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November 10, 2024, 09:15:44 AM

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Our Lord Jesus Christ loves you.
287013 Posts in 27572 Topics by 3790 Members
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16  Fellowship / You name it!! / Coffee and Tomatoes . . . on: July 06, 2003, 02:32:52 PM
I was doing some work in the garden yesterday . . .

I had been working out there all morning and decided it was time for a coffee break.

I got a fresh cup of coffee and sat out on the deck.

As I was doing so thoughts of Grandpa crossed my mind.

Grandpa was very meticulous when it came to taking care of his yard and
garden.

He would spend hours upon hours working in his garden all through the
spring
and summer.

I recalled a time when I went to visit him and he was out in the
sweltering
heat working in the garden.

I asked him what he was doing out in the heat working in the garden . .
.

And why couldn't he wait for a cooler day to be out there working.

He took me over to one of the tomato plants and showed me one of the
largest,
juiciest tomatoes I think I have ever seen.

Grandpa took it off the vine, cut a slice of it and told me to taste
it.

That was the best tasting tomato I've ever had.

He went on to explain how you only get out of things what you put in to
them.

How by proper feeding and watering the plants come to bear fruit . . .

He also explained how important it was to prune the plants in order for the plants to receive the most from the sun.

Then I thought about how our relationship with the Lord is a lot like growing those tomatoes . . .

How we need to keep ourselves properly watered and fed through God’s Word . . .

And how by pruning the sin and evil thoughts from our lives . . .

We open ourselves up to receive from above.

I also realized, finally, after all these years, that that talk in the
garden was another one of Grandpa's life long lessons he had taught me.

Maybe a lesson we could all learn something from.

Just a thought!

Durango
17  Theology / General Theology / Re:Faith and works coincide on: July 06, 2003, 02:26:09 PM
AMEN!  Exactly my point.

Durango
18  Fellowship / You name it!! / Coffee and the Lookin' Glass . . . on: July 06, 2003, 10:12:21 AM
There I was standing in front of the mirror this morning shaving and I
recalled how Grandma always called the mirror a looking glass.

Now I have this terrible habit of not pronouncing the "g" when saying
words
ending in "ing".

So when I pronounce the words "looking glass" it comes out sounding
more like
"lookin' glass".

Well, I let the thought pass for the time being and continued shaving.

After I finished shaving I headed into the kitchen and poured myself a
cup of
coffee.

And as I sat there with my cup of coffee the thought of the "lookin
glass"
returned to me.

So I thought on this for a while and I realized that maybe a "look in
glass"
wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Something to make us look inside ourselves at the beginning of each and
every
day.

To look inside ourselves and think about what positive things we are
doing to
strengthen our relationship with the Lord. . . .

And what negatives we are adding that could damage our relationship with the Lord.

Well, the coffee is done, and I think tomorrow I'll spend an extra
minute or
two in front of the mirror to use it as a "lookin glass".

Just a thought!

Durango

Luke 6:41-42

41"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

42How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.




19  Prayer / General Discussion / Re:Unanswered Prayers on: July 06, 2003, 09:59:15 AM
The boys went down to the basketball court last night to shoot some hoops.

A couple of hours later, Bamm-Bamm called me to say “Dad, you better get down here, Bubba hurt his leg.  He’s laying on the ground and he can’t get up.”

I jumped in the truck and drove down to the courts to find Bubba sitting there on the ground beneath the basket.

I walked up to him and asked “What’s up, Bubba?”

He replied that he had gone up for a rebound and when he came back down he landed wrong and twisted his ankle.

He was hurting pretty bad and wasn’t sure whether or not he had broken his ankle or just sprained it, either way, it hurt too bad for him to walk on it.

We got him into the truck and I took him to the hospital to have it checked out.

Well, the doctor said he didn’t break it but he did sustain a bad sprain.

They put him in a soft cast and told him to stay off of it for a few days.

When we got back home I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat out on the deck in the yard to watch the fireworks off in the distance.

As I sat there I thought about Bubba and the trip to the hospital.

Then I started to think about all the trips to the hospital I’ve made over the years raising these 3 boys of mine.

Between the 3 of them and all the sports they’ve been involved in over the years I’ve had more than my fair share of trips to the hospital.

I sat there reminiscing over all the times I’ve had to take one of them there to get stitched up or for a broken bone.

