Friday, December 25, 2015

That Awful Hangover!

Someone I know said that she woke up with a hangover this morning after being out with a friend on Christmas Eve, but that she was blessed that she woke up. As hard as it was, I did not comment that, yes indeed, she is truly blessed to have awakened.

Many years ago when I was a young person, I awoke many mornings with the most excruciating headaches, or more to the point, hangovers. This started in my teen years when I would drive a car load of drunk friends home from a popular dive about thirty miles from where we lived. I was as drunk as anyone, and I can remember seeing three center lines on the dark highway. I would choose the middle line, and stay to the right. It's a wonder I didn't kill someone, either in my car or in another. I was blessed to have awakened the next morning.

In later years, after I married and had a family, I still drank alcohol to extreme. We lived in a "bedroom community" that partied during the summer months after all the children had been put to bed. The houses were open due to no air conditioning so we could hear everything. But, it didn't stop most of us from being even more irresponsible and drinking to excess. Many nights are lost to memory, and, again, it's a wonder something didn't happen to one of our children, and, more to the point, I was blessed to wake up the next morning.

You understand, I'm sure, what I'm saying. I could say something to that person about her observation, and that she surely doesn't understand how true it is that she has been blessed with, at least, one more day. But, my comment would fall on deaf ears. I would not have listened, and neither would she.

What is it about youth that makes us think we are smarter than experience and wisdom? Maybe we believe that's for someone else, it will never happen to me.

And, why didn't it happen to me? I believe it is just what my friend said; I was blessed. You see, in later years, when I grew a brain, and it wasn't pickled, I made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. He knew that I would, so He protected me all those years of irresponsible behavior. He kept me safe to be His child and heir.

Unfortunately,  He doesn't do that for all. Many lives, young and old, have been lost on our highways due to drunkenness. Perhaps it's because He knows who will and who won't accept His gift. I can't answer for certain, but that is what I believe, and I am so very grateful and joyful that He called to me, and I accepted Him as Lord and Savior.


So, did you drink too much last night? Will you drink too much next week on New Years Eve?  Will you be one of those that wake up blessed the next morning? Or will you be one of those that don't wake up at all?  Please, please, accept that wonderful gift Jesus wants to give you. That gift is, indeed, the greatest blessing of all.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

This Cannot Be A "Merry" Christmas


Society has portrayed the birth of Jesus as an event to bring "peace on earth", when, in fact, it was more comparable to the invasion at Normandy. Jesus came to earth as an invasion of Truth against the evil that has taken this world. Without the invasion at Normandy, Germany would have taken over and destroyed France. France would be speaking German today. Without the invasion of Truth and the establishment of God's church, satan would have destroyed us all long, long ago. 

With satan in this world, there will never be peace on this earth.  Peace will only come when we give our lives to Christ and establish His kingdom on earth. 


Jesus came to earth to create a holy war, an uprising of His people to reclaim it for the Father. We must not sit quietly by at Christmastime, or any other time, after we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior. Then is the time to stand up boldly and proclaim HIs sovereignty, and fight to bring His kingdom to this earth as it was first intended. 

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Annoying People


Jay Leno look-alike.
Consider your daily encounters. Unless you are mild-mannered and numb, you will meet people every single day that truly just annoy the heck out of you. It is early morning, I haven't left my house, and I have already encountered three extremely annoying people. Let me just note that all three are women. I have no idea if that is relevant, but it seems to be the norm in my little world.

First, there's the person that complains every single morning about having to go to work. Every. Single. Morning. Then there's the politically correct person who didn't like my comment, so she deleted it. We have the person who knows everything about everyone, and at every turn spills everything she knows. 

You guessed it. I'm a Facebook user, and some of my "friends" on Facebook will at some time, every day, annoy me. "Why do I keep them as friends?" you ask in puzzlement. Well, some of them are game friends. Some of them would be offended if I unfriended them. (God forbid I offend them.) Some of them are family. YIKES!


But, here's the real reason. You see, I am annoying, too. In fact, I can honestly say that I am probably more annoying than the whole bunch put together. I'm opinionated. I'm outspoken. I am hard-headed, convinced I'm right about everything, sarcastic, have a warped sense of humor, a religious fanatic (according to some), and patriotic. I usually disagree with much of their normal thinking, and I'm not afraid to say so. Wow. I really am a most disagreeable person. 

It's entertaining to note that, despite all of that, I have lots of friends, good friends, friends I love dearly and loyally. They are imperfect. So am I. And so are you. And, consequently we kindly put up with one another and love each other anyway. Because we always remember that:

1 Corinthians 13
1.....no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.


8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.