I've Moved!

I did something during Christmas that I had wanted to do for a long time; I purchased some web space, a domain name, and moved my blog to another location. It is now a Wordpress blog hosted by Bluehost. All this was done with the help and urging of son #3 who is into this kind of thing himself. I still have some tweaking and updating to do, but you will now find Revelations On The Road, (which changed to Revelations From The Road), at: roadrevelations.org.

If you have any suggestions or comments, please make them. Be blessed and have a great 2008!

Bill

Heap Of Trouble

Given December 22, 2007
Jesus said in John 16:33, "In this world, you will have trouble", and we can all agree this is true. We all have trouble of different kinds and magnitudes. I heard something the other day that made me think of troubles in a different way.

What if....a decree went out in your community to create a Heap of Troubles. This would be a voluntary thing and anyone who wanted to participate could bring their troubles to a pre-determined location and pile them up. This would go on for one week and, at the end of the week, all the troubles heaped up there would be divided into equal parts according to the number of people who had participated. These equal-sized troubles would then be re-distributed to all those involved. What do you think? Would you participate?

I can see a man with an armful of "troubles" coming up to the heap. As he begins to toss his problems onto the pile, another guy backs his pickup truck loaded with his troubles up to the pile. The first guy thinks, "Well, maybe my troubles aren't so bad after all." Do you get the point?

Many times, we think we have troubles and problems until we see someone else's. Then ours don't seem so bad. But, you know, God DOES have a program like this. He DOES want us to bring our troubles to Him and leave them there. But the good news is that they won't get re-distributed back to us. God will take care of them all! "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7". Now, notice that, "due time" part. Most of the time, we'll still have to deal with the results of our bad decisions but God will be right there with us to take us through. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me. Psalms 23:4".

Do you have any troubles? Toss them onto God's heap then let Him direct your paths, Proverbs 3:5-6.

You Da Man!

Given December 16, 2007
This post is for men but I suppose it applies to women who are the head of their family as well. For you women who are responsible for your family, entitle this, "You Da Gal!"

I'm realizing, more and more, that a lot of people depend on my prayers. Certainly my family; wife, four boys, two daughters-in-law, four grandkids, mother, brother, his family, etc. Then there's my church where I'm a deacon and unofficial prayer coordinator. A lot of people look to me to be faithful in prayer and many don't even realize I'm praying for them every day. If I mess up, it could affect a lot of people.

I'm reminded of some guys in the Bible who messed up. Achan, Joshua 7, who brought back some spoils from battle against God's command. Not only did Achan get stoned, but his whole family too! And what about the guys who accused Daniel and had him thrown in the lion's den? When God delivered Daniel, the accusers were thrown in...and their families, Daniel 6:24.

On the other hand, we can read of some men who did good and their families were blessed. Cornelius, Acts 10, was a devout man and so was his family. He obeyed God and called Peter to come to his house and tell them the Good News. Cornelius called his whole family and friends together and when they heard the Word, the Holy Ghost fell on all of them! Of course, Joshua said, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD". Joshua 24:15.

And finally, it's recorded in Exodus 12:21-23 how the elders of the Israelite families called their own into the house, at the direction of Moses, and applied the blood of a lamb to their door posts. They and their families were saved when the destroyer came by. What if they had not listened, were doing something else, or forgot?

Guys and gals, a lot of people are depending on us so let's stay pure, stay in the Word, and be ready to act in faith and authority when needed. Be blessed!

Increase Our Faith

Given November 14, 2007
First, I apologize for not writing for over a week. I was attending a state technology conference for most of the week and was unable to find the time. So, I will catch up beginning today.

After Jesus had told his guys to forgive somebody seven times as day, they said, "Lord, increase our faith", Luke 17:5. That seemed a pretty tall order for those guys and they realized they needed more faith to do that. But Jesus began telling them that all they needed was faith as small as a mustard seed. They didn't need any super faith, they had what they needed and we do too.

