Month: March 2026

A common reaction to impressive things or things that affect us is, “Lord, have mercy!”  Unfortunately, we live in an age where little mercy is displayed in our daily affairs.  One of Jesus’ complaints against the religious leaders of His day, was their lack of mercy towards the less-fortunate.  Instead of seeing all of Israel as God’s chosen, they viewed themselves as separate from the common folk cloaked with a veil of protection from Him. To them, others were to remain in their “state” or social class.  They saw themselves as being called of God to a higher standard…they were wrong.

When someone committed a sin, there was no compassion from the leaders.  It was literally an “Off with his head” attitude.  Last week they could have shared bread with you, as their neighbor, but today, you’d be blacklisted or stoned to death for transgressing the law or for blasphemy. There was only judgement and condemnation; no mercy extended to others.

Unfortunately, people and organizations still function under those principles.  They want God’s mercy and their sins forgiven, but they don’t extend it to others.  They become self-righteous; “holier-than-thou” people (Isaiah 65:5).

Do you extend mercy to others?  Do you feel that God will understand you if you don’t? If you’re thinking serving God is just like any other religion, you’re incorrect. God is actually calling us to a “lower standard”-in a “humbling of spirit” way.  Here’s what God will do to those who withhold mercy from others: “For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment” (James2:13).  Meaning…???

In Christ, we have received mercy from God instead of His fiery judgment full of indignation.  The people who don’t show mercy to others worthy of it or not, will experience God’s full-fledged judgement without any mercy whatsoever.

“Show mercy even when they don’t deserve it?” you ask. YES! Because we didn’t and don’t deserve any mercy either.  “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Consider Jesus’ illustration: “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not like other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:10-14).

Which man are you?

God Bless!
Sam

You probably remember the elderly lady in the TV commercial asking the question above. Many fast-food chains lacked enough beef in their burgers, prompting the famous line. Our family of five didn’t have any beef, as long as founder, Dave Thomas, was alive.  We’d go out and get 4-5 Biggie Fries, 5-6 Biggie Burgers, a few Biggie Frosty shakes (could scoop and slurp up that chocolate all day), and some drinks-all at .99 each.  But unfortunately, as soon as Mr. Thomas died in 2002, we had beef issues. In a nutshell, the end of Mr. Biggie, became the beginning of Mr. Smalley. Fries jumped to $3 and a “bag” shrank to where one could only fit about two fingers in it!  Mr. Frosty shrank from 12 oz to about 4oz at .99. Yep, but while the meals were great and tasty, the tripling costs led us to never return to that chain.  “I want a Frosty, I want a Frosty!”

Today, people have “Beef” about a lot of non-food related things like housing, inflation, scammers, crime, rents, etc. It’s almost impossible to survive.  Food items have doubled and building materials, in some cases, have tripled. God tells us to bring our “Beef” to Him. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1Peter 5:7).

 No, He’s not going to up-size your meal, and He’s not going to cut you some slack when remodeling your home, but He does listen to our petitions and takes things into account. 

There are issues (concerns, beef, etc.) we have that only He can deal with and solve. Have anger issues? Trust issues? Racial issues? Self-control issues?  What about heart issues?  For sure, everyone has a sin issue, and only God deals with that.  Jesus can change our hearts.  Jesus puts His laws in our hearts and changes us from the inside.  He died to remove the sting of sin in us. Once saved, sin won’t rule over us anymore. He saves us from its power.  Afraid of death? Death was defeated at the cross!  Sure, we “die” but the Angel of Death doesn’t come for us, instead, we’re immediately escorted by angels to an eternity with God!

Want to up-size your order?  From regular life, get eternal life with Christ!  Go from a regular water fountain drink, to the fountain of life (Psalm 36:9)!  Settle all your “beef” issues now!  And don’t worry about the prices going up, Jesus already paid it all!  Don’t postpone asking Him into your life this very moment!  “Today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Extra Mayo, pickles, and a variety of cheeses; TO GO, Please!

Sam

PS. Have always loved Wendy’s Burgers!

Recommended Songs: Cast Down Your Cares John Michael Talbot; If This World Jaci Velazquez

Tons of people, even famous ones have been, on occasion, booed from stages or platforms for their words or viewpoints.  Perhaps they’ve been prepared for a warm welcome only to be confronted with eggs, tomatoes, harshness, destruction of property or rampage.  In a word, outrage.

