do as they did at the men at the cross event or in the above verse it is not only amazing to us but it is what God expects from us.

 Today I ask, are you willing to surrender to God?

Good morning, Today’s thought is a repeat from days ago, but it’s a good one, so hope you enjoy.

Psalms 119:103 NIV

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Thought of the day….

A couple of days ago, while watching television, I heard a story about a man and his dog that I want to relate to you today. The story was told by Mike Fletcher, World Champion Cowboy and now Cowboy Preacher. The story goes like this…..

“ I once had a dog that I loved so much. He was just a mutt dog but I loved him just the same. One day I noticed he was losing weight no matter how much he ate so, I figured he just needed to be wormed. That afternoon, I stopped by the vet and picked up some worm medicine. You know the kind, that ol’ thick yellow syrupy kind. Well the next day I went to my mom’s house to visit and I took the dog with me. After a while my mom went to the store to get some things so I thought it was a great time to bring the dog in the house where it was warm and give him the medicine.  Well I got down on the floor in the kitchen and locked him between my legs and pried his mouth open and became to pour some down his throat. Needless to say he was not a willing participant in this medicine taking. He began to fight and cough and spit, so I let him go. There was yellow medicine everywhere on the floor, the cabinets, everywhere. I panicked and went to get something to start cleaning it up before my mom returned. Amazingly when I got back to the kitchen, the dog was licking the medicine off the floor. You see it was not the medicine he didn’t like it was the way it was administered he didn’t like.

You know the gospel is like that. We can administer it in many ways, traditional church, Cowboy Church, street ministry, missionary work, Man Church, high pressure, and low pressure. It is all the same gospel of Christ; it’s all the same God of the Old and New Testament. The acceptance of the gospel is possibly not the gospel, it’s maybe the way we administer it.

Today I ask, how are you administering Christ to those around you?

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Thought of the day….

Praise the Lord! When should we praise Him? James 1:2 says “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” Should we praise Him then? 1 Corinthians 9:23 says “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” Should we praise Him then? Of course the answer is yes and yes. It is so easy to praise God when we see and reap His blessings in our lives but it is difficult to give Him His rightful praise in hardship and despair. It is in those times of need we should cling to Him as tightly as we can. We should praise Him that He is there for us to carry us and be there to lay our burdens on Him.

Today I ask, are you giving God praise in all things?