***Sappy Rant Alert***

So, I am home. For those unaware my son (6 weeks old) had to go into the hospital for surgery. The whole ordeal with him has been quite a shocker. See, my wife and I have always had healthy children. Our previous 4 haven't  had a single issue that wasn't out of the ordinary, wait okay, our second is a MAJOR CLUTZ and has gotten us into the ER many a time. 

Usually we have the baby, recover, go home and get back to life as usual. Our little Zach has taken us out of our comfort zone. Before he even arrived we were shook that something was wrong. I am totally grateful for our nurses and doctors that took care of us. They were first rate and made this trial as easy to stomach as possible. With each step I would try to pause, take a deep breath and move on. We are not completely out of the woods. The surgery went well but we have to keep a close eye on Zachary to make sure nothing else goes afoul. 

While in the hospital my wife and I shared a couch, taking turns holding Zachary in a chair. Neither of us got much sleep and with the nurses coming in to check vitals and bleepers going off every other minute what sleep we got was less than great, but thats okay. Everything was about getting Zachary better and healthy. 

It was interesting being in the hospital. See, as anyone that knows me, I am weird. I don't talk, I listen. Being at the hospital with nothing to do but support my wife and baby I had plenty of time and people to observe. One thing that I learned is that I am very grateful for the people that I have in my life. Two is that you have to love. I know that this is a Hippie Dippie point of view, but its mine. You have to love. 

Being in the hospital I was completely shoved out of my comfort zone, and for me when I am tired hungry and uncomfortable it is hard to not get irritable and fussy. I did have a moment or two where I was tempted and tempted hard to erupt and be snide. Luckily I have a wife that knows me well and would say the right words to get my attention without starting a fight because she loves me. 

Observing I saw many bitter, using just the right words or actions to unleash harm. Don't do that. Love, love with all your heart. Take your love and give it away to everyone and everything that you come across. Anger begets anger but love diffuses anger and allows peace to reign. One thing that my mother taught me early on, life isn't fair, and if you try to life your life making everything fair you won't necessarily find love. Someone says or does something nasty to you can return with the same filth or you can pause take a deep breath and send love back their way. Its harder to fight with someone smiling at you than someone that is willing to fight with you. Someone cuts you off in traffic you can get even and make things "fair" or you can let them go. 

I myself am not a perfect person. I try everyday to be the best person I can be. I used to try and live life fair, but it just didn't seem to get me anywhere. I was even but empty. Then I found Jesus Christ. I had known about him for a long time but never REALLY followed what his thing was, it was love. He encourages me to just love, just throw all the love that you can muster away. Its not going into the trash that love is going out into the world. You make think that you are wasting your time but many of those seeds of love will take root, sprout and grow and bear fruits many times over. If you just hold all of your love inside you just turn cold for the world around you is what you sew, and that's all I got to say about that.

What is the Answer?

What is the Answer?

I remember when I was in school I had many a wonderful teacher, but one was a bit more difficult then the others. He would ask questions  but not divulge the answers easily.  He would make us work for them. We would beg, "Please can you just tell us the answer?" He wanted us to work for it and connect the dots. He wanted our minds to go on a journey and understand the big picture. God seems similar sometimes. We want answers but often we want solid concrete answers right away. God can answer with a tap on the shoulder or a slap in the face, or so it seems. I remember once I asked God for help and I thought he would never answer. At the time I had job that I didn't like. I worked to care for my family, but I hated my job. On one particularly tough day everything seemed to be going wrong. With a spot of privacy I raised my head and begged,"Please God can I please work for you?" Time passed and nothing. Finally months later I was asked to teach a Sunday school class. I thought about it and it was. It something that I wanted to do, but then in my mind I heard a clear voice, "Didn't you ask to work for me?" I taught the class and continue to teach to this day. Teaching the class was very challenging. I remember on one particular morning I was at the end of a really hard week. Trying to figure out how and what I was going to say and teach I noticed that the trash in our room was full. Taking the trash out to the dumpster I looked up and begged, "Dear Lord please loan me a little bit of talent today, actually I need a lot." Nothing changed, no words came into my head. I had no idea what to say but when I stood to begin class an entire lecture and discussion unfolded. God loves you and is ready to help you but he doesn't just give it away to anyone. He loves you so he wants a relationship with you. Love and praise God and you will be amazed with what he can bring into your life. Will you become rich and famous? Probably not, me I don't want too either. Each week I see stories of the rich and famous fall from grace. I often speculate that those with much get so confident with their status that they feel that they don't need God. If I was able to be happy on my own I wouldn't have looked for my wife, and in turn I would not have known the amazing loving relationship I have. Like with God if I was rich and had all I needed it would be harder to open my heart up to him. God wants love and he wants you to give all your love away, to him and to everyone you meet. Like the most perfect father he wants all his children to love one another and to get along and he wants the love he gives to his children to come back to him, but it's our choice. God will deny no one. God will not make us do anything, so the choice is yours, are you ready to ask God to come into your life no matter how he decides to answer.


