Another Story: The old man and the young man

A young Christian man came up to the old man on morning after church and said, “Impart some wisdom on me!”. The Old man thought for a moment, looked at him and said, “Don’t geton your horse backwards!”, and started to walk off. Now the young man, who had never been around horses and certainly never riden one, had no idea what the old man was talking about so he went after him and said, “What does that mean?” The old man laugh to himself and said, “Let’s sit awhile and I’ll explain.”

“Horses, like men, were created to go one direction, always forward. But you know, there are those who don’t really know the horse’s head from his behind, they just jump on and all of a sudden they’re facing the wrong direction and never see where they’re headed, but only where they’ve been! The horse is guided by reins which tells him which direction to turn, but always moving forward.but you can’t tell the horse which way to go if all you see is where you’ve been!

Now, if you really think about it, there are a lot of Christians who don’t realize they have been riding their horse backward for a long time. Living in the great moments of their past achievements, proud of those accopmplishments. Now, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be happy for what they’ve done, just that they can’t stay there!

We weren’t made to stay in the past. Our eyes and our feet are on the front part of our bodies so we can move forward and see where we are going. God has future plans for us, it doesn’t matter how old or young we are! It says in the bible, Luke 9:6, “But Jesus said to them, no one, after setting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit to for the Kingdom of God.” Do you know why they are not fit for the Kingdom of God? They live and want to stay in the past because it’s comfortable there, kinda like the Israelites and Eqypt! They become resistant to the movement of God to progress.

One more scripture, Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing new things! Now it springs up; do you not preserve it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” No, Father does not want us to stop, get comfortable and then stubborn!

So, my young brother, mount your horse where you can see where you are headed and ride it in the direction Father is leading you. Get off and rest in the Lord, but don’t get comfortable there, but get back on and continue your journey over the mountains and through the valleys and always know the Lord is with you, for our journey only ends when we reach our home with Jesus.”

Just a story, a thought, just saying!

By Jim Kennedy

Squirrel on the fence post

Yesterday, as I was on my on-line class, I looked out my office window and there, lying on a fence post, was a spuirrel with it’s little paws crossed in front of him, looking in the window at me. Now, I couldn’t help but laugh, such and unusual sight. But he stayed there for almost an hour before jumping down to the ground and running along to do what little squirrels do.

As my mind drifted, the thought of that littel squirrel “on the outside looking in” hit me. You know, those times when we see something or someone and think, wow I wish I was where they are, and yet not knowing all the circumstances of that environment!

It amazes me, and I have laugh at myself many times, always looking for something better! But, you know, really, I have already found the contentment I want. Oh yes, even at my age, I still have things and vision I want to accomplish, but I have a real satisfaction in my soul! That satisfaction of walking with and knowing my Lord and Savior! This satifying life I have now is only the prelude of what’s to come! Oh yes I am happy!! Yes and Amen!!

Just a thouht, just saying!

by Jim Kennedy

Father's sense of humor

I got up earlier than usual yesterday morning felling like I had a very busy day ahead of me, you know, felling over loaded! I enrolled in an on-line school some six months ago and our instructor is traveling on a speaking engagement and moved our class to Monday which meant getting my homeowrk completed before then. Sunday is church day, also the day a group of us go out to an assisted living facility and hold church services for those unable to get out and go to church, then, early in the evening, I attend a bible study!

So, when I got up, I made a cup of coffee, sat down in my recliner and started talking to Father. I said Father, I’m overloaded today and feel like I just need to skip church today, what do you think? I then heard that still small voice inside me say “OK”. So I got my papers out to start working on my school work and I found myself frequently watching the clock. As the clock moved closer to church time, I decided I would get up and go anyway. As I got up, I heard this chucklle and I stopped with my mouth open and said, Father did you just laugh at me? And I heard that voice again say Yes, I knew your were going!

