By Ryan Kelly –

Do you ever have one of those moments in life where you feel like almost nothing is going right and you are facing ‘attacks’ from every direction? To a small extent, that is the position I feel I am in at the moment. Grant, these ‘attacks’ are not actually an attack, but rather a series of unfortunate circumstances that they by themselves are not at all serious, but added together they seem quite ominous.

So from a spiritual perspective, how best should we handle these situations? No question that these are a consequence of a fallen world where things break, people act crazy, and nothing goes quite the way that it seems it should. But beyond all of this chaos, we must remember that Jesus is on the Throne and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. This should serve not only as a comfort that God is walking through the attacks with us, but that He shelters us and fight the battles for us (whether figuratively or literally).

A good father does not shelter his children from all obstacles in life, but he rather loves his children and helps them through these obstacles in order for them to be stronger and grow as a man or woman in his image.

This is what God does for us. He may allow us to walk through the storm, but He never leaves our side. In order for us to grow, we must face adversity. In order for us to be shaped in the image of God, we must be refined through fire and strengthened by the Lord’s hand. Who better to teach and train us than the Lord of all Creation?

So the next time that you face a time of attacks and obstacles, remember that none of it is a surprise to our Lord, and He is right there with you in the fight, helping you all along the way!

2 Corinthians 4: 6-9 “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Just a thought to help start your week.

You may look at the tree in my photo and see nothing but a scraggly old tree.  But allow me to point out something that makes it at least slightly incredible.

While on a walking tour of Paris, our attention was drawn to many things around us.  One of those things was this particular old tree.  Of course, our group had a very good guide and interpreter, on whom we depended very much for details.  And although I certainly couldn’t read the French on the sign attached to this grand old tree, she read it for us.  The simple little green sign hung with wire around the tree trunk includes information that tells us about the tree’s age.

This black locust tree was planted in the year 1601 by Jean Robin, the gardener of France’s King Henri IV.  The type of tree, to whom it belonged, by whom it was planted, and the age are all unbelievably known for all to see and read for themselves.

Of course the nearly 425-year-old tree now has its lower limbs aided by supports, but it still stands.  It still stands in the very spot it was planted those four centuries ago.  Countless people have walked underneath it, rested in its shade, and stood amazed with the reality of its age.  All of this, and, yes, it’s just an old tree.

As Christians, we are called upon to spread the Word, the Gospel, the Good News, the Story of Christmas with our world.  For some reason the thoughts of that assignment seem to scare us to death some days, when, in reality, we can simply stand where the Great Gardener places us.  You’ve met Him.  Jesus is His name, and He’s the Gardener for our God King.

How ever many years it has been since you called upon His name, He saved you from your sins, and you began to wear the name of Christ around your neck, you have been called upon to share the blessings of His glorious beneficial shade with others.  Perhaps you’ve reached the age where you now need more support than before in order to keep sharing.  But, still, you’re called to share.

May this Christmas season find every one of us as His children standing strong, even with the support of others, and especially with His support, and may we be faithful to share the blessings of the Father with all who come near.  We can do all of this.  I can do all of this.  Yes, just old me.

Just a thought.

By Vijayan Rayappan –

Since God is love, the matter of grace comes up. It is true that love is precious, but love must have its expression. When love is expressed, it becomes grace. Grace is love expressed. Love is something in God. But when this love comes to you, it becomes grace. If God is only love, He is very abstract. But thank the Lord that although love is something abstract, with God it is immediately turned into something substantial.

For example, you may have pity on a pauper, and you may love him and have sympathy for him. But if you would not give him food and clothing, the most you could say is that you love him. You could not say that you are grace to him. When can you say that you have grace toward him? When you give him a bowl of rice or a piece of clothing or some money, and when the food, clothing, or money reach him, your love becomes grace. When love is turned into action it becomes grace. …the emphasis of the Bible is on the love of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus.

