From the Home Place

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  • There is only One!

    May 31, 2026

    At 4 a.m., the temperature is 46 degrees and the birds are happy. The sparrows are already singing because we were blessed with almost a quarter of an inch of rain yesterday evening! There are reports of many receiving over an inch of rain at the same time, Praise the LORD! Today’s high is to be around 75 with a slight chance of rain this afternoon and a repeat for tomorrow.

    Please stop and grab your Bible. As you read Ephesians 4:1-6, note that there are several interesting facts about these verses when kept within their chapter context, but for today, we will focus upon just one of those facts. Ephesians 4:1 tells us to “walk in a manner worthy of” our “calling.” The “calling” to salvation and service both come from God the Father. Often, we hear a person say something like, “When I found Jesus.” Loved ones, God calls us to salvation in Christ Jesus. In a real sense, believers go from sinners to saints primarily because of God’s calling, not our finding Jesus.

    In verse 1, Paul is challenging each of us to “walk” – live our lives in such a way that others will see our life transformation and open their spiritual ears to hear the call of God. In the book of Romans, Paul indicates that many will hear the call, but few will answer the call. You see, once we are called by God to come to Jesus, we still have to individually answer the call. With all of the noise and buniness of our world, Paul would indicate that not everyone who receives the call will come to Jesus for salvation.

    Yet for those who do, he now challenges us to “walk”, to live our lives in accordance with God’s call. When a person answers God’s call to come to Jesus, such a person is to now live for the Savior, not for self. It seems to be at this one point that many miss the mark. Too often we attempt to add Jesus to our already overly busy life, often adding more frustration and failure. Instead, we are to allow Jesus to become Lord of our life, thus giving purpose and clarity to life. Remember, Jesus invites us to “walk” with Him in a manner that reveals Jesus. Satan would tempt each of us to live our lives in such a way that people notice that we are so awesome since Jesus decided to walk with us.

    In verse 4-6 we read of the number “one,” mentioned seven times. When a person is reading the Bible, it is important to notice that which is repeated. Here, the seven mentions of “one” would be considered to be extremely important.

    Within these verses we find the sources of the “one” that Jesus prayed His disciples would experience. That they would “be one” in the say way that Jesus and the Father are one. In America we celebrate individuality, in the Bible Jesus prays for oneness. And that oneness should be revealed within His body, the church. With all of our prideful clamoring to be number one, we the church, too often fail to reveal the true One.

    The people around us need to see the humility, the joy, the peace and the unity of walking with Jesus. You see my friends, I’m of the opinion that many church families too often show, pride, judgementalism, fear and separation instead of oneness. Too often we fail to “walk” with Jesus when we use words like “can’t” or “won’t.” Our “one calling” challenges us to be available, moldable, and dependable as our Lord invites us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”

    As we go to church today, may we each do our part to be the church! A people of “one” revealing the One!

    Seeking oneness with you, Neal

  • Ride on!

    May 30, 2026

    The Lord poked me in the ribs at 2:45 this morning. After a time of prayer, I opened some windows in the living room and began typing. The weather started with 55 degrees, headed for 77 with a 55% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. We had lots of clouds and lightning last night, but just a few sprinkles of rain. Maybe today will at least get the ground wet???

    Today, we are headed for a branding! Though I don’t have a horse anymore, I still enjoy brandings. Oh for sure, they are loud, hot and hard work, but it really fun to be around cattle, horses and country folks again. Yet, I must admit, I really miss having a trusty steed to help with gather and to drag some calves to the fire. All of my life I’ve been blessed to ride some really good horse flesh, but I guess those days have passed me by.

    One of the best things about having a horse around is having someone special to visit with, and to care for. Yes, Miss Deb fills that ticket most of the time, but there is just something special about having a horse as a good friend as well. I sure enough miss the ‘ol boys!

    Branding today, preaching at a church here in Lusk in the morning and then Miss Deb and I will travel 50 miles to meet with another church family for a noon meeting. Monday will find me at the funeral of an old friend and Miss Deb at her weekly Bible study. Then back to our yard work and begin taking some old siding off of the house so we can put new on.

