Richard Craig, Author at GraceAndWorks - Page 29 of 60

All three of these can be absolutely devastating. They can destroy homes and all the contents. They can destroy automobiles. They can destroy entire cities. They can even cause your death. Warnings need to be heeded. Cities can be rebuilt. Homes can be rebuilt. Personal belongings, for the most part, can be replaced. Cars can be replaced. There is a difference however, especially with earthquakes. You see, hurricanes and tornadoes can be predicted whereas earthquakes, for the most part cannot be seen or predicted with much accuracy. Radar can detect hurricanes and can be used to tell how bad the storm is and where it is going to go. Same is true for tornadoes. We can know when the storm will hit, where it will be and the track of the storm. Earthquakes, however, cannot be seen, heard or predicted with any accuracy. Yet all three are VERY destructive.

Now I want to compare them to sin in our lives. As we stated, hurricanes and tornadoes can be seen, heard and tracked. Much of the sin in our lives can be seen, heard and tracked. As with hurricanes and tornadoes, we need to heed to the warning signs. If we don’t pay attention to the signs and warnings, sin can also cause death. Both physical and spiritual. Take refuge, move to a different place in your life and get rid of the “Storms.”

Earthquakes are a completely different story. They can’t be seen, heard or tracked until they have already done their damage. Some sin in our lives can be as devious. Sin will sneak up on you and cause damage before you can see, hear or track it. There are probably no warning signs and sometimes no way to move to a different place in life or take refuge. So, what do we do about it? Know and understand that God will get you through the tough, devious times (If you let Him). We can prepare for devastation by doing the things God says for us to do. Study, attend worship services with other Christians and know what sin is. If we truly know what sin is, we can divert the “Storm” to a different track and avoid the damage it may cause.

Take heed and be aware of the warning signs!!

Donald Trump, for the sake of the Republican Party,  needs to bow out or be eliminated by the party from running any further. If President Obama was advocating the same things as Trump is, everyone would be calling for impeachment. If President Obama was treating and talking about women the way Trump is, everyone would be calling for impeachment. Why is not everyone calling for an “Election Impeachment” by the Republican Party? This simply makes no sense to me!! The only way, as I see this, is for Pence to take over and have either Rubio or Perry as his running mate. I don’t know if this would be a winning ticket, but, it would sure be better than what is there now. Come on Republican Party do something!! I would hate conceding this election to Hillary Clinton if I were the RNC!!

When traveling down the highway, cruise control can be nice to use. It will maintain your vehicle at a certain speed. We just finished a 3250 mile trip where the cruise control was used quite a bit. As we were going down the highway, I got to wandering if cruise control could be applied to life. There are some problems with using the cruise control. When traffic is slow or bunched up, it has to be shut off. I personally don’t think it is wise to use when one is tired, because you don’t have the control that is needed if something were to go wrong or the reflexes to make fast decisions. I also hesitate to use it when it is dark and you don’t know the road very well. Going through curves also will cause you to have to turn it off, because speed varies and you again don’t have the control that might be needed. Though cruise control is nice to have, it does have it’s limitations.

I think many of us put our lives on cruise control and don’t realize the hazards that it may cause. What happens when you are just going along fine and all of a sudden life gets somewhat complicated? Do you become frustrated and just continue to speed along? Or, do you have to put a stop on the controls and readjust? Just like the highway, life becomes slow or it gets bunched up and we have to have our own control rather than being on cruise control. We need to slow down and figure out what to do. Sometimes that isn’t easy to do and we have to regain control. When life becomes complicated, confusing or bunched up, we also need the control to maneuver around the obstacles in the way. When the ways seem dark and we don’t know the road very well, we will have to slow down in order to find our way. When things are going smooth, I see nothing wrong with life being on cruise control and simply moving forward.

All the above would also apply to our Christian lives. We have curves in the road to deal with, speed bumps, complications, confusion and dark times when nothing seems to be going right. Let God be your cruise control and the Bible be your guide to getting on the right road and thus ending up in the right place.