What is Your "Yes But..."?

What is your major dream? What do you want to do with your life? We all start off with good intentions, "but" something always keep us from progressing.  My chatterbox, that inner voice, always introduces several "buts" into my thinking process. Here are a few that have kept me from moving forward to attain my goals.

But...

• You have never done this before.
• You are not disciplined enough.
• You do not have enough money.
• No one like you has ever done this before.
• People may not read what you write.
• You majored in Agriculture and not English.
• What will people think if I fail? 

All of the above in times past have produced a fear that always made me give up.  As I have written before, I have a library of self help books.  None of them helped me overcome the fear of putting my thoughts in print for everyone to read and to make a living from doing it.  This is a big goal for me to be a published author, writing, and using God's word to help me and other people  live the life God created us to live.  In some way, I have been able to turn off the negative "buts" allowing me to pursue this dream full time.  Consequences? Yes. In the beginning, it is hard getting noticed, finding my voice, choosing a topic to write about that will encourage others, being overwhelmed with the technical side of marketing, and knowing I must improve my craft each day. There is so much to learn. The only way I have ever learned anything in my life was to just jump in and keep doing it.

Paying attention to some "buts" in our lives can also be a protection for us that keeps us from harming ourselves and others, whether emotionally, spiritually or physically. I want to identify the ones wanting to keep me from doing good.  One of my favorite parables in the New Testament is the parable of the talents. You can find it in Matthew 25:14-30. What got my attention were verses 25-30. Was I afraid like the one talent man? Did I know what God had given me to do in this life to bring glory to Him and bless others?

The one talent man provides his master with an excuse coming from a negative "but".  He said in verse 24, Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  Why did he say this? The others never implied this. Was it just an excuse he quickly came up with because he heard the reply of the others and the Master's answers.  At that moment, he only had time for a lame excuse that falsely accused the Master of something he was not. What is Christ trying to tell us in this parable? Could it be, we should not procrastinate in using our one talent or many talents in service to the Master? It is implied, and we all have some degree of talent. If we proclaim to be one of  Christ servants, then we should use our talent or talents in His kingdom.

The Lord called this servant wicked and lazy.  Wicked because he came up with a lame excuse about the Master, and lazy because he didn't identify his talent and use it to the best of his one talent ability.  Therefore his talent was taken away and given to another, who would use it to his fullest ability.  I equate this with someone having God given abilities, and dying never to have used them.  Someone else has to pick up the same talent and use it for the Lord in His kingdom.

Following the wrong "but" has serious consequences.  It was first introduced in the Garden of Eden by the "Father of Deception", Satan.  How did he do it.  Eve rationalized in her mind, with the doubt Satan deceived her with, by this thought, "But this fruit is good for food, pleasant looking, and will make me wise".  This "but" led to Eve and then Adam to disobey the only commandment God had given them.  The result?  We live in a fallen world today because of it.  Satan saw the success of using "but" to deceive mankind into disobeying God. More will be said about these types of "buts" in my new book, The Father of Deception.

How could any man, both past and present, not believe in the promises of God? Well, they have, and they still do. Let's look at an example and the consequence that followed. God had previously told Moses to tell all Israel to go to the promised land He had promised to their fathers, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. He told them He had set the land before them; go in and possess it (Deut.1:6-8) and in Deuteronomy 1:21 Moses tells them again, Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.  They responded with, Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come. (Deut.1:21-22, NKJV)

Let's go over what has just been said.  These people had witnessed the mighty hand of God, with all of His power and display of miracles, when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. He tells them; do not fear or be discouraged, because He is going to deliver the land He had promised to their fathers. They should go in and possess it.  Get this.  They are going to send some men in to check it out and see which way they should go up.  Did they have to decide on the way to get Pharaoh to let them go? Did they have to decide on the way to get across the Red Sea? Did they not realize by now that God would show them the way?  I hint just a small opening for doubt to creep in.  I believe Satan is ready with one of his tricks.

So Moses sends twelve men, one from each tribe, to spy out the land God had promised to give them.  It took them forty days.  I wonder what all the other people were thinking while they were gone.  Were they excited to go take this land or did they have doubts it was going to really be a land flowing with milk and honey? After the forty days, the twelve men return with some of the fruits of the land. They said, It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. ( Numbers 13:27) The land was just like God said it was.  What was keeping them from believing God? Look what comes next.

