Richard Craig, Author at GraceAndWorks - Page 39 of 60

I want to take this opportunity to thank God for some of what He has done. Many times I think we take God for granted and forget to thank Him.

Thank You, God, for the Son You sent to live on this earth, to die on this earth, to be buried on this earth and to be resurrected. All this was done so that all could have a chance of salvation and forgiveness of sins simply by obeying Your commands.

Thank You, God, for establishing Your Church on the Day of Pentecost. 3000 souls were baptized that day and the Good News spread across the land, thank You!! We know from Your teaching in Ephesians that there is only one Church, only one God, only one Baptism, and only one Father of all. Thank You.

Thank You, God, that we have the opportunity to approach Your throne to talk with You and give honor, glory and praise to Your name. Thank you, God that through this communication (Prayer)  we can make requests for You to help us with our Spirituality and our Christian Walk with You.

Thank You, God, that by raising our voices to You, without help of instruments as is the example of your Church, we can praise You through hymns and spiritual songs.

Thank You , God, that we can gather together and commune with You each first day of the week as was established with Your Church. To remember Your Son and what He went through for us.

Thank You, God, for all those that have taken it upon themselves to become educated in Your Word so that they may teach those that don’t know the way. Thank You for the gifts You have given them and their ability to use those gifts.

Thank You, God, for all the blessings we have in this life. Both worldly possessions and Spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Thank You for our families, homes, jobs, and health. Thank You for watching over us and caring for us.

We truly are a wealthy society with all the worldly and Spiritual blessings that You have bestowed upon us. Thank You, God!!

As I told you all last week, my Dad was a stickler for getting the work done. However he was also always in for a good joke or some awesome horseplay. The one thing that he would not stand for was fiction (Telling non truths). No matter how hard one tried to get away with something, Dad would always find the truth. There was this one time my sister had gotten home later than she was supposed to and she told Dad that she had had a flat tire and was sticking by her story. Until—-Dad said, “Lets get in the pickup and you can show me where it happened.” That was the end telling fiction that night!! Turns out she had gotten into a pillow fight and lost track of time. Sure would have been easier to tell the truth to start with. Then there was this time when I was shooting my 22 rifle at the rain gauge on a fence post and as bad of a shot as I was, I hit the gauge!! Dad started questioning me about the shooting of the gauge. I think it went by for 2 or three days and I was sticking to my story that I did not do the shooting. Until—–Dad said, “I’m taking the bullet and have a ballistics test done on it.” That was the end of that fiction!!! Turns out I was the one doing the shooting. Sure would have been easier to tell the truth to start with.

The truth of the matter, I WAS rained out!! It was a Saturday, I was about 18 years of age and I wanted to quit early Saturday afternoon and Dad had said NO!! Remember he always wanted the work done before play time. He was sending me to a field to work that was 30 miles from home and about a 40 minute drive. Needless to say I was not a happy camper when I left home that morning to go to work. I got to the field and started tilling the ground, must have been about 8 AM. I started right then talking to God about making it rain and there was not a cloud in the sky. Noon came, ate lunch, fueled the tractor and greased the machinery–still no clouds!! Well, about 2 PM the sky opened up and just flat drenched me. YAY!! I could go home early. I got about a half a mile from the field, and I’m telling you, everything was dry as a bone. When I got home, here was Dad. “What are  doing home?” he said. I told him I had been rained out. He looked at the sky and not one cloud, “hadn’t been any all day,” he said. Yep, you guessed it. He said, “get in the pickup and we’re going to go see.” Not a cloud in the sky and no rain had fallen–until about a half mile from the field and the road was complete mud. Dad said, “Well I’ll be…” and turned around and went home. By now it’s about 5 PM, so much for getting to quit early.

God is a lot like my Dad. He has a sense of humor and will let us get by with many things. However He won’t tolerate fiction from us. You can’t tell Him you didn’t do it—He knows everything. Just like Dad!! God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Just like my Dad was.  Couldn’t fool Dad and can’t fool God. Guess it will be Fact NOT Fiction.