Dear Father in Heaven ... Thanks for a message today, thanks for all the blessings we have received this day. Thanks for all You do for all of us. Dear Lord, be with President George H. W. Bush and please heal him. Be also with those we lift in prayer today. For Dolores, Lord, how she needs Your touch. Lord, please be with Ruby, Vicki, and Lord, Vicky needs a fridge. And Lord, help Tom Sansoni as he walks out in faith on a new job. Lord, be with Charles and Janet as they travel and keep them safe. Lord, others also need Your touch in travel. Lord, for our dear friends Patsy and Burt from York, PA. Lord, in the name of Jesus I ask You to heal them. Be with Grant and Wanda as they gather with "their girls" and Lord, be with all the people that have been hit by storms, not just weather storms but storms of life. Lord Jesus, I don't tell you this often enough, but thanks for all You do for all of us, and Lord Jesus, I also do not tell You this often enough, I love You, Jesus. Lord, please bless all those on this line. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Good evening, dear brothers and sisters. I just do not know where the time goes each day. I pray you are all safe from the storms of winter and the storms of life. Please pray for all those listed in my daily prayer. And please pray for me to get some much needed rest. Now to the message.
Psalm 119:35 - Direct me in the path of your commands for there I find delight. (NIV)
Psalm 119:133 - Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. (NIV)
They say confession is good for the soul, and I must tell you this true story which I have confessed a long time ago. For a lot of years I worked and then owned and operated gasoline service stations, and I do mean service stations, you know the kind, with restrooms you could use, where you could get free air and water, where the attendants were in uniform and cleaned your windshield and the rear window also. Where your oil got checked, you know all of that, and whee you could get good directions to find things, and it is directions that needed my confession.
One thing that would upset me and most of the folks who really worked hard giving this full service at gasoline service stations was when a person pulled up to the gas pumps and just wanted directions. You dropped what you were doing inside, maybe installing brakes on a car or changing the oil, just to go out to the pumps and give directions. The folks did not want gas, just directions, and I confess to giving some standard directions like this. Go to the next light and turn left, go one block and turn left, go to the stop sign and turn left, then at the next light turn left again. Then we would wave at them as they drove by the next time around. Yes, I confess I did that. Sometimes it would be just go to the third light and turn left, and I used that one a lot. Just go down this street until you get to the third traffic light and turn left. Then one day, and this has been a lot of years ago, Dolores and I were out on our big Honda Goldwing and needed directions. Now unlike some men, I am not afraid to ask! It was in Hanover, PA, if my memory serves me right and I was looking for a place that sold used Corvettes. I stopped at a service station, and I even went inside, then after asking for the directions, the attendant started out, go to the third light and turn left, then go about a mile and turn left again. By now, I am thinking, this sounds bad, I went out and got on the cycle and told Dolores, I believe I am about to be "paid back." But I followed the directions and it was right.
Anyway, four left turns will take you back to the starting point if you do them in blocks. I am also a fan of NASCAR racing and watch a lot of them and in most all of their races they go out and make four left turns. Think about it, a race of 200 laps, that is 800 left turns. Left turn, left turn, left turn, left turn, and you are back where you started and then you do it again. Now while those NASCAR drivers make a lot of money making left turns, I wonder if their life is like that.
What about you, how many of you have your life like that? I know we all get days where it seems like we are going in circles, going round and round and not getting ahead, spinning our wheels, so to speak. How about your life, where is it going, in circles? Let me tell you, if your life is going in circles, that is the same as going up the dead end street. It is time to get off the left turn list and get on board with Jesus. Some of you will say, in fact if we are honest, we will all say that once in awhile it still seems like our life is going in circles even after we are saved.
Let's face it, my friends, in some cases life is like a circle. In days gone by, and I am talking about the past again, in days gone by a lot of the women stayed home and worked, you know the housework that is harder than the work men did/do. Monday the wash, Tuesday the ironing, Wednesday cooking and canning, Thursday the house cleaning started, Friday more house cleaning, Saturday it was market day and Sunday was Sunday School and church and for a lot of people the day to relax and visit others. Monday it started again, week after week, month after month, even year after year.
Now that most women work outside of the home, they still have those other things to do. Except the washing is most often in the automatic machine, and the dryer and most things do not need ironed, but the house still needs cleaned and food still needs cooked, and the market still needs to see your face in the place. So it does seem like we are on the old circle, or that race track to no place.
Even some people who have found Jesus as their Savior, their investment in Him is going in circles, going no place. My friends, take time out of life's daily circle to get to know Jesus better, spend some time with Jesus daily. I know people who like to read, so they have a book with them all the time. How about you, how about your Bible? What if we started a 'take your Bible to lunch bunch', and this could even be done at home. If out, sit down, order your food if you are on your lunch break, and read some of your Bible. Turn the phone and text things off. Set goals that are real, not ones that will turn you off, and work it in. Even if it is every other day. Spend time in prayer, not just before you eat the food, but even during the meal. Do you know you do not need to pray all your prayers out loud? God hears all of your thinking! That is scary! He knows what you are thinking all the time. Think about it, you can read and think and even pray with your mouth full of a good salad or a big juicy burger. Or my favorite for lunch, soup and a hot dog. Maybe you could even have a Bible study lunch, no, you are not eating the Bible, you are going to study it while you eat.
We need to get off the circle and move on ... Our relationship with Jesus should not stand still or be going in circles, or down dead end streets, for finding Jesus and asking Him in is just the beginning, and we need to feed and nourish this relationship to make it grow and work. God is willing, are you? Copies of Our Daily Bread are good reading, in fact, Carry The Light gets copies of Our Daily Bread and if you would like one, just send me your address and I will see that you get one. Prayer books, or even good hymn books are nice. Take one to lunch and sing! You say you can't sing ... get a good old song book and just sing to yourself, and read the words of the hymns. Go to those old ones, Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, The Old Rugged Cross, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, In the Garden, and many more. Read the words, these are the meat and potato hymns. You can have a revival at your table all by yourself. You just need prayers, a Bible, and a song book. And of course the Lord, and away you go. How about having a revival online? That would be different.
The scriptures I picked today talk about letting God direct you. It will help you from going in circles. How about it?
Dear Father in Heaven. Help us to get out of the rut, help us to get back on track with You. Help us to not keep going in circles in our relationship with You and to just keep getting nearer and nearer to You. We need Your help, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Now go forth, sharing your blessings and walking with Jesus.
Love ya, Pastor Dan.
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