Finding Laughter In Difficult Times

Practice, practice, practice!  It is said that practice helps us improve skills.  Our typing class, HOWEVER, back in 1971, had a banner which read: Practice does not make perfect unless practice is perfect.  If we don’t put in effort and umph, we won’t get great results.

Some say: “Break a leg,” or, “Kill ‘Em!” These are sayings or motivating chants meant to psych up competitors for actual performances.  We rehearse everyday in different forms acceptable to those around us.  But what about rehearsals acceptable to God?  Wait, you mean they take place here? YEP! DUH!  Surely, you’re not waiting to get to heaven to practice, right?  I mean, who tests their flashlight in broad daylight by pointing it to the sun?

We’re not going to test our “Polite” skills on perfected saints in heaven.  We’re not going to “practice” loving everyone in a place (heaven) that exudes love.  Instead, the real rehearsals happen here; real performances will take place in heaven.  Check it out:

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the Father” (Matthew 5:16).  

“The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16). 

“Preferring one another” (Romans 12:10). 

“Love your enemy, bless them that persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

These verses fulfill the “Unless practice is perfect” principle.  God has called us to a higher standard.  Those who want to skip the steps, are just practicing without results. “Go with the flow” doesn’t jive with God!  He wants us to be intentional in living right with Him and for Him.

As we grow in our faith, we move on to dress performances where our acquired gifts from God become second nature to us and we automatically “Put on love” (Colossians 3:14).  For now, we can continue to practice until that trumpet sounds!

See you at rehearsal!

Sam

It’s the mid-sixties and I’m with a group of friends, suddenly, an argument breaks out.  I tell the other person, “Take it back!” He responds with, “Oh yeah?”  I say, “YEAH!” But then he does what every 8 and 9-year-old hates.  Will punch me in the nose?  Will he knock me out?  No, worse.  He says those dreaded words: “Oh yeah?”  “Make me!”

Boy, I wanted to twist his nose and pull his ears out!  But I did something worse.  I put him in his place!  I told him, “I don’t make monkeys, I buy them and sell them in a can!”  Right then and there, he knew what was best for him!

Yep, that was a regular statement we kids had in the early 60s.  Of course, it makes no sense now, but back then, those words put kids in their place!  So did a black eye!

I guess one of the great benefits of living in the 1960s was that not everything had to make sense-it just had to work!  We didn’t flip out our phones to look up info. or check for “sense-making” statements, or grammatical errors.  We didn’t even have cameras or film to “shoot” every sequence of events.  All we needed was to solve issues mutually approved by all parties.

On the subject of monkeys, while I’ve never seen or understood, “More fun than a barrel of monkeys,” my little brother did have the toy barrel with a bunch of thin, connecting monkeys!  Remember those? 

Around the same time, around 1966, TV featured a show about the Monkees-a singing pop group.  In the early 70s, singing-sensation group, the Honey Cones, sang One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show. I guess The Monkeys were all around!   Even King Solomon had monkeys and apes (1Kings 10:22). So, where’s all this Monkey Business (Marx Brothers) headed?  

For sure, God’s not going bananas over all that’s happening around us.  He’s still sitting on His throne, worry-free.  He expects us to continue leaning on Him and serving Him without any monkey business.  He can’t have any bullies or crybabies in His kingdom.  In fact, He tells us “Quit yourselves like men, and fight” (1 Samuel 4:9), meaning, man up.   And the best part?  His word stands forever, and unlike our sayings, His word does make sense! 

“For You have magnified Your word above all Your name” (Psalm 138:2 AMPC)!

God Bless!

Sam

Enjoying your “Freedom” weekend?  It’s great to be able to walk, drive, or fly wherever we’d like to.  It’s also great to have the freedom to choose our jobs and neighborhoods.  Granted, not every neighborhood welcomes everyone…but freedom is still a luxury we enjoy. 

I recently watched a video clip of people complaining about everything that’s wrong with America, yet all refused a one-way-can’t return ticket to communist, red-zoned, or dictatorship countries!  That’s because after all the fussing, the US is still one of the best places on earth to live at.

