Given November 29, 2005
During prayer this morning, I received a vision of the church. Here is this big wagon with all the church people in it and the pastor is trying to pull it himself! He’s having a rough time of it because it’s so heavy and many of the people inside are complaining because they’re moving so slowly.

Well, one guy sees how hard it is for the pastor and gets out of the wagon and begins helping to pull, then another, and another. The “church wagon” begins to move more efficiently and quickly and when it gets to its destination, those who helped to pull are high-fiving and hugging each other for a job well done! They worked well as a team. However, you’re still going to have a wagon full of people not willing to get out of the wagon and help pull but are just along for the ride. And, some will always complain about how things are moving.

I encourage you, and myself, to get out of the wagon today and help pull. The church will benefit and you will be rewarded as well. “And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Matthew 14:29

Given Spring 2004
Our pastor preached a sermon on the power of the Holy Spirit tonight that reminded me of another illustration I heard.

Several demons were harassing this guy when he cried out to God for help. God arrived, got out this humongus gun and blew the demons away! He reloaded the gun and gave it to this guy and said, “Now, you know what to do with it.” The guy said, “Wow, thanks.” He put the gun up on the mantle where he could look at it every morning. It sure looked good. He even polished it every once in awhile.

A few weeks later, more demons were ransacking this guy’s house and he cried out to God again to come get rid of these guys. God arrived but said, “I’m not going to do anything this time.” He got the gun down off the mantle and said, “Here, you do it!”, and stepped back and folded His arms. Looking puzzled, the guy timidly took the gun, pointed it toward the demons, and fired. The demons were gone! He said excitedly, “Hey God, look what I did! Isn’t this great?” And God replied, “Yes, you did good. Now the next time, use this powerful weapon I’ve given you to take care of the enemy.”

Isn’t that just like we are? Through salvation and the Holy Spirit, we’ve been given powerful weapons to use against the enemy but we usually will cry out to God or the pastor to come and do it for us. Realize today that we have the power within us to defeat the enemy! So get that big gun off the shelf and use it to blow the devil out of your house and your affairs. God will be watching your back. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12

We had our traditional Thanksgiving Day meal on Wednesday this year. It has been pressing for our two married sons and their families to attend the festivities at the homes of both sets of parents so our youngest son, (number three is in China), suggested doing it a day early. It worked out great!

I wanted to share what God impressed me to pray as we returned thanks over the meal. We gave thanks to God for blessings of the past, things we are aware of but also things He has done for us that we may not have known about. We thanked God for blessings of the present, things He is working on now even though we may not be able to see any evidence of His hand at work in our lives in a particular area. And, we thanked God for blessings of the future, the things He has planned for us as we look to Him as our source of everything.

God was telling me to share with the family that, if we lean on Him, seek His ways, and ask for His help, He will respond. But…we may not always see the results or understand why something didn’t work out like we wanted it to. That’s where faith and trust comes in; even though we don’t understand, we trust that God knows what He’s done in the past, is doing in the present and will do in the future. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” Psalms 100:4

Given November 22, 2005
My three year-old granddaughter was putting on her coat before leaving and I went to fasten the buttons for her. She pulled away and exclaimed, “No, Pawpaw. I can do it myself!” I was frustrated because I knew she’d have a very difficult time with it but I let her go ahead and try. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, she said, “Pawpaw, can you help me?”

I realized today that I am just like that with God sometime. He has a plan for me, provided a way for me to be successful at it, and wants to help me do it. But, many times, I say, “No, I’ll do it myself!” Then when I make a mess of things or can’t get it done, I’ll go to Him and ask for His help. When am I, and you too, going to learn to let go of that silly pride and let God do what He wants to do with us? By faith, it’s gonna be soon! I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Phillipians 4:13

Given November 4, 2004
One morning during prayer, I was asking God for help in getting my wife and I to pray together more. I said, “God, join us together in unity.” He said, “I have.” I said, “God, give me the boldness to do it.” He said, “I have.” I said, “Well God, give me a kick in the pants to get me going!” God laughed!

You know, God has already given us what we need and the power and authority to carry out His plan for us. Our problem is we’ve been sitting back and waiting for God to do it for us! Get up and get to it! And if God has to give us a kick in the pants as encouragement, so be it!