Hebrews 5: 12 For when, for the time, you ought to be teachers, you need for someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

I have taught many, many Bible classes in my life.  Women and men.  Of all ages.  And one of the most difficult things a teacher has to accept is that some people just aren't interested.   They come.  They listen.  They take notes.  They like being in the class.  But that is the end of it.  The word of God has no power in their lives.  They leave, go back to work, nothing changes, and they come back the next week exactly like they left.  They will never eat meat.  They can't remember what you have taught them, because it doesn't take root in their lives.

But then, there are others.  Thank God.  They get it.  They want more.  They want to pick your brain.  Those are the ones that after a while, go on to teach others.  I think especially of Sally Casey.  It has been years since she was in my class, but now she teaches a class of her own.  She reads the Bible for herself.  Occasionally she calls and asks me a question, and it will always be a question that is difficult.  That has been mulled over on her part.  It will not be a question about milk.  It will be about meat.

It takes the Holy Spirit living inside you to inspire you to want more.  Reading the Bible on your own is a sign of spiritual maturity.  You read because you can't imagine not reading.  You want to know.  You want to know what God wants.  What he thinks.  Why he spoke to us.  A million questions.  You are living a life full of expectation of what is to come.  What he has in store for you.  He is real to you.

It is either the most exciting thing in your life and you can't get enough of it.  Or, you find it very boring and stay involved out of duty.  Sad.  Those who do that haven't read enough Bible to know that they are in danger.  Our years here are so short.  Our years later are for all eternity.

Get serious about reading God's word.  Make sure your eternity is with God.  The alternative isn't  going to be pleasant--and will last forever.

I write all over the edges of my Bibles.  When I picked up one of them last night, there was a question written at the top of the page of Hebrews:  "Who wrote this???"  It is such a great piece of Christian literature, that I am curious about the author.  My son Scott thinks it might have been Barnabas.

When Paul writes something, he starts by saying, "From Paul, in jail for preaching the Good News about Jesus Christ…"  or something similar.  James and Peter do the same thing.  But the writer of Hebrews doesn't give us any clues.  Whoever he was, he was doctrinally sound.

In Hebrews 4:14a,15, he says:  "…Jesus, the Son of God is our great High Priest who has gone to heaven itself to help us… This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses since he had the same temptations we do, though he never once gave way to them and sinned.  So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive his mercy and find grace to help us in our times of need."

Boldly.  Somehow, I have a hard time with that word.  Even though this is not the only scripture that says we may come boldly to the throne of God.  I have a feeling that I need to crawl on my hands and knees--hoping He will be merciful.  But the word of God tells us that we are His children and that we are to come to Him as a child would to his Father.  And Jesus makes this possible.  We are forgiven.  We are redeemed. (Bought back) We are clean by the blood of Jesus Christ.

So God sees us with mercy and grace.  We have an interceder.  A high priest.  Christ himself.  We are joint heirs with Christ.  With equal opportunity to the throne of God himself.

We certainly don't deserve that.  God could give us justice.

Wouldn't that be horrible.

In the third chapter of Hebrews, the writer (we don't know for sure who that was) talks about urgency.  He uses the word "Today" over and over.  3:7-8a  "...Wherefore as the Holy Ghost says, Today if you will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts…"  In other words, you must respond now.

Basically, he is saying that God will not always deal with you.  You have no assurance that the Holy Spirit will draw you to Christ at another time.  You may remember that I said that the most horrible phrase in the Bible is:  Romans 1:26 "…God gave them up…"  That is why I have always believed that you do not in any way discourage a child who wants to give their heart and life to Christ by saying that they are not old enough to know what they are doing.  If God draws them, they should respond in whatever way they are capable.  Our response is the critical issue.  Today.  We respond in the best way we know how.  With the knowledge that we have.

