Tuesday, August 29, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Darkness is great when we are trying to hide something, but light is needed when we are trying to walk without falling.”
Life Recovery Bible, page 1259
“Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:8 NLT)
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:8 KJV)
Some things are just hard to explain, and some things we can’t explain. That is, we can’t explain them so that they are totally understood. Being born again is one of those experiences that I find difficult to explain in words that are limited by structure and character. Meaning that words can reasonably be only so long and there are only 26 letters in the alphabet. Words are limited and finite, and being born again is unlimited and infinite. Trying to explain it reminds me of a college course I took in 1973. It was philosophy, and the instructor was a German man whose name was Professor Newshaffer. The first day of class he introduced himself, and held up a banana. He asked for the students to describe the color of the banana. How difficult could that be? I heard things like soft in color, light in color, and bright. It went on and on and every description that was given could also apply to the colors pink, white, off white, tangerine, tan, pea green, light green and on and on. The truth is that you cannot describe a sensation, and experiencing the reflected light rays off the banana is a sensation taken in by the eyes, a sense organ. All that is in the natural, how much more difficult it can be, to explain spiritual experiences. Just as we have our natural senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, we also have spiritual eyes, ears, nose, tongue and fingers. The spiritual heart being the seat of our spirit where the spiritual senses reside, will experience a rebirth or a newness of life, spiritual life, when we openly and honestly come to Jesus. It’s new, and it’s hard to explain. The Dake Bible has a commentary on the King James Version of the verse, share this with me: “As the natural man hears the wind, so the born again man hears the voice of the Spirit.” I pray that I may keep my spiritual senses open, so as to hear the voice of God, and see the love He has for His children. I can’t explain this, but I can tell you that God has done for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
Share this paragraph with me; it is from the 11th chapter titled The Wisdom of God, of A.W.Tozer’s book The Knowledge Of The Holy:
“In this brief study of the divine wisdom we begin with faith in God. Following our usual pattern, we shall not seek to understand in order that we may believe, but to believe in order to understand. Hence we shall not seek for proof that God is wise. The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshiping heart needs none.” (The Knowledge Of The Holy, page 59)
“We shall not seek to understand in order that we may believe, but to believe in order to understand.” This sums up how I feel today, thanks for letting me share. I will be away from my desk for a few days, may God abundantly bless all who receive these words…….JRE
Bananas
Thought for the day: “Darkness is great when we are trying to hide something, but light is needed when we are trying to walk without falling.”
Life Recovery Bible, page 1259
“Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:8 NLT)
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.”
(John 3:8 KJV)
Some things are just hard to explain, and some things we can’t explain. That is, we can’t explain them so that they are totally understood. Being born again is one of those experiences that I find difficult to explain in words that are limited by structure and character. Meaning that words can reasonably be only so long and there are only 26 letters in the alphabet. Words are limited and finite, and being born again is unlimited and infinite. Trying to explain it reminds me of a college course I took in 1973. It was philosophy, and the instructor was a German man whose name was Professor Newshaffer. The first day of class he introduced himself, and held up a banana. He asked for the students to describe the color of the banana. How difficult could that be? I heard things like soft in color, light in color, and bright. It went on and on and every description that was given could also apply to the colors pink, white, off white, tangerine, tan, pea green, light green and on and on. The truth is that you cannot describe a sensation, and experiencing the reflected light rays off the banana is a sensation taken in by the eyes, a sense organ. All that is in the natural, how much more difficult it can be, to explain spiritual experiences. Just as we have our natural senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching, we also have spiritual eyes, ears, nose, tongue and fingers. The spiritual heart being the seat of our spirit where the spiritual senses reside, will experience a rebirth or a newness of life, spiritual life, when we openly and honestly come to Jesus. It’s new, and it’s hard to explain. The Dake Bible has a commentary on the King James Version of the verse, share this with me: “As the natural man hears the wind, so the born again man hears the voice of the Spirit.” I pray that I may keep my spiritual senses open, so as to hear the voice of God, and see the love He has for His children. I can’t explain this, but I can tell you that God has done for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
Share this paragraph with me; it is from the 11th chapter titled The Wisdom of God, of A.W.Tozer’s book The Knowledge Of The Holy:
“In this brief study of the divine wisdom we begin with faith in God. Following our usual pattern, we shall not seek to understand in order that we may believe, but to believe in order to understand. Hence we shall not seek for proof that God is wise. The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshiping heart needs none.” (The Knowledge Of The Holy, page 59)
“We shall not seek to understand in order that we may believe, but to believe in order to understand.” This sums up how I feel today, thanks for letting me share. I will be away from my desk for a few days, may God abundantly bless all who receive these words…….JRE
Monday, August 28, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “God enters by a private door into every individual.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:1-5 The New Living Translation
My great grandfather was a water well driller. His son, my grandfather was a water well driller. My father used to work for my grandfather drilling wells, and two of my uncles were well drillers. My uncle Darrell who lives in Texas is the only Master Ground Water Contractor living in Texas recognized by the National Water Contractors Association. The reason I am telling this to you is to give you my association with water wells, and to relate that to the Scripture verse “The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Some of my earliest memories are of going out the places where my grandfather was drilling a well. I can remember we would take a lunch, load into the car, and drive for miles down these gravel Ozark Mountain roads to get to the place where Papa had set up the rig and was drilling a well. My uncle Darrell has all the modern rotary drilling equipment, but my grandfather used cable tools that had heavy bits that pounded the rock till it was pulverized. The bits had to be sharpened by sledgehammers after they had been heated in a furnace built in a pit in the ground. It was quite an operation for a young boy to see. The derrick sticking up way in the sky, many times we could see the derrick way before we got to the well site. My grandfather would always pour water down the well as he was drilling. It takes water to get water. When he would pull the bit out of the well, he would then run down a sand line, which would remove the water and crushed rock. It was then at this time that he would let us kids look down in the well. A six-inch hole, several hundred feet deep is difficult to see into. A flashlight would never put enough light far enough for the human eye to see. What my grandfather did was take a mirror, catch the sunlight and shine it in the well. Amazing how the extreme brightness of the sun penetrated through the darkness all the way to the bottom of the well. Of course the light of the sun had traveled 93 million miles to get here, so a few hundred feet more didn’t make any difference. And so it is with the Light of God that is shinning through His Son Jesus Christ. It has traveled from eternity to eternity, never dimming. “The darkness can never extinguish it.” I like the way the New Living Translation puts that verse. The only darkness that is in my life is there because I have allowed it to be there, and it can never overpower the true Light of Life. I am so grateful for a Power greater than myself, Jesus Christ, a Power that extinguishes the darkness. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………JRE
I dedicate this page to my uncle Darrell Dake who passed away this morning August 28, 2006 at 4:30 am. He was a water well driller; he was retired from the US Air Force, a Korean War and Vietnam War Veteran, and an Officer in the Texas State National Guard. He was and still is an inspiration in my life…………JRE
Shinning the Light
Thought for the day: “God enters by a private door into every individual.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
John 1:1-5 The New Living Translation
