Lesson of the Sharks

This article was sent to me by a good friend. He is the son of a minister and an Elder at the Evers Road Christian Church in San Antonio, TX. 

Pat is a genuine, faithful, and true servant of God. I am honored to know him.

I was flipping channels or TV surfing the other night and stopped on the Discovery channel and watched a show that caught my eye about sharks. Some idiot was under water in a shark proof cage and a great white shark tore up the cage and almost got the guy—so much for shark proof—but the guy was brave.

I have attached a picture of a shark that I took. I was not in a cage and the shark was in an aquarium.

For sure sharks are amazing creatures. Mostly they are just eating machines.

Did you know; Sharks will not out grow their environment. Put a shark in a small aquarium and the shark will stay small—12 inches long.

Put that shark in the ocean and it will grow to 12 feet long.

In a similar way: spiritually some people never grow and they stay small due to their spiritual environment. You cannot grow spiritually in a small dull lukewarm or dead church.

Of course I have always felt that dull people like a dull church and do nothing people like a do nothing church.

I have noticed that people, who have not grown spiritually, never achieve anything significant for the Lord because they lack faith and are afraid of failure. Remember it takes faith to get in the water with sharks just like it takes faith to try anything that might be risky.

Look up the word "fail" in a thesaurus and you'll find terms like: blunder, break down, fall, fizzle, flop, flounder, fold, lose out, and disappoint. These are strongly negative words, and sometimes we're so afraid of them we don't move forward in the endeavors or possibilities that God has for us.

Question, what would you do today that you aren't doing if you knew you could not fail?

When fear of failure keeps you from moving forward in faith, fear has won—fear has then beaten you and kept you from reaching your full potential.

While we can't guarantee that all our projects and ambitions will end successfully, as we define success, we can be certain that God's plan for our lives will be fulfilled as we trust Him.

Speaking about the future of Jerusalem, Zephaniah 3:5 says, "The LORD is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails."

Don't worry about success or failure. Concentrate on trusting God and obeying Him. Move forward, knowing He never blunders, breaks down, falls, fizzles, flops, flounders, folds, loses out, or disappoints.

So what will you do knowing God never fails? Maybe get out of the boat and get in the shark cage.

Always remember, our mighty God never fails.

<°)))><

By Pat Pennington, San Antonio, TX

 

Sing Praises

I remember when our kids were little and sick their dad would rock them, pat their backs and sing into their ears.

No matter how uncomfortable they were this soothing comfort brought them rest.

People sing for all kinds of reasons, but no singing will bring you more comfort than when your bring a sacrifice of praise to God.

Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. (Psalms 47:6 NASB)

What song are you singing today?

Clay Jars

I once owned a small terra cotta jar with a cork for a lid. I would pour scented oils into the jar and cork the jar.

By the next day the oil would have permeated the porous jar and scented the entire room.

That was the purpose of the jar, to be used as an air freshener. Everyone could smell it but no one really noticed the little terra cotta jar.

It worked really well and because of the strong smell of the fragrance, other unpleasant odors went unnoticed.

If I had wanted to contain and save the oil, I would have kept it in the original glass bottle in which it came. But for the product to work as intended it had to be put into the clay pot.

God works like that inside of us. We are clay pots. He is inside of us. Because we are weak (porous,) His power fills us and seeps into us and out of us. Everyone around us will be aware of God.

We can be so filled with God that people hardly notice us at all, only the Power that we have inside. Because of God in us, the unpleasantness of this life can be overcome.

We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. 

We often suffer, but we are never crushed.

 Even when we don't know what to do, we never give up.

 In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again. 

We face death every day because of Jesus. Our bodies show what his death was like, so his life can also be seen in us. (2 Corinthians 4:7-11 CEV)

You can be a glass bottle, filled with God but your lid screwed on tight with no way for His essence to permeate and be known by many; or you can be a jar of clay. 

I pray you choose to be a clay jar. Share what you contain.

But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak, (2 Corinthians 4:13 NASB)

Cut up

People often say, "don't judge me." 

They feel, I guess, that when you try to warn them, or correct them that you are looking down your nose at them. 

But really it is the Word that judges. 

The word of God (the Bible) is the rule, the measuring tape by which all of us will be judged. We will be held accountable for living up to it and pleading ignorance will not be an excuse. We are told in 2 Ti. 2:15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 

The word will be our judge.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 NASB)

The word is a living and active thing that will get inside of us, to our core. It is so sharp that it will divide our soul from our spirit. Wow! 

The word of God is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart. 

I think then, we should be careful about our thoughts. Did you realize that even your thoughts will be judged?

It will be a painful thing to be cut, pierced and "butchered" by the word of God. But that pain could save you from the pain of eternal separation from God. And what is more painful than that?

Don't worry, I am not judging you, the scripture will do that. However, we are to hold each other accountable and encourage each other to do what is right. 

Therefore I will not be offended if you bring your scriptures and show me when I am doing wrong.

Even the Darkness is not Dark

Yesterday my kids and I went on a day trip to West Virginia. It was a day of fun and adventure for us. We rode horses up a steep mountain to the top of Seneca Rocks. Then we took a scenic drive through the Dolly Sods. Then we made a stop at Blackwater Falls.

We had breakfast before we left and then stopped for supper in Keyser, WV.

We had originally planned to include a tour through the caverns, but because of time, we left that part out yesterday.

I was not disappointed to leave out the caverns, we have been through them before on a previous trip. It is dark and chilly in there. And at one point the guide turns off all the lights to show you what true darkness looks and feels like. 

And darkness IS a feeling.

I have been at such dark and desperate times in my life that I feel like I was in a pit of darkness. It was a hard time and I felt despair everyday. Only God's grace and mercy got me through those times. He truly is my savior.

God is bigger than any problem you encounter. He is not afraid of the dark. Give your fears, worries and desperations to Him and trust Him to take care of you.

Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. (Psalms 139:12 NASB)

Trust God

Each day I see so many people that are asking for prayer. There are requests for every kind of need from sickness, to attitude changes, to financial needs, to fears of job loss or rebellious children, character faults, etc.

We are human and these kinds of things affect us. We are all touched by some kind of concerns all the time and we fear the outcomes.

Today my prayer requests are that we read the following verses and take them to heart and then trust God with our fears.

The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deuteronomy 31:8 NASB)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NASB)

Value

As most of you know finding a penny brings a reminder to me of a great promise from God. So I love finding these little browns gems. I always pick them up and save them. I am getting quite a collection and I'm not sure what I will ever do with them but I am sure when the time comes He will show me.

Yesterday I found a penny in the parking lot. It had been run over so often that it was mashed  into the asphalt and I could not dislodge it. I tried, and tried some more and even got out some tools to try to pry it out, but finally had to give up on it. 

As I gave up I noticed a man sitting in a vehicle watching what I had been doing. And after I was back inside our truck, still wondering how to get that penny, I saw him walk over to the spot, look to see what I had been digging at, shake his head and walk away.

He probably thought I was a nut to waste so much time and effort on a penny. To most people there is no value in a penny.

But to me, the promise it contains is priceless.

When God looks at us, He sees our value. He sees our promise and our completeness. He cherishes each of us. Isn't that great to know?

Do you think you can find one person today that needs to hear they are valuable? Do you think that you might say something to help them know that they worth so much to God?

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6, 7 ESV)