Then in chapter four, he speaks of entering into God's rest.  A place of peace. (from the Living Bible) Hebrews 4:8-9, 10a  "This new place of rest that he is talking about does not mean the land of Israel…If that were what God meant, he would not have spoken…about "today" being the time to get in.  So there is a full complete rest still waiting for the people of God.  Christ has already entered there…"

I am pretty tired all the time now.  The years are catching up with me.  So a place of rest sounds wonderful to me.  I'm going to sit on the bank of a spring creek and dangle my feet in the water.  For a year or two.  All eternity will be there for us to rest, to catch up on spending time together.

Give your life to God.  The Bible warns us in Hebrews 4: 2b-3a  "For this wonderful news--the message that God wants to save us--has been given to us just as it was to those who lived in the time of Moses.  But it didn't do them any good because they didn't believe it.  They didn't mix it with faith.  For only we who believe God can enter into his pace of rest."

Every word in Hebrews is dynamic.  It is hard to pick and choose what to talk about.  I am going through it verse by verse--and leaving many out--trying to hit the high points.  But they are all high.

Hebrews 2: 9  "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for (the purpose) of suffering death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man."

And verse 17a, "...in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brothers, (us)...

When Christ came, he came to die.  To taste death for you, for me.  And he was made exactly like us in every way.  Otherwise, we could excuse ourselves and say, "Well, yes, he was tempted.  But he was God and it was easier for him to be good."  Not true.  He gave all that up and limited himself.

Sin comes in three categories:  1John 2:16  "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

1.  Misuse of our sexual nature.
2.  Desire for the things our eyes see.  Things we covet.
3.  Pride.  Self glorification

Conquer those three areas and you have it made.  But of course, you know each of us have failed to do that.    Hebrews 2: 17b  "…that he (Jesus) might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people."  

The good thing is that Jesus is reconciling us to God.  (He is not reconciling God to us.  God doesn't need reconciliation.)

Be good.  Just do it.

My new friend Brenda has a booth at Edmond Antiques and every time I go to Edmond, I get to visit with her.  She started reading this blog every day, and took up my challenge to start reading the Bible again.  And after a while, she told me she started going back to church.  "I want to make it a new habit," she said.  For those of you who want to make a new habit, of any sort,  you have to make a decision to do it.  The older we get, the more set in our ways we are, and it is harder.

But just because we are older is no excuse.  We should all make new habits that are good.  It is rather like changing the way you eat.  You may not like every meal, but the desired result will be that you feel better and you will be healthier in the long run.

We know the things God wants us to do, we just don't want to do them.  Even when we know it is good for us.  God never asks us to do anything that is not going to make us happier and more at peace with him.  So in our head, we have to determine to do what is good for us.  We strive to make a new habit through determination.  

I remember when seat belts started being put in new cars.  I couldn't remember to buckle up.  So I told God, "I want to make a habit of buckling every time I get in the car.  So if you will remind me, I will do it." (That way, it was His problem, not mine!!)  I truly wanted to make a good habit and God honored my prayer.  After that, every time I got in the car, it came to my mind--buckle up.  Now I don't even think about it, I just do it.  Habit accomplished.

Same way with saying, "God bless you," when I go through the fast food windows.  When I challenged my class to do that with me, I don't know if they did it, but I did.  And now it is a habit.

"God bless you."  It may be the only time a person hears God's name that it isn't being used as a curse.

Continuing in Hebrews:     Hebrews 2:1,2a 3a "Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we let them slip away.  For if the message given through the angels was authentic and proved sure…How shall we escape if we neglect and refuse to pay attention to such a great salvation as is now offered to us…"

I think the whole world is neglecting and refusing to pay attention!!  The news on the TV seems to be all bad.  Just when I think that I have heard the worse, someone does something even more unthinkable.  Murdering innocent people.

A few days ago I said that our God would either be a good God, or an evil God.  And of course it is self evident that he is good.  His desire is that we, too, would be good.  From cover to cover the Bible teaches us to be good.  To do His good will.  We Christians are the evidence of God's ability to change people for the better.  (And yes, there are some so called Christians that give us all a bad name.) 