My great grandfather was a water well driller. His son, my grandfather was a water well driller. My father used to work for my grandfather drilling wells, and two of my uncles were well drillers. My uncle Darrell who lives in Texas is the only Master Ground Water Contractor living in Texas recognized by the National Water Contractors Association. The reason I am telling this to you is to give you my association with water wells, and to relate that to the Scripture verse “The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Some of my earliest memories are of going out the places where my grandfather was drilling a well. I can remember we would take a lunch, load into the car, and drive for miles down these gravel Ozark Mountain roads to get to the place where Papa had set up the rig and was drilling a well. My uncle Darrell has all the modern rotary drilling equipment, but my grandfather used cable tools that had heavy bits that pounded the rock till it was pulverized. The bits had to be sharpened by sledgehammers after they had been heated in a furnace built in a pit in the ground. It was quite an operation for a young boy to see. The derrick sticking up way in the sky, many times we could see the derrick way before we got to the well site. My grandfather would always pour water down the well as he was drilling. It takes water to get water. When he would pull the bit out of the well, he would then run down a sand line, which would remove the water and crushed rock. It was then at this time that he would let us kids look down in the well. A six-inch hole, several hundred feet deep is difficult to see into. A flashlight would never put enough light far enough for the human eye to see. What my grandfather did was take a mirror, catch the sunlight and shine it in the well. Amazing how the extreme brightness of the sun penetrated through the darkness all the way to the bottom of the well. Of course the light of the sun had traveled 93 million miles to get here, so a few hundred feet more didn’t make any difference. And so it is with the Light of God that is shinning through His Son Jesus Christ. It has traveled from eternity to eternity, never dimming. “The darkness can never extinguish it.” I like the way the New Living Translation puts that verse. The only darkness that is in my life is there because I have allowed it to be there, and it can never overpower the true Light of Life. I am so grateful for a Power greater than myself, Jesus Christ, a Power that extinguishes the darkness. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………JRE
I dedicate this page to my uncle Darrell Dake who passed away this morning August 28, 2006 at 4:30 am. He was a water well driller; he was retired from the US Air Force, a Korean War and Vietnam War Veteran, and an Officer in the Texas State National Guard. He was and still is an inspiration in my life…………JRE
Friday, August 25, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Solomon (Proverbs 12:18 NIV)
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:22-25 NIV)
“Have faith in God.” Most English translations have this scripture verse written as such, but if you go to the original Greek you will find that the word “in” was added later. What was meant was not necessarily to have faith in God, but to have the faith of God. Is Jesus asking us too much to have the faith “of” God? I don’t think so; otherwise He would not have said it. To study the faith “of” God, I have to go all the way back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis. I also go to the 11th chapter of Hebrew. In Genesis I learn that God spoke everything into existence, and it was the faith “of” God that was the power behind the words. God did not look out at the darkness and say, sure looks dark out there, no He said, “light be,” and light was. And light still is……traveling at 186,000 miles per second. In the book of Hebrews we read, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command” (Hebrews 11:3 NLT). As I study I come to the conclusion (for myself), that speaking has much to do with faith. Jesus pointed this out when He said “whatever you ask (speak, added by me) for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Jesus didn’t say believe you’re gonna receive it, or you just might receive it, He said “believe you have received it.” Man, that’s right now! But, it’s difficult to believe you have something right now, when you don’t. It goes against the natural. Well, we ain’t talking about natural stuff here, were talking supernatural. If we were talking natural stuff, there wouldn’t be any need for faith. Having the faith “of” God is something I find that just doesn’t come naturally. It must be learned and then exercised or practiced. Like playing an instrument, you learn and then you practice and as you practice you get better at it. Faith works the same way. Mark recorded the teaching of Jesus on faith, but Jesus did not teach about faith alone, He tied it together with forgiveness. Is there a direct link in getting what we want by faith and how we feel about others? You bet! Jesus made it very clear as He spoke in the same breath about receiving and forgiveness. As a matter of fact, all the favors of God are a result of forgiveness, and our forgiveness of others. Today may I learn that what I ask for in faith, using the faith “of” God, must also be rooted and grounded in the forgiveness “of” God. Today I see that the Word of God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“Literally, ‘Have the faith of God,’ such is possible or it would not be a command, Man was created with God’s faith but doubt entered in at the fall (Gen. 3:1-7). Faith is restored in the new birth and if normally exercised and maintained it will grow to fullness and power (Rom. 10:17).”……………… FINIS DAKE
“We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up. Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us.” Alcoholics Anonymous, page 55
The faith of God
Thought for the day: “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Solomon (Proverbs 12:18 NIV)
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:22-25 NIV)
“Have faith in God.” Most English translations have this scripture verse written as such, but if you go to the original Greek you will find that the word “in” was added later. What was meant was not necessarily to have faith in God, but to have the faith of God. Is Jesus asking us too much to have the faith “of” God? I don’t think so; otherwise He would not have said it. To study the faith “of” God, I have to go all the way back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis. I also go to the 11th chapter of Hebrew. In Genesis I learn that God spoke everything into existence, and it was the faith “of” God that was the power behind the words. God did not look out at the darkness and say, sure looks dark out there, no He said, “light be,” and light was. And light still is……traveling at 186,000 miles per second. In the book of Hebrews we read, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command” (Hebrews 11:3 NLT). As I study I come to the conclusion (for myself), that speaking has much to do with faith. Jesus pointed this out when He said “whatever you ask (speak, added by me) for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Jesus didn’t say believe you’re gonna receive it, or you just might receive it, He said “believe you have received it.” Man, that’s right now! But, it’s difficult to believe you have something right now, when you don’t. It goes against the natural. Well, we ain’t talking about natural stuff here, were talking supernatural. If we were talking natural stuff, there wouldn’t be any need for faith. Having the faith “of” God is something I find that just doesn’t come naturally. It must be learned and then exercised or practiced. Like playing an instrument, you learn and then you practice and as you practice you get better at it. Faith works the same way. Mark recorded the teaching of Jesus on faith, but Jesus did not teach about faith alone, He tied it together with forgiveness. Is there a direct link in getting what we want by faith and how we feel about others? You bet! Jesus made it very clear as He spoke in the same breath about receiving and forgiveness. As a matter of fact, all the favors of God are a result of forgiveness, and our forgiveness of others. Today may I learn that what I ask for in faith, using the faith “of” God, must also be rooted and grounded in the forgiveness “of” God. Today I see that the Word of God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
“Literally, ‘Have the faith of God,’ such is possible or it would not be a command, Man was created with God’s faith but doubt entered in at the fall (Gen. 3:1-7). Faith is restored in the new birth and if normally exercised and maintained it will grow to fullness and power (Rom. 10:17).”……………… FINIS DAKE
“We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up. Sometimes we had to search persistently, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us.” Alcoholics Anonymous, page 55
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Jesus is the most revolutionary of all teachers. He turns the world upside down for those who accept his teaching. When once you have accepted the Jesus Christ Message, nothing is ever the same again.”
EMMET FOX
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to have all of you, to sift you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not a fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers.”
Luke 22:31-32 The New Living Translation
“Strengthen and build up your brothers.” Jesus asked Peter after he fell spiritually, to come back and help his friends. Have you ever been on a hiking trail or rock climbing and after someone overcame a difficult place, possibly a tight squeeze, or a rock that had to be climbed up and over, when they get on top, they turned around and offered a hand to help you up? We all have, possibly it was going down some stairs, and when the first one down was on the bottom level, they turned around and gave a hand to the next person. These are examples in the natural realm. Jesus gave Peter a command to do like wise except in the spiritual realm. There is nothing like getting through a jam by holding the hand of someone who had been through the same jam. Today I meet with my sponsor for our monthly lunch. It is a time of accountability when honesty is the main course. I see my sponsor a couple of time a week and talk to him several more times, but our lunch is a real workshop in itself. Sometimes there isn’t much going on, and at other times we blow away the smoke and get at the business of putting out fires. I always look forward to them. After all it is Scriptural, “Strengthen and build up your brothers.” God has always used others in my life to do for me what I could not do for myself………..JRE
Share this with me, it is from the Life Recovery Bible……………jre
It is easy to lose faith when we are troubled. As we are buffeted about by the storms of life, we may feel like the faith we once had has slipped away. We may begin to feel anger toward God.
