As I have stated in the past,,, I grew up on a small farm- Living and growing up on a farm, I was around all kinds of equipment from an early age,,, tractors, trucks, mowers, combines, rototillers,,,, all types of equipment- One thing you learn early about all this equipment with an engine,,, they have to have oil to keep operating- Well I have burnt up a couple engines in my time because I didn’t check the oil- Now why would I do that, knowing what I knew ,,,, well there are a number of reasons !!!

1- Didn’t have the time and need to get or keep going !!!

2- This engine doesn’t need oil !!!

3- It is someone else’s engine and don’t want to make them uncomfortable telling them to check the oil !!

4- Pretend or not believe an engine has to have oil to keep running!!!

5- It is someone’s else’s responsibility to check the oil !!!

6- I will do it tomorrow and tomorrow becomes today so I can wait for another tomorrow !!!

7- It will all be okay !!!

Well, any one of these excuses or “head in the sand” belief’s will, eventually land at the same outcome- The engine will run out of oil, Heat-up, Freeze-up and Quit !!! At this point you have no choice but to put in oil,,, after you have spent time and money to repair the damage to the engine !!!

Now,,, lets apply these same principles to your chose for eternity- As you know I believe/know there is a Heaven and Hell- We are all going to spend our eternity in one of them depending on our choice in this life- You can accept Jesus’s path to salvation and wake up in heaven after your engine stops or you can spend eternity in separation and torment from God suffering in Hell- Yup we all hate to think about that- Okay,,, lets apply the oil, no oil reasoning to this !!!

1- Don’t have the time to think about it right now,, no decision before your engine stops,,, No Heaven

2- I really don’t need to make a decision because all is good with me,,, no decision, no acceptance,, No Heaven

3- I don’t want to make any of the poeple around me uncomfortable because they don’t believe that it is necessary,, no decision, no acceptance,,, No Heaven

4- I don’t believe in this stuff/teaching so it does not effect me,,, no decision, no acceptance,,, No Heaven

5- It is someone else’s responsibility to prove to me that this is true,,, no decision, no acceptance,,, No Heaven

6- I will think about it tomorrow or tomorrow after tomorrow- I am young and have lots of time to deal with this,, no decision,, no acceptance,,, No Heaven

7- It will all be Okay,, no decision,, no acceptance,,, No Heaven

So there you have it- Your life/engine is going to end/stop one of these days- None of us get out of that- The HUGE DIFFERENCE between our life/engine ending and the equipment engine quitting is ,, after you die there is no going back to make the decision- It is a done deal and if you have not accepted and consciously asked for forgiveness to Jesus Christ you will be in Hell- Believe it or not,,, It is a done deal !!!

Right now,,, fill your life/engine with the holy oil of Jesus Christ and stop worrying about whether your engine needs oil- After your acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and life,,, Heaven is a, “for sure”, Done Deal !!!!

 

I spent quite a bit of time in Alaska- Living, Playing, Working, Hiking, Boating, Fishing and Hunting- Alaska is a beautiful place, full of breath-taking scenery- Most everywhere you go there you can stop and take a deep breath and be filled with clean, fresh Mountain Air- If you ever get a chance you should go experience it- The summers are fantastic with almost continuous daylight,,, you seem to never run out of energy-

It is GREAT,,, but there can be one downside when you are out and about,,, No-See-Ums !!!! These are itty bitty biting flies (smaller then mosquito’s)- When they bite they leave a welt with a major itch !!!! We call them No-See-Ums,,, because ,,, unless you get into a swarm of them,,, you can hardly see them,, until they strike !!!! We would wear hat nets like bee keepers but with real small mesh because they will come right through most screen mesh- You cover yourself with insect repellent and try to keep the bare skin to a minimum out in the bush- Anyhow they will always be around to bug you and usually will always find an unprotected spot to attack !!! But,,, there is one thing they can’t handle,,,, a gentle breeze- They can be swarming around you and driving you crazy,,, but as soon as you get a gentle breeze they are driven to ground immediately- Oh how great those gentle breezes are !!!!