What other "religious groups" (besides Christians) show up with help in times of trouble?  And money? And people?  All in the name of a good God.  Hurricanes, tornados, starvation, earthquakes, sickness (And they sometimes end up sick themselves--lately, the two missionaries who were infected with Ebolia.)  Christians are the "religious group" that shows up to help.  There are some religious groups that instead of being part of the solution, are the cause of the tragedies.  How can this be?

Like the writer of Hebrews says, "Since this is all true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever…"  Lazy Christianity lets truth slip away.  And the world suffers.

The truth is, Christ came to die for our sins.  Because sin is anathema to a good God.  Goodness, righteousness, kindness and peace are the characteristics of a Christian life.

If you had to go to trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

Bo isn't doing very well.  I have his seizures under control for now with medications.  But when he goes to bed at night, he can't find a comfortable position.  So I  took him to the vet and they gave him some pain pills.  Everything he does is a struggle.  Getting in and out of the car.  Climbing the stairs.  But he is still happy.  He crawls in my lap to go to sleep.  But I know his days are numbered and I am going to have to make a decision.  He can't make it for himself.  As long as he has quality of life and we can control his seizures and arthritis I will put the decision off.  But I know it is coming.

I had Ken's squadron patches stitched onto his leather flight jacket one year for his birthday.  He had a lot of patches.  The jacket is too small for either of my sons.  And Pat has always wanted it--she will wear it.  She has gone back to teaching this year (after retiring two years ago), so I got it out and took it to her.   Her students will get a kick out of it.   Pat buried her face in it and said, "This smells like my dad."  And it did.  She can wrap herself up and feel his arms around her.

Hebrews 1:10-12 "You Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the works of your hands.  They will perish, but You remain…they will all grow old and wear out like a garment…You will roll them up, and roll them up and they will be changed and replaced by others…"

Hebrews reminds us that all that is in the world is temporary.   Everything--dogs, people, garments and worlds--grows old and wears out.  The world was made by God, and there is a time coming when he will start over and replace it.  Life is short.  Make sure your days count.  Most of what we do doesn't really matter in the long run.  Wrap your arms around someone.

Continuing in the book of Hebrews:
Angels.  People collect them as trinkets for their bookshelves.  But we don't really have much to say about them that is relevant.  What do they really do?  To be honest, have you ever heard a sermon on angels?  Why do you think priests, pastors and Bible teachers have so little to say about them when they have such a prominent place in the Biblical writings?  The most I have ever heard about the reality of angels was from the TV show, "Touched by an Angel."  Strange.

Hebrews tells us that Jesus was "so much better" than angels.  The writer was probably trying to explain where Jesus was 'spiritually positioned' to a group of people who had a heritage of stories about angels.  Hebrews 1:4-5  "Being made so much better than the angels, since he (Jesus)  has--by inheritance--obtained a more excellent name than they."  The Son of God is his name.  Angels were helpers, not inheritors.  "For unto which of the angels has he at any time said, You are my Son, this day I have begotten you…?"  Jesus was the Son.  Although he prophesied, he was not an angel.

I read a novel by Frank Peretti called "Piercing the Darkness."  It was full of angels and I thought it was make believe.  So I looked up all his Biblical references and found that everything he claimed was true.  I didn't know there were so many Bible verses about angels.  Up until then, I had never thought much about them.  Now, I pray that God will send his angels to guard round about me and mine.

Hebrews 13:2 "Don't forget to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
Do we have guardian angels?

Hebrews 1: 7a, 14b "God speaks of his angels as messengers swift as the wind and as servants made of flaming fire… for the angels are only spirit-messengers sent out to help and care for those who are to receive his salvation."   That would be us!!!