Nevertheless (But) the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.(Numbers 13:28,NKJV) Then in verses 31-33 all the spies, except Joshua and Caleb said, "The people are stronger than we, the land devours its inhabitants, and there are giant men there that make us look like grasshoppers.

Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, told them the land was very good, and if God delighted in them, He would give it to them. (Numbers 14:6-9)  The people believed the majority and didn't believe God would deliver the land and its inhabitants to them. Then they wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb. Who would you have believed, God or the ten spies that brought back the bad report?

They believed man over God.  As always, this was a huge mistake, with terrible consequences. Read Numbers 14:26-38 and see what happened to those who rebelled against God.  Only Joshua and Caleb with the little ones would be able to cross over to the promised land. The ten spies that caused the disbelief died of a plague and the rest of the adults wandered for forty years in the wilderness.  Joshua, Caleb and the children got to enter the promised land forty years after all those died out.  Can you not see what going against God and believing one little "negative but" can cause?
.
To be continued...

Send comments to rhepler52@gmail.com

Please share this series with your friends and family on Facebook or send me their email addresses and I will forward it to them.  How many "negative buts" do you tell yourself each day or hear from your family, friends and others?

Thanks for reading.

Rick
  

"Got Peace?"

peace , 5. an undisturbed state of mind; serenity,  6. calm; quite.  (Webster's New World Dictionary, 1968 edition)  peace , eirene G1515, Strong's Greek Lexicon: 3. security, safety, prosperity, felicity( because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous).

Many times in my life I have sought peace.  In one of my trials I asked God for just 15 minutes of peace each day.  I would even daydream of being back on the farm, chopping weeds out of the bean field, in the heat of the day and chopping weeds anytime of the day was dreaded back then.  Why did I look back to that point of time?  Because chopping weeds didn't require much interaction with things and the world,  it was just the weeds and me, and the only prerequisite was to know the difference between a weed and a soybean.

I have sought peace in this world by changing jobs, reading every self-help book I could get my hands on, meeting new people, buying things, and going on vacation etc..., but I haven't realized until just recently that I was born with peace.  My peace has been with me all along.  I have just traded it for doubt, disbelief, pride, anger, selfishness, material possessions, pleasing others, and worldly thinking.

Satan had done a good job of throwing the lure of negative thinking before me, and I took it. I then allowed those thoughts to take me from the lake of serenity and promise, to being tossed aside to a self imagined bank of  fear, self doubt, and for a moment, a state of hopelessness.  I had traded the peace of mind I had as a child, over time, for thoughts of self-doubt, fear, and unfulfilled goals. He robbed me of my peace through deception, but he didn't cause me to lose my faith in God nor my family, although my faith was weak at times.  I trusted in myself  to get my peace of mind back instead of using God and His word. (The reason I now have a library full of self help books.)

I can remember when my peace started to leave me.  It was my freshman year of college.  The spirit of my identity was slowly crushed. I am getting my spirit back, my identity, and also the inner peace I have been missing for several years.  I have read in Colossians 2:8, Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  I wish I had read this in High School.  I could have saved myself a lot of inner turmoil.

I have desired peace many times and I pursued the things I thought would give me peace.  What I learned was if I seek after material things, I will only receive material peace.  Meaning material things are only temporary.  Here is a good example. Do you have money in an I.R.A., 401K or other investments?  With the market going down do you have peace or fear.  The majority of my clients the last several years were peaceful when the market was going up, but when the market turned south, fear quickly displaced their peace.

Here is what I have learned, and I have learned it the hard way, that for peace to remain with me, I have to pursue it among eternal things.  Here is an example of what I am talking about. I have tried to lay up treasures on earth and it was like a dog chasing its tail and peace of mind was a continual chase also.  I finally started practicing what I had been preaching and followed the advice of our savior, Jesus Christ.  He said, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is , there your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:19-21,NKJV)  God has promised if I lay up treasures in heaven, they are safe. The market of the world and the Devil can't steal them from me.

