PREPARE FOR WHAT'S COMING

Have you ever had anything happen to you that you were totally unprepared for? Have you ever seen or heard of something happening to someone else and thought it could happen to you. Unfortunately, many people see something happening to someone else and think it could never happen to them. Well, not me. My grandmother was always thinking about what could happen if you do this and what could happen if you do that and I guess she passed that on down to me. Some people call it worrying but I call it being prepared. I think it’s reckless and irresponsible to begin anything without considering the possible negative outcome. We should never just jump into anything without thinking it out first. We always need to be safety-minded.

Remember my little blue Geo Metro? Well, I have another tale to tell you about it. One day I was going to check all the fluids as I always did once a week. That’s the life of your vehicle. When I pulled the hood release, I felt the cable break and the hood did not unlatch. I finally got it open but it wouldn’t latch back. The safety latch was working but I didn’t trust that enough to drive down the road. I had heard of several people having wrecks from car hoods fly up while going down the road so I put a bungee cord on it to keep the wind from blowing up under the hood.

I thought about what I would do if the hood were to blow up and block my view while driving down the road. I actually pictured it in my mind and planned out a strategy in case it ever happened to me. My plan was to put my head out the window and calmly apply the brakes and slowly and safely get the car off the road without having a wreck.

Then one morning, I was on my way to work, minding my own business, when my windshield suddenly turned blue and shattered. There was no warning like I thought there would be. I didn’t even have time to think about it. It was just there. I immediately put my well-thought-out plan into action. I put my head out the window so I could see the road and began applying the breaks and soon I was safely off the road. Thank God I had thought about what COULD happen before it did. Thank God I was prepared. If not, who knows what might have happened?

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and his disciples warn us to be prepared for him to return. If we are not prepared when he comes back, we will not see heaven. It’s very important to have a plan. Thankfully, God has a plan for us already. He sent his son to live a sinless life and then die in our place so we could live forever. Jesus told Nicodemus that we must be born again in order to get into heaven (John 3:1-7). This is something beyond scientific explanation. It’s supernatural. In this process, our sins are washed away, we become a new person with a clean slate, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in our minds and guides us in making the right decisions every day.

Jesus is coming back soon and we need to be prepared. If you can’t say without a doubt that you’re ready, then please talk to God right now and make sure you don’t miss out on heaven. The only alternative is hell, and I’m sure nobody wants that. So be prepared and I’ll see you there.

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© 2018 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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18 WHEELS AND A DOZEN PRAISES

I remember it like it was yesterday. Well, maybe not that vividly, but pretty well. My family and I went to a used car lot to buy a new car for me to drive back and forth to work each day. Do you get the joke? New car, used car lot. Ok, well, it was new to me. After praying first, we looked at several different cars and were about to decide that we were not going to find one there that we felt good about buying. 

That’s when we saw it. It wasn’t in the rows with the other cars. It was sitting beside the building with some other less desirable ones.

I tried it out and felt pretty good about the dependability and the price, so, after my boys climbed in, I drove it away as my wife and daughter followed.

The car was a small, blue Geo Metro. It had twelve-inch tires and only three cylinders. It only had 80 MPR on the speedometer, but I don’t even know if it could do eighty. If it could, it did one morning, about five o’clock. I was taking my kids to the babysitter on my way to work. 

We were going through town, minding our own business, and obeying the speed limit. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw an eighteen-wheeler coming up on us pretty fast. I said something about it to the kids and they looked back just in time to see it bearing down on us. I saw that it wasn’t going to stop, or change lanes so I put the pedal to the metal. 

We were going as fast as that little car could possibly go. It was shaking all over and screaming, and so were the kids. We were only a foot or two away from being twisted up under that big highway monster. We think the driver may have been falling asleep or something. Anyway, the truck finally started slowing down and we started pulling away from it.

Thank God! We were safe again. We were so grateful to be alive and I praise the Lord for saving us that morning. I don’t mind telling you I was scared to death and so were my kids. I don’t remember praying while it was going on. It all happened so fast and it was over before we knew it. That’s one reason why it’s so important to stay in constant communication with God. 

We always prayed before we drove away to go anywhere. We would God to be with us and protect us and keep us safe there and back and we still do all these years later. I talk to God throughout the day. It’s easy when you truly know that he is right there with you constantly.

Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking he’s just up in heaven and we have to kneel and close our eyes to talk to him like we’re making a phone call. Some people even think you have to go to a church building to communicate with God, but that’s the wrong idea. We should always be reverent when speaking to our Creator, of course, but if you’ve been born again, then the Holy Spirit is living in your mind. You’re a child of God. You can talk to him any time and anywhere, in any condition and any position, whether you’re kneeling, standing, or lying down, and with your eyes open or closed. 

The important thing is to talk to him. He’s always listening and he’s always talking to us. Sometimes we let our minds drift into areas where they shouldn’t be, or neglect to take time to talk to him. Sometimes we’re angry and sometimes we may sin. In those times it becomes harder for us to hear his voice, but he’s always there. He said he would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

1 Thessalonians 5:17 says we should pray without ceasing. That’s constant communication. That’s how God changes us into holy people. He tells us what to do and what not to do as we listen to him. So talk, listen, and communicate with our loving God and allow him to sanctify you, and I’ll see you on the other side, at the end of our journey.

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My Blogs
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com
https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2018 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6