I will be teaching the book of Hebrews for the next few weeks.  It begins with the verses (1-2) that I gave you yesterday…that God has spoken to us in the person of Jesus.  I wish I understood why God became man and dwelt among us, but I don't.  I can't imagine the kind of love that would stoop to our level when He is so far beyond us.  But he did.  He created us.  He must really love us.

Hebrews 1:3 explains just how much he gave up to come to earth.  "Who being the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."  Not only did he stoop to our level, he died for us.

We are such a mess.  Without God we stumble through life making every mistake imaginable.  There is a song that says, "…people need the Lord…, at the end of broken dreams, people need the Lord."  He alone is the solution for peace in our lives.

Today is my wedding anniversary and this is the first anniversary I will spend by myself.  58 years have gone by and I have no idea where those years went.  They evaporated.  I thank God for letting me share my life with Ken.  I talked to his sister who is 88 yrs. old last night and we reminisced about the first time I met her and her mother.  Now we are the only ones left who remember that Ken from 58 years ago, who was 26 yrs. old.  He was something.

I have such a thankful heart that he didn't get killed in war.  I am so thankful he came home to his children.  I am so thankful that we had so many years together.  How can you be sad when you are so blessed.  But I am sad.  I miss him and it can't be expressed.  Just felt.

Thank God that Jesus conquered death.  That we will live forever with him.  How do people bear living if they have no hope.   Christ is our hope.  There is more out there, and we are going to get to experience it with the ones we love.

I am daily amazed at the fact that life exists.  I am alive.  You are alive.  We are floating around in space.  Where is space?  Where did it come from?  Those are questions that can only be answered in one way.  There is some force out there.  Bigger than us.  A force  that we can only explain as God.  A supreme being.  We believe--because we are alive.  Because we exist.

This God, this creator, will be on the side of good, or the side of evil--since those are the ruling factors in the nature of men.   If, as we believe, he is good--then he would not put us here and then walk off.  Leaving us with no communication.  No mutual interaction.  No answers.  There would be no point in our existence if that were the case.  So where has he spoken?

Hebrews 1:1-2  "God, who at sundry (different) times and in divers (various) manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, who he has appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds."

Jesus came.  He spoke of love.  Love for each other.  He spoke of forgiveness.  Forgiving others as He forgives us.  He spoke of peace.  Not war, not murder, not persecution.  He spoke of everything that I can think of that is good.  Jesus was God, is God, is good, speaking to us.  There was not anything in his message that would hurt someone or do them harm.

I cannot help but wonder what kind of religion--such as Isis--can say it is righteous when  they  force their evil beliefs on others.  A religion that delights in killing, persecution, captivity, rape, mutilation, and forced submission to their brand of worship.  The Christians in Iraq are being murdered.  Because of who they are.  We need to have thankful hearts that we have freedom to worship the one true God.  We need to pray for those Christians.  They are suffering.

Jehovah is a God of peace.  The one true God.  The only God.   Acts 4:12  "Neither is there salvation in any other: for is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life..."  John 14: 6    There is no other.

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Today, one of my grandsons (I have 5) came by for a visit and asked me an interesting question.  "Grammy, of all of the books in the Bible, which one would help me the most.

"Well," I answered him, "I think it depends on what you are wanting.  Is it information?  Or do you want to explain the plan of salvation to someone?   Or is it for you?  To help you grow into a better man.

"For me," he answered.

"That's easy, and there isn't much to read."  I held my Bible up and showed him that it was about three inches thick.  Then I separated the part I thought he should read.  It was only 1/8 of an inch thick.  Just a few pages.   "There is a lot in here that is interesting, things that you should learn someday, but only a little bit that will give you what you are asking for."

"What part is it?  What should I read?" he asked.

"The gospel of John.  Paul, Peter, John and James' short letters.   And one book in the Old Testament,  Proverbs--the book of wisdom.  That's it.  Then if you want to know more, you can add to that.  But those short books will do it.  Your granddad said that his favorite letter was the one Paul wrote to the Romans."