    We will be doing all that along with getting ready for Bible Adventure Days to take place at our home church the following week. We will have a great niece staying with us during that time as well. She is such an adorable little gal, we are excited for her visit. The week after that our three teen grandchildren from Malaysia will be here for a visit – let the fun begin! All of that while traveling 50 miles each Sunday to teach and preach at another church for a couple of months. Oh yah, we also hope to build an addition onto the house in our spare time this summer.

    And with all of that, it would still be really nice to have a horse around. As Teddy Rousevelt one said, “The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.” As wild and busy as our lives are, a good horse sure would-be good medicine for a certain ‘ol guy, but I reckon I’ll survive anyway.

    The funeral on Monday will be a reminder of the fact that none of us are ever too busy to die. As I’ve often said concerning our American lives, “We run, run, run, and then we die.” For each of us, life is busy, regardless of our age – yet there will come a day of rest. A day when we close our eyes on this ‘ol ball of dirt, and open our eyes in the presence of Jesus; oh, what a day of rejoicing that will be!

    Are you ready for you day of reckoning? As the Bible clearly states, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2Cor. 5:10) And that my friends, is why we stay busy walking with the Lord through each activity on earth. For each of us there is death and then comes judgment.

    Humbly walking with Jesus gives a person a special peace amongst the busyness of life, a real purpose for living, and a special anticipation about the day we stop living here and start eternity there! Yep, we run, run, run and then we die – are you ready for both parts of that scenario? Enjoying the busyness of today with the people around you, as you prepare for eternity with Jesus is truly an amazing way to invest the one chance you get at this thing called life. Like a good horse, ride it often, ride it hard and enjoy the company of a good friend!

    Riding through this thing called life with you, Neal

  • Flow water, flow!

    May 29, 2026

    At 3:30 a.m. the temperature is 53 degrees, moving up to 81 later today. Oh ya, the wind is going to blow as well, surprise, surprise!

    For the last week, Miss Deb and I have been working on duding-up the front yard. Hauling dirt, sculpting mounds, putting down ground barrier, nailing edging strips into place, planting flowers and shrubs, and watering at least twice each day. When there isn’t any water coming out of the sky, we have to depend upon water out of the ground to keep the plants alive.

    May I ask, how many times a day do you turn on a faucet, either to get a drink, to get water to cook with, or water to keep plants alive? It seems to me that for most of us, we just expect to turn on a faucet and have water instantly flowing for our use. From keeping us hydrated, plants and critters alive, to taking a shower and flushing the toilet, we us the most important products available to humanity and seldom ever give it a thought.

    Over my years of walking across this ‘ol ball of dirt, I have lived in places where we had to carry water from the well. I’ve lived in places where we had to be very careful about our water usage, or the well would run dry. I have lived in places where we had to haul water from another source. I’ve lived in places where the water was so full of minerals that it could not be used for drinking, and washing clothes in that water left them with a permanent stain. And then, I have lived in places where there seemed to be an endless supply of this precious commodity in its clear, clean and cold form!

    Yep, without water, none of us are going to survive very long, yet we seldom stop long enough to thank God for providing this life-giving product. I have always marveled that in the Creation Story of the Bible, we read of how God provided everything humans need to exist as far as food, but we are never told that God provided water for us to drink and use; yet God did provide it, in abundance.

    Now, let’s turn to spiritual matters with another question; “How often do you thank God for giving you His Holy Spirit to keep your soul well-watered?” Jesus told the woman at the well, that He would give her “living water.” In John 4:14 we read about Jesus telling this woman, “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

    Jesus was speaking of the free-flowing, life-giving spiritual water that one receives only from Him. As a born-again Christian this water supply is always available to you, constantly sustaining and nourishing you toward maturity in Christ, and most of us will not ever pause to praise God for His amazing provision! For the most part, believers will probably live their overly busy lives, seldom pausing long enough to drink deeply of the spiritual water Jesus gives through His Spirit.

    You see my friends, just like the hundreds of gallons of ground water you will likely use today without thinking about it; if you are a Christ-follower you will also use hundreds of gallons of spiritual water without thinking about it as well. So, right now, stop and thank your Heavenly Father that He has given you an endless supply of spiritual water through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the well spring of spiritual water!

    If you want to get really carried away, give a similar praise each time you use earthly water today. For you see my friend, too often we get so focused upon the physical blessings of this life that we usually ignore the spiritual blessings. With the temperature reaching 81 degrees today, Miss Deb and I will need to stop often for a refreshing drink of water, perhaps we should also stop long enough to drink from the well of spiritual life?

