Did you ever confront someone about a reoccurring problem only to be told, "I'm working on it"? Then in a week, a month, a year, etc. etc., the same thing continues.  I am beginning to ask myself if the phrase, "I'm working on it",is a license to just keep on doing what they've been doing with no intent of changing?  If that be the case then, "I'm working on it", is really a lie; and maybe an excuse to stay where they are.

Leviticus 19:11 You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
Psalms 119:163 I hate and abhor lying: but your law do I love.
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.
Zephaniah 3:13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stayed not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.
Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds;

These are just a few scriptures concerning lying.  It is better not to say anything than to tell a lie.  If you are dealing with a problem today and you know you cannot break that habit, or control that anger, or quit that way of life then call upon the Lord.  He is strength in our times of troubles. (Psalm 46:1)  Ask someone who has victory over the very issue you are having trouble with and chances are fairly high they will have some good advice.  Good decisions are made with much wise counsel. (Proverbs 15:22)

We all heard the story of Pinocchio when we were children. Wonder what would happen if when we lied our noses really did grow longer?

When I was looking for a picture of the Last Supper all the images looked so religious.  When I see Jesus I see a real person, with real feelings who cared deeply for those He worked with and came to die for; not some stuffy looking man with a halo around His head.  I know I may get some flak for all of this but Jesus was a real person with real feelings.

Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin."

I believe He was also the greatest teacher that ever lived. If you study the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) you will find He had a method. Watch. See. Do.  Jesus had His disciples watch what He did and see what and why He did what He did, and then He had them do it. After He had them do it He gave them feedback and used every opportunity as a teachable moment.  No wonder they loved Him.  Who wouldn't love someone that wanted the best for you and wanted you to succeed in everything you did and for you to do greater things than they did themselves?

John 14:12 (NIV) "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

Next time you read the Bible, read it with the idea that Jesus wants you to watch, see and then do, all that He did and then some.  He is seated at the right hand of God interceding for you.  You can do this.  You got this thing. (Romans 8:34)

Spices have a short shelf life. As a general rule, whole spices will stay fresh for about 4 years, ground spices for about 3 to 4 years and dried leafy herbs for 1 to 3 years.  Many of us purchase our spices and then use them until they run out which may mean years and wonder why we can’t taste the spice or have to use so much.

When thinking about this I thought of this scripture in Matthew.  We can be like those spices. We are supposed to be salty and bring flavor to life and cause people to thirst for the living water, but too many of us have become bland, in fact life may have become bland.

Matthew 5:13 (NIV) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

The world desires and is in need of what we are to be.  We have a job to do and a purpose to fulfill.  Just like the spices we purchase each have a different flavor and a different purpose we all vary in our gifts, talents and callings.  Never the less we have this one thing in common we are to cause the world to want more of Christ by the way we live our lives. Let’s spice things up a bit!  

While on the MCPARC Rails of Trails in Fairmont, WV I came upon these falls.  Now I have traveled that trail many times but this year has been a different year.  We have had more than our share of rain.  The rains we have received found their way into this particular body of water that feeds into the river that runs along these trails. The sound as you can hear could be heard a long ways off.  As I stood beside it I was cooled off from the heat of the ride.  There was a light spray that splashed against me and I felt refreshed and cleansed.  That evening as I was rehearsing my day I remembered the falls and this scripture came to my mind.

Isaiah17:12 (KJV) "Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!"

We as the children of God need to join our voices as these waters joined together and cry out to God for the world that they may come to know Christ as we know Him. For there is a day we will hear a sound and it will be Christ return.  Now is the time that we are to share the Word of God; so that others can be refreshed and cleansed.  

Revelation 14:12 (NIV) "And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps."

Not everyone gets to see those falls.  There is no access from the road or path down the hill or up from the river’s edge.  Tree covering hides the falls from the river and the road is a long distance from this place. It is the same with the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Just like this trail and these falls are no longer hidden to my eyes, Christ is no longer hidden from my heart and my life.  I have seen and tasted God is good and accepted Him.  Have you?  Once you meet Him you will want to share Him just like I wanted to share these falls with you.

Psalm 34:8 (NLT) "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"

Birds of a feather flock together. What one does they all do? We've all heard the clichés'.  It is the same with Christians in our culture today.  Years ago when they were all building the Tower of Babel, God said, "They could do anything they set their minds to" my paraphrasing.  He did not however say, “What they would do would be great.”  God has great things in mind for us to do.

I heard that a group of caterpillars were crawling through the grass when they looked up and saw Butterflies sailing through the summer sky. One looked up and said, "You'll never get me in one of those things", and the others all agreed.  Whatever stage we are in in our Spiritual Growth it can be hard to see ourselves at the next level without the eye of faith.

Romans 10:17(KJV) “17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

What are you called to do that others say can't be done? What hasn't been done before that you believe you are called to do?  God told me one time when I was asking Him a question, "You can't read about it in a book or sing about it in a song because it's never been done before--but you are going to do it!”  Well, if God said it that settles it.  What is it you say? I don't know I guess I haven't done it--yet!  

So if you feel low today remember the Butterfly. You were created to soar.  Quit crawling around in the grass saying things you will later regret.

An acquaintance of mine Jasmine Tate wrote a song and one of the lines in the song says, “In the valley Giants come to die”.  It is a great song with an even greater message.  

After the death of his son, pastor and author Rick Warren said this, "I can endure pain if I see a purpose in it. But sadly, most people squander their suffering, don't profit from their problems, never learn from their losses and are unable to advance from their adversity or gain from their pain."

