“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes”(Matthew 7:24-29).

We have discussed thus far: Realtionships, Things (money, whatever) and we have even talked about that horrible, “It’s all about ME” syndrome. And it would appear that not much is happening concerning these things but the Lord is able to keep track of these things in each and every individual. HE knows what happens every time a paycheck comes around. HE knows the content of your heart, at that point in time as well.

HE knows where every single penny has gone and HE knows why. HIS data gathering is like nothing we can ever imagine! Think on this for a moment! To not only know what you make each pay day, HE knows where it will go and what you were thinking of, at that time! But we continue to do whatever pleases us. (Wisdom is freely given to the wise in the Lord.)

Every single second of every hour of every day, prayers are lifted up to the Lord and it would be of some importance to know how many are vain and worthless, as compared to a few that really are cries for help. I am not in a position to know if these prayers are good, bad, or indifferent. It is enough that the Lord knows them.

It is also important to wonder how many prayers are said for a new car, or whatever, while there are others are asking just for some food, medicine, clean water, etc,. How many are for understanding, wisdom and discernment of the Word of God, or of this life in which we live with its continual ups and downs—good and bad and indifferent?

The labels associated with all the maladies of this world are given so the bean counters have something to do, to create charts and statistics, to quantify the ills of the world into numbers. Yet never once do these individuals give Scripture reference, concerning how to alleviate these ills:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

This is a very well-known passage of Scripture and yet many do not know its content, nor do they put their trust in the words from our Lord and Savior. The reason being is that they do not know the Lord. Thus, “The harvest is great, yet too few workers.” If you stop to think on this, you may come to the conclusion that the planting and harvesting process is time consuming.

First, there must be fertile soil to put seeds into. So how do we get this fertile soil? After we have the soil, we need good seeds and then we need clean water, then the sunlight and warmth. Now if you truly stop to think on this, you will see that we are not even half way through the entire process. Because it takes time for the seed to germinate and then sprout and grow, watering often, applying fertilizer and pulling opportunistic weeds. Then we have pruning of the plant for strong and productive growth, and time is always of the essence.

So now we understand why seeds are planted in the very early spring and harvested in the fall. And yet, during this entire process, we are cultivating not just for today, but for next year as well. Thus the good soil represents the Lost, and the seeds are the Word of God. And the entire time God provides all of these things and all you do is to apply them, weed them, water them, then they grow.

Did you notice the one missing stated ingredient? We have to get up and make these things happen! We can’t be lazy or we will ultimately fail. We can go out and buy the most efficient refrigerator, combine, tiller, or watering system, but if we never use them, they are just piles of junk.

Another thing too, we can use a garden fork, hoe and rake. A watering hose can be purchased but wouldn’t it be easier with the fancy stuff and faster too? So what is the problem then? Maybe we are too lazy to go out and do the work. I know it’s hard work, but as my dad used to say, “Hard work makes a strong man.” Now there is one thing we really haven’t considered here: The weeds! Nasty and opportunistic weeds that will soak up all the fertilizer and water. They will grow fast and keep the good seed from getting any light or nutrients.

If you do not pull out the weeds they will take over the good soil as well as everything else that is needed for the good plants. And again, we must get up and go out and do something about the weeds and it’s an every day chore to do so. The weeds represent Satan and his ilk and they want nothing more than to destroy you and me, no matter our stance on anything…they hate us that much becasue we are created in Gods Image.

In the books of Genesis 1, 2 Peter 3 and in Romans 5, we find we are created to tend the earth, to choose to follow Jesus Christ and to create a relationship with Jesus Christ which will follow us into heaven. It is plain and simple to understand, so why do so many—the vast majority to be sure—choose not to follow Jesus Christ? That is simple as well, we choose to do evil rather than to follow the Lord’s ways. The reason the Lord does not change this is because HE wants YOU and me to choose (freely) for ourselves. In the end, we have a life according to our choice and this will be for eternity. This is truly something each and every one of us should really consider, especially now days, with the Rapture so very close!

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, andcast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:5-6).

Every harvest, it is always the same thing, the process never ends! Why is this so hard for some people to understand? Mostly because they do not listen well and try and understand, or they just don’t care: “Well…I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it!”

The problem here is this: By the time we get to that bridge, it is far too late! We will NOT like where we end up simply because we were too lazy or too distracted to care. So a second problem now exists. There is NO backing up to make it right. We had our chance and we disregarded it. Now we get to live with it! My other name for Satan is: Procrastination. It more than fits who he really is.

Let it be known, Satan is the father of lies. He is the one you do not want to hear from. WRONG! Many people do want to hear what he has to say. Why? For them it is more fun to be bad than good! So the saying should be, “He is the one you do not need to hear from.” His other name is: DEATH and it is in the most horrible manner to die as a human or in the “second death” when you end up in the lake of fire for eternity! It often makes me wonder how many that follow him are going to be willing to say, “Thank you” to him. Don’t think for one moment that this is a small thing.

It is more than apparent that Satan and his ilk are more powerful than you and me. That is the entire reason we need Jesus Christ. Please reread the Scripture passages above. Every single thing that is bad in this world is the direct result of our own SIN and Satan is the father of SIN. Look around and notice the efforts we make and we are NOT able to rid this world of all its problems. It is beyond our abilities; we are weak, we are failed and fallen. Jesus Christ is the only way…heaven is the only place to go!

I would have to guess that I have written at least 300 articles, thus far. I work hard to bring the Word of God into every day terms, words that will invoke a need to research the Word of God by each individual. I am by no means ridiculing or attacking anyone, because I know I am as much in fault to the Lord, as everyone else.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6 ).