These treasures provide eternal peace.  How do I obtain these treasures and eternal peace?  I have to pursue them.  Let's look at the apostle Paul. Before he was converted, he persecuted Christians with a passion.  He caused some to be stoned to death.  After he was converted, he went and preached the Gospel of Christ.  How could he have peace, knowing he had persecuted the very people he was now a part of?  In Philippians 3:13-14, he says, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.  I press toward the goal and the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (NKJV)  Paul did not let the sins and guilt of the past rob him of reaching toward those eternal things of the future. Paul then said in Philippians 4:6-7, Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.(NKJV) In other words, fear will not overtake your peace if you do this.

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22 to pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. Peter tells Christians in 1 Peter 3:11 to turn from evil, do good and seek peace and pursue it.  How do we pursue peace? Can I build such a faith and trust in God that the trials I have in this life will not rob me of my peace?  Deb has Parkinson's disease, I have just retired from one career and started another with a dream so big I will fail unless I depend upon God and His strength to help me. Fear of uncertainties is banging on the door trying to get in and replace the peace I now have.  How can I maintain my peace?  How can you?

I have found in order to hold on to the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, I have to have a pleasing faith in Him. I have to believe in His promises and His love for me.  In writing my first book, The Heart Behind the Stone, I learned how to build a faith that pleases God.  One that builds a trust in God and the word He has left us with.  When David went to carry provisions to his brothers, he never dreamed he would be slaying the giant, Goliath.  His quiet time with God in the wilderness helped him to develop such a belief, faith and trust in his God, that he was always giant ready.

David writes in Psalm 34:14 to depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.  Please read all of Psalm 34. David writes about the happiness of those who trust in God. Did David ever sin against God? Yes he did, but it grieved him when he was confronted with his sin. He wrote the beautiful Psalm 51. A psalm of his repentance.  You can read in this psalm the love David had for God.  We can read of his desire to have his relationship with God restored.  In verse 10-13 we read of his plea. Create in me a clean heart , O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore me to the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. (NKJV)

David's faith in God was developed at an early age.  He had many trials in his life, but he valued the peace of God in his life. We can have that same peace.  A peace that is eternal and nothing can replace it, unless we let it. Satan used the lust of the flesh to rob David of his peace.  It worked, but David's love for God caused him to pursue that same peace again, and I believe he did.  We are the gatekeepers of our peace. Do you have this peace or the traditional, temporary peace?

Got Peace?  You can have it?  Pursue it with belief, faith, hope and trust in God, His Son and His Spirit and you will learn how to get it and keep it.

Thanks for reading. You can read to your children how David obtained his faith in my book, The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart, by going to www.amazon.com . If you enjoyed today's post please send me your comments at rhepler52@yahoo.com.

Thanks for reading. Please share with your friends on Facebook.


Rick

MOVING INTO THE NEXT SEASON OF MY LIFE AND I WILL NEED YOUR HELP

We all have experienced different seasons in our lives.   One of my seasons started, June 12 ,1976.  I graduated from University of Tennessee at Martin with a B.S. in Agriculture, the next day I married Debbie, next we went on our honeymoon to Williamsburg, Virginia and then I started to work the next week with the Dyersburg Production Credit Assn. as a loan officer.  I had to learn how to make loans to farmers.


From that date until today, I have been working with people and their money for 39 years with different banks and a financial service company.  I have dealt with many who wanted to lay up treasures on earth.  When those treasures were threatened with economic downturns and market drops,  I had to also manage their fears.  I gained experience in dealing with almost every financial situation.  I also grew close to my clients and made a lot of new friends over the years.  I have no regrets on experience learned, and the friends I have made over the years.


Next week, if all the paperwork goes through, I will be signing off my computer with home office and will have sold my practice to Randy Thetford, the other Ameriprise office here in town.  My new season will begin on August 17, 2015.  I will be leaving a season of helping people lay up treasure on earth and beginning a season of helping people build up treasures in heaven.  I read in Ecclesiastes 3:1, To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. (NKJV) Read also verses 2-8.  I have chosen:

• A time to build up.
• A time to embrace.
• A time to speak.
• A time to love.

Entering my new season of life has not come easily.  Fear and doubt have been my foes for many years. I have heard their small voices each day for several years.  I am thankful the last few months of trusting in God, and His helping me to develop the courage to follow my dream, has been the victor.


