TRUE VALUE

Photo courtesy of kenklaser.gaiastream.com

"Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind

than have a banquet in a house full of trouble."

-Proverbs 17:1 (TEV)

SOLUTION TO WORLD PROBLEMS

After spending about thirty five years in the service industry.

And, living longer than that doing other things,

something become obvious to me.

If we did not have all the gripping, complaining and nitpicking,

the world would be a better place to live.

The solution is simple.

DIY

Yes,

Do It Yourself.

Photo courtesy of certifiedorganichealth.com

You don't like the way your meal was fixed.

Simple, DIY.

You can cook it better any way,

so, DIY.

Photo courtesy of www.diy-sitre.co.uk

You don't like the way the paint was put on or the color.

Again, simple DIY.

You are a better painter anyway.

Photo courtesy of www.cnczone.com

Don't like the way your appliance works;

DIY.

You could build a better one yourself.

Photo courtesy of diyaudioproject.blogspot.com

Unhappy with the way your electronics work.

DIY.

You could design a better one.

Photo courtesy of www.funkylist.com

What is it that you don't like?

Simple, DIY.

Don't like my solution?

DIY.

I STRUCK IT RICH

IF,

"One man's junk (trash) is another man's treasure."

as they say.

Then, I'm rich, rich, rich.

I know the man who owns this property in the neighboring county.

He not only gave me permission to explore around on it,

but also let me know that I could have anything out of his trash pile I wanted.

I'm rich, rich, rich.

Look. A noise maker. An antique radio.

A microwave oven and a bicycle.

We can eat and exercise.

And here is a metal hen's nest near the hood of an old pickup truck.

And below is an old chicken feeder.

We are in the chicken business.

WHAT'S THE POINT?

We are just like that in life. We try to see how much "stuff" or "things" we can accumulate in life. When in truth it is only something else to take care of, then eventually discard.

God said,

"Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed;

because your true life is not made up of the things you own,

no matter how rich you may be"

-Luke 12:15 (TEV)

Do you know what God thinks of all your "stuff", possessions, treasures?

"For the things that are considered of great value by people

are worth nothing in God's sight."

-Luke 16:15 (TEV)

Just prior to this Jesus tell us of a rich man that had too much. He did not even have a place to store it all. And there was no self storage buildings around.

God called him a "fool".

And he died that night.

God's conclusion was,

"This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves

but are not rich in God's sight."

-Luke 12:21 (TEV)

MARRIAGE

photo courtesy of mommylife.net

Today a man said,

"marriage is ideal.

If you don't work at it, it will become an ordeal.

Then you will think you got a raw deal.

Some people then look for a new deal."

WHO IS THE SMARTEST?

photo courtesy of www.cogsci.indiana.edu

You have ridden more horses than I have. But my experience on a number of horses over the years tells me they can be contrary critters. Even "broken" horses. They all have a mind of their own. Now you know why I ride motorcycles instead.

They tell me that a horse cannot be ridden until it is broken. At least ridden safely. Why would it want to do your bidding anyway? So until it is broken it does what it wants, not what you want. And donkeys have a reputation of being even more stubborn.

The picture above is not a horse. It is a donkey - on purpose. And young donkeys, just like young horses are called "colts". At least in the Scriptures. That's what Jesus rode, a young donkey. The old version of the Bible called a donkey an "ass".

I read something again today of interest. When Jesus was getting ready to go to Jerusalem on what we call his "Triumphant Entry", his request to the disciples was to get a very specific "colt".

"As soon as you get there, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden"

-Mark 11:2 (TEV)

Jesus - the very creator of the universe - got on that donkey colt and rode it to Jerusalem with out a whimper from it. He did not even have to break it.

Why is it that we will not yield to our vary creator unless he breaks us, but that "dumb ass" yielded with out a complaint.

Are donkeys smarter than us????

WHO DID IT?

Years ago a tornado pasted through in a town about fifty miles south of us. All I remember it taking out was a bar and perhaps a building next to it. Now tornado's are called an act of God. So was this God passing judgement on that establishment?

Then came another thought. What if it took out a church? Would that be showing God's displeasure with that church?

This is not the result of a tornado. Yep, it's a burned out church. Who did that? God or the Devil?

I do not know who to blame for this any more than you do. One of my fellow workers attended there. He said they were thinking about remodeling anyway.

But I did learn something. It was a great excuse to use about a million dollars of God's money to make a nice place to set on Sunday - instead of in the building out back.

RATS PLAY WHEN OWNERS AWAY

There is one area of the country I enjoy riding my motorcycle in. It has beautiful scenery, nice winding roads and a number of old abandoned houses, mobile homes, barns and sheds. For some reason I always wish I could poke around abandoned building, autos and machinery.

These pictures are from one that the owner gave me permission to poke around in, all I wanted. So, I did.

This unit appears to have been abandoned for many years. perhaps even a decade. The evidence seems to point out one truth,

"The rats play when the owners away."

But come to think of it. That is the way our life is.

When we keep God away, the Devil comes in to play.