Most of us are still dumb creatures looking to the future for fulfillment. We think some future event or some change in our circumstance will bring us peace and joy.

We say, “Just wait; my day is coming. Somehow, someday, somewhere…I don’t know what it is that’s out there for me, but it’s coming.”
We are like children waiting for Christmas and counting the days.
David once wrote during a mournful, introspective season in his life that he felt time was going too fast. He had accomplished so little, he thought.
Everything at the time seemed to be in vain. “Surely every man walks in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heaps up riches and knows not who shall gather them. And now Lord, what wait I for?” (Psalm 39:6-7). David was depressed, down. His present situation appeared so useless. And out of a perplexed heart he cried out, “Lord, what am I waiting for?”


Recently I was walking alone in the hills of Pennsylvania and God spoke to my heart on this same question, “David, what is it you’re waiting for? Why isn’t this the best day of your life? Why can’t you now be full and joyous? There is nothing out there that you don’t already have in Jesus.”

I ask you, What are you waiting for? “Oh, for Mr. Right,” you may answer—that godly person you think is going to rescue you from all loneliness and fill your soul with unspeakable joy. Some are bored with their mates and waiting for them to go to glory because they’re looking for romance to come into their lives and drive away their emptiness.
No!
There is nothing out there that will change or save you from who and what you are already. If you think someone else is going to solve your loneliness problem, you’re badly mistaken.
You must find deliverance, peace, hope and joy now!
Jesus is the only one who can fill the void. Wake up and live!
David Wilkerson
blessings,
Yaddy

THE PILOT LIGHT!

Hebrews 5:12, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat”
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The man from the gas company wasn’t very happy with my neighbour.  It seems that my neighbour had called to report a gas smell and a malfunctioning stove.  It was early evening, and the repairman from the gas company had to drive a considerable distance in order to reach my neighbour’s house.  After the repairman looked inside the stove, he wasn’t very pleasant and cheery at all when he stood up, looked my neighbour very coldly, and said, “All you had to do was light the pilot light.”  Even after the repairman fired up the oven, his words left the neighbour feeling quite cold.

He was upset because he had to show my neighbour something so simple.
  If you have read the book of Hebrews … that sounds similar to what the author was talking about in chapters 5 and 6.  He was concerned for the Jewish converts he was writing to, because they hadn’t advanced in their knowledge. He even had to review the basics they should have known (5:12).  They had been Christians long enough that they should have been teaching others.  Yet, the author couldn’t tell them what he wanted to tell them because they couldn’t get it.  He couldn’t give them solid food; because they were still on a milk diet.


While writing this post my thoughts were of the time I lived in Washington, DC … looking at the map of the Washington, DC area, I knew I could do it.
The boarding house I was staying in was centrally located off Thomas Circle in downtown DC. I wanted to see the Capital Building which was approximately twelve blocks from the boarding house.  A nice walk on a sunny Saturday morning would be good for me.  I could have taken a cab or bus, but if I really wanted to see the DC area, I knew walking was the way to go and so I did. 
Hearing the sounds, smelling the smells of the various pastry shops, studying the people, watching the traffic and visiting the shops along the way, I really felt like a part of Washington, DC.  Although, it took some time and effort, it was well worth both. You might be asking what this has to do with the above story.  Well, as we travel this journey we call the Christian life, we face a similar choice.  We can take the easy route, depending on others to give us all our instructions, short-cutting our way past a good prayer-life, or speed-reading a passage of Scripture and calling it “devotions.”  Or we can make the effort and take the time to get into the Word and closer to God. Why not take a long walk with God today, tomorrow and the next day? As you map out your course, choose to “seek Him with your whole heart”, study His Word, and obey what He says, because such a walk through His precious Word will be a most delightful experience!

Closing thoughts:

For the believer in Christ, you started out with faith in Him, after recognizing your sinfulness and a need for a Saviour, when you asked God to forgive your sins. 
You were a baby in Christ; however, you don’t stop there! No one, who has put their faith in Christ can afford to let spiritual growth and maturity start and stop with only one act of spiritual surrender.  Your salvation must be followed by spiritual growth wherein you are weaned off the “milk of the Word” and start enjoying the “meat of the Word”. My friend, keep your heart and mind open to the Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit, be receptive and obedient to it, and above all as the Scriptures tell us, "…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. I’m afraid there are too many who should be on the front lines in their spiritual growth but are still in basic training. I will close with these questions:

(1) Could the repairman be talking about you? 

(2) Are you stuck in elementary school in your knowledge of God because you haven’t learned what you ought to know?

(3) Are your waiting for someone to “light the pilot,” when you should know how to get the fire going yourself?
Mikey