Why is this so? Because it was the Lord Jesus who accomplished salvation. It was He who substantiated love and accomplished grace. The love of God became grace through the work of the Lord Jesus. Therefore, the Bible tells us that the law was given through Moses, but grace came through Jesus Christ.amen!!!

Bible Verses:
2 Corinthians 13:14: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 
John 1:17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

Thanksgiving is behind us, and Christmas is just ahead.  If your family is anything like ours, you have probably just been (or will be) enjoying some great family time with precious relatives who don’t gather very often.  We visit, laugh, tell stories of days gone by, and we eat.  We eat.  And, oh yes, we eat.

Amongst the various dishes of ham, turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce and casseroles sit some special dishes and desserts representative of treasured loved ones and wonderful times.  We each have our specialties, and with great honor we display our prized dishes as if those long-gone loved ones who first created them were sitting beside us enjoying every bite and every comment!

I recently reached out to a cousin I’ve not seen in several years.  My parents had been discussing the upcoming holidays and reliving Christmases past when certain aunts brought certain dishes to our gatherings.  I asked this cousin to dig through her grandmother’s old recipe box and help me scrounge up a recipe for a particular salad my parents both remember enjoying very much.

Just a couple of days later, I received some recipes from the sweet lady that I remember so fondly.  I printed the recipe, attached it to a card, and delivered it to my Mom this past week.  They can’t wait to try it and stir up fond memories.  The recipe card, well worn and proudly used. was written on both sides in my Aunt’s handwriting, signed with her initials.  I show you the back half of that card including her notes.

As Christmas fast approaches, don’t let the true meaning for the season slip by.  In God’s recipe book, the Bible, there are many treasured, tried, and true guidelines for our lives.  Doing things the way God orchestrates them for us makes for a wonderful dish to serve up to Him.

The nice thing about reliving old holidays and the delicious treats along the way is that we can keep making those recipes and sharing them with the next generations.  God’s Word is meant to be shared with every generation.

You take His book, follow the recipe for your life, and then share the goodness with anyone who will gather ’round.  What a blessed Christmas season it will be with the wonderful treats of God’s Word shared for all of us to take in.

P.S.  Yes, you only see the back side of the recipe card.  All the instructions are on the other side.  You would need to see that side in order to create the recipe for yourself.  You need to pick up your Bible and read it for yourself.  Don’t put your trust in what others stir up.  Follow His recipe, and taste the goodness for yourself!

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

If you had never in your life heard of or seen a giraffe, and you were called upon to try and describe one, what possibly could you say?

Same situation, but a moose.  Would you describe a cow?  After all, the name ‘moose’ includes the word ‘moo.’  

I’d love to hear someone describe a hippopotamus if they had never heard of that animal.  

But what about the simple grasshopper, like the one you see here?  Grasshopper says it all.  It hops in the grass.  Listen to how simple that name and its description are.

If someone who had never seen, met, or even heard of you were to give a brief description of you based on what little they saw today, what would they call you?  One name that comes to mind might be pew-sitter.  But what if they really knew you?  They might add the words worshiper, pray-er, singer, and praiser to your description.

A tight-rope walker’s name tells you all there is to know about that person, just like the word grasshopper tells you about that little creature.  We creatures, or as God calls us, “My people, who are called by My name,” are given the name ‘Christian.’  This name says that we are Christ-like.  We aren’t Christ.  We aren’t perfect.  We don’t know all.  We cannot be all to everyone.  BUT, we are like the One Who can – and is.

I found it interesting that this little grasshopper seemed to be studying its shadow cast on the hood of the car.  Either it thought it was having a one-on-one meeting with another of its own kind, or it was as if it was looking into a mirror, similar to the way we study ourselves in the mirror.  We see but a reflection of who we really are.

The world should look at us and see a reflection of who we claim to be.  We are known by our name.  If only others knew that, then we would witness for the Lord more than we realize.  But wait, maybe the world already knows you are a Christian.  If you were the only Christian they ever saw, would they want to know more about Christ?

