I was on the front porch when you drove by and I waved, thinking that one way to appreciate life is to imagine yourself without one. I told myself this the other morning as I decided to have a piece of toast and butter with my coffee and opened the fridge and there was this special butter looking at me, an expensive high-grade butter...

Chap. 7 marks a division between historical narrative and prophetic visions. The first vision he saw he saw for four beasts arise, each wrecking havoc on the earth. As the destruction raged, he saw one called the Ancient of Days came and demonstrated he had control. God would intervene and overthrow the fourth and most terrible beast.

One or the hardest things to define is time. We have a ‘good time’, it’s “time to go”. Time is nothing more than measurement of something passing or deteriorating. Time is important because God created our world on a schedule. Therefore, it is precious. It only happens once.

The Resurrection is one of the most important doctrines Christians believe because it is the cornerstone for everything else we believe, teach and do. It is a doctrine we must know and understand very well.

Today’s lessons deal with God’s people receiving wonderful news at the hands of four lepers. While the news was good, even greater was the demonstration of God’s love and power. We must not remain silent about the wonders and mercies of God.

There are many verses that seem strange to human minds that are found in the Bible.

Jesus choosing the twelve disciples. They were set apart and given a job. They were examples for us, to show what to do, and how to do it. In doing this Jesus makes a very strong statement about our responsibilities as Christians and citizens. We are to go out into the community, and we are to carry the Word by mouth and by example.

The life of Jesus is contained in the four gospels. Gospel means “good news”. Each one depicts a different characteristic of Jesus.

Sometime notice in your bible the many little things ---the gift of the widow, the water pots Jesus used for his first miracle, Moses’ rod, etc. No doubt success and failure give importance to little things.

In Galatians 5:22-23 self-control is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit. Actually, a self-controlled life is a Christ-controlled life. It is through Christ that we are given the ability to control our bodies and ourselves.

There is probably no one we take for granted anymore than those we love and value. We do not mean to do this. In fact, we strive to provide for those we love and keep in touch with friends. However, in the course of a day, we assume because we love them, they will be there. Because we love them or respect them the relationship, we have will somehow “just be there."

This is the shortest of all the books of the Old Testament yet it is stamped with a divine authority.

Bad decisions can cause grave consequences which is why we must always consider what God would have us do, rather than what we ourselves would want to do.

Trouble is used by God to being us surrendered to His ambitions and plans for Ahis purpose. God uses trouble to His glory.

The lesson today is about how those of us that are saved have to be careful about attitudes and temptations that strike the unsaved as well.

He, Satan like the roaring lion, kills to destroy competition and watches our lives bleed out of us over the years. Jesus can get us away from the lion, even if the lion has already attacked.

The baby boomer generation is looking for compliments and rewards. These help to validate ourselves and what we do. Everyone needs a compliment and a sense of achievement. However, the rewards are not the reason we do things. We should do the right things from a spiritual motive and not one for rewards only.

We are told to pray but not many passages in the Bible teach us how to pray and the meaning of it. Just as there are ways we speak to our children, our spouses and our employers, there are ways to speak to God.

Indifference to sin can cause many problems, one in this case, was an incestuous relationship between a man and his stepmother. Sin causes divisions in our life and displeases God. Sin grows when our attitude towards it becomes careless. Our grandparents today would be appalled at a lot of things we watch and do this day and time.

Paul starts off talking about his manner of preaching and how comfortable he is about how he was received by the Thessalonians. He tells them his preaching isn’t about useless or foolish questions, but sound and solid truth.