So, we can travel anywhere we want and we can choose how to live, but no matter how much freedom we have, certain things we just can’t have, nor can we rid ourselves of.

Freedom won’t rid us of jealousy, anger, hatred, or envy.  Living free will not change discrimination or biasness in us.  Are you having a hard time accepting others, or loving people who look different from you?  Whether we’re all alone on an entire island what beats in our hearts, can’t be set free or bound by freedom. Jesus knows that.  He knew that before the beginning of time.

Only He can set us free from those things that chain and bind us internally.  Only he can declare wholeness upon our lives eternally.  So, if you desire to become a hermit and live in a hut, or if you’ve been sentenced to life behind bars, with Jesus in your heart, you will be free within. The bars without won’t bind you.  Nothing can stop the joy within.  Nothing can undo the changes wrought in you.  It was exactly for freedom that Jesus died for us!  It was to make us free from sin within and sin without.

So, where would you like to live?  I’d say, “In Jesus’ house, and in God’s presence where there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

Happy Fourth of July Week!
Sam

Two days ago, I had a short dream. It could be for you. I was in an apartment somewhere in New York.  A tenement building was across the street and there were about six to ten people hanging out in front of the building; New York style, for sure.

Some type of conversation was going on in our apartment, when my Uncle Joey walked in. He said, “Wait, what?!”  “You’re saying my father lives across the street?”  “The one I haven’t seen in twenty years?” Whoever was with me, joined me in saying, “Yes, he is.”  “Well, I’m going across the street to tell him that I’m his son,” Joey said. Somehow, as he made his way down the stairs and across the street, someone rang the bell to the man across the street.  He came out, looked around, saw no one he knew, and before Joey arrived, he went back inside.

Joey returned determined to try again.  As he headed down, the same thing happened again. On his third attempt, no one rang the bell before he arrived.  As he was nearing the building, I woke up.   The Lord impressed upon me that this dream is for someone out there.  Maybe it’s your dad, uncle, granddad, grandma, etc.  Maybe it’s just God, the Father who’s waiting for your return.  My uncle didn’t say he was going to swing his arms in the air and tell him, “Yo, where have you been for the past 20 years of my life, huh?”  Nope.  He said he’d tell him he was his son.

It may be time to come home-not to an abusive relationship; no way.  But to people who love you and miss you. Maybe you’ve fallen away from God.  Maybe you haven’t heard from Him in years.  He hasn’t moved.  His address is still the same: HEAVEN. His ear is still attentive to our cries.  Today, let Him know you love Him and want to come home.  I hope you find your Father, throw your arms around Him, and return to His home.  Dreams can become a long-term reality.

Happy Father’s Day!
Sam

Who hasn’t made mistakes? Liar, liar!! We all have, and we all will. Back in ’73, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross sang My Mistake .…was to love you girl/boy My mistake was to give my all…

In terms of love, we’ve all made mistakes.  Maybe we waited too long, too short, said the wrong thing, didn’t say anything at all…Maybe we over-trusted; didn’t trust enough, etc. If you read the comments on just about any love song, you’ll read how people are still licking their wounds or pulling down on that rope tied to a big boot that kicks them in the rear.  Sometimes we get things right, and sometimes we don’t.

Prophets, Kings, and leaders have made mistakes, but God never has.  The word “Mistake” isn’t in His vocabulary!  Regardless of what you’ve been told, may have overheard, or may have inferred, you’re not a mistake!  You’re not even an accident!  Maybe your parents think so because you weren’t planned, but God knew you before you were born (Psalm 139         :16).

It’s been His plan forever to bring you forth and to love you!  He gave His all for you at the cross!  He fought the powers of darkness to redeem you and to bring you home!  He’ll soon give you a new name and will put a new song in your heart!  He even sings over you (Zephaniah 3:17)!  And as great as the song, My Mistake, is, He has a different song confirming His love for you: I’ve Always Loved You Third Day.  Read on…

“Don’tcha know I’ve always loved you? Even before there was time/Though you turn away, I tell you still/Don’tcha know I’ve always loved you? And I always will.”

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me saying, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).