Simon Peter had his ups and downs with God. On the night Simon Peter would deny him, Jesus said to him, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to have all of you, to sift you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus pointed out that Simon had an assailant in the spiritual realm. Jesus knew Peter would be attacked and “sifted,” but he also was confident that afterward Peter would return to God. Wheat is sifted by throwing it repeatedly into the air. The kernels are separated from the chaff as the lighter chaff is carried away by the wind. All that remains are the good, solid wheat kernels.
We should not be surprised that we face times when our faith seems to disappear. We may feel as if we are being blown away like chaff. But we needn’t worry. We will find the core of our faith again. And when we do, we will be all the better for it, and better able to encourage others, too. Life Recovery Bible, page 1245
Blow away the smoke and put out the fire
Thought for the day: “Jesus is the most revolutionary of all teachers. He turns the world upside down for those who accept his teaching. When once you have accepted the Jesus Christ Message, nothing is ever the same again.”
EMMET FOX
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to have all of you, to sift you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not a fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers.”
Luke 22:31-32 The New Living Translation
“Strengthen and build up your brothers.” Jesus asked Peter after he fell spiritually, to come back and help his friends. Have you ever been on a hiking trail or rock climbing and after someone overcame a difficult place, possibly a tight squeeze, or a rock that had to be climbed up and over, when they get on top, they turned around and offered a hand to help you up? We all have, possibly it was going down some stairs, and when the first one down was on the bottom level, they turned around and gave a hand to the next person. These are examples in the natural realm. Jesus gave Peter a command to do like wise except in the spiritual realm. There is nothing like getting through a jam by holding the hand of someone who had been through the same jam. Today I meet with my sponsor for our monthly lunch. It is a time of accountability when honesty is the main course. I see my sponsor a couple of time a week and talk to him several more times, but our lunch is a real workshop in itself. Sometimes there isn’t much going on, and at other times we blow away the smoke and get at the business of putting out fires. I always look forward to them. After all it is Scriptural, “Strengthen and build up your brothers.” God has always used others in my life to do for me what I could not do for myself………..JRE
Share this with me, it is from the Life Recovery Bible……………jre
It is easy to lose faith when we are troubled. As we are buffeted about by the storms of life, we may feel like the faith we once had has slipped away. We may begin to feel anger toward God.
Simon Peter had his ups and downs with God. On the night Simon Peter would deny him, Jesus said to him, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to have all of you, to sift you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus pointed out that Simon had an assailant in the spiritual realm. Jesus knew Peter would be attacked and “sifted,” but he also was confident that afterward Peter would return to God. Wheat is sifted by throwing it repeatedly into the air. The kernels are separated from the chaff as the lighter chaff is carried away by the wind. All that remains are the good, solid wheat kernels.
We should not be surprised that we face times when our faith seems to disappear. We may feel as if we are being blown away like chaff. But we needn’t worry. We will find the core of our faith again. And when we do, we will be all the better for it, and better able to encourage others, too. Life Recovery Bible, page 1245
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “God guides us, despite our uncertainties and our vagueness, even through our failings and mistakes…He leads us step by step, from event to event. Only afterwards, as we look back over the way we have come…. do we experience the feeling of having been led without knowing it, the feeling that God has mysteriously guided us.”
PAUL TOURNIER
“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is every ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8, The Amplified Bible)
Love endures everything without weakening. When I read this scripture verse from the Amplified Bible it reminds me of my granny. My granny loved me till the day she died. As a matter of fact it was the last thing she said to me. She was 93 years old and was drifting in and out of a coma. She had not eaten very much the past few days, and my cousin Margaret and I were staying nights with her. We would read scripture to her, pray, anoint her skin with oil, and keep her lips moist. Sometime about two days before she peacefully slipped into eternity, I was sitting there and she opened her eyes, looked at me and mouthed the words “I love you.” I knew my granny loved me; she didn’t have to tell me. Six years prior to this my granny shocked me by something she said, she asked me not to come to her house drunk or when I had been drinking. My granny was really all I had in life since my mother had died and it floored me to think that I was losing even that. I lived at one end of the family farm and granny lived at the other, and I was barred from going and visiting the place of my birth, the old home place. What I find being strange is that the power that alcohol had over me kept me away from my granny for a year. My self-centered, selfish, and greedy lifestyle preferred a drunken stupor to being with someone who truly loved me. In 1998 my granny had to go to a nursing home and my addictions were causing a living hell in my life. As I look back on it now can see God allowing me to reach this point in order to bring about a change in my life. I needed a power in my life that was greater than the power that drugs and alcohol had on me. I had nowhere to turn but to God, and to my surprise, just like my granny, God still loved me. As I came into recovery and sobered up, I took on the responsibility of taking care of the old home place. Over the next four years my relationship with my granny flourished and grew in a love that I had never experienced before. I became aware of the fact that her love for me had “endured everything without weakening.” Today as I sit in the house that my granny lived in for 70 years, and I look out the window to the bird feeders where “her” birds are feeding, I realize that love never fails. Love endures everything without weakening. Thanks for letting me share, God truly has done for me what I could not do for myself……………………..JRE
“I try hard to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.” BILL WILSON
Love endures everything without weakening
Thought for the day: “God guides us, despite our uncertainties and our vagueness, even through our failings and mistakes…He leads us step by step, from event to event. Only afterwards, as we look back over the way we have come…. do we experience the feeling of having been led without knowing it, the feeling that God has mysteriously guided us.”
PAUL TOURNIER
“Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is every ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.” (1 Corinthians 13:7-8, The Amplified Bible)
Love endures everything without weakening. When I read this scripture verse from the Amplified Bible it reminds me of my granny. My granny loved me till the day she died. As a matter of fact it was the last thing she said to me. She was 93 years old and was drifting in and out of a coma. She had not eaten very much the past few days, and my cousin Margaret and I were staying nights with her. We would read scripture to her, pray, anoint her skin with oil, and keep her lips moist. Sometime about two days before she peacefully slipped into eternity, I was sitting there and she opened her eyes, looked at me and mouthed the words “I love you.” I knew my granny loved me; she didn’t have to tell me. Six years prior to this my granny shocked me by something she said, she asked me not to come to her house drunk or when I had been drinking. My granny was really all I had in life since my mother had died and it floored me to think that I was losing even that. I lived at one end of the family farm and granny lived at the other, and I was barred from going and visiting the place of my birth, the old home place. What I find being strange is that the power that alcohol had over me kept me away from my granny for a year. My self-centered, selfish, and greedy lifestyle preferred a drunken stupor to being with someone who truly loved me. In 1998 my granny had to go to a nursing home and my addictions were causing a living hell in my life. As I look back on it now can see God allowing me to reach this point in order to bring about a change in my life. I needed a power in my life that was greater than the power that drugs and alcohol had on me. I had nowhere to turn but to God, and to my surprise, just like my granny, God still loved me. As I came into recovery and sobered up, I took on the responsibility of taking care of the old home place. Over the next four years my relationship with my granny flourished and grew in a love that I had never experienced before. I became aware of the fact that her love for me had “endured everything without weakening.” Today as I sit in the house that my granny lived in for 70 years, and I look out the window to the bird feeders where “her” birds are feeding, I realize that love never fails. Love endures everything without weakening. Thanks for letting me share, God truly has done for me what I could not do for myself……………………..JRE
“I try hard to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits. When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.” BILL WILSON
Monday, August 21, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Fear of life in one form or another is the great thing to exorcise.”