My dream is to be a full time, successful, Christian author.  Each day I write, my passion for it grows stronger as well as my compassion for my fellowman.  In writing, I have had to take my mask off and risk baring my heart and soul to you readers.  To you who have read my work, I hope my voice of compassion and love for you has come through in my words.  I want to work on my craft daily in order to do my best for my readers.


There is one quote I have read that has helped me take the step to dream big again.  I have heard it from two different sources so I really do not know who to give to give the credit.  I want to thank whoever the author is, because it has really helped me.  Below is the quote and I hope it helps you also.




 As God's chosen blessed sons and daughters, we are expected to attempt  something large enough that failure is guaranteed, unless God steps in.
 This is how the world see's the power of God in our lives.  Just like He
 showed His power through David, Moses, Joseph and Paul.
                                                                                                            ?????


I am attempting something large, and God will have to step in.  I believe He will use you my readers,  my family, and my friends to help me.  I have read in the past, if your dream does not scare you, then it is not large enough.  Well for me, this is a little scary.  Revealing my dream publicly will make me accountable to you.


My next book, The Father of Deception, will help the readers identify the deceptions used in keeping you from your real purpose on this earth. What we are experiencing today in our culture is a result of the success of these deceptions.  In my book, The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart, my purpose was to help people develop a faith in God so strong and pleasing to Him that they will be able to conquer any giant in their lives that keeps them from being all that God created them to be.  Also,  I show the steps the young shepherd boy David did in developing his giant slaying faith.  My book, 123 Tips for My Grandchildren and Yours, was written for all of our grandchildren to remind them how to build a strong faith in God living in a fallen world.


My blog is being read by people from 13 different countries.  This is a way I can connect with my readers on a weekly basis.  Some use my post in their devotionals. I try to write about current issues facing Christians of today. I also want to use these post each week to encourage Christians in their daily walk with God.


God has helped me symbolically to slay the lion and the bear, as He helped David slay a real lion and bear. This developed in David a trust in God that enabled him to slay the giant, Goliath. David slayed Goliath, not with the armor and battle experience of King Saul, but with a simple sling, a small smooth stone, and the experience of having a relationship with a loving God.  David said one thing that has always motivated me. He said in 1 Samuel 17:29 when his brother, Eliab, criticized him for asking about slaying Goliath. David answered him with this statement, that we also can make. And David said, 'What have I done now? Is there not a cause?' (NKJV)  Christians, let's make this same statement together.  God has given each of us a talent, and this fallen world has given us many causes to use them.  I am going to pick up my sling and a smooth small stone to go after my Goliath.  Are you ready to do the same?  Yes, you do have it in you to do the same.


Here is how you can help me. If you have read any of my books, please post a review on Amazon.  Amazon will refer my books to others when my readers write reviews. Also, if you or someone you know hasn't purchased one of my books,  please consider doing so.  The price is cheaper than a large hamburger and hopefully you may glean something that will help build your faith.


You can also help me by sharing my blog post with others.  This is how I build a platform of readers.

I enjoy writing a blog post each week.  Several of you send comments that are very encouraging.  You do not know how much I appreciate the "likes" "shares" and comments on Facebook. Do you remember when I wrote about my little dog "Poochy"?  I could give Poochy a little encouragement, and he would go after our big Charolais bull.  I am like Poochy. Your encouragement helps me tackle the giants in my life.


As I stated in the title.  I do need your help.  I also need your prayers for Debbie and me.  Pray for a cure for Parkinson's disease and pray for me as I enter the next season of my life trying to help people.


Please send any comments to rhepler52@gmail.com or comment on Facebook.  Also you can go to www.amazon.com to purchase my books or write a review.


Thank you so much for helping me.


Rick


 


                       

DO I REALLY LOVE YOU IF MY ACTIONS HELP YOU PERPETUATE SIN IN YOUR LIFE?

