Given August 10, 2002
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10. This verse used to bother me. I know we’re supposed to be holy and righteous but this verse seems to say none of us are. What’s the deal?

God showed me, through a minister, what it means.

Picture God and Jesus in Heaven looking down on earth. God says, “Look at those people we created. The devil’s really messed them up. Here we are, totally righteous, no evil in us and there they are, totally evil, no righteousness in them. We need to do something.” God thinks a minute…..then says, “We need to go down there and make things right.” And Jesus says, “Father, I’ll go.”

So Jesus goes to earth and stands majestic and tall before man, you and me. He has on His beautiful, shining, white robe of righteousness and there we are, bent over with filthy rags of sin on us. Jesus says, “Here Son, I want to make an exchange with you. Take my robe and give me your rags.”

He willingly takes off his white robe and hands it to us and puts on our filthy rags. When He does, He becomes bent over and burdened down under the weight of our sin. But, when we put on His robe of righteousness, we raise up strong and tall! The point is…we are not righteous in and of ourselves, no not one of us. But we have been MADE righteous by the exchange of robes! “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

That’s the answer! We’re not righteous in ourselves, Jesus made us righteous! Thank God for that exchange. Don’t stay bent over under the weight of sin. Take the robe, He’s holding it out to you.

Given November 23, 2002
“….my cup runneth over.” Psalm 23:5. God spoke to my mind this day concerning our prayers. We may pray for something day after day, week after week and not see any results of those prayers. It may be for someones salvation, a healing, or victory over some stronghold in our lives but nothing seems to be happening. I’m telling you DON’T GIVE UP!

God showed me our prayers are like drops in a vessel. Each drop raises the level in the container a little higher, and a little higher, but we don’t realize it. Eventually, on God’s schedule, that last drop, that maybe, hundred & forty-second prayer is the one that causes the vessel to overflow! Then…we see the results, the answer, to our prayers. Each drop, each prayer, is doing something. They’re going toward the fullfillment of what we’re praying for.

Oh brothers and sisters, how many times have we stopped praying in frustration when we were only a few drops away? God, forgive us for our lack of faith! Whatever it is you’ve been praying for, don’t give up. You may be one drop away! “….my cup runneth over.”

Given September 4, 2005
We’ve been watching this great DVD series on Wednesdays at church by John Bevere called, “The Bait Of Satan”. The bait is offense and we’ve been looking at many ways the devil uses offense against us. The study has been great!

On this night, I got the image of Satan using someone to do something that offended me. This person did his thing and the devil stood by watching with glee expecting me to react as usual. But instead of getting mad and striking back or talking about ’em…I blessed them! “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” Matthew 5:44 Hey, that’s what Jesus told us to do.

When I did this, the devil didn’t know what to do next. He said, “Hey, wait a minute! That’s not what is supposed to happen! That’s not what you’re supposed to do!” Then he got mad and left. It reminded me that I’m supposed to act like Jesus and not be offended. With His help, I’m making it!

Given September 18, 2005
My job in Instructional Technology occasionally requires me to do presentations before groups of educators locally and around Virginia. Every time I do one of these presentations I spend many hours preparing so that what I say and what I show is relevant and useful to those who will be listening. We all would do that. If we have a scheduled presentation to do, we’ll prepare like crazy.

But what about an UN-SCHEDULED presentation? What about when we have an opportunity to do a “presentation” of the Gospel to someone who asks? Are we prepared or do we have to say, “Wait, I’ll go get the pastor.” Shame on us if we’re not prepared to give an answer at any time. Peter said, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

Now, it takes some work, some prep time. But, we’ll do it for any other presentation. Make a decision today to “be prepared” to tell what God has done for you if someone asks. You’ll find that you’ll be blessed with confidence, peace, and all kinds of other good stuff just because you’ve prepared.

Given Fall of 1997
A wise friend of mine, a former elementary school principal, gave a talk to a men’s group once on, “The Black Dog”. He told of how cute a little black puppy is but if you feed it and care for it, it sometimes grows up to be a big, mean, black dog. That once, little, cute, controllable puppy can become a big, mean, uncontrollable monster!

This story was given to illustrate how a bad habit can “grow” from a small, seemingly insignificant thing into a big, troublesome problem that you can’t control anymore. It could be anything: smoking, gossip, porn, drugs/alcohol, lying, gambling, whatever. You know what I’m talking about and you’re probably thinking of something in your life right now. At the beginning, these things seem harmless and are easily controlled but as you continue on in them, they grow and can become overpowering.

The answer? I asked God about this and I’ve heard preaching on it too. If you don’t feed the thing, it will become weaker and weaker and eventually…DIE! When you give in to it, you’re feeding it and it grows and grows. Now, this is hard to do but think about it next time your habit comes licking or growling at your feet. Don’t feed it! The black dog will die.