WILLIAM JAMES
“Now brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you, even Jesus.” (Acts 3:17-20 NIV)
Having not written anything for a few days, I find sitting here trying to get going like pushing an old car to get it started. After a car has not run for a while and it has set in the same spot, it seems like the old tires get flat on one side and possibly sink into the ground just a bit. Once you getter rolling then it’s easier to get it started. I’m up and running now, don’t know if I’m hitting on all cylinders but we’re moving………………… This morning as my study brought me to the Book of Acts I was refreshed to read that “times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Just reading it and believing that the Word of God is true brought about a refreshing feeling to my spirit. The apostle Peter was the one who said these words, and they came about after the healing of a lame man who sat at the temple gate begging. The guy asked Peter and John for some money, and they must have been tapped because they told him “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6) Peter reached down by the hand and picked the guy up, and he immediately stood and walked. He even started jumping up and down praising God. The guy had never walked, he had been lame since birth, and everyone knew it, but here he was walking with Peter and John into the temple. As you might expect it caused a commotion and soon a crowd was gathered around. Peter explained the whole thing by stating that it was not by his own power that this man had been healed, but by the power of attorney that has been given to all of us. Peter and John used the name of Jesus, which is the same name we have the authority to use. Jesus told us to use his name. Peter then went on to tell the crowd that it was because of ignorance that they had denied Jesus. What amazes me is it that Peter had the perfect opportunity to accuse the people because of their ignorance, and he didn’t. What he did was use their ignorance as an opportunity for them to repent and turn from their old way of thinking. Peter didn’t just leave them there, he continued on telling them that “times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” And so true it is, it is like walking out of one room into another when we turn from our self-centered life and enter into the presence of the Lord. We can look back on our old life, but we don’t have to actually live it anymore. God truly does for us what we could not do for ourselves………….JRE
“In praying, we ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it out.” BILL W. …………………….AA Twelve and Twelve, page 102
Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord
Thought for the day: “Fear of life in one form or another is the great thing to exorcise.”
WILLIAM JAMES
“Now brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you, even Jesus.” (Acts 3:17-20 NIV)
Having not written anything for a few days, I find sitting here trying to get going like pushing an old car to get it started. After a car has not run for a while and it has set in the same spot, it seems like the old tires get flat on one side and possibly sink into the ground just a bit. Once you getter rolling then it’s easier to get it started. I’m up and running now, don’t know if I’m hitting on all cylinders but we’re moving………………… This morning as my study brought me to the Book of Acts I was refreshed to read that “times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” Just reading it and believing that the Word of God is true brought about a refreshing feeling to my spirit. The apostle Peter was the one who said these words, and they came about after the healing of a lame man who sat at the temple gate begging. The guy asked Peter and John for some money, and they must have been tapped because they told him “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6) Peter reached down by the hand and picked the guy up, and he immediately stood and walked. He even started jumping up and down praising God. The guy had never walked, he had been lame since birth, and everyone knew it, but here he was walking with Peter and John into the temple. As you might expect it caused a commotion and soon a crowd was gathered around. Peter explained the whole thing by stating that it was not by his own power that this man had been healed, but by the power of attorney that has been given to all of us. Peter and John used the name of Jesus, which is the same name we have the authority to use. Jesus told us to use his name. Peter then went on to tell the crowd that it was because of ignorance that they had denied Jesus. What amazes me is it that Peter had the perfect opportunity to accuse the people because of their ignorance, and he didn’t. What he did was use their ignorance as an opportunity for them to repent and turn from their old way of thinking. Peter didn’t just leave them there, he continued on telling them that “times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” And so true it is, it is like walking out of one room into another when we turn from our self-centered life and enter into the presence of the Lord. We can look back on our old life, but we don’t have to actually live it anymore. God truly does for us what we could not do for ourselves………….JRE
“In praying, we ask simply that throughout the day God place in us the best understanding of His will that we can have for that day, and that we be given the grace by which we may carry it out.” BILL W. …………………….AA Twelve and Twelve, page 102
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “With God attitude counts more than amount.”
Life Recovery Bible, page 1241
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow cam by and dropped in tow pennies. “I assure you,” he said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”
Luke 21:1-4 NLT
Share with me what the Life Recovery Bible has to say about these verses of Scripture.
“God has a unique standard by which he measures giving and givers. With God, attitude counts more than amount, so Jesus praised this widow. A generous person is not one who gives conveniently and comfortably out of abundance. A generous person in God’s eyes risks all, sacrifices cheerfully, and gives without demanding attention or expecting a reward. Whether it’s our time, talents, or money, God wants us to turn everything in our life over to his care. One small step in giving may become one giant leap toward recovery.” (Page 1241)
What a wonderful meeting we had at the prison last evening. There were around 85 men gathered together in a room and the topic we chose was sharing. Even though we had a large attendance, no one spoke out of turn, everyone was polite, no one spoke too long, everyone stayed on the topic, and there was a wonderful mood of respect for each other. The love of God seemed to flow through each heart and was the anointing oil that kept the meeting alive and interesting. Why is it that giving has greater rewards than receiving? I can acquire material possessions in my life, but unless I share them with someone, they just sit there. As I continue to study and grow, I see where the lessons that Jesus taught were not necessarily meant to be taken into solitude, and kept there. You could have the whole Word of God memorized and have powerful faith, but if you spent your whole life in a cave and never saw anyone else, what good would it do other than provide for your own salvation? Jesus was about sharing. Church is about sharing. Alcoholics Anonymous is about sharing. You don’t have to go very far into the preamble of AA before you hear about sharing. “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other, that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.” If God is in it, it is meant to be shared. Oh, solitude is wonderful and refreshing, but we need to share our experience and what we learned. “To keep what you’ve got, you’ve got to give it away.” A paradox in receiving and enjoying what God has done for us that we could not do for ourselves……………..JRE
“We have tried in all manner of ways to help ourselves. But not until we begin to help other people do we get full relief. It is an axiom that the AA program has to be given away in order to be kept. A river flows into the Dead Sea and stops. A river flows into a clear pool and flows out again. We get and then we give. If we do not give, we do not keep.” HAZELDEN……………….Twenty-Four Hours A day
Attitude more than amount
Thought for the day: “With God attitude counts more than amount.”
Life Recovery Bible, page 1241
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow cam by and dropped in tow pennies. “I assure you,” he said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”
Luke 21:1-4 NLT
Share with me what the Life Recovery Bible has to say about these verses of Scripture.
“God has a unique standard by which he measures giving and givers. With God, attitude counts more than amount, so Jesus praised this widow. A generous person is not one who gives conveniently and comfortably out of abundance. A generous person in God’s eyes risks all, sacrifices cheerfully, and gives without demanding attention or expecting a reward. Whether it’s our time, talents, or money, God wants us to turn everything in our life over to his care. One small step in giving may become one giant leap toward recovery.” (Page 1241)
What a wonderful meeting we had at the prison last evening. There were around 85 men gathered together in a room and the topic we chose was sharing. Even though we had a large attendance, no one spoke out of turn, everyone was polite, no one spoke too long, everyone stayed on the topic, and there was a wonderful mood of respect for each other. The love of God seemed to flow through each heart and was the anointing oil that kept the meeting alive and interesting. Why is it that giving has greater rewards than receiving? I can acquire material possessions in my life, but unless I share them with someone, they just sit there. As I continue to study and grow, I see where the lessons that Jesus taught were not necessarily meant to be taken into solitude, and kept there. You could have the whole Word of God memorized and have powerful faith, but if you spent your whole life in a cave and never saw anyone else, what good would it do other than provide for your own salvation? Jesus was about sharing. Church is about sharing. Alcoholics Anonymous is about sharing. You don’t have to go very far into the preamble of AA before you hear about sharing. “Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other, that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.” If God is in it, it is meant to be shared. Oh, solitude is wonderful and refreshing, but we need to share our experience and what we learned. “To keep what you’ve got, you’ve got to give it away.” A paradox in receiving and enjoying what God has done for us that we could not do for ourselves……………..JRE
“We have tried in all manner of ways to help ourselves. But not until we begin to help other people do we get full relief. It is an axiom that the AA program has to be given away in order to be kept. A river flows into the Dead Sea and stops. A river flows into a clear pool and flows out again. We get and then we give. If we do not give, we do not keep.” HAZELDEN……………….Twenty-Four Hours A day
Monday, August 14, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.”