It’s a simple name – Christian.  Wear it with honor this week.  The grasshopper was given no option to be a grasshopper or to be called one.  We have a choice.  Are you known as a Christian?

(P.S.  — Regardless of when you read this, I’m writing it at the beginning of Thanksgiving week, and from one little grasshopper to another, I want you to know how thankful I am for each and every one of you.)

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

November is about gone.  The holiday season is upon us.  Temperatures are cooling off.  The trees are changing colors and shedding their leaves.  The days are shorter, and of course, the nights are longer.  The end of the year is very quickly approaching.

This lone rose bloom popped out to say ‘hello’ on our front walk today.  My parents’ azaleas are in full bloom again.  Friends of ours are still harvesting eggplants from their garden.  It seems as if nature is running behind this year.

You have experienced some difficulties this year that can’t even seem to compare with previous years.  Your aches hurt more.  Your days are drawing shorter as well.  And yet, because you are a Christian with the Holy Spirit alive and well within you, you can still bud, blossom, and bloom wherever He places you.

God’s timing is not on the same schedule as ours.  (Be thankful for that fact.)  God’s timing is perfect, guided by His wisdom and plans for our lives.

We pray day in and day out for those family members and friends who need to know the Lord.  We lift up their names to Him time and time again.  But since we haven’t seen any results yet, we assume He hasn’t heard our cries, and He isn’t listening.  Why do you think He allows us to spend days, weeks, even years praying the same prayers?  Perhaps He’s waiting for us to change our prayer.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the very person for whom we pray would see and hear the voice of the Lord if we were the ones speaking to them.  Perhaps they would see His loving kindness and forgiveness if only we offered our own first.  Perhaps they would come to know the Lord on a personal level if only we attempted to show them how human, how faulty, how failed we are.  We need to be real.  I can pray and pray for my friend to see Jesus.  But if I don’t represent Jesus and look and act and talk like Him, my friend may never see Jesus in me — or he may see a corrupted version of Jesus because of me.

It takes so many of us a very long time to come to know Jesus.  Some don’t bloom until they near the final chapters of their days here.  But here’s the thing.  None of us are guaranteed another chapter.  Our chapters may not have another page.  We must shine for Jesus now while there is time!  We must bloom and represent the Lord while others are watching.  

You say, but I’m not a great witness, and I’ll never be good at it.  Why not start now?  Better to bloom late than not at all.

Just a thought.

By: Vijayan Rayappan 

As a result of grafting, the branches from the wild olive tree and the cultivated olive tree grow together organically. Each tree has its own life, but now these lives grow organically together and have one issue. In order for one kind of life to be grafted to another, the two lives must be very similar. For example, it is not possible to graft a branch from a banana tree to a peach tree. However, it is possible to graft some branches from a poorer peach tree to a healthy, productive peach tree, for the lives of these two trees are very close to each other. We may apply this principle to the dispensation of the divine life into man. The divine life cannot be grafted with the life of a dog because there is no resemblance whatever between these lives.

But because our human life was made in the image of God and according to the likeness of God, it can be joined to the divine life. Although our human life is not the divine life, it resembles the divine life. Therefore, these lives can easily be grafted together and then grow together organically. Furthermore, according to the natural law ordained by God, it is not the poor life that affects the richer life, but the richer life that affects the poor life. In fact, the rich life will swallow up all the defects of the poor life and thus transform the poor life. In the same principle, when we are grafted into Christ, Christ swallows up our defects, but He does not eliminate our own life. On the contrary, as He swallows our defects, He uplifts our humanity. He uplifts our mind, will, emotion, and all our virtues. Amen!!!

Rom 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a fellow partaker of the root of fatness of the olive tree. 

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches….

