THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Several years ago, I was working at a place called Parker, in Booneville, Mississippi. I worked there for ten years and drove to work down highway 45. I saw lots of things on that road in those ten years, and several not-so-good things happened to me on that road, but one of the strangest, most unsettling things happened one day while I was driving home after work.

As I came into the little town of Biggersville and went down the hill, there was a long flat stretch of highway. The road had four lanes; two northbound lanes, and two southbound ones separated by a grassy median. I was in the right northbound lane and there was, at least, one vehicle beside me in the left northbound lane. I like to be aware of what’s going on around me when I’m on the road, so I’m always checking my mirrors. The next I looked, I saw a car coming up behind me. It was moving pretty fast. I could tell he was speeding. I was sure he would slow down to the speed limit before he got to me, but as he came closer, I saw that he was not going to slow down. I was shocked at what he did next.

He couldn’t pass me in the left lane because someone else was there right beside me, so he passed me on my right side. He left the highway, and almost lost control as he went into the gravel. The car slid to the right, then back to the left. Rocks flew all over my car as the guy struggled to stay in control. To make matters worse, there was a bridge right there in front of us. Fortunately, just as we reached the guard rails he got the car back on the road just in time to cross the bridge without hitting it. Thank God for that. It could have ended badly. Wow! What an insane experience!

Another time, I was headed to work on the same road early in the morning, and it was snowing. I guess it had been snowing longer toward Booneville because the closer I got to work, the worse it was. I was going up that same hill in Biggersville when the tires on my van started spinning. Soon, I came to a complete stop. Thank God there wasn’t much traffic out. Since I couldn’t go forward, I started backing down the hill to get a fresh start and a little more speed. As I was backing down, I saw an eighteen-wheeler coming toward me. I was concerned, of course, but my heart almost jumped out of my chest when the truck started up the hill and started sliding. Fortunately, I had gotten over on the left side of the road and had the left wheels where the gravel was. After a few long minutes of holding my breath, the truck finally made it past me safely. Then I continued backing back down to the flat part of the highway as quickly as I possibly could in those conditions. Thankfully, I made it down before any other vehicles came. Then, I started back up the hill with a little more speed than I had before, and soon, I was over the hill and back on my way to work. Another situation where I'm thankful God was with me.

On the roads we go down every day, there are many things to cause us stress and aggravation. There are things that cause us to slow down, and sometimes even stop. Many times, there are things that make us take detours, but if we are headed to a certain place, we usually don’t allow any of those things to stop us from reaching our destination.

There’s a road that’s less traveled. It’s referred to by many names, but many call it “the road to heaven.” On the road to heaven, we should be even more determined to reach our destination. There are many things that get in our way, and slow us down. We can get distracted and even stop at times, but we have to keep going. There’s too much at stake to turn back now. Love for Jesus and the promise of eternal life with him are great motivators, but sometimes the cares of this life, and the things of this world make us lose sight of our destination.

Jesus said the road that leads to life is narrow, and not everyone will find it (Matthew 7:14). So, if you’ve found that road, stay on it, and don’t let anything make you stop and turn back. If you haven’t found the road to heaven, then let me point you to the map that will show you the way. God’s Word, the Holy Bible, is that map. If you follow this map, it will lead you home, and Jesus, his Father, and the Holy Spirit will all be right there with you every step of the way. Have a happy journey. I’ll see you on the other side.

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LIKE PULLING TEETH

Have you ever had a loose tooth? I think it’s safe to say that everybody has. It’s usually not long until they come out all by themselves. I lost several teeth this way when I was young. I remember being told that if I put them under my pillow the tooth fairy would take them and leave me some money. I did that several times until I finally realized the adults in my family were the tooth fairies.

One day I was at my mom and dad’s and I had a loose tooth. Well, my dad told me I didn’t need to wait for it to come out by itself because I might swallow it. Then I wouldn’t get any money from the tooth fairy. He suggested we tie one end of a string around my tooth and the other end around a doorknob. I was reluctant because I was afraid it would hurt, but I went along with his plan. When we got everything set up and I was just the right distance from the open door, my dad quickly slammed it. As it closed with a thud, my head jerked forward and the string fell to the floor. It didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it was going to. Maybe it didn’t work. Well, that’s what I thought. My dad pulled the string up from the floor and hanging there on the end was my bloody tooth. It did work.

That one was easy, but when I grew up, I had to have a tooth pulled because it was causing me pain. It wasn’t loose, so the dentist had to cut it out. One of my wisdom teeth had grown in wrong and caused the tooth in front of it to develop a cavity, so he had to remove two teeth to get the bad one out. It took him two hours to remove those two teeth. Now, I truly understand the expression, “Like Pulling Teeth.”

