I am amazed at how few people today can’t or won’t use their God-given ability to think through problems honestly.

We use to teach in our schools, how to think clearly and rationally, to solve life’s problems. The ability of reason to solve problems is not something that comes naturally, but must be taught. I fear that in both k-12 and college and universities, students are taught “What” to think instead of how to think.

Today kids and adults are told they “Deserve” certain rights in life. That life should automatically be fair and make us happy. If you are awake you know by experience that’s a lie!

This morning I got up early…I couldn’t sleep anyway, and went out for breakfast. I thought about cooking at home, but then I knew I would turn on the news.

My habit for years has been to leave the house early, and grab a coffee and bagel, to head down to my church office. I would meet God and life was better for it. Today I have no church office living in Charlotte and often get caught up in turning on the news rather than seeking God first. 😥

You see, I tend to be a news junky, and it’s had for me “Not” to know what is going on in the world. The problem is too much information without reinforcing my faith and trust in God just makes me like all the other crazy people in the world. Can you relate? 🤓

As we are seeking God for his equipping in the various places we find ourselves? I want to encourage us all in our pursuit of being filled with the Holy Spirit to have the power from above rather than just human power in demonstrating God’s love.

Eph 5:15-18
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

So often life is consumed in getting our projects or responsibilities done. Working to pay the bills. Doing the wash only to get them dirty again. Going to the store to stock up on what we have consumed, or a thousand other tasks.

What if, in some small measure, we carved out some time and energy to be a blessing in some small way, for someone else?
What if we decided to do some act of kindness in order to represent God’s heart to a hurting world? After all the scriptures says “For God So Loved the World ( people ) that He Gave”, so wouldn’t it be fitting for us to do the same?

While at a Starbucks, at 6:30 this morning, I find a reminder of a discipline I have mastered and lost so many times. “Solitude & Quietness”

Part of my time lately has been to reread A. W. Tozer. In my early days as a new Christian, I would read his words during my 15 minute breaks when working as a mechanic, and then go back to the shop floor and meditate on his words for the next 2 hours of work. It was some of the richest times of my life. God was rebuilding my life from the ruins of my own choices.

For the last few days, I have been thinking of one captivating concept, motivated by a picture of my daughter-in-law’s & son’s baby. Let me explain.

Dusti took this picture of Shepherd as she was greeting him because she delights in the fact that Shepherd lights up like a Christmas tree every time he sees her now. It is a learned response and not automatic.

The Lord spoke to my heart the moment I saw the picture:

I want to pose this question today –

“How are we to know the difference between what we have been told, what is the real truth and what is a lie about this election” ?

Once someone is accused of either doing something or not doing something we start to form our opinion. Most times we think our judgement about a person or situation is the correct one and anyone who disagrees with us is an idiot. Amazing how people of the same faith, reading the same book, come up with such different opinions & life styles.

Worry, doubt, confusion, depression, anger and feelings of condemnation: all these are attacks on the mind. If readers suffer from negative thoughts, they can take heart! Joyce Meyer has helped millions win these all-important battles. In her most popular bestseller ever, the beloved author and minister shows readers how to change their lives by changing their minds.

Watching the second day of riots happening in Charlotte should raise a number of questions about who we are becoming as a nation.

Take for example if you live in Montana, you never see this kind of rioting stupidity because kids who are often raised in rural America are taught responsibilities growing up, like having chores to do each and every day. Today, in cities, kids are often given everything without responsibilities, all the way through college or they are living in inner cities without any parental structure to help them get out of poverty. When the middle class kids finish college they often haven’t learned the value of a dollar or the consequences of breaking your parent’s rules, let alone crossing your teachers or the police. Kids in poverty are taught by their home life and living conditions to expect and demand the government to supply all their needs, which in the end just makes them very entitled adults. Either way, kids are growing up expecting others to be responsible and not needing to be themselves.

God has called Christians to overcome the world and drive back the forces of evil and darkness at work within it, asserts Sherman. He defines spiritual warfare as more than casting out demons—it is Spirit-controlled thinking and attitudes. Offering a thorough and balanced teaching, he uses many of his real-life experiences to help you understand and put into practice the biblical principles of true spiritual warfare.