One would think that miracle-working and people-loving Jesus would have been welcomed everywhere He went.  After His signs and wonders, why would anyone reject His ways?  Sure, He was a common man.  He dressed like those around Him and He even lived in the hood.  He knew the ins and outs of everyday living.  He loved on everyone He met; and that was the root of His issues.

The religious groups, like the Sadducees and Pharisees, upheld the law given by God to Moses.  They didn’t mingle with the lower classes and felt that if Jesus was truly who He claimed to be, He’d know the types of people surrounding Him.  How could He mingle with them?? How could He eat with them? How could He enter their homes? How could “A man of God” not know these were harlots, drunkards, thieves, homeless, lepers, and other lowlifes?  Yet, it was for these that he came-sinners!

Check out this wonderful story: Jesus is passing through town and one short dude had a hard time seeing Him.  Quick-thinkingly, he climbed a Sycamore tree for a better view. When Jesus saw Him, He knew him and immediately called him by name; Zaccheus, a tax collector, and told him He’d dine with him that very day.  The religious people were outraged! I mean, that dude was a sinner!  Royalty doesn’t share meals with peasants! To honor God, they felt, you had to keep rituals of the law which included staying away from “unclean,” or sinful and unrighteous individuals.

This is how our views on life keep us from entering the Kingdom of God!  It’s how religion keeps people from getting close to Him.  Check it out: “Draw near to me and I will draw near to you” said Jesus (James 4:8).

Zaccheus, a son of Israel, had repented and was willing to “make right” his ways with the public.  He wanted to make amends with God and his brothers but they didn’t want that-yet they wanted to honor God. 

Have you ever desired to make things right with God, but won’t make amends with those around you?  Have you considered that God knows it all and sees it all? For a good reason He says, “If a man say, I love God, and hateh his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen”

(1John 4:20)?  God has His bases covered.

What’s keeping you from “Entering in at the strait gate” (Matthew 7:13, 14)?  Have you read the news lately?!! Have you noticed the wars and rumors of wars, the earthquakes and pestilences (Matthew 24:6-8)?  Have you noticed things have gotten worse around you…?  It’s time to make things right.  Whether you’re short, tall, rich or poor, it’s time to have Jesus call your name.  It’s time for Him to tell you, “Hurry up, dude (dudette, missy), cause I’m eating at your place today.” Share a meal with Jesus today.

God Bless!

Sam

Human nature tells us that if there’s a WET PAINT sign or a DO NOT ENTER notice, we’ll do the opposite.  We tend to slightly touch a wall to “Confirm” it’s really wet; and if no one’s around, we tend to open a door for a sneak view.

As far as heaven’s concerned, God has its door open waiting to receive God-hungry people.  Problem is, too many things are keeping billions of people from entering.  Topping the list is religion.  Whether one is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Hare-Krishna, Jehovah Witness, Seventh-Day Adventist, Catholic, Jewish, Mormon, etc. religion will keep you out of heaven.  The reason is simple: sets of rules, regulations, and strong adherence to man-established beliefs will go against God’s ways.

“But what if I’m Jewish and following the Torah?” you might say.  Strict adherence to the very words of the law conflicted with the law-Giver, Jesus!  God sent His Son to clarify the law and its works.  He exemplified the law!  He came to show His chosen people, Israel, that the law was to be kept and followed until the coming of the promised Messiah-which had arrived!!! But their over-zealousness blinded them from seeing the Messiah in their midst.

The term, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” is true because what’s inside might be wonderful while the cover might be “blah-looking.”  The Jewish world expected a King that not only kept the law, but practiced it the way they did.  They expected a “filthy-rich” character leading an army to overthrow Rome. They couldn’t fathom Jesus, a poor man born to a young couple who society viewed as giving birth out of wedlock and living in a poor neighborhood to be the promised Messiah.  He had to be a fake.

Their religion blinded them to the possibility that they were missing something.  Following protocol meant they maintained an outward cleanliness and followed their beliefs to a tee.  Yet, they weighed down the people with the law, but they themselves didn’t do what they expected others to do.  In a nutshell, they were so religious they couldn’t fit Jesus into their surroundings .Their adherence to the law blinded them to the Light living among them.  They stumbled in their blindness to the point that they couldn’t see prophesy being fulfilled before their very eyes.  Check it out:

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster” (Galatians 3:24-25).