God Bless!
Sam

I’m recovering from SCAM; not from having been scammed, or from being a scammer, but of the SCHOOL of COMPLAINERS AND MURMMERERS.  I had celebrity status among complainers.  My walls were decorated with cheap and fake certificates for being a top complainer!  But I quit complaining, minus an occasional outburst here and there due to unfairness in life.  I was due to receive a top award, but it was humiliating!   Certificates were nothing but made of cheap, recycled toilet tissue instead of recycled rubber tires…something substantial and enduring…

As a top complainer and murmurer, I was “going places.” I was climbing the ranks; soon to graduate as top complainer in the east…I was envied by many.  We held debates on who could out-criticize others! There was the highly critical food guru who could critique everything on a menu from either being too cold, too hot, too spicy, or not enough fire… And there were the political murmurers who lashed out at the government.  But there were a few of us who majored in general complaints.  We had experience!  No subject was off-limit.  But, thank God, I’ve moved on!  Complaints are off the table!

Can you believe a driver cut me off as I’m writing and driving?!  Unbelievable!  Hey, shmuck!  Excuse me people!   But I’m glad I’m reformed! Glad I’m no longer watching the log in someone else’s eyes.  I’ve learned to quiet down and accept some things as they were, I mean, as they are.

Complainers and murmurers face an uphill climb to recovery with ofttimes slipping downhill to familiar grounds.  Is God a member of SCAM?  He abhors it!  He punishes it! the wilderness, when God’s people, the Hebrews, were delivered from Egypt, they murmured against Moses and God about the water and the food.  They quickly forgot their past hardship as slaves in Egypt for over 400 years.  Instead, they wished they were back there, rather than trusting God, the Deliverer, to take them forward in victory (Exodus 16:3).

Needless to say, Isreal learned some hard lessons.  Today, many, in God’s kingdom are also learning theirs.  Went to same schools?  Had the same teachers? Hmm. Today’s a great day to drop out; leave that Master’s degree behind!  That’s right, quit complaining, murmuring and grumbling and start praising God for the good and bad that comes your way.  It’s better to thank Him and be on the safe side than the alternative:

“Neither grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10).

God Bless!

Sam

In today’s world, everything seems to be someone else’s fault.  My kid abuses, intimidates, bullies, or kills someone’s kid, and it’s their fault.  “No one told them to be so smart, so good-looking, so bad looking, etc. But not my kid, he’s a good kid.  Some parents will go as far as saying things “The kid dressed like my kid captured on video, must be a mistake.  My son/daughter didn’t do it. He isn’t going to pay; someone else will.”

Someone is warned about the dangers of smoking (I remember my 7^th grade science teacher, Mr. Spardel, showing us cancer warnings on a cigarette pack back in 1970), yet people still smoke ‘em but blame others for their cancer.

People will remove barriers and proceed illegally, yet they feel someone else will pay for their misfortunes!  They don’t think of owning up to their mistakes or responsibilities. They need to grow up, look in the mirror and take blame for their actions or inactions. 

On a daily basis, cops, firefighters, and others lay their lives on the line for us.  This Memorial Day, we remember and thank those who paid with their lives to give us a better life.  They paid a price even when it wasn’t their fault.  They gladly fought for justice.  Thank You Men and Women for your service and heroic acts.  We remember you and honor you this day.

Taking it several steps further, God knows the condition of our hearts and the need for a Savior.  He knows try as we might, we’ll always mess things up for ourselves and others. Knowing we can’t keep things up to His standards, He decided, way-before time was, to pay the price for our sins.  You don’t have to tell Him, “You’ll pay for this, God!”  Nah, even though Jesus was sinless and therefore, guiltless of any crime or offense, He took upon Himself the sins of the world and paid them!  He paid for our messes!

Whether you’re smart, naïve, beautiful, not quite there, good or evil, you’re still a sinner and Christ paid for your sins.  When you’re tempted to shout, “Someone will pay for this!” Remember, He already did.  And if you feel you’ll never shout those words because, perhaps, you’re a “Goody-two-shoes,” you can’t repay Him either.  It’s all His doing.  We have no say in it.  Jesus gets all the credit, yep, all the glory.