Just like my loose tooth that needed to come out, we sometimes have things in our lives that we need to do, but we put them off because we are afraid. We make things hard, “Like Pulling Teeth” that aren’t loose. Many times, we need to just do it and get it over with. Here’s where we fail, and this is what leads to fear. We should always ask God what we need to do first. He needs to be a part of every decision we make, and he will be if we always put him first and always seek to please him.

Too many of us want to be in control of our own lives and do what we want, but then we run to God to fix whatever mess we get into by doing what we want. We make things “like pulling teeth.” Stop, Look, and Listen! God is all-knowing. He has wisdom that we could never have and he does know what’s best for each of us in any given situation. We need to realize that and accept it.

God doesn’t want to be our boss. He wants to be our guide. He wants us to be happy, healthy, and wise. He wants us to prosper. He has plans for each of us. If we follow him, we will not go wrong. Following God is more than just walking the same path behind him, though. The Greek word for FOLLOW means “to be in the same way with,” or “to accompany.” He is right there WITH us on our journey to protect us and guide us.

Talk to God. Communicate with him at all times, not just when you need something. Build your life around him and his word, The Bible. Ask him what you should do, daily, and do what he says and you’ll soon find yourself happy. No, everything won’t be perfect but you’ll make fewer mistakes and bad decisions. Don’t make life hard “like pulling teeth.” Give it all to God and follow him. Life will be better here, and you’ll be able to live with God forever when this life is over. Give it a try. I dare you.

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© 2018 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving. I’d like to take a few minutes to thank everyone who reads my blog. Thank you for making it worthwhile. I love writing, but without you, there would be no reason to put it on the internet. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and have a happy, happy Thanksgiving.

As many of you have noticed, I haven’t been writing much lately. A lot has been going on in my life for the past year. My daughter got married, and my baby boy turned 18. My dad died after five long months of illness. My sister died after fighting cancer for eight years, and I’m still struggling with my own health issues. With all that has happened, I still have plenty to be thankful for.

God has been so good to me. I’m thankful for all the things he's blessed me with, like my family, our home, a way to make a living, and so many other things, but the things I’m most thankful for are his Love, Mercy, Grace, and forgiveness. I was dead in sin, headed down that wide slippery slope to hell. Then Jesus came and rescued me, and put me on the narrow road to heaven. I’m so thankful he saved me. I love him for that and I want to serve him and tell others how much he loves them.

I want to ask each of you to pray for me and my family, for everyone who reads this blog, and please pray that new readers will find this information and be blessed by it. Thank you again for reading, and again, Happy Thanksgiving. God bless you.

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© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
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THE KING OF THE HILL LOST HIS THRONE

No matter how good we are at parenting, or how well we train our children, they still disobey sometimes and I was no different when I was young. My grandmother raised me from the time I was three and she was like a mother to me. I remember several times when I didn’t listen to her and bad things happened, but I remember one in particular where I could have died.

I was twelve years old and we had just moved next door to my Mom and Dad. We were in a valley and there were hills all around. My cousins had built some wooden contraptions they called coasters, which were like go-carts without motors. They would pull them up the steep gravel road and ride them back down. They let me ride a couple of times and I was hooked. I had to build one for myself.

When my Grandmother found out we were playing in the road, she said it was too dangerous. We could get hit by a car. So, I found a hill in the woods and made a road there. It was awesome. Everybody LOVED it. It was summer and we were out of school. We spent hours riding down that hill every day. Pulling our coasters up was not an easy job but, the ride down was well worth whatever hardship it took to get back to the top of the hill.

I guess a couple of weeks went by, and I mean fun weeks. It was the most fun I had seen in years. Then one day, out of the blue, one of my cousins had a wreck on his coaster and hurt his ankle really bad. I don’t remember if it broke it or sprained it or what, but he couldn’t walk. Well, my Grandmother, being the good parent she was, banned us from the hill in the woods because now, that was too dangerous.

I knew she was only looking out for us because she didn’t want us to get hurt. I knew the Bible said Children should obey their parents, but I thought to myself, “She’s worried about nothing, I won’t get hurt. I know what my cousin did wrong. I won’t make the same mistake he did.” I tried to convince her, but she put her foot down and gave her final, No.

That didn’t stop me from going back though. It took me a couple of days to get my courage up, but finally, I headed out. I got my coaster and pulled it behind our house and up to where my Mom and Dad’s house would be between me and my Grandmother, so she wouldn’t be able to see me. Then, I cut across a field of honeysuckles and sage grass.

My grandmother couldn’t see me, but God could. I’m so glad he did. I stopped and looked back just in time to see a black, tornado-shaped mass coming up out of the ground. It was a swarm of bumblebees. I was highly allergic to bee stings at the time. One hornet had stung me a few years earlier and caused me a lot of trouble, so all I could think to do was run, and that’s what I did.

