Morning Thoughts

Good Thursday morning to you. Are you ready for the day? Before you do anything else, take a minute and pray for Texas. "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16b Are you happy today? Did you get up feeling good? Then sing songs of praise. It's time to just offer worship and praise to the King of Kings.   Yesterday, We stopped at Pops in Anadarko, OK. Pops is a gas station/ restaurant that specializes in bottled pop. They have every kind you can imagine and then some. When I saw all those bottles and all those colors I thought "How much to these people love their soda pop?" There were T-shirts of all colors and designs for Pops. Mugs, hats, keychains, you name it to celebrate this fun gas station. It was really amazing.  How do we celebrate our Savior? “The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving." Psalms‬ ‭28:7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Giv...

It's Tuesday and this is the day God has intentionally made for you and for me to serve Him.  Yesterday, I had an insurance adjuster come to my house since last spring's storms left my roof with hail damage and destroyed my dock ramp. He agreed with me on my roof, but on my dock, we had a difference of opinion. I explained that the heavy winds had blown heavy trees into it and pounded it. He said that the trees were only there because of the flood and they don't cover flood damage on docks. It seemed to be that we saw the same damage, but looked at it from opposite sides.  Do you ever wonder if God thinks the same thing about us? We may be seeing the same situation, but we see it from different side and have totally different opinions. (And yet His is the only one that matters). He not only has the big picture view, but He's looking at it through pure and holy eyes.  “Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-f...

Happy Monday. I hope your weekend was rewarding. Mine was great, spending time with special friends who are more like family. It was joyous. but even if it had been awful, isn't it great to know that no matter what our circumstances, we can find joy in the presence of the Lord? If we are having a good day, we can just kick back and let the delight of it all wash over us. Those days are easy. But some days things are not as good as we had hoped or things are just plain bad, and we have to remind ourselves that our joy is in Him and His presence--not in our circumstances. Those days, when it's dark and gloomy, if we continue to communicate with the Father, His joy will begin to become a part of us.  We can start by simply remembering this day was created by the Lord. It was not a random-chance kind-of-thing but it was a deliberate plan of the Father. And never forget that God is with us, regardless if we "feel" that presence or not, He is here. Then, just start talking ...

It's Sunday-the day we set aside for Sabbath and the corporate worship of our Savior. I trust you are headed to join with a group of believers this morning to give all glory and honor to the one true God who commands the angel armies. Yesterday, I certainly had sufficient reason to praise Him and thank Him for sending His angels my way.  This morning, we are at Sunnylane Church with Bro. Frank, but on our way to Oklahoma City, we neglected to check the gas gauge. Lost in our own thoughts, the gas just slipped both of our minds. When we had just passed the Big Cabin exit, a panicked voice said "The gas! We are out of gas!" I pushed the "range" button and it said "6 miles" --the next gas station was more than 30 miles. On the turnpike, we had no way to turn around or to exit so, I just began to pray and I kept praying and...what alternative was there?And wouldn't you know, that car made it all the way to the Quik Trip at Claremore. (I may have done a...

It's Saturday and I hope you had a good week and have a great weekend ahead of you. I had a good week, but yesterday I couldn't find a particular t-shirt. Don't you hate to lose stuff? It makes me a little nutty--even if it's not that important, I just can't stand to not know where something is and I will tear the house apart trying to find what I'm looking for.  Do you remember when people would say they were going off to "look for themselves?" Now, I think they say they are trying to find themselves. I don't understood either of those--I just want to say "Aren't you just right there with yourself?" What I do know is those folks rarely find anything. When people are so concerned and wrapped up in themselves, they are the most unhappy and confused of all people.  ““If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you ...

Happy Friday! Another week in the books...grandma said they would go faster when I got older. I hope yours has been good. Yesterday I spent a good part of the morning going through papers and filling out forms and so in the afternoon, I needed to do something physical. I decided I could just mow the yard. I read all the instructions on the mower and it started easy enough. But...my yard has more of an incline that I thought it did and that mower is heavy! Then, I stumbled and got a stick in my leg so blood was running into my shoe (what a mess). And I had no idea how to empty the bag so when it was full, i was done. It wasn't my most successful attempt at a job. I left it and came back in the house and started cleaning windows. I learned that mowing isn't simple nor is it a job for wimps (like me).  I did learn to appreciate a hard task and even though I didn't do a good job, learning to run the mower and pushing it around did make me feel like I'd done something--I h...

Happy Thursday. I hope things are going well for you. The other day, i talked with a friend who has some serious health issues. In fact, I have a few friends who are facing serious challenges just now. Our health can change our lives; it changes our plans and the way we approach the future. All during His earthly ministry, Jesus had great compassion on the sick and healed many of them. Giving instructions to His disciples He says “Heal the sick, and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is near you now.’” Luke 10:9 NLT He cared for people but His major concern was not the physical illness, but the state of their souls. The Kingdom of God was the message and the healing was a dramatic sign to ensure that the real message was heard. Never in scripture are we as Children of the Most High promised an easy road to walk. We are told that burdens are lighter and we will have a mediator and a comforter, but never an easy-breezy time. During the Exodus, God led the Children of Israel  on ...

