Tag Archives: faith

Are You Knocked Down? Run To the Tower! 

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Your Place of Safety—The Name of the Lord

I recently traveled to Virginia to see some people I love. I learned something while there—if there is a bridge or highway in Virginia or West Virginia, they will name it after someone.

So, I traveled a succession of “John P. Doe Memorial Highways” and “Alfred E. Neuman Memorial Bridges,” or the “Homer C. Knucklehead Freeways”. And I really wanted to say, “Way to go John! You did well. They named a bridge after you. Hey, Homer my man! Give me five. You too, Al.”

And I really would have admired John or Alfred or Homer if I had known them. I saw their name, but I knew absolutely zilch about them, so I didn’t know if their name was on the bridge because they had saved a hundred of their fellows during a battle, or because the governor of the state is their wife’s brother.

Now if you said, “The Bessie Deloney Memorial Chicken Fry,” there I would have been impressed because Sis Bessie was my grandmother, an unparalleled fryer of chicken. A million thoughts of the person would have flooded back because this woman had a powerful influence on my childhood.

The better you know a person the more her name evokes a reaction in you.

We may know the names of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton or Mother Teresa, but do we know anything about them (outside of what our favorite media outlet tells us)? But, if we really KNOW a person, their name means something to us.

The Name of the Lord Is Powerful

I struggled for a long time to understand the connection between the Lord and His Name. Continue reading →

You Love God, But Do You Trust Him?

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Some people are famous cooks. Others are illustrious cooks. I’m an infamous cook.

Once when my wife was gone I invented a dish. I found some cream of mushroom soup in the cupboard and mozerella cheese in the frig. Since I like both of these I mixed them them in the heating pan.

When I lift the stirring spoon from the potion I had created it was kind of gross. The cheese stretched from the spoon down to the soup and reminded me a bit of someone with a bad cold (sorry ladies).

My wife loves me, but if someone famous comes to eat at our house, she doesn’t trust me to prepare the meal.

God asks that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. If He asks us to love Him like that we can be sure that He loves us in return with all His heart, soul, mind and strength.

But what does it mean to love God like that?

There is a vital element of the love that God wants from us, that maybe isn’t always present in love. You see, I can love my three-year old child but I’m not going to count on Him for a lot of things. He loves me back but his love is more emotional than practical.

My wife can love me but she’s not going to trust me to cook the casserole.

The love God desires from us includes an element of powerful trust in Him and who He is. Continue reading →

Are You Going To the Dogs?

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If you’d like to listen to this article, click here

When I growing up, dogs played a prominent role in the cast of supporting characters of my world. 

Let’s see, there was Pooh-pooh, Butch, Twist-It, Jack, Churchill, Skipper and probably some more I’ve forgotten.

You couldn’t exactly say they were purebred. They had lots of interesting ancestors from a lot of different places.

These dogs didn’t exactly belong to people. They just lived a your house. I think they belonged to themselves.

I loved to tease them. Sometimes after the meal, when a biscuit somehow escaped our hungry young mouths, I’d give it to the dogs. 

They’d line up before me. I still see it. My hand moved to toss it in the air and they’d jump. Only problem, I still had it in my hand. “Snicker, snicker, snicker.” (The dogs didn’t laugh).

Now they eyed my hand like a bird looks at a stray worm. If I made a small gesture they reacted. They wanted that biscuit. Ah, the good old days. Didn’t take much to entertain me back then, did it?

Looking Straight At It

One thing imprinted itself on my mind, and that’s the way they looked at my hand: expectantly, alertly, waiting, ready to spring. Years later I found something in the Bible that made me think of those dogs:  Continue reading →

Quit Muttering and ASK!

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My mamaw Deloney knew a lot of hard times in her earlier life so as she and Granddad settled into retirement she wanted to make her nest a bit more comfortable.

I’m sure it was with her urging that Granddad finally got an air-conditioned car and wonder of wonders they got air-conditioning in their little house. Granddad jested, “Next she’ll want me to build an air-conditioned tunnel so that she can walk from the house to the car

Really, he was happy to make her happy. The day that she demanded a dishwasher, though, he balked. He couldn’t see any reason to change the time-honored system of washing dishes by hand or even helping her himself since that was women’s work—(back in those days not today, young ladies, so settle down).

But Mamaw wanted one.

One day I was in the back of the house when Mamaw had once again broached the subject of a dishwasher. Granddad was adamant: no dishwasher! Continue reading →

Why God Refuses To Say “No” To You

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yes

The French language has a peculiarity that I like. Often when the answer is, “Yes!” they don’t just say one “yes” in response but “Oui, oui!” (Yes, yes!) Sometimes even “oui, oui, oui!”

So, if your wife looks at you menacingly and asks you if you remembered to do what she asked you to, you can respond, “Oui, oui!” Otherwise you can slap your head and say, “Ah, I forgot!” (You probably won’t slap it as hard as she would have).

The Lord must be French because He has a tendency to answer, “Yes, yes!”

“For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:19-21, NKJV)

We’ve all heard it preached, “God always answers. Sometimes it’s ‘yes,’ sometimes it’s ‘no’, and sometimes it’s, ‘wait.'”

I beg to differ, and you can disagree with me if you wish. But, if I’m asking in faith something God has promised his response is, “Oui! Oui!”

I hear you rumbling out there, “Now hang on David. Don’t you remember that Paul asked three times that a ‘thorn in the flesh’ be taken away from Him and God said, ‘no.'”

Did God say, “No” ? Continue reading →