Now some of you may thing I’ve lost a marble or two and that’s ok, but I talk to Father, Abba! Abba means Daddy! Daddy means intimate relationship! Communication is a two way experience, talking and listening! Relationship means we can laugh with each other. It’s really not weard, It’s very scriptural.

Oh, and I got everthing done that I needed to! I just want to share with you that Father was and is a Father first who loves His children, just like you love your’s as parents! He is actually where we learned that from!!! Have fun with Him! He enjoys your attention!

Just a thought, just saying!

by Jim Kennedy

Young Woman and old Man

A young woman, looking as if she had lost all hope, sat down by the old man in church one Sunday morning. The old man, feeling concerned, asked if there was something bothering her? She looked at the old man with tears in her eyes and said, “I just don’t understand why? I got saved but nothing has really changed! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong?”

The old man thought for a moment, and then said, “Ya know, I went out the other day and bought me of those brand new cell phone, with a of lights and little pictures on the screen. And I was told it was going to change my life and make it so much easier. The people that sold it to me even set it up for me, what ever that means, and told me to push this picture if I wanted to talk and that picture if I wanted to text and so on, and it sounded great until I got home and then, I want to tell you, I was confused! I couldn’t even figure out how to get the pictures on screen, all that came up was a bunch of numbers. Now it had a book that came with it, but for me, it was written in a foreign language. I telling you, I had to get an interpreter if I was going to be able to use this thing! Now I did find one and I worried him over and over until I was able to operate this phone.

Sometimes that’s the way it is when we give our hearts to the lord. The stands upon that platform and makes salvation sound great, and believe me it is! And we take that step and it feels really great because something has happened in our hearts! We get excited and want to jump up and down, and then when we get home, we pray and expect something spectacular to keep happening everyday, but all of a sudden, things feel like they did before!

That’s why the Lord gave us this book of instruction, the Bible, and it’s there to help us understand what God excepts and how He wants bless us, but get me wrong, sometimes that book seems like it is written in a foreign language! But God took care of that too. He gave us an interpreter to help us read and understand that book of instructions!

In that book we can read in John 14:26, where it says “ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom He will send in my name, He will teach all things and bring into remembrance all things I have said unto you.” He’s called the Holy Spirit and you may not realize it, but He has setup camp in your heart. Jesus called Him the comforter because He knew if you were going to succeed and do all the things He wants you to do, you’re going to need a lot of help!

Being a Christian is a learning experience. It’s like starting kindergarten and growing in knowledge, but not in knowledge alone. It’s learning to live what we learn and that’s when all those spectacular things start happening in our lives.

I read II Corinthians 5:21, in this book of instructions that if I had given my heart to God through Jesus, then I am the righteous of God in Christ! Wow, can you imagine that, we are righteous! That means I can stand upright before my Lord and I don’t have to feel guilty about nothing! Then in II Corinthians 5:17, it says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things passed away, behold, all things have become new.” Well, I can certainly tell you a few things about old things, being one but says we are new creations. God sees us as something new, perfect in His eyes because all those bad things we did in the past, they just don’t exist anymore!

Now I’ll just tell you about a couple more scripture verses like 2 Peter 1:4, “ By which has been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakes of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in this world through lust”. We are His sons and daughters, we have His divine nature and His promise to live with Him forever! Romans 4:8, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Do you see, the Lord only wants to bless us and keep His joy in our hearts but we have to learn who we are first in order to appreciate what we have become.

The the old man said to the young woman, “so young lady, don’t be discouraged, just ask for some help. Holy Spirit is in you and He guide you in understanding and lead you to other young people, Christians who will walk with you in this journey!

The young woman, still in tears except now tears of joy reached over and hugged the old man and left the church that day happy and with a renewed spirit and a plan. She found and joined a group of young Christians and soon felt a call on her life in foreign mission where she is still serving today,

Just a story, a thought or is it? Just saying!

