“Watch Out For Nasty Stuff Behind Rocks”

Once I turned over a rock and a snake poked his head out of a hole under it. I think it was a coral snake. I’m not sure because I didn’t wait to ask him his national origins.

Another time I was fishing in the waters of a river that had overflowed its banks. Tiny islands of land protruded from the water, so I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants legs and waded out to one. The better to entice a big bass, you see.

There were several rocks on this tiny land protrusion. After several fruitless casts of my rod and reel, for some reason, I picked up one of those rocks and there was a critter underneath.

A scorpion!

I reached for another rock to send him to wherever scorpions go where they die. There were three scorpions under that rock. Evidently, they were taking refuge from the rising water. Continue reading

Is God Speaking Through a Fly?

I don’t know about you but flies drive me batty. If there is one in the room he buzzes back to me over and over as if I were an international airport.

I swat at him and he takes off, only to come back, then come back … then come back.

This often happens when I’m trying to sleep. Aaaugh!

Mohammed Ali the boxer once snatched eight flies from the air during an interview. He said it was “better than’s the speedbag”.

(You’d think a boxing champion could find a place for an interview without so many flies buzzing around, wouldn’t you?)

Now lest you think Ali’s deed was simple, trying killing eight flies without a fly swatter. If you think it’s easy, you’ve never killed a lot of flies.

People espouse different techniques for squashing the pesky insects. Most amateurs prefer the brute force method.  In this scheme you zero in on your wary little foe than suddenly bring your hand down as hard as you can.

Usually this finishes with a painful hand and a fly landing somewhere on the wall, giggling his head off. “Another sucker,” he announces to any fly with hearing distance.

I’ve made a study of this fly-killing business and this has led to some major breakthroughs in the science of fly-killing. For instance, when you see a fly on a table don’t try to smack him head on.

Put a hand on each side of him. Then clap him. I think he’s disoriented because he doesn’t know which hand will get him. So, remember it’s “clap,” then “yuk!” The yuk is for the dead fly innards on your hand.

When I began to use this technique, my fly-killing percentage skyrocketed.

God’s Will Is Like a Fly

David Wilkerson once said that God’s will is like Moses’ burning bush. It burns but it won’t burn up, it won’t go away.

Kind of like a fly—only hotter.

Look how God spoke to Samuel for the first time.

Good little Samuel snoozed in his bed. God wanted to speak to him and like a fly he kept waking the little fellow up. “God called again, “Samuel!”—the third time! Yet again Samuel got up and went to Eli, “Yes? I heard you call me. Here I am.”

That’s when it dawned on Eli that God was calling the boy. So Eli directed Samuel, “Go back and lie down. If the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, God. I’m your servant, ready to listen.’” Samuel returned to his bed. Then God came and stood before him exactly as before, calling out, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel answered, “Speak. I’m your servant, ready to listen.” (1 Samuel 3:8-10, The Message).

Have you ever thought that voice that you thought was only you, might be God? You kept trying to “get your flesh into submission to God’s will,” and didn’t realize that the voice wasn’t yours but God’s.

Pastor Bayless Conley heard God’s voice telling him to go back to southern California to start a church but he resisted. He loved that part of the world, so he thought it was just him.

He figured God would send him somewhere cold because he hated the cold. That way God could test him and purify him to see if he would obey.

But, no. That voice persisted and he went back to southern California. Today he is the pastor of an influential church with thousands of people coming and a television ministry reaching nto several nations of the world.

God’s voice is often like a fly. He just won’t quit.

Could I give you some advice? Look closely at that insect that keeps buzzing you. Closer than that!

Maybe that’s not a fly. Maybe it is a messenger. (An angel fly????)

_______________________________

Hmmm …

“Don’t confuse perfection with excellence…. Perfectionism is the mother of procrastination.” Michael Hyatt

Reader Response

Some time ago I realized that Enoch was not a God-chaser – he “walked with God” for three hundred years! Al

images: Flickr, Creative Commons, dalioPhoto swat; Rodney Topor, The fly

 

​Four Ways To Smash Spiritual Moles

www.microsoftoffice.com

Do you sometimes feel that your best efforts fighting against your own weaknesses fail? Is there any hope? Let me share a story, then a few keys to help you respond.

I was house-sitting for a friend for three weeks. I had laughed about a struggle he was having with a mole that was ravaging his front yard. But, when I moved in, I found the Battle of the Moles took on the air of a personal challenge. Here’s an email that I wrote to him about the situation (revised):

“When I told you that you might want to plant corn in your front yard, I was just kidding but this mole is getting serious.  He’s everywhere. Wednesday, I knocked down 10-15 of his bunkers.  Thursday I looked out and he had made one just in front of the house!  As I looked I saw some dirt fly up. Continue reading