As religious men, they were, according to Jesus’ rebuke, hypocrites, vipers, and blind guides, that showed no mercy to common people (Matthew 23:13-36).  Like billions of people today, including millions whose religions only surfaced less than 200 years ago, their religious beliefs kept them out of heaven.

Friend, remove your blinders.  God isn’t looking for religious people; He’s looking for people whose hearts are turned towards Him.  He desires a people whose ears are tuned to His heart. We are to have His desires to save the lost within our being.  When we feel what He feels and see others how He sees them, that’s when we’re His people; that’s when we’re walking with Him.  That’s when we become like Him; Christian.  What’s your DO NOT ENTER issue?

God Bless!

Sam

You’ve probably watched the TV show, Counting Cars where rare vehicles have parts replaced, suspensions upgraded, and bodies redone.  The cars undergo luxurious transformations.  Some are for buddies, some for sale, and some are kept and added to the hosts’ collection.

“Don’t tell me God collects cars!!” you might say.  Actually, He does have chariots of fire (Isaiah 66:15)!  And the Bible does say that His disciples did all things in one accord (Accord, car) (Acts 1:14; 5:12)!

But cars aside, the Apostle Paul suffered for Christ (Galatians 6:17) having borne scars or marks upon his body inflicted by the authorities.

Are you counting scars too?  I’m sure you also have your share.  They might be real and legit from abuse or falls, or figuratively, as in suffering and hardship. Jesus can relate! He was tortured, afflicted, marred (scarred) more than any man (Isaiah 52:14). To this day, and beyond throughout eternity He will carry those scars of love for His people. Read:

 ‘When someone asks him, ‘What are these scars on your chest?’ he will answer, ‘I was hurt at my friend’s house’ (Zechariah 13:5 GWT).

Although God isn’t counting scars to show off how much He suffered, He did count the cost of coming to earth to die for us, and chose to lay down His life for you and me.  He’s changed parts (attitudes, motives, hearts, thought life, etc.) in us.  He’s suspended the death sentence that hung over our heads (John 5:24) while He was suspended between heaven and earth (John 12:32).  We’ll undergo luxurious transformations of character on earth, while having new bodies in heaven!

God purchased us through His blood from the hands of the enemy and has added us to His personal collection! Once claimed by Him, the world begins to see His transformation in us!  His scars make all the difference in our lives!  We don’t self-will anything.  We don’t evolve into anything.  God’s sacrificial offering to quench sin once and for all is what counts!  It’s what makes the difference in every life that recognizes and accepts His scars as proof of His love for humanity.  Whether you were in immaculate shape, decent shape, or junked beyond repair, it doesn’t matter because the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:26), meaning we were lemons before His eyes!  But now, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 And soon at His coming, we’ll be paraded throughout all eternity; everyone will see what His scars did for us!  But don’t dwell on His suffering; don’t sit there moping or weeping trying to count the stars or His scars, rather rejoice that He’s alive after dying for you and rising on the third day (1Corinthians 15:4)!

Ready for that new body (2Corinthians 5:1-4)?!

God Bless!

Sam

It was a cold, 20 degree day on December 10, 1977, when I went with some friends (Edgar, Gil, & Georgie) to the movies.       The latest movie had come to our neck of the woods. With quickly dropping temperatures, we headed out. We enjoyed watching up-close, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.  It was a good movie on alien life. I liked when the ship whizzed by over a lonely road-just over a wooden railing.  The road veered left but the spaceship zoomed straight ahead. The movie was an attempt to convince people we might not be alone in this world.  Afterall, the presence of higher intelligence might be right before our very eyes in tangible ways.

This week I watched a video on YouTube with a great story.  Turns out, a man, convicted of stealing, was brought before a judge for sentencing.  Seeing convicts upon convicts in her courtroom, the judge noticed something about this particular man.  She recognized him.  When she asked him if he had attended a particular school, he had an encounter.  He broke down upon recognizing who the judge was.  They had gone to school together when younger.  He had been a great guy who ended up following the wrong crowds.  Upon sentencing him to ten months in prison, she encouraged him to own up and make something better of himself.  He took it to heart and has remained out of trouble for ten years and keeps in contact with the judge.  That encounter changed his life.

