Reb Rev's Blog

“For I know the plans I have for you”–this is the LORD’s declaration–“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ” – Jeremiah 29:11

A little boy went w/his father into town to buy some things.

In the store, the boy stood quietly as the father picked up all the things he needed.

As they left, the proprietor said to the boy, “Son, you have been so good. Why don’t you reach into the candy jar & get a handful of candy?”

The little boy said nothing but just stood there.

Finally, the proprietor reached into the jar & gave a handful of candy to the boy.

On the way home, the father asked his son, “Why didn’t you reach into the jar & get the candy yourself? I’ve never known you to be shy.”

The boy replied, “I wasn’t being shy. I just knew his hand was bigger than my hand.”

Last week we looked at the thought that God is going to take care of us, but it is more than that. You can take care of something and give it just enough to get by; however, when we are fully submitted to God, we receive from His hand more than we ever could in our own.

It is easy to get impatient and just grab for things we see without waiting for Him, but when we patiently wait for Him, watch out because the blessings are going to flow. We have His word on it. That doesn’t mean He will give us cars, money, houses (although He might), but the greater gifts or love, peace, joy, comfort and grace.

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” – Matthew 6:26

Monday night, with the “Blizzard of ’14” pending, I had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some things. No, we were well stocked on milk, bread, and toilet paper. These were just your everyday routine “gotta go to Wal-Mart and get it” items.

However, there were hundreds of people who were loading up on the milk, bread, and toilet paper and some other items I took note of as I wandered around the store.

In addition to the “Big Three” there was also a run on macaroni and cheese. As I made my way down that aisle, I noticed a huge vacant spot with only a few scattered boxes of mac-n-cheese left. In the produce section it was interesting to note there had been a run on tomatoes and cucumbers, but the bananas were well stocked.

Now, I’m all for making sure we don’t run out of things at a time when we won’t be able to replace them, but the whole scenario made me think how intently we prepare for some things and often let other, even more important, matters go.

That is the message Jesus is sending in the passage above. We should not be so consumed with the “milk, bread, and toilet paper” that we forget about matters of the soul. We shouldn’t spend more time choosing our outfit for the day than we spend in prayer to prepare for the things we will face that day.

Do we spend more time eating our meal than we spend reading the Word of the One who provided it (and gave us the strength to earn the money to pay for it)?

God cares for us much more than He does the birds, yet not one of them falls from the sky and He doesn’t take note. He knows where you are, what you’re going through, He will take care of you. Trust Him.

I just finished reading “Snapshot” by Fox News personality Li Wiehl. I’m not usually a fan of fiction, but this one caught my eye, and I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last of her fictional works I’ll be reading.

FBI Agent James Waldren takes his little girl to a civil rights march in 1965. As a little white girl, she is intrigued by a little black girl about her same age and they share a seat together. In that little space, the turmoil seems to be miles away – until the shot rings out killing a civil rights leader and all of their lives change forever.

This book picks up almost fifty years later with their efforts to get a black man, who was wrongly convicted for firing that shot, off of death row. There is a tie to the Kennedy’s and FBI J. Edgar Hoover.

The book starts off as a mystery, but becomes a thriller and, although fictional, it is wrapped in historical truth which resonates with anyone who grew up in that time, and particularly in the South.

The book has a few bonuses at the end, including reader notes and a couple of essays from Wiehl’s colleagues at Fox News Bill O’Reilly and Juan Williams – and an excerpt from Wiehl’s book “A Matter of Trust.”

I enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it.

(I post these book reviews as a member of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger Program. I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers; however, I am not required to write a positive review.)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” – John 14:27
A man, fond of practical jokes, decided late one night to send his friend a collect telegram which read: “I am perfectly well.”
A week later, the joker received a heavy parcel…collect…on which he had to pay considerable charges. Upon opening it, he found a big block of concrete which had this message:
“This is the weight your telegram lifted from my mind.”
There are times when we all have a lot on our minds – family problems, the health of a parent, a child our own, financial problems, problems at work, at home, at school, all the above.
What if there were a way to have those troubles lifted? What if we could give them to someone who would carry them for us? What if we could them to one who would be able to take care of the problem AND take care of us at the same time?
GOOD NEWS! We can do exactly that. God tells us to cast our cares upon Him – and in turn receive His peace and comfort, knowing He cares for us. It is then we can rest, comforted and cared for in a way in which only God can do.
My prayer this week is that you will have the faith to hand those cares over to Him and rest in God’s peace.