In the story of the "Three Little Pigs", we can learn the wisdom of building our spiritual house out of strong materials.  Materials that God approves of and will cause our lives to be good lives.  These materials are honesty, integrity, love, peace, joy, and other similar character traits, or fruits of the Spirit, as the Bible labels them.  These come from God.  When we serve Him, He liberally imparts these "materials" to us.

However, if we choose, as did the first two pigs, to build our lives with lesser materials like lying, dishonesty, stealing, hatred, and unkindness, our lives will be full of unhappiness and instability.  Our end will be no better. 

It is always better to serve God.  He gives only the best to those who will serve Him.

"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."  Matthew 7:24

God is love.  Before the world was created God had angels that loved and obeyed him, but they did not choose to do this.  They were created to love and serve him.  It was an automatic response.  God desired a being that would choose to love him and serve him.

So, he created man.  However, man chose to go his own way rather than to love and serve God.  In fact, man became so wicked that God, in regretting his decision to create man, decided to destroy him.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  Why?  Because he was the only one who chose to love and obey God.  Noah, according to God's instruction, built the ark and saved himself and his family as well as many animals.  There is always a blessing for those who make the choice to love and obey God.

In spite of its new beginning after the great flood, the world again plunged into disobedience and sin.  It seemed that man could not choose to do right.  To provide a remedy, God sent his only son, Jesus, to die on a rugged cross.   Because of Christ's awesome sacrifice, man can be forgiven and have the power to consistently choose to love and obey God.  In other words, man can be cleansed from sin and can remain without sin for the rest of his life.  This is God's beautiful plan for mankind.  All it takes is our choice to love and serve God with all our heart.

"Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."                    John 8:34, 36 

We can tame all kinds of beasts but the Bible says that the tongue can no man tame. (James 3:7)  For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame... 

Do we also have a hard time controlling the things that come out of our mouth?  Our words can cut like a razor. (Ps 52:2)  Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

We are going to be held responsible for every idle word. Matt 12:36-37  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

If we keep our mouths closed and do not speak out when we want to criticize or find fault, we will find that this is a wise thing to do.  (Proverbs. 10:19) but he that refraineth his lips is wise…
Many have a problem with their tongue because they just blurt out what comes to their minds.

What if we set a watch for our mouths? A constant reminder to remind us to be on the lookout. (Ps 141:3) Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

We decided to set a watch like the Bible tells us. To remind us that we are on watch, we placed a rubber band around each of our right wrists and started off with a 1 hour increment. If within that hour we complained ,criticized or found fault, we would have to switch our rubber band over to the left wrist. When the hour was up, we could start all over and set a new watch. After we have accomplished a full hour with 100% victory then the next increment will be 1 day. Then a week and then finally a whole month. After a month we can take our rubber bands off as a sign of success.

Reader, are you willing to also engage yourself in this watch. Are you ready to take the challenge?
Yes, the Bible tells us that no man can tame the tongue and this is so true. You and I cannot ever do it on our own strength.  It is telling us that we can’t do it alone. The only way to control what comes out of our mouths is to control what is in the heart. Let Jesus come in and dwell there; ask Jesus to help you break this bad habit and he will help you, if you will only let him.

What are we giving to God?

Sister Patty gave us an example by giving one of the children a big, beautiful box of candy. But to their surprise, the candy was missing and all was left was empty wrappers.  Can you imagine how this child felt? They were happy to be given a gift but so unhappy to find what was suppose to be on the inside was completely missing.

 Do we make God feel this way? 

 Do we do this to God? Do we give him a gift that looks good to others on the outside but when he looks on the inside the goods are missing.

God will not accept empty gifts. He wants all or nothing.  We can’t say we love him and then give him nothing that shows that really we do.

  Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart...

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God...

God made Man out of clay. (Genesis 2:7) What if God gave you a piece of clay and told you that you could make anything that you wanted out of it? This week at Bible Story Time, the kids were all given a lump of clay to make whatever they desired.

What is Love to You?

People look at love in different ways.  To some it might be a flower or a beautiful sunset; to others it is the presence of God their lives each day.

God is love.  He desired to create a being that would choose to love him back. He was surrounded by angels who obeyed him implicitly, but it was an automatic obedience - not a choice.  God created humanity to choose whether or not they would love him enough to obey him.

 Because Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, the world was plunged into sin, wickedness, and unhappiness.  This was not God's plan.  He loved the world so much that he sent his son to be the sacrifice that would enable God's love to return to the hearts of humanity.  With God's love in the heart, men, women, boys, and girls can reveal the love of God in their daily lives.  Instead of bitterness, there is forgiveness; instead of strife, there is peace; instead of complaining, there is thankfulness; instead of hatred, there is love.

The darkness of sin can never quench the light of God's love.  Evil may surround us, but with God's love dwelling in our hearts, we can still retain peace and joy.

"...God is love."   I John 4:8

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."         I John 3:16

"But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the son's of God, even to them that believe on His name."  John 1:12

What if someone gave you a $100.00 bill and when you went to spend it, you found out it was fake? How would you feel? Awful, terrible, bad, angry, upset...