Year: 2017

Trust

As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person. – Proverbs 27:19 NLT
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord . They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord , search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” – Jeremiah 17:5‭-‬10 NLT

Grown Folks

Good luck finding them “grown folks”. 

I got so much growing left to do,  

He gonna have to keep me alive after this body is gone to bring me to perfection. 
But I ain’t shrinking back,  

and I ain’t dead, 

so Imma try not to 

act a fool while I’m still getting fed. 
But I hear whatcha saying. 

Too many saying,  

“I’m just keeping it real” 

When they just keeping it 

real trashy, wicked and sick. 

But real knows real, 

and nothing more real 

than Jesus Christ on the cross 

for all us wretched sinners. 
Not so we could still pretend 

to be in chains by that accuser – 

But so we could live free indeed,  

set apart and walking in the Holy Spirit,  

not stumbling around laughing 

on some Crown Royal spirits. 
And I ain’t gaming, 

so don’t think you know my angle, player. 

I’m just praising, 

cause them my angels, player. 

They all camped around me, 

like we at the KOA, baby. 

But they ain’t playin, 

cause He’s coming back, 

not as a baby, baby.

They preparing that winepress, 

they gonna beat that chaff,  

they gonna burn away the trash, 

and refine what is precious. 
He calls me precious. 

What does He call You? 

Is your name in the book? 

Better take time to look!
Get off your corner,

Get onto your knees,

Get off your high horse,

Put down the trees.
How will you stand before the Almighty,

Who is righteous and pure,

He is Holy and mighty,

What will He have for you?
You think I’m foolish? 

You can’t believe it’s true? 

You’d rather have treasure now?

Than step out in faith too?
Just please hear me now,

Because what I say is true,

You’ve been sold a lie, 

Your Jordan’s stuck in it like glue.
Turn away from the world, 

Turn back to that one Good Father,

I know one already let you down,

But this here is another. 
He knows you by your name, 

Knows the hairs on your head, 

He will not forsake or leave you,

Even after you are dead. 
Can you hear his still, quiet voice?

It blows like the wind. 

It isn’t shame or guilt but REJOICE!

It signals the end!
You are no more a captive,

No more numbers and orange,

He’s here to set you free…
He is calling you closer, friend. 

Don’t put Him up on the shelf until you need Him again, like some genie that you think you can master. No, surrender, yield, and submit your life to the life giver. Amen.

“Last Game”

There’s a little pool room that I grew up shooting pool in called “Reds Bar & Grill” in Spartanburg, SC. It’s always seemed to be much more of a pool hall than a bar to me because it is always had a young crowd. It is still only 25 cents per game,  and you’ll regularly find local kids gambling for a dollar a game, five a game, etc. I never was the best technically, but I knew how to manage the game of nine ball to my advantage, how to match up,  and how to “appear lucky instead of good” and “lose enough” to be able to keep winning overall. I know,  I know. Some will say that I’m glorifying gambling. No, I’m just being honest about what part this place has played in my life.
I really don’t go to Red’s that often anymore, but occasionally I drop in and shoot for a few hours. For decades, when I walked in, there was always someone inviting me in on “the action”. There was always someone who knew me and knew that I was a gambler who wasn’t afraid to bet on “fair odds”, wasn’t afraid to lose, wouldn’t quit just because he was down, and (most importantly to them) always was “good for it” if I lost. And I had even worked as a bartender there for a short while when a friend was part owner/operator in the business. So you could say that this was my “Cheers” where “everybody knows your name” at one point in my life. 
But tonight, there wasn’t a single face or name that I recognized. In fact, one of the “loud hustlers” gambling at the table beside me kept mentioning the name “Scottie Moore” as he talked about an “older guy from around here that you don’t want to mess with” and it was everything that I could do not to correct him on the name and tell him that professional player “Stevie Moore” indeed shot pool at Red’s  (and at Shooters back in the day) and that for a while he even made it back to Red’s regularly for some of the holiday gatherings that Red would put on each year. I didn’t mention all of the old names like “Mamie”, “Slim”, “John Jones”, “Brian White”, and so many others who spent so much time shooting pool around Spartanburg that the places like Reds were like a second home and a second family. You see, all of that seemed to have passed away with time and it was like a cloud of hot, stale smoke that used to linger — but was now replaced by cool, filtered and air conditioned newness. 
At the end of the night,  they still called “Last Game” over the speaker – but I think the last game had already been called some years ago on the Reds that I remember. Red wasn’t there himself reminding everyone, “It’s a dollar to play on the floor” if a ball jumped off the table. There wasn’t the old, familiar limited set of honky tonk country songs on the jukebox, but it was a mix of every genre imaginable. So much was different. An Era seemed to have passed by, but it still exists, and a new generation seemed to be there making their own new types of memories. 
It’s interesting to me how we never seem to notice these shifts, these changes in the seasons of our lives until the change is complete and we are noticing what is now drastically different. I mean, we should know that for just about everything in this life,  “Last Game” has been called and we are just whirling our way towards the end.  I mean, we aren’t even promised tomorrow,  and some won’t even make it until tomorrow. Some families will be preparing tomorrow for funerals that were unexpected today. Some young ladies will be showing a pregnancy test result to a surprised young man tomorrow. Some nurses will be handing a new bundle of joy to new parents, while some doctors will be handing over upsetting news to families with, hard decisions to make about their loved ones. 
Do we want to make it through our “Last Game” unaware and ignorant that change is coming? Or would it help us to understand the value of our time?  Wouldn’t it be profitable for us to invest this “last game” in a purpose and calling worthy of our dedicated effort and time? 
I used to be a gambler. If I was behind,  I knew that “last game” was a chance to “double or nothing” if I was behind for one last chance to “get back to even” if they would go for it,  but sometimes it was too late for that ploy to work. 
But now,  I’ve already been guaranteed the victory in Christ Jesus. He has finished my salvation at the cross. I don’t have to earn it by living a different way,  but instead, I get to make the most of this “last game” in living a purpose driven life sharing the Good News, living out my life as a living testimony of walking in the Spirit not in the flesh and trusting Him and giving God all the glory. 
Yes, that is a bit of a shift from that old life of the gambler – but the “last game” was called on him 2000 years ago at the cross, and confirmed by the empty tomb. The old has passed away and the new is come. My life is being reconciled to Christ grace by grace, faith by faith, day by day, moment by moment, breath by breath.
He has called “last game” over your life as well. Your body has a born on date and an expiration date. But more importantly,  I must ask if you are born again? Are you alive spiritually? Do you have that upward calling upon your life that extends beyond the bounds of this early realm?
The answer is between you and Him. I’m not trying to get you to “join my whatever” — no, I’m just asking you,  “Are you right with God?” And if you know that you aren’t,  I’m telling you that He is available and you shouldn’t delay even until the morning. Speak with Him. Clear the air about those areas where you know you have fallen short. Ask for forgiveness and for His strength to see your repentance be effective and fruitful in leading you in a new way. He is faithful to forgive and it is His will for sin and death to be overcome in your life. It is a process,  and, He will see you through it,  if you will walk with Him. 
May the LORD bless you and keep you.