Judges 6:11-24
11Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites. 12And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor." 13And Gideon said to him, "Pray, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this befallen us? And where are all his wonderful deeds which our fathers recounted to us, saying, `Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Mid'ian." 14And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Mid'ian; do not I send you?" 15And he said to him, "Pray, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manas'seh, and I am the least in my family." 16And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall smite the Mid'ianites as one man." 17And he said to him, "If now I have found favor with thee, then show me a sign that it is thou who speakest with me. 18Do not depart from here, I pray thee, until I come to thee, and bring out my present, and set it before thee." And he said, "I will stay till you return." 19So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid, and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour; the meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. 20And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so. 21Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight. 22Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face." 23But the LORD said to him, "Peace be to you; do not fear, you shall not die." 24Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it, The LORD is peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiez'rites.

Psalms 85:9, 11-14
8Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts. 10Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. 11Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. 12Yea, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. 13Righteousness will go before him, and make his footsteps a way.

Matthew 19:23-30
23And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 25When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" 26But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 27Then Peter said in reply, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have?" 28Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30But many that are first will be last, and the last first.

A Thought: My Suit of Armor

Sometimes I wish I had a real suit of armor. I was on Facebook not that long ago and I read a post about someone having a hard time in traffic. That’s where life can get you. Reading I reflected on my experiences. See I wish I had a suit of armor because I am a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ. He calls me to love, and when I get cut off in traffic or I have someone driving “unreasonably slow” on an unpassable stretch of road on my way to work when I am running late temptation seeps in. I want to get angry, swear and use some hand signals not so Christian-like. I want a suit of armor to protect me from that temptation, and then I smile for I see my folly. See God does offer a “Suit of Armor”, but I have to accept it and remember to put it on everyday. My suit of armor is God’s grace and I receive that by living like a Christian should. I am not going to lie. I am far from a perfect man. I am better than I used to be but far from perfect. I still have those “DOH!” moments from time to time, because I realize how easy it is and how foolish I am to not love the way God desire. God wants love in this world, that’s it. l am a spiritual being and when I can get into the “zone” with God then all is good. Problem is I am also part physical. My body pulls at me with its physical desires. I have often thought that God gives us bodies so that we can learn to love and overcome temptation so that we can love more easily if we get to Heaven. I don’t know thats a guess on my part. I have read about the battle where God had to throw down many of his Angels that he made out of Heaven cause they turned away from him. He loved them, made them from nothing out of love. I would imagine the experience to be rather heartbreaking. Everything in my life though depends on me. I have to accept Jesus and his ways. I have to take Jesus as my personal Savior and follow his example. By going to Church, becoming baptized in the Holy Spirit, Confirming my faith, partaking in Communion, and living a life God calls me to I get those doses of Grace to keep my suit of armor strong. On my own I might have a good day once in a while but with God’s grace and following his desires I can have a great day no matter how much traffic slows me down wrapped safely in his loving suit of armor. 

1 John 3:13-18

13Do not wonder, brethren, that the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. 15Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17But if any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.

Psalms 116:10-13, 16-17

10I kept my faith, even when I said, "I am greatly afflicted"; 11I said in my consternation, "Men are all a vain hope." 12What shall I render to the LORD for all his bounty to me? 13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, 16O LORD, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. 17I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.

John 15:12-17

12"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17This I command you, to love one another.