I’m reading a book right now titled, LEADERSHIP PAIN, by Samuel R. Chand.  In this book and many others I have read the author quotes Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s, ON DEATH AND DYING. In that book she lists the stages that she believes people go through when they lose a loved one.  The main thing I have taken from the book LEADERSHIP PAIN is that, if you want to grow you will have to go through pain because there is no growth without the pain of change. Leadership and pain are often inseparable and we must grow through, as well as just go through our pain.

Every time I have to learn something new it tends to be painful.  I get a new computer, where do you turn this thing on—it’s painful. Move the furniture, get out of bed in the dark—it can be painful. Get a new car, and you go to get in and bang your head against the door frame.

1 Peter 5:10 (ESV) “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

Rick Warren lists the stages of grief as, “shock, sorrow, struggle, surrender, sanctification and service.”  What I want you to come away from this Blog with today is, if you are going through something keep going. There will be something that you will come away with that you cannot get any other way. Let pain have its purpose. Never waste your pain. Even Jesus learned through suffering.  The world will be less impressed with our successes than they will be with our suffering. Share your sorrows and manage to make a message from your mistakes.

Romans 5:3-5 (ESV) “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

I didn’t know a lot about Hornets so I did a search and found most of the following information from the Orkin web site.  What interested me is that the Queen bee builds her house from the inside out.  Allow me to share the information and then put it all together for you.

Hornet nests are composed of a paper substance derived from saliva and wood pulp. They are located within or atop trees, in attic rafters and in other covered areas. They can sometimes be found near the eaves of houses.

Queen hornets begin the construction of hornet nests in order to house their eggs. The queen lays one egg within a cell and builds her way out, constructing a comb. Nests are built tier after tier. The eggs hatch into larvae. The larvae develop into sterile adult females. These female workers then assume the responsibilities of nest building and brood tending, while the queen’s sole duty is to lay the eggs from which future generations are born in late summer. The queen will begin to produce male hornets, whose only purpose is to mate with queens. These fertilized females seek hiding places for the winter.

The size of a hornet nest grows in proportion to the size of the colony. Nests may grow to be as large as basketballs through subsequent generations of workers. However, nests are only used once; worker populations perish in winter, leaving only the fertilized females to begin new colonies in the coming warm seasons.

There are several scriptures in the Bible about Hornets. (Joshua 24:12, Deuteronomy 7:20, Exodus 23:28, Isaiah 7:18, Psalms 118:12)

In each of the scriptures above it is not in a good light that these bees are mentioned.  For the most part they are used as weapons against God’s enemies or as an illustration of war. 

When I rode by on my bike I had no fear. I wasn’t going to bother them except to take this picture.  I could see them going in and out and the nest was heavy hanging directly over the trail.  I ask the Lord, “What about this God?” I didn’t get a direct answer and perhaps that is why I am still thinking about it but what came to me was we can learn a lot from the Hornet.  How they build their nest and what materials they used, but also how important it is to start with what is on the inside.  If you want to build something that will last and fulfill a purpose then we must pay attention to what is happening on the inside.  What is the purpose for which we are building? Is it for the next generation?  What is our goal and reasoning for building?

Oh, and remember it was built out of saliva and wood pulp?  Saliva comes from the mouth.  What we build often depends on what comes out of our mouth.  What are your words building?

Proverbs 18:21 (ESV) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Doctors from Coral Gables, Fla., compared the efficiency of the heart's pumping action in 18 men with coronary artery disease to nine healthy controls. Each of the study participants underwent one physical stress test (riding an exercise bicycle) and three mental stress tests (doing math problems in their heads, recalling a recent incident that had made them very angry, and giving a short speech to defend themselves against a hypothetical charge of shoplifting). Using sophisticated X-ray techniques, the doctors took pictures of the subjects' hearts in action during these tests.

For all the subjects, anger reduced the amount of blood that the heart pumped to body tissues more than the other tests, but this was especially true for those who had heart disease.

Why anger is so much more potent than fear or mental stress is anybody's guess. But until we see more research on this subject, it couldn't hurt to count to 10 before you blow your stack.   

Spokesman-Review, July 29, 1993, p. D3.

James 4:1-2 (NIV) "1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God."

What are the desires of your heart?  Do you care more about whether you are right or wrong or do you truly want to be known for one that loves to their own hurt.   Are you willing to die to anger so that others know you care for them more than you care that you are right.  Being angry at others and wanting them to hurt is like making poison for others to drink and partaking of it yourself.  Sadly, people tend to justify their anger instead of accepting responsibility for it.

Two Greek words in the New Testament are translated as “anger.” One means “passion, energy” and the other means “agitated, boiling.” This week make sure you turn your passion and energy into love and energy for relationships not acid.

I'm learning a totally new dimension of love. It's the love my grandson has for me and I have for him.  When he reaches his little arms out to me my heart grows.  He looks at me as if I can fix anything and make everything better.  I am for the moment the answer to all of his problems.  He empowers me to be the best I can be and reach for possible solutions that I don't know are possible.  The problems of the world fade away as I look into his big blue eyes and see he believes.  He believes I can solve the problem.

When I think of God, I think it must be like that when we reach out to Him with child-like faith.  We hold out our arms of faith and look at Him through the eyes of possibility and simply wait for Him to take care of things.  So many things in my life are not as I would have them to be.  There are injustices and misunderstandings.  There are wars within and wars without.  Many things are outside of our control and beyond are ability to solve.  But God.  God is able to do all things.  His wisdom is beyond human comprehension but when we see Him as father through the eyes of a child we understand.

Today see yourself as God sees you.  Today see others as special to God.  Ask Father God to wash your eyes with tears if He must, so that you can see what He sees.  

1 John 4:10 (KJV) "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."