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well. Last Sunday, I heard a sermon on the Exodus that I've thought about for a few days now. There were a couple of things about it that I'd never pondered before. One was that when the final judgement comes to those whose hearts have been hardened by sin, it comes unexpectedly and suddenly. Those Egyptians hearts had been dulled to sin and they were just blind to everything around them. Those Egyptians ran straight into the sea--what kind of an army does that? It almost makes you wonder if they even knew where they were before the water collapsed over them. Doesn't that sound like the world today? Hardened hearts, blind to sin and circumstance? No matter how strong and sure one might feel, the result of opposing God is death. Secondly, in stark contrast was the security of the Israelites, even if they were afraid and couldn't see the way. While the Israelites were scared and not at all sure of the outcome, the Egyptians w...

Happy Friday! Another week in the books...grandma said they would go faster when I got older. I hope yours has been good. Yesterday I spent a good part of the morning going through papers and filling out forms and so in the afternoon, I needed to do something physical. I decided I could just mow the yard. I read all the instructions on the mower and it started easy enough. But...my yard has more of an incline that I thought it did and that mower is heavy! Then, I stumbled and got a stick in my leg so blood was running into my shoe (what a mess). And I had no idea how to empty the bag so when it was full, i was done. It wasn't my most successful attempt at a job. I left it and came back in the house and started cleaning windows. I learned that mowing isn't simple nor is it a job for wimps (like me).  I did learn to appreciate a hard task and even though I didn't do a good job, learning to run the mower and pushing it around did make me feel like I'd done something--I...

Happy Tuesday! So...where were you for the great eclipse of 2017? Some folks like my sister in Kansas City had a complete black out. Others like us in Oklahoma just had a partial. And some of my friends in Mexico are saying "what?" We didn't have the approved glasses but we did do the pin hole in the paper and when we saw it get more than half covered, we put on 5 pair of sunglasses--I figured that had to be pretty good, don't you think? It was an astounding thing to witness.  I think what amazed me was that even though we had 89% coverage, it was still very bright outside. It was noticeably cooler and a little strange feeling, but with only 11% of the sun, it was pretty bright. Until I went inside. It was much darker than normal in my house. That got my attention.  Is that how it is when we only let some of the Son shine through us? Maybe most people don't notice it much even though it may not be as bright as it should be, and we may be a little cooler t...

Good Monday morning . I hope you had a great Sunday worshiping our Lord. I certainly did. I was blessed to be with some of my friends yesterday--a few from my college days! And although years may have come and gone, the friendships remains caring and strong. Don't you love friends that you can count on? Friends that even if you haven't talked to them in years, you can just pick up where you left off? It's such a comfort to be with true friends. That must be the feeling God has when He knows He can count on us. When we take Him at His Word, simply believe Him and follow His leading. That is how He describes Abraham--as His friend. “You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.” ‭‭James‬ ‭2:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Because of his faith, he was counted as righteous. Abraham...

Good Sunday Morning. I trust you are excited about today and are ready to worship our Lord in spirit and in truth. A couple of days ago a good friend of mine told me that Bob Thomas had made a statement at Bob's funeral had continued to resonate with him. Bob said that although Bob Hudson was a really good man and every one really liked Bob, he is not in heaven because he was a good guy or because he was well liked. Bob is in heaven because at one point in his life grace met faith. What a blessed, simple picture that is; if we want to make heaven our home, somewhere, at sometime for each of us, grace must meet faith. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:8-10‬ ‭NIV We can do all sorts of good things, in fact, we have been called to do ...

Good Saturday to you! I hope your week was good and you are excited for this day. We are going to stain my deck today and I'm excited about that. It has needed it for the last couple of years and we've spent 2 days of prepping it, scrubbing, sanding, taking out bad boards and old nails. And finally, we are ready to put on a new coat of protective stain to make it shine and be beautiful once again.  When Jesus gives the explanation of His parable about the weeds in the wheat field, He concludes with this. “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil... Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” Matthew 13:41, 43 NLT As I looked over the deck with  a few new boards here and there and lots of new screws, it is such a picture of me. Some pieces are old and some are new, some are discolored and rough, and a f...

Happy Friday. Did this week go as fast for you as it did for me? Yesterday, I ran a power washer. It was amazing how much cleaner areas of my deck became. But...I had to be very careful not to spray my feet because I think it would have taken the skin right off! There was some power behind that water. “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:19-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬ He is far above all...above everything. And the same power that raised Him from the dead, is the same power--"the incredible greatness of God's power" is right there "for us who believe in Him." Now, my friend...that's real power. The three time powe...

It's Thursday and it's going to be a great day. I'm praying that today you will encounter the Almighty.  Yesterday, we started working on my deck, prepping it for staining. After we cleaned it, we saw that there were about 5 boards that were rotten and needed to be replaced. So, we cut those out and put new boards in. The deck is strong. It doesn't look "good as new" it has wear and some scars and obviously patches but it is strong and will be completely useful.  I thought, "How often we need to look closely at our lives and cut out a few things?" And...it's not quite as easy as fixing the deck--the cliche "old habits die hard" is a cliche for a reason. And after those things are removed, we may not look like new this side of heaven because we will have some scars and some wear, but we will be strong and be ready to be used by God.  I love how David says it in the Psalm after he was confronted about his sin.  “Soak me i...