Do You Love to Forgive?

I have a many great thing that I want to share with my children. Why, because I love them and I want them to be better off than I. I hear this so many times when talking to other parents. As I reflect on many things my parents did and said I come to the conclusion that I did not understand them very well. They weren't trying to hold me back but merely they wanted me to not make the same mistakes that they did. As great as any good parent is they always want better for their children. This comes out of love. This is the same for God. He loves everyone. We are all his children and his commandments are for our health not our hinderance. More over he wants us to find peace love and security while we are here on earth. He wants us to find that through love. He wants us to forgive all that have wronged us in any way. It maybe hard to do because our egos get in the way. Murderers, Thieves and Rapists even deserve forgiveness and the opportunity to repent. I know this is a hard thing to hear, but God loves all. We ALL make stupid choices in life, and some are down right terrible choices. Forgiveness doesn't condone bad things done by others or us but it allows the victim to heal in the heart and the defendant to make peace and become whole again. If you look at any man in the Bible you will find sin and flaw. Moses lost his temper and crushed the tablets that God gave him personally. Peter denied loving and following Jesus 3 times. Even early as Cain slaying Able man has sinned, but God forgives. God loves and waits for us to repent. We don't have to, but repenting heals our relationship with God and allows us to gain entrance into heaven. No one can love stronger and more perfectly than God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are our role models. We are to love as they do, and when we sin and fall we are to get up, ask for forgiveness and try again. God lets us because he loves us. Moses didn’t get to enter the promise land but he gained entrance to heaven. Peter denied Christ but still became rock that Jesus built his Church upon, and so you to have a place in heave if you choose to accept God’s love and God’s way. 

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

1And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2all Naph'tali, the land of E'phraim and Manas'seh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zo'ar. 4And the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, `I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." 5So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 6and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-pe'or; but no man knows the place of his burial to this day. 7Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 8And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. 9And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the people of Israel obeyed him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11none like him for all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12and for all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses wrought in the sight of all Israel.

Psalms 66:1-3, 5, 8, 16-17

0To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm. 1Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; 2sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! 4All the earth worships thee; they sing praises to thee, sing praises to thy name." [Selah] 7who rules by his might for ever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations -- let not the rebellious exalt themselves. [Selah] 15I will offer to thee burnt offerings of fatlings, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. [Selah] 16Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.

Matthew 18:15-20

15"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

A Thought: Do I plant to the Right or the Left?

Do I turn right or do I turn left? That's what it all seems to boils down to every single day. Often looking back in time I chuckle rather hard over the decisions I have made. I laugh for one, they are in the past and cannot be undone and two, at my folly and misunderstanding of the world. My wife runs a business and this past weekend she needed me to do some "MAN WORK" for her to help her with an upcoming inspection. To be honest, I didn't want to do it. I am getting rather deep into writing an album and I was itching to spend some time with my guitar. My ego told me to just do what I wanted because I had plenty of time to get the work done. I should just do what I want to do, but that's not love. God wants me to love. God sent his son Jesus teaching us to love always and love hard, so I did the work. Songs will come when they come. My dream of being a professional songwriter will come if it is supposed to be. I have learned from Jesus that if I do the bare minimum for those that I love, the bare minimum will return. The same is for God. I find the more I love, honor, follow and praise God Jesus and the Holy Spirit the more blessings, love and peace enter my life. I. Have a wonderful beautiful wife. I have 5 amazing children. I have a home that keeps us safe. I and my wife have jobs that take care of our family. I have peace and security. Could I want more? Yes, but I am thankful for what I have. I work hard each day with my family and those I meet to put love into the world with the hopes that it will take root and grow and make this world a better place. I work hard to help God's love grow. I work hard that a love for God will grow inside my wife, children and really all my family. I share these silly thoughts of mine and my readings from the Bible in hope that you too who read this will also realize the beautiful love God has for us all and that you will want to help share it too. But that is me, at heart a silly, happy, loving farmer of God's love.

2 Corinthians 9:6-10

6The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. 9As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever." 10He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Psalms 112:1-2, 5-9

1Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 5It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. 6For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever. 7He is not afraid of evil tidings; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. 8His heart is steady, he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire on his adversaries. 9He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever; his horn is exalted in honor.