Then I remembered the very first time I had to take one of them to the hospital.

It was a hot summer day and my two youngest boys were out in the yard playing.

Little Durango came running in the house and said “Dad, come quick, Bamm-Bamm fell out of the tree and I think he broke his arm.”

Sure enough, out there under the tree laid Bamm-Bamm and one look told me that Little Durango was right.

On the way to the hospital I asked Bamm-Bamm, “Why were you climbing that tree?  Haven’t I told you a hundred times that I didn’t want you climbing that tree?  Didn’t I tell you that the branches were too weak and that you’d fall and get hurt?”

“Yea”, he replied.

“So why were you doing it then?”  I asked.

“I didn’t think I’d fall, I thought you were just saying that.” Bamm-Bamm said.

Well, as I recalled that little incident this morning I thought about how Bamm-Bamm decided to do as he pleased concerning climbing the tree . . .

How he ignored what I had told him because it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

Then I thought about how it is with us at times . . .

How sometimes we sit back and ask “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?”

And I realized that it isn’t that God doesn’t answer our prayers . . .

It’s that sometimes we just don’t accept the answer because it’s not what we wish to hear.

Our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us, and although we may not always understand why a prayer is answered in the way it is, we must trust that the Lord knows what is best for us.

If we pray for healing for a loved one and the prayer isn’t answered in the way we wish it to be answered . . .

We must trust that if the Lord knows what is best for us, that he knows what is best for each of his children.

We must trust that whatever way our prayers are answered, whether favorably or not, that the Lord’s answer fits into His divine plan for our lives.

Faith goes beyond reasoning . . .

Faith is trusting in the Lord and living according to God’s will.

Just a thought!

Durango
20  Theology / General Theology / Re:Faith and works coincide on: July 06, 2003, 09:45:58 AM

Luke 7:50
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–


So, my question stands, can anyone answer the question scripture asks??

James 2:14
"What doth it profit a man, my brethen, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?"

Petro

Just a couple of thoughts come to mind here, for instance what did Jesus say about faith?

Luke 7:50
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Now let's look at Luke 23:39 - 43

39   And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40   But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41   And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42   And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43   And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Now I ask you, in both instances, show me where these people were required to show good works in order to be saved?  Were they both not saved by their faith?  

Let’s now look at Acts 16

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose.
 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"
29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—

Once again, no mention of good works being a requirement to be saved.

Now if we move on to Ephesians 2 we will read:

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In conclusion, we receive Faith and Salvation through the Grace of God.  Our good works are a result of the new life we come to know after we receive this Grace from the Lord.  As we see in Ephesians 2:10, we are created anew “in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

So our good works are an outpouring of our faith, prepared in advance for us by God.  

Therefore, Salvation, Faith and good works all come from the Grace of God.
 

  Just my humble thoughts,

   Durango
21  Fellowship / You name it!! / Coffee on the Shore . . . on: July 04, 2003, 10:05:29 AM

I spent the last 10 days in a place I refer to as paradise.

It's down along the beach in South Carolina.

What with the sand, the surf, and over 100 golf courses nearby I figure it is probably as close to paradise as I'll ever find here on earth anyway.

Well one particular day last week I took my coffee and headed down to the beach.

It was a beautiful day, sun shining brightly and the water was just beautiful.

I sat there on the beach sipping my coffee watching this little boy playing in the surf.

He couldn't have been any older than four or five.

He was out there in the surf challenging the waves next to his father.

Standing there steadfast, feet firmly planted in the sand as the waves broke on top of him.

The waves knocked him around a little bit but he seemed determined not to fall down no matter how big the waves were.

Suddenly a very large wave washed toward shore, fearing he'd be knocked down, he reached out and grabbed onto his father's hand.

His father held his hand tightly until the wave finished breaking over the little boy.

The little guy never did fall and he stood there again with his feet planted firmly awaiting the next wave.

As I sat there I took another sip of coffee and thought about what I had just seen.

I thought about how it was so much like us in our Christian walk . . .

How there are times when no matter how steadfast we seem to be standing . . .

The seas can get a little rough, the temptations to sin grow.

It is times like these that all we need to do is reach out and grab onto Our Heavenly Father's hand . . .

And he will guide us through the rough seas, leaving us standing steadfast once again.

Just a thought over coffee!

Durango
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