“But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God Bless!

Sam

Recommended songs: Jesus Paid It All Hymns of Grace

My wife, a librarian, or Information Specialist, knew just about every one of the 17,000 books at her Information Center (library).  If a child asked, “Hey, Ms V., do you have any books on puppies?” She’d say stuff like, “Sure! It’s in the 680s (an example of mine), in the blah, blah section, on the top shelf next to the books on cats, just besides the pink books about…”

And so, it continues at home.  I’ll be watching a movie and she’ll be next to me reading.  If I wonder out loud…”Gee, I wonder why the man killed the lady…”  While reading, she’ll say, “He didn’t!” “It was the son of the lady dressed in orange who came by and not finding the deeds…took it upon himself to…”

I’m wondering, “How does she know this stuff?” Though she’s not watching, she’s listening.  At times, she tells me, “Oh, you already saw that movie.”  I’m like, “I did?” She’ll say, “Remember, that’s the one I didn’t watch with you where…” Even if she’s reclining with her eyes closed and practically asleep, she knows more about a movie than I do, whose eyes are open!  Over all, I guess she doesn’t want me wasting my time!

 And so, if I need a can of green beans, for example, why open the cabinets, when I can ask her?  I’ll ask, Honey, do we have green beans?”  She’ll say, “Sure!”  “Right next to the corn, next to the pink Goya beans on top of the pigeon peas on the second shelf in cabinet 7.”  Pretty cool for someone who’s not watching or even present!

Back in NY we heard a radio commercial featuring a husband and wife.  The husband asked something like, “Honey, where’s my scarf?” The wife: “In the closet dear.”  Husband: “Anyone seen my boots?”  (Wife): “In the closet dear.” Husband: “Where’s my umbrella…my coat?” Wife: “In the closet dear.”  Then the husband asks, “Where would you like to eat to tonight?” Wife: “In the closet dear.”  

We had a music leader at church just like that.  Everything he needed, he’d ask his wife where it was.  Her response was always, “Look in your black bag!”  Sure enough, one by one, he’d find them all!

God is like that!  When He asked Adam, in the cool of the day, as He walked through the garden (Genesis 3:8), “Where are you?”  He knew exactly where Adam was, but wanted to hear directly from him. When Adam said he hid because he was afraid, God knew something was amiss.  Can we hide from God?  No. Does He know where you’re at right now? Yep. He wants to hear from you.  Maybe you’re “In the closet, dear.”  Or maybe you wish you could hide in a black bag.  Or, maybe you know it all and know all the answers. 

Regardless of your circumstances, God does know everything.  Even if you think He’s not watching, He is.  If you think He’s forgotten you, He hasn’t.  Even if you forget that you once walked with Him, He can tell you, “Son/daughter, you’ve seen me working miracles in your life before.”  God doesn’t want you wasting your short valuable time.   He’s also listening to your heart’s pleas.  You’ll wonder at how He knows your every thought and will be amazed as you realize “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight” (Hebrews 4:13 NIV). Call Him Now!

“I was asleep, but my heart stayed awake” (Song of Solomon 5:2).

God Bless!
Sam

Growing up, anyone who was stingy was also called a cheapskate; kids who didn’t like to share. “Don’t hide, divide” was my friend, Angel’s favorite saying.  A few years ago, when an ad, which said, “Alone at last…” first aired, it reminded me of how growing up, whether we shared or not, we all wanted at least one alone moment, but rarely found it.

We’ve all noticed, how in recent years, contents or portions have gotten smaller while prices have continued to climb. I recently bought a paint roller wire frame.  It came all wrapped in cellophane.  After opening it, I realized the end cap wasn’t riveted but had a small nut on two threads and there wasn’t a snug fit.  Obviously, the roller cover kept sliding off.  With longnose pliers, I was able to fix it. 