John 12:24-26

24Truly, 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. 25He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.

A Thought: I am a Fool For Love

Many think that I am a fool. I hear the snickers and jesting behind my back at times and that is okay. See, I am a man that is privileged. I know things, I don’t think I know things, I know things. I am not going to lie there are times when I wished I didn’t know what I know, but I do and I can’t help but to share. I know that love can save this world, and I also know that I live in a world where the word love is largely misunderstood. Love is true, kind and wonderful. Love can heal anything. I live in a world though where we are told to focus love on ourselves. That is not love. Love does not flow inward. It’s just not made to. Love is made to flow outward. For many years I looked in frustration for love. I thought I found it a time or two but I found it in man and so it was not perfect, resolute. I became cold, hard and angry. I tried to love with all my might but I felt I was trying to swim up stream against a mighty current. I believed in God and I loved Jesus but I left them at church every Sunday. Monday through Friday I walked as a man with men and women in a world forged by them with a lack of love, and so I was frustrated. I gave up. I turned my back on God, then man and focused on me. Day and night I focused on loving myself to make myself happy, like “happy” was some kind of destination. I never got there. Oh, I saw plenty of signs telling me, “Go this way to get to happiness”, but I never got there. I never even got close. All I did do was dig a deep dark pit which in the bottom I lived. Cold, dirty and alone I wept. I realized that the “happiness” I was trying to get to was a lie. I was still so hungry for love. Tired of digging I looked up. Sitting there calmly was God, waiting to love me. I didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t think that God could be true. If so, why was the world the way it was. Angry, confused and sad I prayed, 

“Why if you are then this and that and all this horrible hate?” His answer, “Okay I will tell you but you must follow me and listen. I will show you and I will love you.” My reply, “Maybe”. It took time but I have come around. Am I an expert? No, but I am better than I was yesterday and trying to be better tomorrow. I love like God asks, like Jesus taught with the help of the Holy Spirit. Now when I look back I see wasted time on my “other” life, but thats okay, I am here now. God is right true and beautiful. He loves you and has set so much up for you and me because we are all worth it. God loves us all, but we have to accept. We have to take that first step. We have to be willing to learn how to love. The great thing is that while we have a hard time learning to love it is okay cause we have a Father that is a master at loving waiting to teach us ,and a home in heaven if we choose to follow God and find our way there. 

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

9As I watched, Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was snow bright, and the hair on his head as white as wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire.10A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him. The court was convened, and the books were opened. 13As the visions during the night continued, I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, 14He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6, 9

1The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! 2Clouds and thick darkness are round about him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 5The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. 6The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory. 9For thou, O LORD, art most high over all the earth; thou art exalted far above all gods.

2 Peter 1:16-19

16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," 18we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Mark 9:2-10

2And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them, 3and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Eli'jah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. 5And Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Eli'jah." 6For he did not know what to say, for they were exceedingly afraid. 7And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." 8And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only. 9And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen from the dead. 10So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.

Who Do You Love?

Part of loving is believing, or trusting. A loving relationship is a two way street. One gives because they have love in their heart, but the one to receive must love as well or what is offered will be turned away. Every waking moment of every single day I love my children. However if you were to ask them they would agree, with qualifiers. My 2yr old thinks I do not love her when I will not let her eat candy all day. My 3yr old thinks I do not love him when I will not let him have whatever toys he wants when that means taking it from someone else’s hands. My 6yr old thinks I do not love him when I will not let him play video games all day everyday, and my 13yr old thinks that I do not love him when I will not give him money whenever he wants it. For if I truly loved them I would give them what they wanted. If I truly loved them I would never let them feel "pain". This situation seems so familiar when I hear adults talk about God. God loves us all, but that doesn't mean that he will just give us whatever we want. There is pain in the world because there is evil and sin in this world. God wants us to come together and conquer sin and evil with his help. He wants all to love everyone they meet. God wants us to love him in return as he loves us, with all his being. God wants us to respect him and his wishes for that is a part of loving someone. Will we find perfect happiness on this earth? No, for there is sin and evil here, but when when we follow God's wishes we show our respect, our love for him. This life is fleeting, momentary it is our eternal life that we should be concerned with. My children get upset with me when I tell them that they should save their money for important things that they cannot see. They want the toy, cards or candy that they see now. They want to follow that impulse like so many adults that want to spend all their money on themselves now instead of helping the poor, sick or lost. Believing is hard for some I guess because they cannot see Heaven, but believing, respecting and following God and his ways will grant us home in heaven where perfect love reigns. We need to learn to let go. We need to learn to love. How though, how do we learn to love God or anyone for that matter? We spend time with them. So to love, respect and follow God we need to spend time with him. We need to talk to him through prayer. We need to go to Church and learn about him. We need to read his ways that he has taught through his son Jesus in the Bible. For if we take the time to learn about God and love him we will find true happiness that can last an eternity.