As I ran back toward home screaming, I remember getting stung on top of my head first. Then, just as I jumped a ditch, I got stung on my butt. Just when I thought I might get away, they were all over me. I saw my mom and started yelling at her, “They got me, they got me!” She told me to take off my clothes and she sprayed me with the water hose until the bees decided to leave me alone.

When it was all over and I was standing there in my underwear, soaking wet, I had only been stung seven times, but knowing I was allergic, they loaded me up and took me to the emergency room. I don’t remember much about being there, but I know it could have turned out worse than it did. I know I saw a lot more than seven bees come out of that nest, but God was with me and I didn’t die that time.

I wish I could say I never disobeyed again, but that would be a lie. I share more stories about other times I disobeyed in my book series, "THE JOURNEY TO HEAVEN, and INSPIRATION FOR THE JOURNEY. (Link Below) 

Looking back at all the times I didn’t listen and got hurt, or got into some other kind of trouble, I realize just how important it is to obey God. At times we may not understand why he doesn’t want us to do certain things, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore his warnings. We shouldn’t look at God’s commandments as a list of DON’Ts, but as warnings to protect us from harm. God loves us and he wants what’s best for us so we can be safe and happy. We will always go wrong when we do what He tells us not to.

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© 2014 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
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SAUL OF TARSUS AND HIS MISSING HORSE

I’ve seen the picture in the bible of Saul of Tarsus being thrown from his horse when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. I’ve heard sermons about it all my life. Preachers will say things like, “God had to knock Saul off his horse to get his attention” and “Saul was knocked off his high horse.” I’ve heard words like these time and time again. Where does this teaching come from? The Bible doesn’t say anything about him ever being on a horse at any point in his life.

In verse 58 of Acts chapter 7, we're introduced to Saul of Tarsus. He began persecuting the church and putting Christians in jail. He thought he was doing God’s will because he believed Jesus was a false Messiah.

In chapter nine, Saul went to the high priest and asked for letters to take with him to the synagogues of Damascus, so he could bind and bring to Jerusalem, anyone who was following the teachings of Jesus. In Acts 9:3, as he was nearing Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven shined all around him. Look at the next few verses carefully.

Acts 9:3-8 
3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 
4. And he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 
5. And he said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you persecute: it’s hard for you to fight against the goads. 
6. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. 
7. And the men which journeyed with him STOOD speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. 
8. And Saul got up off the ground; and when he opened his eyes, he could not see: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

Notice the missing horse. He didn’t even mention it. Notice also, the men who were traveling with Saul, STOOD speechless. Then in Acts 22, Saul, who is also called Paul, (Acts 13:9) tells this story of his conversion to the people at Jerusalem.

Acts 22:6-11 
6. And it came to pass, as I made my journey, I came near Damascus about noon. Suddenly a great light from heaven shined round about me. 
7. And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 
8. And I answered, Who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute. 
9. And they that were with me saw the light and were afraid, but they did not understand the voice of him that spoke to me. 
10. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Get up and go into Damascus; and there you will be told of all things which are appointed for you to do. 
11. And when I could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

Same story. This time straight from Paul who it happened to, and still no mention of falling off a horse. He tells the story again in Acts 26, verses 12-18.

Acts 26:12-18 
12. As I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 
13. At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me. 
14. And when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me, in the Hebrew tongue saying, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? 
15. And I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you persecute. It is hard for you to fight against the goads. 
16. But get up, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which you have seen, and of those things which I will show you; 
17. Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send you, 
18. To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith that is in me.

There you have it. The same story, three different times, and no mention of falling off a horse. In fact, it says right the opposite. Notice again what the Bible says.

Acts 9:3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:…
Acts 9:4. And he fell to the ground…
Acts 9:7. And the men who journeyed with him STOOD speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

Acts 22:6. And,… as I made my journey, I came near Damascus about noon. 
Acts 22:7. And I fell to the ground…

Acts 26:18. As I went to Damascus….. 
Acts 26:13. At midday, I saw… a light from heaven, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me. 
Acts 26:14. And when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me,

Saul and those who were traveling with him appear to have been walking and they ALL fell to the ground. Then when Jesus left, they all got up and Saul was blind.

Acts 9:8
8. And Saul got up off the ground; and when he opened his eyes, he could not see: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

Then they LED him BY THE HAND into Damascus. Surely if any horses were involved Saul, being blind, would have been allowed to ride instead of having to walk. And how could they lead him by the hand if any of them were riding a horse? We can safely teach that the Bible does not say Saul (Paul) fell off a horse. They were walking before Jesus appeared, and they continued walking afterward. Always remember, It’s just as important to notice what the Bible DOES NOT say, as what it DOES say.

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My Blogs
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© 2014 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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