"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1).
Honor and glory be to the Lord, for He is my God, and today He strengthened me to go further in my walk and interests in life, real, unmistakable life. Early in the morning after midnight, as I put my latest reading down on my brown, upholster-challenged recliner I prayed to Him for the desire to be motivated throughout the day ahead, to be given strength to split and stack wood in addition to spraying the weeds in the neighbors' driveway and walkways around their home for some extra funds. My day off was ahead of me. I at first was reluctant to get out of my bed, which at 7:00 AM or when your mind's psychology is wired to rest after it's body's laboring of any time before, feels like the only meaningful thing in the world. Of course that is just plain stupid to think that way, but in the moment you're almost always tricked into believing the lie. Making the coffee felt great, when in time it was finished it was even better; although, there was an absence to value to drinking my coffee because no one was around to share it with me. Another piece of emotional work checked off on the list.
I prepared for the day with some bacon and three fried eggs, a doughnut, a couple glasses of water, and a couple chapters in Colossians, which I read throughout the day (on my lunch break and when work was over). Uplifted in body and soul, from a hearty breakfast and a first century exhortation, I took with me water and gloves out the front door, leaving Zip, the red heeler, to fend for himself inside. The four horses managed to break through the coiled electric gate to the bottom hay field, which is not very shocking--pardon the cheap pun--because our landlords' terminal is one with weak voltage. "Lousy horses, " I thought to myself as I walked each horse one by one by halter to the top "triangle pasture". After that business, with cleaning and filling the 50 gallon water trough, it was 10:00 AM, and I finally started getting after those sprouting weeds.
Imagining and simply day dreaming can motivate a man to work at a moderate rate and with good quality; of course there must be some restrictions to being infatuated with those wondrous topics on the bulletin board in your thoughts, for the task sometimes is forgotten when he drifts too far. I drift in and out of deep thought as I am working, though when I am immersed in my job, my brow will narrow, wrinkling my forehead, and my eyes will concentrate on my duty. I did this today as I wielded maul, sharp and solid as it came down on hemlock and maple wood for a good five hours. Recollecting, there was a cheesy memo on the news board at work, which offered tips on getting that "second wind" during the long hours of your shift. One tip said, "Take an Imagi-cation", which from what I observed is simply taking little imaginary vacations. That made me laugh like a madman when I read it, spreading my glee to my co-works who really didn't think it was as funny as I did, and some didn't think it was funny at all. They probably have never taken an Imagi-cation, so they can't understand the innocent splendor (i.e., a cheap thrill) one feels when he takes off on one of those high-flying expeditions into unseen spaces. It is of unending joy, straight up and with no question. I have heard some people say that Paul the apostle "was just some man who wrote a bunch of angry letters", but that kind of statement is made by the skeptic, the right-off the-bat sort, who needing the truth as much as anyone, has built a thousand-mile thick wall between him and God. Reading Paul's epistles, and particularly his letter to the Colossians, reveals the truth that he wasn't writing them for sake of writing until his hand cramped up or until he ran out of papyrus scrolls in a Roman prison cell. When reading, really studying all of the Bible and what this minister wrote shows and that it all came to be by the Holy Spirit (this is where the agnostic, atheist, and the liberal theologist throws all his unbelief and pride against Scripture, for the "hard-core" unbeliever does not believe because, I think, he relies too much on how and why instead of being curiously accepting). Read Colossians 2: 20-23 below:
Honor and glory be to the Lord, for He is my God, and today He strengthened me to go further in my walk and interests in life, real, unmistakable life. Early in the morning after midnight, as I put my latest reading down on my brown, upholster-challenged recliner I prayed to Him for the desire to be motivated throughout the day ahead, to be given strength to split and stack wood in addition to spraying the weeds in the neighbors' driveway and walkways around their home for some extra funds. My day off was ahead of me. I at first was reluctant to get out of my bed, which at 7:00 AM or when your mind's psychology is wired to rest after it's body's laboring of any time before, feels like the only meaningful thing in the world. Of course that is just plain stupid to think that way, but in the moment you're almost always tricked into believing the lie. Making the coffee felt great, when in time it was finished it was even better; although, there was an absence to value to drinking my coffee because no one was around to share it with me. Another piece of emotional work checked off on the list.