People in the Bible also had close encounters of the third kind, though not with aliens, but with God!  After being told he would be going to his heavenly home, the prophet Elijah was swooped up by a fiery chariot-never to be seen again! He met the Son of God on that road; An encounter of the Third kind-he met the Trinity!

 Christian-persecutor, Saul, who approved the slaughter of Gentiles, was stopped right in his tracks by no other than Jesus Himself (Acts 9). The man who breathed hatred for God’s disciples, had a close encounter with God. He may not have touched God, but God touched him. He then immediately knew who Jesus was.

Like others, you can have an encounter with Jesus-right now! You don’t need to see Him, feel Him, or touch Him (this sounds like Tommy the Who!), to know He’s there, but you’ll know because He’ll be present within you bringing change from your old ways to new ones. You’ll know without a doubt that you’re not alone in this world!  Even if you never see God whizzing by, or, like Moses, have Him pass by you as you’re placed on the cleft of a rock (Exodus 33:18-23), you’ll know He is who He claims to be: the Son of God, the Rock!

Don’t wait until you meet The Judge (Isaiah 33:22)!  You DO NOT want to appear in His court (Romans 14:10-12)!  His Word of encouragement to you is to come now; not after sentencing you!  By then, it’ll be too late!  Like that convicted man, repent, own up for your actions and turn your life around.  Do you find yourself looking into space for answers?  Follow the book of Amos 5:8: “Seek Him that maketh Pleiades, and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into morning, and maketh the day dark with night; that calleth the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth (Jehovah is his name);” 

He’s only alien to those who don’t know Him, though He does travel the galaxies!

God knows the condition of your life!  If you’re falling apart, He’ll put you back together this very moment!

God Bless!

Sam

Recommended Songs: Broken Things, Julie Miller

We tend to like when the tables are turned on people who annoy us, though, God doesn’t want us to rejoice over it (Proverbs 24:17-18).  But when tables are turned, people get a taste of their own medicine, so to speak.

There are occasions when tables are turned in favor of someone; especially, one deserving it.  I just watched an episode The Wedding (Season 10, Episode 7), of Home Town where Ben is making a special table for a family getting ready to foster children. It looks like a regular table, but then an extension is pulled and a folded leaf is unfolded and turned to reveal a full extension allowing extra seating area. Josh, his helper, says something like: “So, it can be late at night when she’ll get a call saying ‘I have a child to be fostered overnight’ and when the new child comes home, the table is expanded and he has a seat.”  He then adds: “My life was changed because of foster parents.” “I ended up being at that table forever; the rest of my life.”

That’s amazing, that one would make room for another person, particularly, one that might feel unwelcomed, confused, insecure, unwanted, and unloved!  Welcoming another person at the table is an amazing act of kindness smiled upon by God.

Did you know there’s a seat set up just for you at God’s table?  It doesn’t matter if you’re the head-honcho of a booming industry, the maintenance worker cleaning after them, or sitting in tears sorting out the next steps in your life after everything’s fallen apart.  God has been eyeing you.  He knows every single step you’ve taken.  “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.  You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, you know it altogether” (Psalm 139:2-4).

God’s gigantic table where we will dine with Jesus and heaven’s angelic hosts, awaits your presence.  Since no date or hour is specified, one has to be ready to attend. The invite has been issued. The seating arrangements made.  All that’s lacking is your affirmative response to attend.  Make confession now acknowledging a sinful life; repent, be made new, and turn over a new leaf!  Doing so, sends God the message that you’re ready to attend. Live for His Glory until you’re called Home to sit at His specially crafted table surrounded by myriads of angels and all His saints!  Just the plate settings alone will be enough to overwhelm us!  There will not be any plastic forks or paper plates!  We’re talking royalty at its finest!

This reminds me of something very important that the late singer, Kieth Green, sang, “Close the doors/They’re just not coming/We sent the invitations out a long, long, long, long time ago/We’re still gonna have a wedding feast/Big enough to beat them all/ The greatest people in the world wouldn’t come/ So now we’ll just have to invite the small.”

COME, Brother and sister!! We’re the “small” invited guests to God’s greatest feast ever-The Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9)!!   In the words of Josh, you’ll be at that table forever; the rest of your life!

God Bless!
Sam

Recommended Songs: At the Table Michael Card; The Table Chris Tomlin; Come to the Table Sidewalk Prophets