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I spent several days exploring a big loop of the western United States as we drove from Arizona up into Utah, across through Colorado, and down into New Mexico before heading back into Arizona.  Of course, a portion of our time was spent at one particularly extremely popular American tourist destination – The Big Ditch.

Now, you probably know the place by its more formal name – The Grand Canyon.  But don’t those words mean the same things?

It is indeed a very large hole in the ground.  Some tourists are actually disappointed by that very fact, and if you choose, you can read negative reviews online from folks who thought their visits to the Grand Canyon were wasted time, because all they saw was a “big ditch.”  And indeed it is.  But it is also a natural wonder.  This is but one picture of the very many I captured.

We arrived not at sunrise, but early enough one morning to explore while only two or three other people were anywhere around.  The views were breathtaking, to say the very least.  The colors of the canyon walls, the sands, and the sky were absolutely amazing.  And even though we stayed quite a while and only left because we needed to get back on the road, we realized we had seen so very little of the magnificent wonder that is the Grand Canyon.  Stretching for miles in either direction, it really is quite difficult to take in completely.  But it is oh so beautiful.

I’m always amazed at the wonders of this world that our God has created and put on display for us.  His artistry is other-worldly and very difficult to explain.  His creation is beyond description and stretches as far as the east is from the west, which, by the way, is the same distance He is willing to forgive and forget your wrongdoings.

I can explore until the cows come home, or at least as long as I have the physical ability to do so, and I will have only scratched the surface of this world’s beauty.  The same is true of the Savior.  I can look and love and worship and admire and experience all I possibly can of His goodness, and I will have only just begun to take in all that He has to offer.

So what do I do with that?  I, with wide-open eyes, will stand amazed in His presence each day I’m given, and I will love and worship Him all the days of my life.  Then, when my final earthly breath comes, I will have only just begun to experience the eternal Wonder of His Glorious Creation.  I’m so thankful that as I look upon His Goodness, I truly feel an awesome sense of “Wow! Look at that big ditch!”  What power and majesty it must have taken to carve such a wonder!  Disappointed I am not.  For even though I see very little now, I have much more of Him to experience!  What about you?

Just a thought.

By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

We have very talented teachers and leaders in our church.  One of those ladies, in particular, does a phenomenal job of leading our Vacation Bible School each summer.  Our relatively small congregation comes together as young and old alike to participate in the VBS activities and lessons.  One part of those lessons in the last few years has been brought to us in the form of puppet shows.  You see three of those characters in this picture.

Those of us who volunteer to lend a hand with the puppets then get to help create the character, voice, or attitude that goes along with that particular person we are portraying, be it a Biblical person or a modern-day news reporter sent to share the News.  Those puppets, made of felt and other soft materials, lay dormant and sleeping most other months of the year.  They don’t make any noise, they take up very little room, and most folks forget they are tucked away in a Sunday School room down the hall.

But as Bible School activities approach, the scripts are written and put together, and the puppets get revived, dressed, and prepared (sometimes repaired!) for their upcoming roles.  Hair is straightened.  Wigs are reattached.  And we volunteers get to choose the puppet we would like to use.

Even then, those puppets are useless — that is until our hands make them come alive.  The puppet only moves because of a hand that moves it.  The puppet only speaks because a hand moves its mouth.  The puppet only shares a story (is a witness) because of the hand that brings it to life.

Without God the Father, I am useless.  Without His hand on my life, guiding my every move, protecting me along the way, I am nothing.  It is the Hand of God that brings me to life, gives me the words to speak, the story to share, and the ability to do the things I could never do on my own.

The Great Teacher has written the Script (Scripture) for my life and yours.  All we have to do is yield our lifeless selves over to His Hand and let Him do the work through us.

Now, hear me correctly.  In no way does God control me as a puppet and force me follow Him.  What He does is give me the opportunity to yield my lifeless self unto His control so that I might become useful, speaking the Truth along the way, and witnessing positively for all who will watch and listen.

From one puppet to another, let’s get on with the show!