I was telling my wife that years ago, you just picked up items and expected them to work.  But in pursuit of the mighty dollar, things now appear under various categories: cheap, cheaper, cheapest.  Cheap, lasts a few weeks or months.  Cheaper, usually breaks after a few uses.  Sometimes, cheapest is held together by the cellophane it’s wrapped in!  Tear it off, and there goes your item.  Of course, in Puerto Rico, where that’s the norm, if you attempt to return such item, you’ll be told that “Probably, you tore off the wrapper too hard!”  *Here, it’s the norm for businesses to sell the cheapest, smallest, or least number of items, for the highest possible price.  That’s the norm.

Just as many of us want quality things and for stuff to last long, God wants the same from us.  He neither wants us to be in the cheap category, or to be a cheapskate.  He wants us to share with others things of value and worth.  He didn’t tell His disciples to secretly hide the bread and the fish; No! He multiplied them and fed over 5,000 people!  His death on the cross didn’t come cheaply either, neither was He cheap with our salvation.  He didn’t take the easy way out.

 He didn’t say, “Hey, what he doesn’t know, won’t hurt him.”  He also didn’t feign His death as a religious group claims; neither did He faint at the cross and walk away, without fulfilling what He came for, as some believe!  No, He paid the ultimate price, and a full price at that.  It cost Him His life.  He didn’t pay with cheap stuff like silver, gold, or precious jewels; He paid sacrificially with His blood and life. Being God in nature, He paid as King of the universe. His sacrificial death can never be equaled or replicated.  Let’s leave the way of “cheap” behind! 

Maybe your life feels like it’s being held together by a cellophane wrapper; remove it, and you’ll fall apart. Let Jesus hold you together!  To Him, you’re not a cheap object; you’re priceless!          

 God Bless!
Sam

We’ve heard that phrase before!  Sounds funny, but it can be true!  Just as some people think they can pull the wool over a blind man’s eyes, many are confident they can get over on God! They have their lines ready.  They’ve thought of just how to justify themselves before His presence.  They have every excuse lined up.  Well, someone in the Bible thought so too! Check it out. Backdrop:  Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, king of the northern Kingdom of Israel (10 tribes), was sick. King Jeroboam sent his wife to Shiloh to see the prophet Ahijah to see if their sick son would live. Here’s the plan:

 “Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam…Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age.  But the LORD had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”  So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam.  Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news…As for you, go back home.  When you set foot in your city, the boy will die” (1King 14:1-14NIV).

God revealed to the blind prophet all of Jeroboam’s plans. He knew what the king’s intentions were.  We see that whether we disguise ourselves or pretend to not know something, or claim we forgot, God knows our every thought! He’s known it since before any ideas even spring up inside us!  Picture it like this: It’s judgment day and you’re waiting in  heaven’s lobby surrounded by zillions of angelic beings and trillions of people all waiting their turn.

Your number is called to enter God’s throne room and as you strut your way in, you touch your nose thrice, rub your shoulder like, “He’s got nothin’ on me” and you begin rehearsing what you’re going to say about this case and that other one, etc. As you’re walking in, you see yourself on a huge screen committing what ever sins you did.  Your masks or disguises are removed and you see your thoughts or excuses being formulated in your brain right there.  So, before you even open your mouth, the irrefutable evidence is displayed on the screen.  There might even be a bunch of screens showing the different stages of your thoughts and actions as they occurred-all from different angles.  You realize there’s no use in denying your actions! He’s got you covered! 

“For the word of God is alive and active.  It is sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Now, God’s not blind, nor has lost His sight like the prophet; He’s not “The Blind Man” either- showing up to install your blinds!  Yet, He knows and sees everything all around us. He’s Omniscient (all-knowing), He’s Omnipresent (everywhere at all times), He’s Omnipotent (all-powerful), and Omni-benevolent (all-good/loving). He knows what’s on the horizon for 67 years from now and beyond, just as much as He knew all the events that would transpire from before Adam sinned until this moment.

Because He’s all-good, you can trust Him right now for whatever you’re going through!  Go ahead, invite Him into your living room for a Pepsi, or a Coke, or a Sprite, or 7-Up, or a grape soda, or water, and tell Him your woes (He won’t be surprised).  Clear your chest of what’s bothering you and then invite Him into your heart. He sees it. He’s Jehovah El Roi (Genesis 16:13), The God Who Sees.

God Bless!
Sam