Stay Awake

Sunday, ‎March ‎12, ‎2023

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. —2 Timothy 4:5

Memory of the Month: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Today's reading: DEUTERONOMY 16-18 MARK 13:1-20

Stay Awake

As a beginning teacher in 1977, I made it home with $547 a month and so was always looking for ways to make extra money. The Chevy dealer in Sulphur Springs, Texas was hiring to do in transit, truck work and I had a CDL and so I signed on. They drove me to DFW airport and I flew to Detroit, Michigan to drive new trucks from the factory back to Texas. I would drive one and 'piggy-back' two more tractors(at 55 mph) non-stop. It took 24 hours. Friday night catch a plane; Saturday morning start home; Sunday morning pull into Sulfur Springs. Ugh...

I was 24; I should have been strong enough to stay awake, right? So, I stopped at a truckstop that sold fried chicken and bought a small box of extra crispy and got back on the road. I put the chicken away and let it get cold and when I got sleepy, I would pull out cold and crusty chicken and chew as fast as I could. It made my mouth sore-gums bleed-and woke me up. I was awake. It hurt but I was alive and other drivers were safer. You do what you can...

Over 110 million copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul have been sold. I want to write a book called 'Chicken Crust for the Soul'-Why?

Jesus said, 35 "Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Mark 13:35-37

On our journey home, what do we do to keep us awake? We cannot make our spiritual 'gums' bleed, so what can we do?

Here I go again...everybody has a Bible...everybody had a phone. All of us have the same number of hours in a day. One thing none of us have...

...valid excuses...

Oh, we have excuses, they are just not valid-none of them.

All of us make time for what is really important to us. Our challenge is to learn how to use the recorder on your phone. Download one for free if you don't have one-no excuses. Find a 'read through the Bible in a year' plan. Just google it and you will find many-no excuses. Set a time during your day and read each day's reading into the recorder-no excuses, please. If you cannot find a friend who will partner with you to do the same thing, send the recording to yourself and save it on that bottomless pit of a hard-drive most have now or in the cloud-no excuses. Gmail comes with 15 gigs on google cloud-no excuses.

This is my sixth year and the hardest thing to do while recording is-you could guess-staying 'awake'. Or, keeping my focus-keeping my mind in the middle of what I am reading. It is just like what our minds do all the time. We wander off from God with Him right here-right here in the middle of our hearts-we just wander off. We fall asleep at the wheel.

Stay awake! Wake up America! Wake up Christian! Keep the main thing the main thing! NO EXCUSES!!!

It takes one foot in front of the other-that is all. Make the commitment.

Who do you love?(I know, bad grammar, get over it.)

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

I am guilty of being asleep. Wake me up and teach me how to stay awake. Wake me up!

Mighty God of power and might and clear vision!

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen