Someone Hears Your Cries

As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.

Psalm 55:16

New International Version (NIV)

        
           I'll be in Tennessee during this week.  My stepfather George is suffering from liver cancer and will soon be passing on.   Please pray for him, my family, and my travels.   This will be a difficult time in many ways, but a joyous time in others.  I'll be seeing my daughters and granddaughters.  I rarely get to see them since we all live so far apart.   And I'll be seeing my mother and siblings which is always a good time.

           I have a feeling I will be reflecting on the verses I quote in this post.   I want to be sure that all of my family is saved or is least thinking about this topic.  I'm praying for all of them. 

 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”  For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:11-13

New International Version (NIV)




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Under the Influences

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Psalm 1:1

King James Version (KJV)

           I've hung out with some questionable people in my lifetime.  I suppose many of us think maybe we'll be a good influence on others who are not living by the highest standards.  More often than not those kinds of people will drag us down to their level rather than our taking them to a more respectable level.

            Fortunately my friends over all have been decent people.  Many of them now are committed in long term marriages with nice families.  They are involved in church and hold respectable jobs.  The people I once knew who lived immoral lives are now either dead or I've lost track of them.

            Still, it's sometimes difficult to really know the true hearts of the people we deal with if we aren't around them all of the time.   However it usually doesn't take too long to sense when something is wrong.  And now wrong often seems to be the norm.   If we are to believe much of television,  movies, and the rest of the entertainment world, immorality is cool.

           It can be tough to shake the worldly influences that distract us from the true goodness that comes from the love and obedience to God.    It's something to keep in mind before it's too late.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

New International Version (NIV)

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