    Praising God for both physical and spiritual water with you, Neal

  • “You say grace, I say trust!”

    May 28, 2026

    Guess what? Today’s weather cand be summarized as such: The wind will blow your Stetson into Idaho, and it won’t get wet in the travels either.

    For today, let’s visit about two words that are found quite often in your Bible: “Grace” and “Trust.”

    Going back to our previous definition of “grace,” “Grace is receiving what I do not deserve.” Ephesians 2:9 is probably one of the most popular verses containing the word grace: “For by grace you have been saved…” Because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rms. 3:8), when God gives us His amazing grace, we are able to escape the penalty of sin because of our “faith” in the death of Jesus Christ upon the Cross of Calvary. God gives the repentant sinner grace instead of damnation.

    The second word “trust,” is a bit more difficult to understand, but it literally means “an assurance of reliability.” In other words, the more we trust God, the more we become aware of His trustworthiness. Because God always fulfills 100% of His promises, and because everything the Bible says about God can be trusted, for in Him there is no deceit.

    But, now let’s use the word “trust” in a human context. Pretend that your spouse or someone who is very special to you has broken your trust. Perhaps adultery, perhaps a lie or other deceit has fractured your ability to trust that person. Most often, you will make a statement of something along this line, “You will have to earn my trust before I can trust you again!”

    Now may I ask a question, “When can the guilty person ever gain your trust?” The offender may do everything they possibly can to gain your “trust,” but if you refuse to accept those steps as adequate, you can continue to withhold your trust of that person!

    O.K. let’s chase a rabbit for a moment; Biblical love is a determination of the will, not a feeling or emotion. “For God so loved the world that He gave…” not because we deserve His love, but because God has determined to love us, i.e. – God has determined to show us grace in relation to our sin by providing a means of having our sin forgiven through the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus.

    So, if I’m going to call myself a Christian, and you fracture my trust, when and how do I establish trust between us once again? I do so by showing you grace, not by your payment demanded by me. In another words, “trust” is reestablished by “grace.” By receiving what you do not deserve!

    Quite simply, if you are withholding trust, perhaps you need to revisit God’s amazing grace. You see dear friend, God gives to us so that we will give to others, including “trust” and “grace.” When it’s all said and done, both grace and trust are to live in constant harmony within each of our homes.

    Both “trust” and “grace” declare, penalty paid in full! Not because someone has earned either, but because you decided to love in the same way that God first loved you. Matthew 6:12, “Forgive us this day our trespasses as we have forgiven those who have trespassed against us, and lead us not into temptation…” It is really tempting to make others attempt to earn a trust they can never earn. Trust is a gift to be shared between humans, especially between those who have placed their faith in the graceful God!

    Trusting God’s grace with you, Neal

  • Be careful what you ask for!

    May 26, 2026

    When I put our Coffee dog out at daylight, the weather was calm and dry. Though it looks like a nice bank of clouds off to the far west of us, the weather man isn’t making any promises about rain in this area in the near future, so please continue to pray for rain here.

    I remember the summer of 1965 being very much like this one has been so far. Spring calving was way too easy; we went the whole season without losing any calves. But then came the hot, extremely dry summer and we lost four or five calves from eating dirt. The grass never got over a couple of inches tall and the momma cows didn’t carry any extra flesh, nor any extra milk.

    The wind blew almost every day, burning what grass there was. We never started one tractor come haying season; there was no need to waste the fuel trying to find something to mow. Back then, we ran our calves over to the late fall of their yearling year. Our yearlings went to town a month early, weighing not much more than our calves usually weighed at weaning.

    When moisture did finally show up in August, it came in the form of softball size hail balls. The whole county side looked like we had just had a blizzard. Everywhere you looked it was white! I can remember going to our old dirt cellar with Mom, Dad and my sisters when the tornado revealed itself off to the south-east of us. It hailed so hard that some of the hail balls came through the two feet of dirt that was on top of the cellar.

    When the storm finally broke and we went outside, there wasn’t much left. The house and barns all had holes in them. We shoveled buckets and buckets of hail out of the house, with no windows left in it! All of the windows were gone out of the pickup and there were holes in the cab and the hood of it.