But, it made me think about seeds....if we have a seed that we want to produce a plant, we don't take it to Jesus and ask Him to give us the increase. No, we plant it, water it, and do the things that we know will cause it to grow and increase. The law of seed-time-harvest is already in place, we just have to operate in it.

I think it's the same with our faith. We all have a measure of it, (the seed), so we have to develop it with prayer, the Word, and exercising it. When we do those things, our faith will increase and we'll be able to do great and mighty things through God who gives the increase by His plan according to Christ Jesus. Be blessed!

Shining Light

Given November 28, 2007
During my morning devotion time, I was thinking about Christians being the "light of the world", Matthew 5:14. I realized that we, as Christians, are supposed to shine wherever we go but that's not always the case. So how do we increase our luminance?

One way is to realize we have a gift of fire within us and we have to stir it up, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6". Paul told Timothy to stir up his own gift into a shining flame that others could see and be drawn to. We do this by prayer, saying positive things, hanging out with Jesus, joining with others of like mind, listening to uplifting music, being reminded that we are stronger than the enemy and of past victories, and staying in the Word.

Then I got a vision of another way to light our fire. Think of a football coach giving a pep talk to his team before the big game or high school students whipped into a frenzy at a pep rally. With that thought in mind, I saw my pastor before a crowd of thousands in front of our church. He was stirring up the crowd with the encouraging and edifying Word of God. Soon, out over the crowd, one started to shine, then another, then five, then ten until the whole crowd was shining brightly. The light could be seen for miles like it is with a football stadium at night.

Then the people started leaving and going up the road to their neighborhoods and homes, lights brightly shining as they went. What a picture! It's like the end of the movie "Field Of Dreams" where you saw the car lights coming to the field in the dark. And these well-lit Christians would now be shining the light of God wherever they went. Oh, what a difference we could make in our communities if we all were bright, shining lights!

Thank You For The Harvest

Given August 8, 2007
As we gather today to celebrate those things for which we are thankful, I'm reminded of where the harvest comes from; the seed. "And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:12". The things we are harvesting today come from the seeds we've planted in the past. If you're not seeing the kind of harvest you want, or in the amount you want, try planting different or more seed.

This summer, after planting some bean seeds, I harvested a bumper crop. I love to count things, so I counted the bean pods I got off of several plants. You know I got 27 bean pods from one plant with about 8 beans in each pod. That's 216 bean seeds that came from the one I planted! Now that's a good return! I had planted a bunch of seeds so I got a bountiful return. "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 2 Corinthians 9:6". And, since I wanted beans, I planted bean seeds. I sowed according to what I wanted to harvest.

But I didn't just let the seeds sit there. No, I watered them, got the weeds out, kept the soil loose around them because I wanted the best harvest I could get. And it took awhile. But I had faith that the process would work. It works the same way in the Spiritual realm. You get what you sow and in the amount you sow it. "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38".

As we give thanks today for what God has done for us and the things He has given to us, realize it comes from this principle of seed-time-harvest; plant the seed, give it some time, reap the harvest. You know, we should be out looking for opportunities to plant into the Kingdom of God in many areas of our lives and expecting, by faith, a bountiful return.

Be blessed!

Our Needs - Part 2

Given November 9, 2007
Yesterday, I wrote about the most important need in God's eyes...to focus on Him. That same morning, He showed me another view of the "prayer need" exchange.

When I go to God with my list of prayer needs, it's like me as a kid going to my Daddy with all these things I need. "Daddy, I've got this need, this needs to be paid, I need help doing this, I have this pain, that needs to be taken care of, this is broken, my friend needs your help........". Then my Daddy says to me,"Son, I'll take care of it. Just turn it all over to me. I've got unlimited resources and power, I'll handle it all. I love you so just give it to me and don't worry about it!" "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matthew 6:25".

That's comforting. God is telling me to just hand it all over to Him and don't think any more about. Then we can spend quality time together just "walking in the garden in the cool of the day", Genesis 3:8. That's what He wanted all along anyway.