God offers us the real deal

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Once upon a time, Aesop wrote, the beasts and the fowls were engaged in war. A doublehearted bat was trying to belong to both parties. When the birds were victorious, he would fly around telling everyone he was a bird, and when the beasts won, he would walk around assuring everyone that he was actually a beast. His insincerity was soon discovered and the devious bat was rejected by both the beasts and the birds. From that time on and forevermore, the bat would be banned from the light and would be only allowed to appear openly at night.

So often, we try to hold onto the world with one hand and the Lord with the other. But clearly, God will not have it! If we want to be filled with the love and peace and joy of the Lord, we must let go of the things of the world.

Let's give up the worldly things we've been holding on to! Those things are merely counterfeit but what God offers us is the real deal -- so let's grab it with both hands and hold on tight!

Dear Lord, we pray that the things of the world would have no hold on us. Help us to give them up and only cling to You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Lesson Learned from the Bat, Buzzard and Bumblebee

Isaiah 40:26 (New International Version)

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:

   Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

   and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength,

   not one of them is missing.

The information below isn't verified but it is a great illustration

If you put a buzzard in a pen six or eight feet square and entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of his ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of ten or twelve feet. Without space to run, as is his habit, he will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is pl! aced on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler will be there until it dies unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom.

It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

In a lot of ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat and the bee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, not realizing that if we look up to God, we will find the answer.

Dear Lord we pray that we would look up to You. We pray that when struggle we wouldn’t just look down around us for the answer but that we would lift our eyes to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Don't Let the Small things Get in the Way.

The NBA game between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors was delayed ...by a bat!



The bat seemed to have one player in mind to attack. It constantly swooped on Rockets guard Moochie Norris on the basketball court so much so that referee Courtney Kirkland stopped play. Norris froze and ducked while he was being "attacked". For 5 minutes the bat buzzed the court and Norris before finally returning to the rafters.


The bat then starting swooping on the court again, sometimes even lapping the court above the second deck before diving once again.


The Rockets and Warriors would have to run to avoid the attack, and many found this hilarious. The crowd cheered the bat good-naturedly. It started to dive again during a promotion in which children were shooting baskets, but ballboy Greg Mueller snagged the bat with a net and released it outside. Just as a simple bat could stop a millionaire's game and thousands of fans from watching, a simple sin can stop the productive life of a Christian.






Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:


- Ephesians 4:26 (King James Version)






Dear Lord we pray that we won’t let the sins stop us from having a productive life. In Jesus’ name, Amen