Thoughts from a Random Mind

                  The group Alabama had a song back in 1992 off their American Pride album called “I’m in a Hurry (to get things done)”. It talks about being in hurry every day and not knowing why. The chorus goes “I’m in a hurry to get things done. Rush and rush until life’s no fun. All I gotta do is live and die. I’m in a hurry and don’t know why.” 

                  You take you life in your hands driving anywhere these days. The parkway in the morning seems more like the Daytona Motor Speedway than a commuter roadway. People speed thru neighborhoods and parking lots. What is up with that?  Is it a ‘need for speed’, is everyone late to be somewhere? What is it? Why do people rush so much? Peace seems like such an elusive place for a lot of people, in that they are simply unable to find it. Perhaps it’s because they don’t slow down enough to consider their options. 

The enemy has created so many seemingly important, yet actually meaningless ‘things’ to do that we drive ourselves crazy trying to keep up with it all. If the devil can keep you busy, really busy rushing around then theoretically you will end up exhausted at the end of the day and have no time to devote to God. Therein lies our problem. We must break the cycle of rushing around by reprioritizing our time. That won’t happen overnight due to current obligations, but it is something we must look at doing sooner rather than later. 

                  This world will run you into the ground if you let it. That is NOT from God. We must not seek to make the time, but rather TAKE the time to be with God … reading His Word, praying and communing with Him for THAT is how we find peace. Real peace is to be a state of tranquility. Having a sense of serenity … peace of mind. If you truly want peace in your life, ask for it & seize it … it’s there for the taking. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

                You know, I don’t think anyone could ever call me a racist. Why do I say that? Because even before I was a Christian, I simply never thought of one race any differently than another. Black, Oriental, Hispanic, Latino, etc. they are all pretty much the same to me. I mean the fact of the matter is that we truly are all the same under the skin.

                  When God created us, He made us all unique. Like snowflakes, no two people are alike. Our looks & personalities are unique to each individual. Even identical twins are different. We never know everyone’s heart motivation, but God does. That’s one of the things that makes Him far superior to His creation.

                  Hate is an ugly emotion. The reason one person or a group of people hate another person or entity can seem pretty ridiculous on the surface, but not to those who hate. We need to spread love and not hate for there is no overall lasting benefit to hate. It only breeds animosity and violence. Love promotes forgiveness, which is a noble cause any day of the week. Unconditional forgiveness mends fences, as in relationships. So ask God to help you see others the way He sees them and the world will be a better place. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

                  It’s funny how the Lord works thru us. Not funny HAHA, but funny interesting. There are many times that the Lord uses you and you don’t even realize it till later or sometimes you don’t realize it at all. I pray that God will bless me, not so that I am blessed, but so that I can take that blessing and bless someone else. We never know in what form that blessing will come. I’m told I am a blessing just for praying for someone. Funny, but I pray for people all the time and I suppose I never really thought of it as blessing someone. Therefore we need to be in tune with the Spirit of God that resides within us. 

                  Not everyone has the Holy Spirit within them. People who surrender their life and their will over to God receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide them. Being attentive to the Spirit within can lead you into some incredible situations. Don’t allow this world and all its inherent distractions crowd out the Spirit’s voice within. Stay focused on the Lord as much as is humanly possible. Ask Him for discernment, seek His wisdom. God wants you to not just have it but to utilize it in your daily life. Don’t allow the enemy to shift your focus off where you know it belongs, because he’s always trying. When that happens calmly refocus on Christ and allow His peace to slice thru the chaos the devil wishes to besiege you with. The devil is a defeated foe and knowing that he is ruthlessly desperate to drag you off course. Run your race on your terms, not his. Pace yourself, it’s not a sprint. Allow yourself to remain at peace. Draw on the peace of Christ. Drink it in like a cool, clear, fresh drink of living water.

                   It’s not that I’m such a blessing, rather that I try to be obedient to what I feel in my heart and spirit God would have me say and do each day. Seek the face of God daily and ask Him how He would like to use you today. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory.

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

              When I reflect on my life from time to time, I realize the times I took a misstep that ended up having negative consequences. Being a guy who apparently doesn’t learn my lessons the first time I stumbled thru several different versions of the same event. Fortunately for me I eventually “get it” and move forward. 