Bill Wilson
O LORD,
You have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely,
O LORD.
Psalm 139:1-4 NIV
Before a word is on my tongue, God knows it completely. I’m busted sometimes even before I speak. My tongue has been known to get me in trouble and I have been working on watching what I say for several years now, but it is still one of the hardest tasks that I have as a Christian, a friend, a family member, and as a person in recovery from addictions. For years my ego and self-will was allowed to run free like a bunch of wild horses on the open plains. No reigns, no fences, no particular direction to head, just following the pleasures of life. My how I thought it was so much fun to run and kick my heals up. With no real direction in my life I ended up in a dry barren area away from the nourishing fertile fields of life. And then the fences and barriers started coming up. I found myself under the authority of those who I had been trying to avoid, cops, lawyers, judges, and the correctional system. Just like in the old western movies when I ran free with my head held high, thinking I was totally in control, I found myself in a boxed canyon with no way out. Years of running freely on self-will, has made it a difficult job in curbing my thoughts and tongue. Today as I work at renewing my mind by spending time in the Word of God, I am constantly reminded (renewing mind) that God knows me beyond and before my thoughts and words. It humbles me to know that God knows before I know what I am going to say. Through the study of the written Word, I am finding that God is able to do for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.” C. S. Lewis
Wild horses
Thought for the day: “In God’s economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is.”
Bill Wilson
O LORD,
You have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely,
O LORD.
Psalm 139:1-4 NIV
Before a word is on my tongue, God knows it completely. I’m busted sometimes even before I speak. My tongue has been known to get me in trouble and I have been working on watching what I say for several years now, but it is still one of the hardest tasks that I have as a Christian, a friend, a family member, and as a person in recovery from addictions. For years my ego and self-will was allowed to run free like a bunch of wild horses on the open plains. No reigns, no fences, no particular direction to head, just following the pleasures of life. My how I thought it was so much fun to run and kick my heals up. With no real direction in my life I ended up in a dry barren area away from the nourishing fertile fields of life. And then the fences and barriers started coming up. I found myself under the authority of those who I had been trying to avoid, cops, lawyers, judges, and the correctional system. Just like in the old western movies when I ran free with my head held high, thinking I was totally in control, I found myself in a boxed canyon with no way out. Years of running freely on self-will, has made it a difficult job in curbing my thoughts and tongue. Today as I work at renewing my mind by spending time in the Word of God, I am constantly reminded (renewing mind) that God knows me beyond and before my thoughts and words. It humbles me to know that God knows before I know what I am going to say. Through the study of the written Word, I am finding that God is able to do for me what I could not do for myself………….JRE
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.” C. S. Lewis
Thursday, August 10, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “The call of God is the call to be human, to embrace our humanity in all of its ambiguity…….The call of God is a summons to embark upon a journey of faith whose destiny is not always apparent.” Randall Balmer
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I came across this scripture verse today as I was reading something that was written by Oswald Chambers and it brought back memories of when I first read it. When I first became a believer I was in jail and doing time for a DWI. At that time in 1983 my life had been on a downward spiral for about ten years. There is a saying going around that “if you remember the 60’s and 70’s you weren’t there.” Well I’m here to tell you that I was there and I remember them. Some of those years and the events that took place are as vivid today as when they happened. I can remember after returning home form Vietnam in 1968 how my lifestyle would go directly against the direction that society was headed. I would deliberately do things that would repulse the older folks of the day. Why we did that, I don’t really know. Maybe it was just because we could. I am sure that many psychologists would probably say that it had to do with low self-esteem, feelings of inferiority, or a drive to be noticed. These reasons could be true also. What ever it was, that desire to be different and noticed was there. This different kind of lifestyle that we (hippies) called a sub-culture, went on until the late 1970’s, and around that time society started accepting us and embracing our life style. Now that was strange, here we were trying to be different, and everyone was trying to be like us. In the mid-west there was always a distinction made between the hipsters and the greasers, but when the greasers started getting long hair you couldn’t tell who was who. And then we started seeing old people with long hair, beards and mustaches. Everyone started wearing T-shirts, and casual and relaxed became the “in” thing. There was a time not so long ago when men of standing in their community would not be seen in a T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Today many of us go to church that way. I mention all these things to give you a better understand of my life before I accepted Christ. Along with all the clothing styles, music, psychedelic art, fantasy novels, and social protests, there was in my life a continued use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. When I let all things in my life run rampant, the alcohol and drugs started taking the lead. When I started reading the scripture, the gospels were first, and somewhere between Matthew and John I became a believer. When I finished Acts, Romans, and First Corinthians, I started to become strengthened in my faith, and the haze of life started clearing up a little. And then I came across 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” I envisioned my prior life as if it had been written and drawn on a blackboard with chalk, and God had taken an eraser and simply wiped it away. Oh I still have the memories, but the negative values of that self-centered lifestyle were erased and I for the first time in my life had a new start, a new road to walk without any luggage to weigh me down. At times I try and pick up some old dirty suitcase full of trash from my past, but I am reminded to let it be. I don’t have to carry it daily through my life. God has lightened my load. God has done for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”Hebrews 8:12 NIV
Traveling without luggage
Thought for the day: “The call of God is the call to be human, to embrace our humanity in all of its ambiguity…….The call of God is a summons to embark upon a journey of faith whose destiny is not always apparent.” Randall Balmer
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I came across this scripture verse today as I was reading something that was written by Oswald Chambers and it brought back memories of when I first read it. When I first became a believer I was in jail and doing time for a DWI. At that time in 1983 my life had been on a downward spiral for about ten years. There is a saying going around that “if you remember the 60’s and 70’s you weren’t there.” Well I’m here to tell you that I was there and I remember them. Some of those years and the events that took place are as vivid today as when they happened. I can remember after returning home form Vietnam in 1968 how my lifestyle would go directly against the direction that society was headed. I would deliberately do things that would repulse the older folks of the day. Why we did that, I don’t really know. Maybe it was just because we could. I am sure that many psychologists would probably say that it had to do with low self-esteem, feelings of inferiority, or a drive to be noticed. These reasons could be true also. What ever it was, that desire to be different and noticed was there. This different kind of lifestyle that we (hippies) called a sub-culture, went on until the late 1970’s, and around that time society started accepting us and embracing our life style. Now that was strange, here we were trying to be different, and everyone was trying to be like us. In the mid-west there was always a distinction made between the hipsters and the greasers, but when the greasers started getting long hair you couldn’t tell who was who. And then we started seeing old people with long hair, beards and mustaches. Everyone started wearing T-shirts, and casual and relaxed became the “in” thing. There was a time not so long ago when men of standing in their community would not be seen in a T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Today many of us go to church that way. I mention all these things to give you a better understand of my life before I accepted Christ. Along with all the clothing styles, music, psychedelic art, fantasy novels, and social protests, there was in my life a continued use and abuse of alcohol and illegal drugs. When I let all things in my life run rampant, the alcohol and drugs started taking the lead. When I started reading the scripture, the gospels were first, and somewhere between Matthew and John I became a believer. When I finished Acts, Romans, and First Corinthians, I started to become strengthened in my faith, and the haze of life started clearing up a little. And then I came across 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” I envisioned my prior life as if it had been written and drawn on a blackboard with chalk, and God had taken an eraser and simply wiped it away. Oh I still have the memories, but the negative values of that self-centered lifestyle were erased and I for the first time in my life had a new start, a new road to walk without any luggage to weigh me down. At times I try and pick up some old dirty suitcase full of trash from my past, but I am reminded to let it be. I don’t have to carry it daily through my life. God has lightened my load. God has done for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
“For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”Hebrews 8:12 NIV
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “True fortitude I take to be the quiet possession of a man’s self, and an undisturbed doing of his duty, whatever evil besets or danger lies in his way.”