My grandson is a Christian, turning twenty one years old.  He is going to be a good man.  He is asking all the right questions.  He usually stays an hour or two and we talk.  I am so privileged to have grandsons that love me, call me on the phone and come visit me.  I like them.  They turned out okay.

Proverbs 17:6a  "Children's children are the crown of old men (and women)….

I went to Edmond last Wednesday and stayed till Saturday.  Of course I went to Edmond Antiques.  My cousin, Ann, and Becky go to the garage sales while I'm there and that is fun.   Ann and Becky both have booths.  They like to buy the stuff and I like to arrange it so they both put me to work.  You find the strangest things.  I found a WW2 Nazi bronze bugle engraved with a swastika.  Some trooper must have brought it back from the war.  It looked like it had a million dings in it.

The drive is awful.  Two hours and fifteen minutes both ways.  When I think that I used to drive cross country without thinking much about it, I wonder how I did it.

In 1963-65, I used to drive from Beaufort, S.C. to Oklahoma with my three kids.  Ken had to work so I would go by myself.  Once, a friend from Montgomery went half way with me.  We stayed all night at her mother's house.  It just happened to be during the Montgomery civil rights marches.  I found out that my friend and her mother were very bigoted.  When dinner was served, each course was brought in by a different server--who were black, of course.  I said "Thank you" to each one of them.  When they were through serving, the mother told me that you didn't ever thank the servants.  You weren't supposed to speak to them at all.

You would have been proud of me.  I said, "Well, I do.  I was taught to thank everyone who serves me."  And the friendship was severed.  Her mother didn't approve of my attitude.  I had never been exposed to such snobbery.  That was fifty years ago during the civil rights movement and most people in Alabama felt like she did.  What a shame.

Proverbs 11:17  "When you're kind to others, you help yourself; when you're cruel to others, you hurt yourself."

Matthew 5:47  "And if you salute your brethren only, what are you doing any more than others?  Don't even the publicans do that."

I am reading a Pulitzer Prize winner, "John Adams" by David McCullough.  It is very interesting.  I have a better idea of what role he played in forming the nation as well as Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, Hamilton, Franklin, Madison and others.

One of the things they all did was write letters.  Detailed writing--to each other--that was how they spent much of their time, bouncing ideas off of each other.  By reviewing their letters to each other and to their families, the author has spun a story that is intriguing.

I have always thought that the best training you can give yourself to write well is to read well.  Reading books that are well written is a present you give to yourself.  But reading has given way to television, and writing has given way to texting.  The loss is sad.

I found many words in the book that I didn't know.  Now I do.  Words are how we think.  If you have a poor vocabulary, you will be a poor thinker.  Now that I have grown older, I have a harder time remembering words.  I know what they are.   I know where they are in my head.   I just can't get to them when I want them.  Eventually they come, but the quickness of youth is absent.

I love the way words are used in the King James version of the Bible.  They are beautiful.

Jeremiah 15:16  "Your words were found and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart:  for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts."

Eat words.  Read.

Church is a difficult thing to understand because there are so many different types and so many different styles of worship.  God distinctly says we are to "…not forsake the assembling of ourselves together…" so how do we find where we belong?  How do we find "The Church?"  What is it anyway.  Is it a denomination?  Is it a building?

There is so much superstition connected with religion.  Rituals, prayers, oblations.  It is easy to fall into a pattern of behavior--concerning church--without examining why you think what you do--where God is concerned.  Some people just give up and don't go at all.  So why does God require that we go?  Why does he tell us not to forsake assembling ourselves together?

There are some churches that say you have to be a part of their denomination if you want God's salvation.  This strikes fear in the heart of their members.  They stay because they are afraid to do otherwise.  To find truth, you must read the Bible.  Which is not encouraged in some churches.  That's a pity because the Bible is the record we have of God speaking.  It is the way we find out what we should believe.  And how we should live.  It is our ultimate true source of information about God.