It seems to me that we also have another type of No-See-Um in the spiritual realm- I would label them the Demon-No-See-Ums !!! The other night I was a bit in the dumps and was having all kinds of thoughts about,, self-pity,, whoa is me,, pride,, arrogance,, why did I deserve my situation,, prejudice,, greed,, selfishness and give me a break God !!! Well as I was setting there thinking and heating myself up about everything,,, the No-See-Ums came to mind- All these self-serving thoughts I was fighting were just like a swarm of Demon-No-See-Ums attacking from all fronts- For a bit they were winning,,, but then I thought of the gentle breeze that sends Alaska No-See-Ums to ground- I stopped, focused and prayed to God for a bit of heavenly breath/breeze,,, you know what,,, almost instantly the Demon-No-See-Ums must have went to ground,,, because I felt relived and understood the selfishness of my thoughts- You know if you just stop and focus on Jesus and ask,, he will send you the breeze of his powerful breath to send all your Demon-No-See-Ums to ground-

It is a filling breath of fresh air !!!! He is always, always there for you if you just believe in him and accept what he is !!!!!

So what is your plan- We all have plans for what we want to be,,, where we want to go,,, what we want to see,,, who we want to be with or like !!!! Glorious Plans !!!! Usually self-guided plans that we want to control and adjust ourselves- I was exactly the same,,, I had some Grand Plans !!!

Now let me tell you how my self-guided plan rolled out,,, from experience- As you may recall, if you have followed this site a bit,,, that I am a true believer in God and the Son Jesus – I accepted them early in my life- He has always been with me and protected/guided me in most things I self-directed– You see I was using the free gifts from God to my advantage,,, to glorify myself- He gave me health, size, strength and a good personality so I could get along- Every time I got myself into a problem from my self-direction I turned back to Jesus and he bailed my out, so to speak- Well that went on for 69 years-

Now God is our father,,,, and like any good father he loves us unconditionally and wants the best for us- He guides us, and comforts us and protects us from harm- He is always there for us to turn back to,,,, but there is a point that a father has to discipline his children as he sees they are headed for heartache and disaster- A caring father does not discipline because he hates,,, he disciplines because he loves !!!!

Well my best laid, self-directed, self-glorifying plans came to a screeching halt at 69- That is when God, my father, decided that I had strayed far enough and needed to show me just how quickly my self-made plans could change, before I ruined my eternity !!!

Ahhhh ,,, June of 2018,,, I turned 69- I was riding the wave,, Good Health, still strong, a little money in the bank, wife with a good income producing business and I could retire to live the relaxed life- It seemed my self-directed plan was working out okay ???? Then a little lump developed on my lower right leg just below the knee- Didn’t think much about it as it didn’t hurt,,, unless I bumped it hard- I could work it out,, probably just a calcium deposit or something,,, no big deal- Well a couple months went by and it started to grow and hurt a little- Better go get his looked at ??? That was September 2018 !!!

Well here is the short story- In early October it was diagnosed as Sarcoma cancer,,, still no big deal we would just cut it off- Later in October more cancer was found in the lower part of my leg- So on the 2nd of November we amputated my lower right leg below the knee (Cut out the Cancer before it could spread)- Now I will tell you that this is a big game changer- When they mention Cancer and Amputation in the same sentence,,, it gets your attention !!!!

Lots of down/thinking time waiting for an amputation to heal so you can start with prostetics- Lots of time to think back on my life,,,, but I remained arrogent and full of pride that “I” could beat this- Yes I was praying a lot and asking for help and comfort and the Lord provided,,,, but way down deep I was still thinking “I” “I” could beat this- Well let me tell you,,, you can’t mock God !!!

I started working on a Magic Prostetic leg in January 2019 and was able to head back home in March of 2019- Well in April of 2019 my wife and I decided that it was best if we separate, now I am living alone and spending the most of the $$$ I had planned for the “good life” on Doctors, Operations and Prostetics !!!!

This all sounds pretty bad and depressing, and boy did this guy have a run of bad luck,,, well luck had nothing to do with this- I realized from the very first day that this was God showing me that he still loves me,,, even after a lifetime of using all that he had given me to glorify myself- I was backsliding to chase after the temporary good times of the world-

I thank the Lord everyday for loving me and showing me just how temporary and fleeting all my best laid plans in this world,,, for this world ,,,, really are !!!

The Lord Jesus has humbled me and shown me the error of my ways- I will be the last to say ,,, this is easy,,, NO,,, it is hard,,, real hard,,,, but through it all he has filled me with a peace and comfort inside that overcomes all external hardships and needs !!!

Find Jesus ,,, believe and accept him and he will never leave you alone !!! I truly believe and have now witnessed that in my own life !!! Thank You Lord Jesus,, All Glory belongs to you !!!!