JOHN LOCKE
“Restore me to the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Psalm 51:12 NIV
David was king of the nation of Israel and had all political power, all the material wealth at his fingertips, a great army at his defense, many strong and powerful friends who advised him, and then there was Nathan the prophet. Nathan kept David accountable to himself and God. Nathan picked out a time in David’s life when the lust of the eyes and the weakness of his flesh pulled him into an adulteress relationship, and Nathan confronted David upfront about it. My how I hurts sometimes when there is someone we know, that knows us well enough, and they honestly shoot straight to us. The concept of sponsorship in working a program of recovery brings people into our lives that keep us accountable. The men’s Christian fellowship know as Promise Keepers has small groups that keep those involved accountable to each other. Many women have groups that meet regularly for prayer and other functions that allow a honest closeness to exist that brings about accountability. Sometimes it is possible for me to side-step issues in my life, until someone else points them out, and then I know that they know, and of course everyone knows that God knows. I have found that the best time to work on a problem in my life is when it is seen in the light of someone else’s eyes. This brings about a willingness, and that is where David received some of his strength to overcome himself. He more or less said “God grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” If I am not willing and open to change daily in my life, then I am doomed to repeat over and over the mistakes of the past. Today I choose a willing spirit to sustain me so that God can do for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are still filthy, full of greed and wickedness!”
Luke 11:39 NLT
Changing those things in our life that we can change involves taking steps to clean the inside of our “cup,” our heart. We must begin by turning our eyes away from everyone around us, including those we blame for our condition in life or those we condemn to make our wrongs seem less in comparison. Then we can get back to looking within ourself. We all contain some residue of wrongdoing. When we admit this to God, and to ourself, and to others, we will experience the cleaning humility and forgiveness. Then we will have a life that can bring refreshment to others. Life Recovery Bible, page 1227
Shooting straight
Thought for the day: “True fortitude I take to be the quiet possession of a man’s self, and an undisturbed doing of his duty, whatever evil besets or danger lies in his way.”
JOHN LOCKE
“Restore me to the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Psalm 51:12 NIV
David was king of the nation of Israel and had all political power, all the material wealth at his fingertips, a great army at his defense, many strong and powerful friends who advised him, and then there was Nathan the prophet. Nathan kept David accountable to himself and God. Nathan picked out a time in David’s life when the lust of the eyes and the weakness of his flesh pulled him into an adulteress relationship, and Nathan confronted David upfront about it. My how I hurts sometimes when there is someone we know, that knows us well enough, and they honestly shoot straight to us. The concept of sponsorship in working a program of recovery brings people into our lives that keep us accountable. The men’s Christian fellowship know as Promise Keepers has small groups that keep those involved accountable to each other. Many women have groups that meet regularly for prayer and other functions that allow a honest closeness to exist that brings about accountability. Sometimes it is possible for me to side-step issues in my life, until someone else points them out, and then I know that they know, and of course everyone knows that God knows. I have found that the best time to work on a problem in my life is when it is seen in the light of someone else’s eyes. This brings about a willingness, and that is where David received some of his strength to overcome himself. He more or less said “God grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” If I am not willing and open to change daily in my life, then I am doomed to repeat over and over the mistakes of the past. Today I choose a willing spirit to sustain me so that God can do for me what I could not do for myself…………………..JRE
Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are still filthy, full of greed and wickedness!”
Luke 11:39 NLT
Changing those things in our life that we can change involves taking steps to clean the inside of our “cup,” our heart. We must begin by turning our eyes away from everyone around us, including those we blame for our condition in life or those we condemn to make our wrongs seem less in comparison. Then we can get back to looking within ourself. We all contain some residue of wrongdoing. When we admit this to God, and to ourself, and to others, we will experience the cleaning humility and forgiveness. Then we will have a life that can bring refreshment to others. Life Recovery Bible, page 1227
Monday, August 07, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “To the children of God there stands, behind all that changes, only one unchangeable joy. That is God.”
HANNAH WHITALL SMITH
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray as the disciples of John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. Jesus gave them an example of prayer that contains all the elements of prayer anyone could need. Emmet Fox says the prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer is the most important of all the Christian documents, and is the one common denominator of all the Christian churches. I find it sad that we have taken this beautiful example of communicating with our heavenly Father and turned it into a sing-song group of words that we recite from memory without any thought about what we are saying. Share with me what Emmet Fox has to say about this: “The prayer is a carefully constructed organic whole. Many people rattle through it like parrots, forgetful of the warning that Jesus gave us against vain repetitions, and, of course no one derives any profit from that sort of thing.” We say the prayer at the close of every AA meeting, and I am teaching myself to concentrate on each clause and its meaning. Emmet Fox says the prayer is a compact formula for the development of the soul. As I came across the prayer today in my time of reading God’s Word, what Jesus had to say directly after giving the example touched my spirit. Share this with me from the New Living Translation.
Then teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration: “Suppose you went to a friends house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You would say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ He would call out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and we are all in bed. I can’t help you this time.’ But I tell you this, though he won’t do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you what you want so his reputation won’t be damaged.
And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
Luke 11:5-10 (New Living Translation)
Jesus gave the disciples an excellent example of how to pray, but just as importantly He taught them about continuity. Keeping on keeping on. I have a friend who got a job at a steel plant that moved into town fifteen years ago. It was the best job he had ever had. After about three years the steel plant shut down and laid off the workers. They did have a plant about thirty-five miles down the road, and my friend put in his application there. They were not hiring and he was somewhat discouraged. I remember him saying that he was going to keep trying until he got hired. For months he would scrape up the money for gas and drive down the road to make a personal appearance at the employment office at that plant. Many thought it was useless because they just weren’t hiring, but he kept at it. You know what? He got the job. He just kept knocking and the door was opened to him. In my life I kept knocking at a door that said “freedom from alcohol and drugs.” I would knock on the door but failed to be willing walk through. I wanted to walk through the door, but was not willing to work at the changes that it required. I kept knocking at that door and in time I was ready to walk through. The door was opened each time I knocked, but I was reluctant to enter in. Today having entered in I find more doors to knock on. Different phases of my recovery seem to open to new levels of service and serenity. May I never be afraid to ask, seek and knock. God always will do for me what I cannot do for myself if I ask and it is in His will…………………..JRE
Keep on keepin' on
Thought for the day: “To the children of God there stands, behind all that changes, only one unchangeable joy. That is God.”
HANNAH WHITALL SMITH
The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray as the disciples of John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. Jesus gave them an example of prayer that contains all the elements of prayer anyone could need. Emmet Fox says the prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer is the most important of all the Christian documents, and is the one common denominator of all the Christian churches. I find it sad that we have taken this beautiful example of communicating with our heavenly Father and turned it into a sing-song group of words that we recite from memory without any thought about what we are saying. Share with me what Emmet Fox has to say about this: “The prayer is a carefully constructed organic whole. Many people rattle through it like parrots, forgetful of the warning that Jesus gave us against vain repetitions, and, of course no one derives any profit from that sort of thing.” We say the prayer at the close of every AA meeting, and I am teaching myself to concentrate on each clause and its meaning. Emmet Fox says the prayer is a compact formula for the development of the soul. As I came across the prayer today in my time of reading God’s Word, what Jesus had to say directly after giving the example touched my spirit. Share this with me from the New Living Translation.