I prepared for the day with some bacon and three fried eggs, a doughnut, a couple glasses of water, and a couple chapters in Colossians, which I read throughout the day (on my lunch break and when work was over). Uplifted in body and soul, from a hearty breakfast and a first century exhortation, I took with me water and gloves out the front door, leaving Zip, the red heeler, to fend for himself inside. The four horses managed to break through the coiled electric gate to the bottom hay field, which is not very shocking--pardon the cheap pun--because our landlords' terminal is one with weak voltage. "Lousy horses, " I thought to myself as I walked each horse one by one by halter to the top "triangle pasture". After that business, with cleaning and filling the 50 gallon water trough, it was 10:00 AM, and I finally started getting after those sprouting weeds.
Imagining and simply day dreaming can motivate a man to work at a moderate rate and with good quality; of course there must be some restrictions to being infatuated with those wondrous topics on the bulletin board in your thoughts, for the task sometimes is forgotten when he drifts too far. I drift in and out of deep thought as I am working, though when I am immersed in my job, my brow will narrow, wrinkling my forehead, and my eyes will concentrate on my duty. I did this today as I wielded maul, sharp and solid as it came down on hemlock and maple wood for a good five hours. Recollecting, there was a cheesy memo on the news board at work, which offered tips on getting that "second wind" during the long hours of your shift. One tip said, "Take an Imagi-cation", which from what I observed is simply taking little imaginary vacations. That made me laugh like a madman when I read it, spreading my glee to my co-works who really didn't think it was as funny as I did, and some didn't think it was funny at all. They probably have never taken an Imagi-cation, so they can't understand the innocent splendor (i.e., a cheap thrill) one feels when he takes off on one of those high-flying expeditions into unseen spaces. It is of unending joy, straight up and with no question. I have heard some people say that Paul the apostle "was just some man who wrote a bunch of angry letters", but that kind of statement is made by the skeptic, the right-off the-bat sort, who needing the truth as much as anyone, has built a thousand-mile thick wall between him and God. Reading Paul's epistles, and particularly his letter to the Colossians, reveals the truth that he wasn't writing them for sake of writing until his hand cramped up or until he ran out of papyrus scrolls in a Roman prison cell. When reading, really studying all of the Bible and what this minister wrote shows and that it all came to be by the Holy Spirit (this is where the agnostic, atheist, and the liberal theologist throws all his unbelief and pride against Scripture, for the "hard-core" unbeliever does not believe because, I think, he relies too much on how and why instead of being curiously accepting). Read Colossians 2: 20-23 below:
Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world,
why as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations--"Do
not touch, do not taste, do not handle," which all concern things which perish
with the using--according to the commandments of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
He was a tool in the Carpenter's hand, the clay in the work of the Master's hand. Saying what he said there, he was reproaching the ideas that to be right with the Lord one must abide by laws which are of no value, more directly, he was telling everyone that the law was a "tutor", and that these regulations are not needed anymore, for grace interjected at the cross in Jesus' sacrificial death, and faith in Christ is like giving up on earthly means of entrance into heaven. It is odd that today, when you talk about heaven, people act as if they don't really care which way they go when they kick the bucket and push up daises. "It's all here and now, not there and then." Reading the Word today in a consistent way offered much insight and learning, and for this I thank the Author and Finisher of my faith, Christ Jesus.
At Fort Lewis the Army has been dropping shells and testing their weaponry all day, so as I worked I could hear the distant thump and echo of dropped explosives, all very well heard and felt. Living near a military base is quite a thrill. I have some friends who were born and bred on those installations in the U.S.A. and overseas, which would be a real thrill needless to say. Just a quick thought: It puts me in amazement to hear of the many situations all of us--believers and nonbelievers--are in today. We are in an exciting and trying time; war is looming always, and new causes of illness are very often discovered, and man is constantly moving toward aspirations and his desires. In the words of God as He came down to see the city and tower of Babel, "Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" (Genesis 11: 6, 7).
At Fort Lewis the Army has been dropping shells and testing their weaponry all day, so as I worked I could hear the distant thump and echo of dropped explosives, all very well heard and felt. Living near a military base is quite a thrill. I have some friends who were born and bred on those installations in the U.S.A. and overseas, which would be a real thrill needless to say. Just a quick thought: It puts me in amazement to hear of the many situations all of us--believers and nonbelievers--are in today. We are in an exciting and trying time; war is looming always, and new causes of illness are very often discovered, and man is constantly moving toward aspirations and his desires. In the words of God as He came down to see the city and tower of Babel, "Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" (Genesis 11: 6, 7).