I have been a member of dozens of churches across America.  Some I liked.  Some I didn't.  But I kept going because God said to go.  And in the process figured out what made church good.  It wasn't the speaker.  Or the choir.  Or the teachers.  It was the people.  (Excluding the hypocrites--which you will definitely come across.)  If you go on a regular basis, you find life long friends who will be there for you when things go wrong.  (Things will go wrong…)  They are different from the friends we make outside the church in that there is a common agreement of our cause.  Your connection with them is based on a common set of principles.   You don't have to explain yourself.  I have "Church Friends" in S. Carolina, California, Virginia, Florida…everywhere I have lived.  They love me.  I love them.

John 15: 12 "This is my commandment, That you love one another as I have loved you."

The way he loved us was warts and all.  We must love others that same way.

Dogs were supposed to live outside.  I didn't need another problem in my house with four kids.  So the collie stayed outdoors.  His name was White Feet.  We called him Feet.  He was a great dog for all the kids on the block and was the goalie for Scott's soccer team.   "Best goalie we ever had," was Scott's opinion.

Back then, people left their dogs in the yard if the dog was gentle and nobody complained.  And since Feet was so great with children, everyone on the block took care of him.  All the children adored him.  When the kids went to school, he went too.  When they went inside the building, Feet came home and waited for the noon recess bell to ring.  When it rang, off he would go to play soccer.

But one day, he vanished.  Nobody knew where he was and we were all crushed.  Kids  from school kept checking our house to see if he had returned.  But he didn't.  We assumed that somebody had stolen him.

A few months later, as I was going out the front door, I heard a whimper and lying there on the front lawn was Feet.   His paws were raw on the bottom and bleeding from walking for who knows how far.  I brought him in the house.  Any dog that loves you enough to tear up their feet trying to make it home deserves a little "house" time.

The word "Faithful" comes to mind when describing our dog Feet.

There are nine characteristics of the Christian life.  Feet, even though he was a dog, had them all.

 Galations 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance…"

We should all be as good as a dog.

We moved with the cow  because Ken had finished his Masters and got a job teaching at a Jr. College in Miami, 55 miles northeast of Pryor.  He wanted to commute, but I didn't think that was reasonable!  We needed to sell the house and move.  Which we did.  The kids wanted a farm, so we bought a tiny four room house with a huge barn on ten acres. The barn was stellar.  He house wasn't.  I spent the next year trying to enclose a breezeway and put two bedrooms and a bath in the garage.  Scott got the hall closet.  We put both girls together in one bedroom and we took the other.  Which didn't work out at all.  So Ken and I ended up sleeping in the breezeway and the girls got a room apiece.  Anything for peace.

The barn was perfect for the cow.  And a horse.  And chickens and collie dogs.  And useful animals as well.  Cats.  That lived in the barn keeping the mice at bay.  We also had a possum that visited every night and depleted the chickens.  When Ken took a shovel and headed to the barn to dispatch the possum, Becky began to cry and beg him to give the possum just one more chance.  He didn't.   You can't redeem a possum.

Scott was 9 years old, Becky 13 and Pat 15 when we moved.  And I was pregnant.  Certainly the last thing on my list of things I ever wanted to be again.  Once again I was hanging sheetrock, insulation, and painting ceilings.  Barely able to move since I was carrying a ten pound baby.

We lived 10 miles from town and all I did that year was drive kids back and forth to school events, sports events and church events.  By the end of the year, I had to agree with Ken that we had made a mistake to move.  So six weeks after Jonathan was born,  we sold the farm and moved back to Pryor.  Between Ken going one way and me and the children going another, we had moved nineteen times in sixteen years.  And that wasn't the last move we made.

Luke 9:58 "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has no where to lay his head."  Ken and I were starting to feel like Jesus must have felt.

In 1963 (or 64) we bought a new car.  America's Chevrolet dealers each received a  golden anniversary  car to sell to celebrate the fifty years they had been in business.  Ken bought me one. (Hold that thought a minute.)  It was really nice.