Then teaching them more about prayer, he used this illustration: “Suppose you went to a friends house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You would say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ He would call out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and we are all in bed. I can’t help you this time.’ But I tell you this, though he won’t do it as a friend, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you what you want so his reputation won’t be damaged.
And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. For everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
Luke 11:5-10 (New Living Translation)
Jesus gave the disciples an excellent example of how to pray, but just as importantly He taught them about continuity. Keeping on keeping on. I have a friend who got a job at a steel plant that moved into town fifteen years ago. It was the best job he had ever had. After about three years the steel plant shut down and laid off the workers. They did have a plant about thirty-five miles down the road, and my friend put in his application there. They were not hiring and he was somewhat discouraged. I remember him saying that he was going to keep trying until he got hired. For months he would scrape up the money for gas and drive down the road to make a personal appearance at the employment office at that plant. Many thought it was useless because they just weren’t hiring, but he kept at it. You know what? He got the job. He just kept knocking and the door was opened to him. In my life I kept knocking at a door that said “freedom from alcohol and drugs.” I would knock on the door but failed to be willing walk through. I wanted to walk through the door, but was not willing to work at the changes that it required. I kept knocking at that door and in time I was ready to walk through. The door was opened each time I knocked, but I was reluctant to enter in. Today having entered in I find more doors to knock on. Different phases of my recovery seem to open to new levels of service and serenity. May I never be afraid to ask, seek and knock. God always will do for me what I cannot do for myself if I ask and it is in His will…………………..JRE
Thursday, August 03, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Nature goes her way, and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24 NAS)
These words spoken by Jesus and recorded by the apostle John were in reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus Himself. Their meaning has a much broader understand than just His trip to the cross and His victory over death. The literal meaning in referring to a seed, its germination and the fruit, stand true in science. Also in our lives at times we must completely die out to something before we can grow and produce fruit. This morning as I read this scripture verse it wasn’t the thought of dying out or the thought of rebirth that stuck in my spirit, but the words “it remains alone.” Remaining alone is another way of describing the spiritual sickness called isolation. Isolation can become very comfortable and I had to work at overcoming this self-centered defect of character. I remember a time in 1991 when I was trying to say sober and drug free on my own, and my wife was not. Life was not good for either of us and she left me and moved to town. I was hurt and just didn’t feel like talking to many people. I can remember that when I would return home from work I would lock the gate and just sit and sulk. I would not die out and accept the fact that things in my life had changed. This was the start of my periods of isolation that went on for the next five years. There were times I would lock my gate and not see or talk to anyone for days. The result was no growth, none whatsoever. As a matter of fact any progress that I had made in the eight years before as a believing Christian faded away in my isolation. I was like a seed that was buried in the ground that refused to let its hard outer shell be softened by the rain of everyday life. Old hard-hearted Jerry just sat there and suffered with my drugs and alcohol. They had become my everyday companions. Ah but God. God never gives up on any of us. From time to time someone would enter into my isolation and with a hammer of love, chip away at my hard outer shell. As little pieces of self were chipped away they would die. Today I am a new living being rooted in the Word of God, and watered by the love of those who help me not be isolated. Even in my times of solitude I am not alone anymore. I enter into solitude with the presence and comfort of God in my heart. I don’t want to go back to being alone. How selfish that is! Share with me what the Dake Bible has to say on this verse.
“Many elements of mystery surround the death and resurrection of any seed. We believe a dead grain multiplies itself and we are nourished by its multiplications, but we cannot understand how it is done. We cannot tell how one grain becomes multiplied into many, how the earth, air, water, and sunshine co-operate together to create a new life. We believe it, not because we understand it, but because it produces results. If we cannot explain and fully understand these earthly things of one little seed why do we have to understand the infinite purposes and works of God in redeeming men through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ before we believe?” (Dake Bible, page 109)
Today may we, by the grace of God, grow, and help someone else in the process. God has truly done for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
Isolation
Thought for the day: “Nature goes her way, and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24 NAS)
These words spoken by Jesus and recorded by the apostle John were in reference to the death and resurrection of Jesus Himself. Their meaning has a much broader understand than just His trip to the cross and His victory over death. The literal meaning in referring to a seed, its germination and the fruit, stand true in science. Also in our lives at times we must completely die out to something before we can grow and produce fruit. This morning as I read this scripture verse it wasn’t the thought of dying out or the thought of rebirth that stuck in my spirit, but the words “it remains alone.” Remaining alone is another way of describing the spiritual sickness called isolation. Isolation can become very comfortable and I had to work at overcoming this self-centered defect of character. I remember a time in 1991 when I was trying to say sober and drug free on my own, and my wife was not. Life was not good for either of us and she left me and moved to town. I was hurt and just didn’t feel like talking to many people. I can remember that when I would return home from work I would lock the gate and just sit and sulk. I would not die out and accept the fact that things in my life had changed. This was the start of my periods of isolation that went on for the next five years. There were times I would lock my gate and not see or talk to anyone for days. The result was no growth, none whatsoever. As a matter of fact any progress that I had made in the eight years before as a believing Christian faded away in my isolation. I was like a seed that was buried in the ground that refused to let its hard outer shell be softened by the rain of everyday life. Old hard-hearted Jerry just sat there and suffered with my drugs and alcohol. They had become my everyday companions. Ah but God. God never gives up on any of us. From time to time someone would enter into my isolation and with a hammer of love, chip away at my hard outer shell. As little pieces of self were chipped away they would die. Today I am a new living being rooted in the Word of God, and watered by the love of those who help me not be isolated. Even in my times of solitude I am not alone anymore. I enter into solitude with the presence and comfort of God in my heart. I don’t want to go back to being alone. How selfish that is! Share with me what the Dake Bible has to say on this verse.
“Many elements of mystery surround the death and resurrection of any seed. We believe a dead grain multiplies itself and we are nourished by its multiplications, but we cannot understand how it is done. We cannot tell how one grain becomes multiplied into many, how the earth, air, water, and sunshine co-operate together to create a new life. We believe it, not because we understand it, but because it produces results. If we cannot explain and fully understand these earthly things of one little seed why do we have to understand the infinite purposes and works of God in redeeming men through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ before we believe?” (Dake Bible, page 109)
Today may we, by the grace of God, grow, and help someone else in the process. God has truly done for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
G. K. Chesterton
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
Let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything that is in them!
Then the trees of the forest will sing,
They will sing for joy before the LORD,
1 Chronicles 16:31-33 NIV
Gratitude works for me. I never realized how important gratitude was until I was a couple of years in recovery. At first I didn’t have a name for the awareness and joy that I was experiencing, but it was gratitude. I used to take the word gratitude for granted. When someone would speak of gratitude I would just let it slip through my mind and pass it off as just another word for thanks. Today I realize that gratitude is a spiritual force that enables me to continue in my direction of recovery even though the road is at times is not easy. Being grateful for all that God has done for and with me, is what keeps me from turning back to my old life style. I am a grateful recovering alcoholic and drug addict because there was an avenue of escape that opened to me through the reading of the Word. I am grateful for having an understanding church and church family. I am grateful for the programs of AA and NA. I am grateful for those who like myself walked this path and shinned the light back so that I could see my way. I am grateful for a family that did not put up with my nonsense, and when I came to my senses, love me like nothing had ever happened. I am grateful for those who allow me to send them this small page as part of my own daily time of devotion to God. But most of all I am grateful for a loving God that forgave me, and allows me to start new everyday. “Give thanks unto the LORD; for His mercy endureth for ever” (1 Chronicles 16:34 KJV). God’s mercy will outlast anything and everything. That is reason to be very grateful. God truly has done for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
“The forgiveness of others is the vestibule of Heaven, and Jesus knew it, and has led us to the door. You must forgive everyone who has ever hurt you if you want to be forgiven yourself; that is the long and short of it. You have to get rid of all resentment and condemnation of others, and, not least, of self-condemnation and remorse. You have to forgive others, and having discontinued your own mistakes, you have to accept the forgiveness of God for them too, or you cannot make any progress. You have to forgive yourself, but you cannot forgive yourself sincerely until you have forgiven others first. Having forgiven others, you must be prepared to forgive yourself too, for to refuse to forgive oneself is only spiritual pride.” EMMET FOX
Gratitude, a spiritual force
Thought for the day: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
G. K. Chesterton
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
Let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”
Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything that is in them!