By Jim Kennedy

Dinner with my granddaughter

Last week I texted my granddaughter to check on her, her brother and sister as their parents had left town for a few days. While texting back and forth, she invited me to come to the restaurant she works at, to eat dinner. She texted me her schudule, so I went there yesterday evening. Upon arrival, she greeted me with a big hug and seated me at a table of my choosing. She then sat down beside me with a menu to select my meal. After turning my order in, she again sat with me and we talked! When my order was ready, she promptly brought it to me and I really enjoyed her attention given me. Upon finishing, she sat down beside me again and said, Papaw, I’m paying for your meal. It told, oh no I don’t want you to do that and my heart sunk at the look of disappointment that appeared on her face as she replyed, but I want to! Wow, I wasn’t expecting that! I could see how much this meant to her, so I thanked her and hugged for the meal and came home.

As I dwelt on this beautiful meal and wonderful gift from my granddaughter that evening, I asked myself, how many times have I refused to let someone do something for me and robbed them of a blessing? How much hurt have I caused because I was so prideful, I refused a little help, a heart felt gift or a helping hand.

Father uses others to help provide some of our needs and wants us to recognize this is a gift from Him to us, but He also blesses those who are obedient to give! Is it better to give than to receive? Quite frankly, one is just as important as the other if both are done in love!

Just a thought, just saying!

By Jim Kennedy

Picking up leaves!

A couple of weeks ago, I spent two full days racking and picking up eighteen contractor bags of leaves. Needless to say, I was worn out, but now my yard looks so much nicer and without the clutter of the old dead leaves and the sunshine can now get to the grass so it can grow healthy and strong.

As I was resting, I got to thinking about the comparison of my yard to my life. How much clutter do I still hold onto inside me? Does the Son shine in or is He hindered?

Even though we are Christians who have served the Lord for a very long time, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop and regularly clean out all the “Old Dead Leaves” that may be hindering our walk with Father and renew our love for Him! We weren’t created to be stagnant, sluggish or stopped in our tracks but to continually move forward to our goal! A little cleaning can do wonders!

Just a thought, just saying!

Jim Kennedy

Kraut and Cherries

I woke up this morning thinking about sour kraut and cherries! Wow, doesn’t sound very good together but independently I love the taste of both. Sour kraut with fried polish sausage and fried potatoes, yum, yum! Hot cherry pie with ice cream, delicious!! You know, sometimes in life there are those that just don’t go together, but independently they are wonderful! But you know what, you can’t judge one by the other! We Christians can sometimes want to judge other Christians through a lens of who we are, which makes them look sour, undesirable! But if we remove the lens of “I’m right and you’re wrong”, and look though the lens of love, we can see all are desirable in Father’s eyes. To Him they are delicious together! Love your neighbors as you love yourself!

Just a thought and just saying!

Jim Kennedy

Looking out the window

When I got up yesterday morining and opened my blinds, I looked out of my front room window and the sun was shinning so brightly and the dew on the grass was glistening and sparkling as if the yard had just been watered. A company came out day before yesterday and sprayed the yard in preperation of growing season which left at green tint on the grass looking as if spring had sprung! Then I lifted my eyes to see the trees standing naked and bare, highlighted by bright blue sky and I realized no, winter is still here and it’s cold outside. But it is warm in my house and the brightness from the outside still lightens the inside and I have contentment in knowing that spring is near!

I started thinking about this morning experience my mind took me back to my youth, you know how young people, just stating out, look at their future so bright shinning and glittery, looking forward with hope and hight expectation in everything. Their going to conquer the world! They find their mate, the most wonderful person in the world, and they get that super job that they have been training for and what could go wrong? But then they look up and the trees are bare, winter is here and there is an emptyness! It’s cold outside!

But Wow, it doesn’t have to be cold inside because the “Son” will shine in their windows and bring His warmth into their heart for spring is just around the corner when all nature blossoms with the showers from “Holy Spirit” and then summer again, but the summer I talking about doesn’t end. Oh, there may be storms and showers, but it remains summer for all who believe!

Just a thought, just saying!

By Jim Kennedy