A few years after we bought the car, after Ken retired, we had been keeping a calf fenced in the space between our house and the house next door.   (The mama cow had died, and the people next door couldn't keep running out in the country to feed the calf, so we got the calf if we would feed it.  I can't remember why in the world I agreed.)  I'm sure there must have been some city ordinance forbidding cows in the yard in downtown Pryor, but all the kids on the block loved the calf and took turns feeding it, so there were no complaints.  It turned into a pet.

Ken got a job 55 miles away so we moved.  We had to get the calf--which was now a cow--moved to our new place..  With no pickup.  So Ken took the cushions out of the back seat of my beautiful Golden Chevrolet, and with the tail hanging out one window and head out the other, the cow got transported.  Ken said cars would pass him and stop, point at the car as he passed by, and he could read their lips.  "I told you there was a cow in that car."

I usually try to tell a story and then connect it to something from the Bible that is applicable.  However, the only Biblical connection I can make from all that is that when the Israelites made a golden calf as an idol, Moses threw a fit and melted the calf down.

I didn't throw a fit, but I almost had a meltdown cleaning my car.  

As long as I am talking about prayer, think of it this way:  You know how, when you walk into a room full of people, you look around for someone that you know.  And you gravitate toward them and say, "How are you," or "It's good to see you," or "I hear you got a new car," etc, etc, etc.  It's not that we have anything important to say, it's called being friendly.

Well, think of prayer that way.  Be friendly with God.  Since he is a spirit, and since he is everywhere and watches us and tells us he will listen to us, you might just want to say "Hello God, I've been thinking about you today."  I think prayer is simply talking to God.  Staying in contact so that you aren't using him like an insurance policy when something goes wrong.  He wants to hear your voice.  He wants to know what is on your mind.  Jesus says he is our friend.  We need to act like one.

I find myself reminding him of people who need help.  Friends, family, neighbors.  And the world.  It is in such a mess.  He even tells us to pray for our leaders.  I just talk to him about things.  And ask him to do something appropriate.  Since I can't know the future, and he does, I want him to do what is best.

You might say, "What difference will it make?  God is going to do what God is going to do."  Well, there are any number of places in the Bible that God tells us that he is willing to change his mind and reconsider.  And a number of times that he does change his mind because of someone's prayer.  If one of your children asked something reasonable and it was within your power to grant their request, wouldn't you give them what they asked for.  You would probably want to do the same thing God does--that is, do what is best for them.

I'm not a fan of long-winded orations.  Especially ones that use language that is stilted.  Acts 10:4
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees (and Baptists, and Catholics and Methodists, etc.)…for a pretense you make a long prayer…"

1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers:  But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."

Eyes, Ears, Face.  Be sure you are on the righteous end of prayer.

I have a book called, "Prayer, Conversing With God."   The suggestion was made that you might try to visualize him  by putting a chair in the room and inviting him to sit down.  And then just talk to him.   You don't have to read a prayer out of a book.  Or memorize some chant.  Just use everyday words.

Tell him about how thankful you are for hot water.  For air conditioning.  For a car.  For the money to put gas in the car.  Think about all the little things that you and I take for granted that the rest of the world doesn't have,  and thank him.

Then compliment him.  I don't know about you, but I am always lifted up when someone says something nice about me.  Or thanks me for something I have done for them.  Or--and this is an especially big one--that they appreciate me!!  I can run all day on a little praise.  Some of the readers in Bartlesville tell my son--who works there--how much they enjoy what I write. Thank you.

Since we are made in his image, why would we think God would be any different.  He wants our sincere praise.  He wants to hear us say, "I love you."

There is an acronym that I sometimes use called ACTS.  Adoration, Confession, Thankfulness, and Supplication.  I have a tendency to get the supplication out of order and put it first.