Bless you...
Yaddy

Most of us know that the shortest sentence in the Bible  is, Jesus wept.
Here’s a brief overview of the scene, in which those words are uttered. Jesus knows that his friend Lazarus, is ill. Jesus waits in another town, deliberately knowing that his tarrying will result in the death of Lazarus. He explains this to his disciples who are wondering why Jesus doesn’t go to Lazarus, why he is stalling. There is also a warning, by some of the disciples, that if Jesus goes to Lazarus he will be killed by the religious rulers who are seeking his death. After three days Jesus sets out to see Lazarus and as he does he makes it very clear to his disciples that Lazarus is dead. His disciples, at this point, must be wondering what is going on!
When he arrives Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary show him where Lazarus is buried and admit that if Jesus had been there Lazarus would have been alive, even now. They have faith in Jesus. They believe, and know, by seeing Him do other miracles, that if Jesus had been there, their brother would not have died.
Here’s where the story gets so pregnant with meaning that it is of huge cosmic proportions! Jesus comes to the tomb and He weeps. I believe that His weeping is not only for Lazarus, but for the state of man ever since man’s rightful place was usurped by the evil one, Satan. Jesus knows that death was never supposed to be part of the plan, but because sin entered the human race, at the garden, it set in motion a series of events that resulted in death, disease, and the total depravity of the human race.
Jesus, as a man, feels the sting of death, as it is his friend Lazarus that is lying dead in the tomb. As God, he knows that the cross is waiting for him and it is by the ordeal, which he will suffer on it, that in the end will set all mankind free, and eventually will restore us to our original state. Things have gotten horribly out of hand and He knows that this is why He is here, to become our ransom….
Jesus weeps, because of how far man has fallen. He knows that this world is under the control of the evil one, Satan. He even tells us this, by calling Satan, the Prince of this world. I believe that He weeps for all mankind from Adam until the end of the age, when He will come again, and history as we know it shall cease, and the rightful King will rule.
He knows of the horrors that will come as the evil one will continue to rob, kill, and destroy, as he roams about as a roaring lion. He sees the millions of people who will die in wars, of disease, of hunger, from slavery, from concentration camps. He sees it all and He weeps.
Death claims us all at some point. No matter how we try to cheat it, it eventually is our fate. Yet, we know that when He comes again, He will put away death, it will be no more. Mankind will be restored, we will be in our original state as was intended from the beginning.
Some will ask, where is the promise of His coming? Some people think that it’s all a fairy tale. To the spirit-filled man or woman, the second coming is our blessed hope. We are told that; the dead in Christ shall rise first and then those of us who are alive will rise and meet the Lord in the air! It is why we are told that all of creation groans! At some point, and I believe it may be sooner than we think, the King will return, and we will rise to meet Him! We will be set free at last. Free from our sin nature. Free from death. Free at last….
L.A.Marzulli
http://www.lamarzulli.net/

Bless you....
Yaddy

Job 4:4, “Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees”

Words of encouragement and not discouragement can be “life words” touching the lives of so many people in ways we often will never know. Individuals sometimes come into our personal world for a brief moment and leave us forever changed. Maybe you know of someone who had an impact on your life by what they said. 

 

We have more power to create or destroy than we can imagine, just by what we say. We can either leave individuals better or worse off than when we met them. A look, a word or two, or even a gesture may have such a tremendous impact on people who come into our lives. Have you ever said or maybe heard someone else say nothing but bad things about an individual? Take for example the story concerning a young boy who had been quite naughty. During family devotions, the father prayed for his son and mentioned a number of bad things the boy had done. Soon afterward, the mother heard the 6-year-old sobbing in his bedroom. When she asked what was wrong, the boy cried out, “Daddy always tells God the bad things about me. He never tells Him the good things I do!”

What happened to that young child underscores a shortcoming that is very common to many of us today including believers in Christ. Instead of recognizing the good in people, we tend to notice only their faults. We should carefully examine our speech habits for careless words, and then resolve to build up those individuals we meet. Remember, people need encouragers more than they need critics. Ephesians 4:29 tell us, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification.” The apostle Paul said that when we edify or encourage others through our speech, we impact grace, or spiritual benefits, to their lives. He was a great introducer who spoke highly of his colleagues in the faith and ministry. His letters are dotted with the names of men and women to whom and for whom he was deeply grateful. When the apostle Paul closed his letter to the Romans, he publicly commended those who had helped and encouraged him in the work of the gospel. He not only greeted them by name, but he also expressed his gratitude for what they had done. What an example for all of us to follow!
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The story has been told of an eccentric old man who carried an oilcan with him everywhere he went. If he passed through a squeaky door or a stiff gate, he applied oil to the hinges. His practice of lubricating made life easier for those who followed after him. Nearly every day we encounter people whose lives creak and grate harshly with problems. In such situations, we face two choices, either to aggravate their problems with a spirit of criticism or to lubricate their lives in the Spirit of Christ. 

 

Some people we meet carry unbearable burdens and long for the oil of a sympathetic word. Others are defeated and feel like giving up. However, just one drop of encouragement could restore their hope. Still others are mean and sin-hardened. Such people can become pliable toward the saving grace of Christ through regular applications of the oil of kindness. When we receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit indwells us and equips us to bless others. If we’re prepared to pour out God’s oil of helpfulness every day and everywhere, beginning at home, we’ll minister Christ’s beauty and the oil of joy to many hurting people. So, perhaps the old man with the oil can wasn’t so eccentric after all.
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Closing thoughts:

As we think about our relationship with Christ and the people God has placed in our lives; some for brief moments and others for a longer time, we would do well to consider the importance of our words and what kind of influence we will have on them. In a world dominated so much by discouragement, let’s resolve to master the art of building others up by what we say to and about them, rather than tearing them down. So, if you have received some unexpected encouragement today, or maybe last week, thank God for it. Moreover, when the Holy Spirit leads you to encourage someone go ahead and do it.

The power in words can build up or tear down,
Create a big smile or produce a sad frown;
So in all your contacts with people each day,
Be sure to encourage in all that you say – Fitzhugh
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A spark of encouragement can rekindle warmth in the heart and the human spirit can gain new hope from an encouraging word.                                                     Mikey

Bless you
Yaddy