The Master Builder's Plan

 The Master Builder’s Plan

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  

I don’t know about you, but I have always liked stories by Mother Goose.  They seem to have a moral to them.  Take the three little pigs for instance.  They decided to go off on their own to seek their fortune out in the big world - doesn’t this sound familiar.  The first little pig decided to build a house of straw.  The second little pig built his house of sticks.  The third little pig built his house of bricks.  The first little pig should have known a house of straw wouldn’t protect him from any real danger.  Didn’t his parents teach him better?  I look back over the years and think of all the lessons I taught my children to prepare them for the future.  Either they listen and learn or they think they can figure it out by themselves.  The second little pig thought he was smarter than the first pig so he chose sticks for his building material.  He too had the idea the stick house would protect him.  Didn’t either of these two pigs think to ask their parents or someone who had experience in building houses for help?  Apparently not.  Now the third little pig had listened and learned from his parents a thing or two about surrounding himself with strong material for protection when life gets rough.  When the big bad wolf challenged the first pig to let him in, little piggy had no defense against all the huffing and puffing the wolf threw his way.  Our flimsy self-built fortresses based on our own plans and ideas leave us with no protection.  The same goes for the second little pig.  The third little pig (I like to imagine) went to a builder of homes, a builder with a great reputation of building houses that have withstood all the storms the world has to offer.  Using sturdy materials and building on a strong and lasting foundation.  Jesus has a way of telling us what is best for us, but do we always listen?  His plans are the blueprints we must follow to assure us we will be protected from all of the evil the devil can think of to try to destroy us.  We may be enticed by the devil to do things our own way.  To be our own boss, and not to listen to people who know better.  Sooner or later, our way will lead to trouble and destruction.  We never get too old to take advice from people who have wisdom from GOD to help us stay strong in the LORD.  By the way, GOD’s book, the Bible, is not a fairytale.  If the little pigs had a book to read, to teach them how to live and be protected, they may not have ended up the they did.  The old devil is alive and well and still trying to destroy everyone who thinks they don’t need the LORD to guide them.  The only way we can be strong and protected is to live by the Master Builder’s plan. 

 

Matthew 7:24-27  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  (25)  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  (26)  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:  (27)  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

-Written By Linda Tatman

Thankful

  Thankful

  giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;

As Thanksgiving approaches many will be making preparations for the turkey dinner they will be enjoying with their loved ones. It is a time when we turn our thoughts on all the things we are thankful for. Ephesians 5:20 tells us that we are to give thanks ALWAYS for ALL things unto God... This scripture implies that we are to give thanks in the bad times as well as the good. It is easy to be thankful when life is going well, when the bills are paid, when our health is good, and when our loved ones are doing well. As we all know life isn't always sunshine and roses. Everybody has good times and bad times - that's just life.

Sometimes we have to look for the good in our day, the little blessings that God puts in our day. I'm very thankful for our two little grandchildren, but not as excited about the fact that they live so far away, and we see them only a few times a year. We enjoy all of the videos and pictures that our daughter emails us and I am thankful for them. Since we don't see them as much as we would like to we make the most of every precious moment we have with them.

Being thankful is a choice. We can choose to ignore the everyday blessings that come our way just because we had a bad day at work or the car broke down on the way to work - I've been there. Sometimes it's hard to see the good on those days, but it is there if we look hard enough because God is faithful and He never leaves us alone. I have found that looking for and being thankful for the little blessings has helped me through some very sad times.

There are so many things we could take for granted if we are not careful to have a thankful heart: the beautiful colors of fall, the lovely smells of spring, a little baby’s belly laugh - I could go on.

We must be careful to never let the things you want make you forget to be thankful for the things you have.

So I would challenge us all to look for things to be thankful for, not just during this Thanksgiving season, but all year long.

-Written By Keena Worley

Easy Pickins

Easy Pickins 

 "But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died "

I just came in from pulling weeds from my driveway and with a garden bed full of weeds, you would have thought I would have chosen to go there instead. But no. I don’t mind pulling weeds from my driveway. You know why? Because the weeds always come out. Roots and all. I can pull the toughest weed right out with little to no resistance. The roots just can’t hang on when there is sand and lots of rocks. Jesus said something about this too. (Matt 13:5-6, Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.)

It made me think about my garden beds that have been neglected. I go through times where weeding isn’t my priority and before I know it, the weeds take over. All it would take is 15 minutes a day and this wouldn’t happen.

When I pull weeds from the flower bed, MOST of the time I do not get the root tip. Dandelions are some of the toughest weeds. Their roots go deep and if the very tip doesn’t come out, you can be sure in one week it starts all over again.

Why don’t I just spray some chemical on it and be done for a month? I need the sunshine, I need the exercise and our world needs fewer toxins. Doesn’t that just scream at you? For the weeds in my life, I just need some daily time with Jesus, I need the discipline and I need less sin in my world.

On the flip side, does the enemy consider me as being in the driveway or in the flowerbed? 

-Written By Tracy Carpenter