Some face tremendous trials and tribulations throughout their lives and others seem to have it fairly easy for a while, but sooner or later we ALL face adversity. I don’t know why God designed life to consist of valleys and peaks; I quit asking. These days I just focus on getting through the dark valleys and on to the next sunny peak . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/sometimes-its-better-just-to-allow-someone-time-to-cry/

I get really frustrated with my wife because she doesn’t “get” my jokes. I work my way through a hilariously funny joke and when I get to the punch line and start guffawing, she looks at me as though she’s expecting more. I begin to go back and “patiently” explain the joke line by line and when she finally, (mercifully), understands the meaning, she just looks at me without even smiling and says, “I don’t think that’s very funny You’re weird” . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/its-a-joke-get-it-3/

One day while whitetail deer hunting I learned an interesting lesson about anger management that I shall never forget. It was such a beautiful day that I really didn’t seem to care whether I saw a deer or not . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/ignore-them-and-theyll-fly-away-2/

I’ve been studying 1 Thessalonians this week and it presents a concept that has been puzzling me for some time. We are told elsewhere in the Bible, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and Jesus said to the thief on the cross, this day you will be in paradise with Me, and there are many other similar verses in the Bible. Now comes Paul Chapter 4 telling us that we “sleep” when we die and when Christ comes back we shall rise first and those Christians alive will follow . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/ugly-caterpillar-gets-wet-kiss/

I receive a wealth of requests to explain different passages from the Bible almost on a daily basis from folks I don’t even know. I’ve always felt uncomfortable about this because my education has not been formal but came through decades of reading and studying the Bible and various commentaries on my own. I feel the same sometimes about attempting to write books, especially on difficult passages . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/quit-holding-back/

It seems like I get an e-mail or two a day from folks all over the world offering me huge amounts of money provided I will just hurry and send them some money to pay for transferring it. Of course these are nothing but scams and one of many nefarious schemes of crooks trying to get rich quick by preying on the gullible . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/you-are-a-billionaire-2/

Yesterday I was picking out wood floor coverings for a room I’m renovating in my house. A very nice young man was helping me, and I was in a hurry because I needed to meet with the superintendent who was managing my job. As he was typing up a quote for the sample I picked out, he asked for my e-mail address. It contained the words: @JesusAlliance.org and he asked me what the Jesus Alliance was. I explained that it was a ministry that I founded that is dedicated to being a part of the Great Commission which entailed preaching the Gospel and disciplining the nations all over the world and that we were attempting to do so via technology . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/goosebumps-the-size-of-marbles/

I have a rough draft of a book I wrote several years ago that remains languishing on my computer and lately I’ve felt the urge to get it finished. It is a fictional novel that is filled with intrigue and mystery and is fascinating to read, or at least that is what I’ve been told by the few people I’ve shared the rough draft with. The problem with the book is the ending. A good friend of mine who is a very successful writer told me that if you want to write a great book, come up with a “killer” ending and then write the book around it . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/whodunnit-2/

I tend to think often of my failures in life and not my triumphs. I was thinking of this problem this morning and my thoughts went to some of the positive things, indeed miraculous things I’ve accomplished, and some are very impressive. I do not say this to boast but to encourage. I truly believe that most people are held back by their low self-esteem. I had an especially bad case of it . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/petunia/

Tomorrow I leave for Waco Texas to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bill Glass prison ministry. I spent several years traveling around the country speaking at prisons with this ministry and saw many men and women come to know Christ and also served on his board of directors for a while . . . https://www.wordsfortheday.com/index.php/2019/08/a-hint-of-wisdom-finally/