I read a headline Friday morning, after the Republican presidential debate on Thursday night, that caused me to think. I am going to share my thoughts.  Here is the headline. John Kasich won applause for his gay marriage debate answer.  Some of his answer I agree with. I am to love everyone unconditionally as God does.  I am glad God loves man unconditionally.  Our example for this is in Matthew 5:43-48. Verse 45 emphasis God unconditional love, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. (NKJV)  In reading the above verses, I am to be perfect (complete) as my Father in heaven is perfect.


So John Kasich was correct in saying, we should have unconditional love for each other.  I have been asked the same question as he. What if your daughter was homosexual?  Yes, I would love my daughters if they told me they were homosexual.  I would love them more than ever, because I would not want them to die a practicing homosexual or even have a same sex partner. The same as I would not want them to die as an adulteress, liar, thief, murderer or unbeliever.  I would, in love, teach them God's will on the subject. I would also pray every day that they could control the desires of the flesh and not be a slave to them.


Now with that aside, I could not go to their same-sex wedding or anyone's same-sex wedding.  Even if the supreme court said it was the law of the land, and also if I was applauded for saying I would. God's love for us is serious and so are His commands.  So serious, only Jesus' death on the cross could atone for our sins.


Just because the supreme court of this great land says it is legal to have same-sex marriages and also to kill the unborn child, I do not have to do it.  Please read Acts 5:28-29. Peter and the other apostles were told by the high priest and other Jewish priests  not to teach in Jesus' name.  Peter boldly told them in verse 29,  We ought to obey God rather than men. As Christians, that is our answer and our example.  Are we bold enough and do we love the souls of men enough to stand on this principle?


If I say, "I love Jesus my savior", then I will keep His commandments. (John 14:15)  If I compromise God's truth that has been given to us, for anyone whether it be for my daughters or my best friend, I am a hypocrite. Many people give the excuse of not going to "church" because the "church" is filled with hypocrites.  I do not want to give them an excuse.


If I compromise with the world and my actions, attending a same-sex marriage, tend to make others to believe their sin is no longer sin because I am present, does that make it righteous?  If you are confused about this, let's see what Jesus said about it.  Please read 1 John 1:5-9. Read closely what verse 8 says.  "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us".  We cannot decide against God, and by popular demand say that same-sex marriage is not a sin.  (The same is true with all things that God says are sins)  Why not? Because in verse 10, "If we say we have not sinned we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us". How does this make God a liar?  Read Romans 1:18-32.  Does God say it is okay to practice homosexuality?  Is it okay for me to go along with it?  I think verse 32 answers this question.


Can I join in the applause because John Kasick said he believes in traditional marriage, but will abide by the decision of the supreme court?  He demonstrates this by telling the audience he attended his friend's same-sex marriage.  Does God applaud his statement?  What is His thinking on the subject?  And the Lord said, "Because of the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not I will know." (Genesis 18:20-21, NKJV) Please read the rest of the story in Genesis 19 1-29 to see if God approved of their actions. Especially read verse 13.  "For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." (NKJV)  The iniquity of Sodom and Gomorrah was so great, it prompted God's wrath to destroy it.


Shall I over look the precedent that God has set before us, to receive an applause for my political correctness, or shall I obey God rather than men?  God draws the line in the sand, not I.  I am with God and He will protect me in my decision.  I will still love you unconditionally, but even Christ said in Revelation 2:12-16, "Repent or else".


I would like to recommend a book written by F. Lagard Smith. When he wrote this book, he was the Professor of Law at Pepperdine University and the author of several Christian books.  The title of the book is Sodom's Second Coming: What You Need to Know About the Deadly Homosexual Assault.  This book's copyright date is 1993 by Harvest House Publishers-Eugene, Oregon 9.


These are the issues the book faces head on:

Do homosexuals have a choice about their lifestyle?

Should Christians be tolerant toward homosexuals?

Are gays behind the myth of heterosexual AIDS?

Does the Bible really condone homosexual conduct?

The book published in 1993 hits head on what is happening today in 2015.


We will never go wrong taking our stand with God and His Word. Our children and grandchildren are depending on us. We need to cry out to God on this. Can we say as the Psalmist said, It is time for you to act, O Lord, for they have regarded Your law as void. (Psalm 119:126, NKJV)


Thanks for reading. Please share with your friends and family on Facebook and send me your comments either on Facebook or to my email. My email is www.rhepler52@gmail.com .




Rick