The Water Wheel 1/27/16 I saw an image in my head of a water wheel.   You know how a water wheel is in a ditch of water.   Well there was a person trying to climb out of the water by climbing on the water wheel.   Of course every time he stepped on the wheel all he succeeded in doing was making the wheel turn and go down, back into the water.   Someone suggested turning the motor on and letting the wheel do the work. There are a couple of key points here. First is about trying to do things on our own.   And about how that is counterproductive.   You see the way a wheel works is to turn and scoop up water and then dump it onto another wheel that turns at a sideways angle in order to turn the wheels inside the house in order to grind the meal.   Therefore its movement would be in an upwards direction and when someone is trying to climb on it, they are moving it counter to its intended movement, downwards.   So doing things in our own...

1/18/16 Kingdom Revelation Jesus said the Kingdom is here. Mat 4:17   From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Because Kingdom is all about relationship.   Rev 21:3   And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. Rev 21:22-23   And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. For His name is Emmanuel – God with us. Mat 1:23   Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. The Holy Spirit is in us, so He is with us even though He returned to be besi...

The Clarion Call of the Bells 2-16-14 I miss the sound of church bells ringing on a Sunday morning.   It is a fond memory from my youth.   How sad that the bells have been silenced in the present time.   There was a time when it was relied upon as the time to start your day and get ready for a time to be spent with the Lord. I can only surmise the reasoning behind the silencing.   The high school I attended has a clock tower with clarion bells. It used to be that the bells would chime with the hour and half hour just like a grandfather clock.   During my high school years the bells were silent due to a need for maintenance.   Soon thereafter the bells were repaired and once again rang out, that is until the neighbors complained of the ‘noise’. I therefore surmise that the church bells are silent for the same reason.   As fewer people attended church or needed to ‘sleep in’ on Sunday (probably due to Saturday night’s events) the sound of...

2-16-14 Faith without works (Jas 2:26)   For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Some people seem to think that you can ‘work’ your way into heaven.   After all, they are a ‘good’ person. (I will leave the obvious alone for now.) However, this verse is not meant to mean that you have to work your way into heaven, rather it means that if you have faith for, trust in something to happen, that you can’t just sit on your laurels and sit back and wait for it to occur.   Your faith requires that you get up and get active and do your part so that the thing will come to pass.   God’s already done his part, the rest requires the action of your hands and feet. (Mt 9:29 according to your faith it will be done). Do you have faith enough in what you believe to walk it out?   Do your part, start the project, let God take care of His part in opening the right doors for you to walk through. ( (Mat 17:20)   And ...