It pains my heart to be so filthy before a God that gave up so much for someone so unworthy. Therefore I can say it is at a point such as this, where the Word of God is more relevant than at any other time. Given enough time here on earth many individuals will eventually come to this point in their lives where they truly recognize they are fallen and unworthy of anything truly good. There are some folks who will not, for any reason look at themselves and self-evaluate long enough to see thier own worthlessness (as compared to what the Lord says in the Bible). That, my friends, is an immense amount of arrogance to the Lord!

Who are the people that look at themselves in this manner and evaluate their lives in this way? Are these the people that others say have no backbone or are weak, or self-centered? I don’t think so! I believe these are the people who will search out the Lord, from seeing they are as unworthy as I am. I believe these are the people that will want to have something more definite to look forward to than this short life here on earth. I also believe that this self-evaluation bears a great deal of difficulty and pain for the individual. It is by no means an easy task.

From the time when we all are very young, we work to create relationships of varying kinds, mostly because we are created to be social creatures. I believe this is the point that I was talking about in the previous paragraph. We continually work at creating, maintaining and the furthering of relationships among others around us. I find that this begins with our mom and dads, as being the first of relationships, where we are dependant of each other, secure with each other—protected and nurtured. I then find it extremely odd that we often fail in relationships with others and this can be for many, many, reasons.

I do not feel it is odd that we consume a great deal of time in professing who we are, making our individual statements to the world on our worth of being here. In the beginning it comes from learning that if we cry long enough and loud enough, eventually someone will come and make us happy and content again. Later on, we begin to learn that this action works less and less, therefore we must adjust our approach to any problem or discomfort. We finally begin to see that at some point in time it will be required to take action for ourselves, rather than require someone else to intervene. Still as yet, there are times when someone else must…intervene for us, times when we cannot do a thing alone. Again, relationships are paramount in our lives. It would seem at this point in time, one would have better relationship skills. So why do relationships continually fail?

This is not rocket science my friends. Yet the requirements for a good relationship with anyone is seen as very complex and intricate. You would think by now we would all have a good understanding of relationships and how to progress together, so what is the problem?

Lets say, you become thirsty, yet you have nothing with you to drink, but your friend has a bottle of Kool-Aid. You ask your friend for a drink and they respond with, “No…it’s mine!” Well, the relationship has just digressed to an infantile stage. Then again, maybe you should have thought ahead and brought your own drink, right? Of course there is the possibility that the friend with the Kool-Aid will become resentful that you brought a bottle of Coca Cola and all he or she has is Kool-Aid. This is very basic in its concept, but you understand the complexity that can occur.

Many years ago, we were happy to share with friends. And yes I know, but mononucleosis (kissing disease) was passed more through sharing drinks, than kissing. In those days these pleasures of drink were few and far between, thus many of us older folk remember sharing the garden hose. This is the reason that so many relationships flourished back then, as compared to today. Not withstanding, the water bill was next to nothing back then, so on a hot day it was not only a pleasure to drink from the hose, it was also a fun way to cool off as well.

Today, everything is expensive and that includes the water bill and also the fact that science says drinking water from the hose is verboten (German for “forbidden”), and it’s because of bacteria. In my humble opinion, I really don’t care! There is nothing more enjoyable than a drink of water from the hose! Maybe it just a thing from my past, I don’t know for sure. Suffice it to say, I will continue to get that wonderful blast of cold, clean water…from the hose, especially on a hot day!

If I die from an old pleasure such as a cold drink of water from the hose…then so be it! I will die a happy and content man who remembers those days as a kid and sharing that old hose. We had relationships back then that were real and exciting and we learned to get along with others and we learned how to share and there has never been anything wrong with that. So what has happened in this day and time? Is it really just the cost of such a thing, or is there something else at work here, something we have forgotten, lost in time?

Back in the day (Yeah I know!), a gentleman would give up his seat to a lady or an elderly person. He would also hold a door for a lady. Today, you do something like that and you will probably recieve a verbal reprimand or nothing all! A young man back then, called older people, “Ma’am or Sir.” Today you get the “What’ll it be? Or Hey…you!” Or they call you by your first name, how rude indeed. Where has the respect for each other gone? Well, lets take a look around and see for ourselves.

Back then they used to talk with each other, politely to be sure. Today, everyone has a cell phone, iPad, iPod, laptop, thus they never consider the person sitting right beside them. We have isolated ourselves, we never think about the other person on the other end of the email. We are exclusively anonymous by choice! (The most fertile ground for: “It’s all about ME!”) And then we have the saying, “Well I got mine, you gotta get yours.” A crime takes place right in front of a person and you hear, “I didn’t want to get involved!” Has it never occurred to these individuals that they are already involved by simply being here on this planet? Technology is a good thing until it separates us…from each other.

So where have all the really great friends gone? Why are there so many divorces, single parent households, so much pain and misery everywhere? Our wonderful country is on its death bed, on Life Support and everyone is running around fighting to see who will get the chance to “pull the plug.” As I have said before, relationships are almost gone! Replaced by: “It’s all about ME! ME! ME!”

So as your “rights and freedoms” are removed right from under your nose, what are you doing about it? Nothing? As the Rapture and the Tribulation come so close, what are you thinking about? Are you concerned, is this something worth thinking about? If the Rapture takes place this afternoon will you go to be with the Lord? If you die today, where are you going to be, heaven or hell? Are you too lazy to care about any of this because to change it, requires you to get up and DO something about it.

Do you have any relationships? If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ…there will never be an END. If NOT, then that t three letter word: END, will be ALL you ever have for eternity! Why do you think we have cultivated “relationships” for so long a period of time. It’s because when we are together we are strong…to be together…under Jesus Christ…we are unstoppable! We are saved for eternity, for peace and harmony…but each of us…MUST…start somewhere! The best place to begin is on our knees in prayer…asking for the Lord to forgive our SIN and to dedicate our Lives to HIM!