Numbers 12:1-13

1Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman; 2and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?" And the LORD heard it. 3Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all men that were on the face of the earth. 4And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." And the three of them came out. 5And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. 6And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. 7Not so with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house. 8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in dark speech; and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" 9And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed; 10and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11And Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, do not punish us because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb." 13And Moses cried to the LORD, "Heal her, O God, I beseech thee."

Psalms 51:3-7, 12-13

1Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. 5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy Spirit from me.

Matthew 14:22-36

22Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 28And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; 30but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." 34And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent round to all that region and brought to him all that were sick, 36and besought him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.

A Thought: Have You Tied Off Yet?

I always try to be mindful of what I am tied to because I never want to be tied to anything that that will sink me to the bottom of the ocean. I want to be tied to things that will rise and lift me up. Everyday we are each tested. I am lucky, I have uncountable blessings. I can choose to focus on them in or I can focus on my ego which does a great job of pulling me down. Someone cuts me off in traffic, I can realize that in the grand scheme it is nothing, or I can let my ego take over, get upset use some rude hand gestures to express the fact that I should have things my way. God is the same. Many refuse him on a daily basis, he could get upset and unleash his wrath, but instead he loves. He is patient and teaches. He sent prophets in the Old Testament to guide his people to love him, live right, show thanks and and love others the right way. God even sent his o n son, Jesus to teach us first person. God is always waiting for you to come home to him. He is always waiting to share his love with you. Does God have rules? Yes, he wants you to love. He wants you to be thankful for what he has given you, after all it is your life and you existence that he has given you. He wants you to stake time out from what you want to do and love him. He wants to to commune with him so that he can love you and you him. He wants to commune with you so that he can take time to teach you. He wants you to take time so that he can show you that he loves you so much he sacrificed his only son Jesus because he loves you, but so many don't understand. Many do not take the time to love God and listen to him. So many of these s get caught it getting what we want and pushing it that we loose track of how to love. We tie ourselves to things tightly bound with our egos and we sink. We back ourselves into a corner an because we are all in we never back down. We can stop at any time though. God will accept us at any moment. If we turn to God will we loose some friends? Maybe, but it is more important to love Gods way than to gather things in this life. This life is only temporary, but an opportunity to share in pure love with God in heaven is eternity. The Question is, what do we want to tie ourselves to?

Leviticus 25:1, 8-17

1The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 8"And you shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall be to you forty-nine years. 9Then you shall send abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall send abroad the trumpet throughout all your land. 10And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family. 11A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you; in it you shall neither sow, nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat what it yields out of the field. 13"In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14And if you sell to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15According to the number of years after the jubilee, you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years for crops he shall sell to you. 16If the years are many you shall increase the price, and if the years are few you shall diminish the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. 17You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the LORD your God.

Psalms 67:2-3, 5, 7-8

1May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, [Selah] 2that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving power among all nations. 4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for thou dost judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. [Selah] 6The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. 7God has blessed us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Matthew 14:1-12

1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus; 2and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist, he has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him." 3For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Hero'di-as, his brother Philip's wife; 4because John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." 5And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. 6But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Hero'di-as danced before the company, and pleased Herod, 7so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter." 9And the king was sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given; 10he sent and had John beheaded in the prison, 11and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12And his disciples came and took the body and buried it; and they went and told Jesus.