                  At times I can be a little slow on the uptake, if you know what I mean. Doesn’t mean I’m stupid, just a little ignorant regarding certain things. Now take the Lord, for instance. There’s a lot I know, but there’s a lot more I don’t know. Yet God wants to use me despite my flaws, faults and failures. You see He doesn’t see any of us the way we see ourselves. He sees us thru the eyes of love. He sees the potential that exists within us. He knows we aren’t perfect, and neither shall we ever be. But He loves us anyway. 

                  There’s an old chorus we used to sing many years ago in the first church I attended after I gave my life over to the Lord. It was in the early 80s when I first heard it. It’s called ‘Such Love’ and the chorus goes like this: “Such love, such wondrous love. Such love, such wondrous love. That God could love a sinner such as I, how wonderful is love like this.” We are loved just the way we are, no conditions, no subtractions, no hesitation, no regret … God loves us eternally and nothing can ever change that. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

“Our daily prayer should be ‘Lord, let me see what you see and let me love what you love, in Jesus' name, Amen’". - RL Keller

 

            As we struggle thru this life, we too easily forget that it doesn’t have to be a struggle at all. The Lord desires to make our burdens light, but we insist on carrying it all by ourselves. It is only when we stumble and fall on our face that we cry out to God for help. 

We readily judge people based on externals instead of accepting the fact that God created them too and loves them just as much as He loves us, no more and no less. God looks at the motivation of a person’s heart, something we are incapable of doing. That’s why He’s God and we’re not. 

            His love for us is so outrageously immense that nothing can cause it to dissipate. The key to loving one another, I think, is to pray that simple prayer shown at the top of this post. God revealed that to me thru a song I heard a while back. We can get spiritually fed by any number of various means; sermons, Bible teachings, reading scripture, listening to the lyrics of songs, and so on. We should be focused into the source of that food. We should listen for God’s voice in all we read, listen to, or watch.  We should ask for the discernment and wisdom of Solomon, the wisest man to ever live.  If God granted it to him, He would grant it to any one of us. The Lord is no respecter of persons. What He does for one, He can and will do for another.

            So make it a pledge to God that you will earnestly seek that which He sees and loves each day. You see, once you became a Christian, the path you were on shifted. You are now on the upward path that leads straight to heaven. Don’t you wish to be all you can be in Christ? Don’t you want God to use you to further His kingdom? Our desires must line up with God’s if we’re ever going to be at all like Him. We can’t do it alone.  That’s exactly why the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us, because we can’t do it alone. God knew that, so that is precisely why we received the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you follow this advice, you will not regret it. Your life will never be the same again. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Word for the Day

“BECAUSE OF THE JOY AWAITING HIM…”

HEBREWS 12:2 “…let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” 

                  I ran Cross Country in high school and though I wasn’t any good, I certainly knew what it took to BE a good runner. You had to build up your endurance by running and you didn’t run on smooth surfaces all the time. Many times we’d hit the road and run 5-8 miles up and down big hills and thru the country roads miles behind the school. At that time the races were on a predetermined course either on the school grounds or neighboring roads around the school. The races were 2.5 miles back in the early 70’s. You had to work very hard to achieve the stamina and endurance needed to win or for that matter, just finish the race. So when the writer of Hebrews talks about running the race God sets before us with endurance, I know exactly what he’s talking about.

                  And what about the ‘joy awaiting Jesus’ … what’s that all about. He knew He was going to be beaten to within an inch of his life and had just asked His Father if there was any way to take ‘this cup’ away from Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Let us remember that He left that Garden having be resolute regarding His fate. He wished to perform the Father’s will and not His own. Also remember, He was 100% human & 100% divine. Naturally the divine side won out, but not before the human side had its’ say.

                  Hanging on a criminal’s cross garnered a certain amount of shame, but Jesus totally disregarded the shame scripture says. Once He galvanized His own will to line up with the Fathers, He set Himself as a flint to go about the Father’s business. Without Christ’s blood there is no salvation … no forgiveness for sin. It had to be done this way, so Jesus acquiesced to the Father’s will and willingly endured that which no innocent man should have had to endure. And it says He did it joyfully, even resolutely, to save the souls of all mankind. What a mighty God we serve! Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Bible used: Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation, Tyndale House Publishing, latest copyright is 2005.