My prayers are always short.  But they go on all day.  They are usually no longer than two or three sentences and start every morning when I go out to get the paper and thank him for the new day and the weather.  Whatever the weather is: rain, sleet, sunshine, heat, cold…it's all good for something.  I tend to say something like, "You did a good job on the clouds this morning.  They are really pretty."

Psalms 5: 3  "My voice shall you hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct my prayer unto you, and will look up."

Saturday night I went to the Bill Gaither concert.  I had never been before and as a matter of fact, I don't remember ever going to a live concert before.  I have seen many drama productions but no live music.  Pitiful, but true.   I was blown away.  I listen to them on TV, but  there is no comparison.  They are so talented.  David Phelps will be the tenor someday in the heavenly choir.   My friend Carolyn's son bought us the tickets for her birthday.  So nice.

I play the piano and marimba, but I very seldom listen to music.  I think I am the only person in the world who doesn't, but so much of it is monotonous, loud and irritating.   Ken always listened to classical music and when I got into the car, that would be what was on.  It was nice.  I played Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninov, etc for recital pieces as I was growing up, so I do have some redeeming musical grace.  But I still seldom listen to the radio.   With the exception of Fats Domino, Ricky Nelson and Little Richard.  Which I know sounds out of character.  Go figure.

I like the sound of silence.  Ken used to say that people are frightened of silence.

At church on Sunday we sang the Doxology.  It has been "Out of Fashion" with the young crowd and it has been years since we sang it.  When I was young, it was the first song that we sang every Sunday.  "Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Praise him all creatures here below.  Praise him above ye heavenly host.  Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost."  It felt like God was listening.  So many contemporary  churches have gone to the big band format.  Which is alright, but not for me.

Psalms 66:1,4  "Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:  Sing forth the honor of his name: make his praise glorious….All the earth shall worship you, and sing unto you; they shall sing to your name."

If you are going to worship God, you have to have a thankful heart.   And scripture doesn't say that you have to carry a tune, it says, "…make a…joyful noise...".

I have been reading old letters off and on all day from my family.  Back when postage was a nickel.  We wrote letters in the fifty and sixties.  Hundreds of them.  All addressed by hand.  In Palmer penmanship.  (Which I heard the schools are going to quit teaching!!)  I have been sorting them for my children (who probably won't even want them) and discarding many of them and remembering a million incidents of our lives.  My mother wrote every week and my dad added a line.

And I finally started reading Ken's letters from Spain and Cuba from 1964-65.  He was gone for three and four months at a time.  They are full of the difficulties of being a squadron commander and not having enough gasoline to give his pilots the time in the air that they needed.  I doubt that I had any idea at all how much stress he was under.  I was twenty-six years old.  He was thirty-five.  I was just a kid.  He was a grown man.  Our lives were so different.   But somewhere in it all, we met in the middle and it was wonderful.  I would do it all over again, but life isn't like that.  We get to do it once.

This generation won't have letters.  There is something about touching paper, unfolding it, hearing it crackle that email doesn't give you.  A hand written letter is so very personal.  You can't just hit a key and broadcast it to the world.  It's yours alone.  You can fold it up and put it back in the envelope and take it out fifty years later and be transported.  You are young again.  Starting out.  Raising children.

I have only started on his letters, there are a lot of them.  I want to read them all  again.  I want to hear him say, "I love you, I am lonely, I can't wait to come home," all over again.

Paul, the apostle wrote like that.  His letters to his friends who were Christians are full of yearning to see them again.  He had a "Thorn in the flesh" as he put it,  that kept him from writing everything himself.  He probably had a scribe.  But he ended his letters by saying, "I will write these closing words in my own handwriting.  See how large I have to make the letters!"  Galations 6:11  And in Colossians 4:16 "By the way, after you have read this letter will you pass it on to the church in Laodicea?  And read the letter I wrote to them."  And here we are two thousand years later, pulling those letters out and reading them for ourselves.  It is a joy.