Then the trees of the forest will sing,
They will sing for joy before the LORD,
1 Chronicles 16:31-33 NIV
Gratitude works for me. I never realized how important gratitude was until I was a couple of years in recovery. At first I didn’t have a name for the awareness and joy that I was experiencing, but it was gratitude. I used to take the word gratitude for granted. When someone would speak of gratitude I would just let it slip through my mind and pass it off as just another word for thanks. Today I realize that gratitude is a spiritual force that enables me to continue in my direction of recovery even though the road is at times is not easy. Being grateful for all that God has done for and with me, is what keeps me from turning back to my old life style. I am a grateful recovering alcoholic and drug addict because there was an avenue of escape that opened to me through the reading of the Word. I am grateful for having an understanding church and church family. I am grateful for the programs of AA and NA. I am grateful for those who like myself walked this path and shinned the light back so that I could see my way. I am grateful for a family that did not put up with my nonsense, and when I came to my senses, love me like nothing had ever happened. I am grateful for those who allow me to send them this small page as part of my own daily time of devotion to God. But most of all I am grateful for a loving God that forgave me, and allows me to start new everyday. “Give thanks unto the LORD; for His mercy endureth for ever” (1 Chronicles 16:34 KJV). God’s mercy will outlast anything and everything. That is reason to be very grateful. God truly has done for me what I could not do for myself………………..JRE
“The forgiveness of others is the vestibule of Heaven, and Jesus knew it, and has led us to the door. You must forgive everyone who has ever hurt you if you want to be forgiven yourself; that is the long and short of it. You have to get rid of all resentment and condemnation of others, and, not least, of self-condemnation and remorse. You have to forgive others, and having discontinued your own mistakes, you have to accept the forgiveness of God for them too, or you cannot make any progress. You have to forgive yourself, but you cannot forgive yourself sincerely until you have forgiven others first. Having forgiven others, you must be prepared to forgive yourself too, for to refuse to forgive oneself is only spiritual pride.” EMMET FOX
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
jralphengland@yahoo.com
Thought for the day: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”
Charles Mingus
“As Jesus went with him, he was surrounded by the crowds. And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors and still could find no cure. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.” (Luke 8:42-44 NLT)
My sponsor has a saying, “When the pain exceeds the pleasure, we change.” As I read the account of the woman who snuck up behind Jesus and touched Him, I realize that she had experienced enough pain in life that it had exceeded the pleasure of everyday living. She reached a point where even if everyone else thought she was wrong, she was going to change. As I think of this brave woman who was in pain, I ponder the words of my sponsor and reflect on my own program of recovery. Just like the woman whose pain had exceeded the normal enjoyment of life, for years the pain of my lifestyle centered on drugs and alcohol had far exceeded the pleasure. After surviving a three or four day continuous run on meth, and then the leveling off with extreme amounts of alcohol for a day or two, I experienced pain. Just waking up to the normal start of a new day had so much pain that it was unbearable. Some of the last days of my active addicted life were spent in a place that was totally serene but I never experienced it. I lived in a little trailer complete with modern furnishings, surrounded by acres of timber. Most people that I had known in the city would have given a hind tooth for such an existence. And yet I was miserable and felt pain from even the quietness of the morning. There was something wrong with that picture and I knew it. I was sick, very sick, and desperate for the pain to go away. I remember it was almost ten years ago today, that I became sick and tired of being sick and tired, and reached out for the fringe of His rob. Just like the woman I instantly became healed, and the road of life opened up before me. The pain and misery of life fell by the wayside as I walked with the Lord and had pleasure again in just living. I got to feeling so good, that I thought I could use just a little dope again, not a lot, just a little. What happened was seventeen months of pure living hell. I became much sicker than I had ever previously thought. As I entered into recovery again, and Jesus passed by, I once again reached out and touched the fringe of His robe. This time I don’t want to let go. I will always have the free will to use drugs again, but I question if my free will, will be strong enough to come back to recovery one more time. As long as I continue to hold on to Him, and turn my will over to His care, I am strong. I don’t want to go back to the way it was. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
AA Step 2
“We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
“Faith is the key to successfully working the second step. For some of us faith comes easily. For others, especially if we have experienced betrayal, it may be more difficult. Sometimes we must exhaust all of our own resources in trying to overcome our addictive “disease” before we will risk believing in a Higher Power.”
Life Recovery Bible page 1219
I took a “risk” (in my own mind) believing that Jesus would help me. I have not been disappointed even to this day ten years later. Thanks for letting me share…….JRE
When the pain exceeds the pleasure
Thought for the day: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.”
Charles Mingus
“As Jesus went with him, he was surrounded by the crowds. And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors and still could find no cure. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped.” (Luke 8:42-44 NLT)
My sponsor has a saying, “When the pain exceeds the pleasure, we change.” As I read the account of the woman who snuck up behind Jesus and touched Him, I realize that she had experienced enough pain in life that it had exceeded the pleasure of everyday living. She reached a point where even if everyone else thought she was wrong, she was going to change. As I think of this brave woman who was in pain, I ponder the words of my sponsor and reflect on my own program of recovery. Just like the woman whose pain had exceeded the normal enjoyment of life, for years the pain of my lifestyle centered on drugs and alcohol had far exceeded the pleasure. After surviving a three or four day continuous run on meth, and then the leveling off with extreme amounts of alcohol for a day or two, I experienced pain. Just waking up to the normal start of a new day had so much pain that it was unbearable. Some of the last days of my active addicted life were spent in a place that was totally serene but I never experienced it. I lived in a little trailer complete with modern furnishings, surrounded by acres of timber. Most people that I had known in the city would have given a hind tooth for such an existence. And yet I was miserable and felt pain from even the quietness of the morning. There was something wrong with that picture and I knew it. I was sick, very sick, and desperate for the pain to go away. I remember it was almost ten years ago today, that I became sick and tired of being sick and tired, and reached out for the fringe of His rob. Just like the woman I instantly became healed, and the road of life opened up before me. The pain and misery of life fell by the wayside as I walked with the Lord and had pleasure again in just living. I got to feeling so good, that I thought I could use just a little dope again, not a lot, just a little. What happened was seventeen months of pure living hell. I became much sicker than I had ever previously thought. As I entered into recovery again, and Jesus passed by, I once again reached out and touched the fringe of His robe. This time I don’t want to let go. I will always have the free will to use drugs again, but I question if my free will, will be strong enough to come back to recovery one more time. As long as I continue to hold on to Him, and turn my will over to His care, I am strong. I don’t want to go back to the way it was. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself……………..JRE
AA Step 2
“We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
“Faith is the key to successfully working the second step. For some of us faith comes easily. For others, especially if we have experienced betrayal, it may be more difficult. Sometimes we must exhaust all of our own resources in trying to overcome our addictive “disease” before we will risk believing in a Higher Power.”
Life Recovery Bible page 1219
I took a “risk” (in my own mind) believing that Jesus would help me. I have not been disappointed even to this day ten years later. Thanks for letting me share…….JRE