    As soon as we could Dad and I walked to the corrals west of the house. There we found a dead milk cow, a dead colt and the rest of the horses were so beat up that we couldn’t ride them for weeks. All three bum lambs were dead, inside the sheep-barn. There we dead chickens laying all over the place, even inside the chicken house.

    Yet, we were blessed because the tornado had just missed us. My uncle who lived off to the east of us wasn’t quite so lucky. The tornado turned their chicken house upside down and didn’t even break the eggs that were in the nests. It took days for the live hens to make their way back home. The twister pulled the windmill, that was on the west side of their house, out of the ground – pipe and all – and shoved the tower of the windmill through their kitchen window on the east side of their house, laying it on their kitchen table. Thankfully they too were in their cellar.

    For the next months, you couldn’t hardly stand to ride through pastures to check on what cattle that were left, because of the stench of the dead cattle and sheep scattered across pastures for miles. For the most part, everyone had insurance on their vehicles and houses, so it didn’t take the adjustor very long to show up and start figuring how to get windows and rooves on houses and outbuildings.

    For miles in every direction of our place, all of the fences were rolled up in massive balls of twisted barbed wire and fence posts. The thing I remember the most was digging fence post holes and stretching wire all the rest of the year, until the ground froze.

    All spring and summer we had been asking for moisture, it was just a tad bit tough when it showed up. I remember walking for miles to check on critters after the hail melted. The ground looked live divots on an over watered golf course green. However, the really good thing about all of the hail balls, there were dead rattle snakes everywhere!

    Well, all of that is to say, please pray that our Lord will send considerable “rain” to this whole area, ’cause I learned that asking for “moisture” can be rough.

    Praising God for His provision and protection with you, Neal

  • We are blood bought!

    May 25, 2026

    Good morning to each of you dear readers. It looks like we should have a rather pleasant day here in Lusk and hopefully where you live as well. Today is Memorial Day – meaning that working folks get another day off. Children are either enjoying their first week without school or others are looking forward to their school year coming to an end.

    Officially, Memorial Day is “a solemn United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. It is dedicated to mourning and honoring the military personnel who died while serving in the Unites States Armed Forces.” Historically, the holiday was originally known as “Decoration Day,” stemming from early traditions where citizens decorated the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers with flowers and wreaths. It was officially established on May 30, 1868, by General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic.

    Like most American holidays, that which started to honor one group, has been expanded to a day for remembering all who have passed from this life, to now another day for parties and celebrating not having to go to work or school. Leave it to we Americans to turn that which was started as a “solemn” time of remembering sacrifices made for freedom into a day of parties for pleasure!

    May I encourage each of us to take time to walk through the local cemetery, to attend your local Memorial Day Ceremony, to bow your head before the God of creation and to take time to thank Jesus for true freedom. Perhaps we should take time to praise God for allowing us to live in a nation where we are free to attend church, to go to work, to go to school and to enjoy other freedoms that we often take for granted. Once again, we Americans seem to have taken that which thousands have sacrificed their lives for and turned it into what we today call a right!

    How did we get to be nation where so many feel that freedom to live as they wish to live is an inherent right? The personal freedoms you enjoy today were bought with someone’s blood; the spiritual freedom you enjoy today was bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. Once again, we need to be reminded that freedom is never free – it cost someone greatly!

    It seems to me that the very least we can do is to take time away from our parties to honor those who sacrificed their life for our freedom. And may I suggest that each of us spend some time in prayer, thanking God for sending His Son to die on a cross, to purchase humanity from eternal damnation. Because of the sacrifice of a soldier, and the sacrifice of the Savior, we are truly free today; perhaps we should all remember that we live as free people because of someone’s shed blood, and not people who are owed the privilege of living free. Nationally and spiritually, we each live a blood bought freedom.

    Expressing deep gratitude to fallen military personal, and to Jesus Christ, with you, Neal

  • The unified church.

    May 24, 2026

    Yesterday, Miss Deb, Coffee and I helped a very special young lady move into her little house in a new town. This dear girl is starting a new job in a town she knows little about, living in a neighborhood she knows even less about. Starting over again, new town, new job, new home, new church. The last part seems to be the hardest. This young lady’s heart is filled with the joy of the Lord, and she really wants to find the church where God wants her to be but, how does she go about such a venture?

    This town contains an abundance of churches, each with its own story. Some are really old, some are new, but when a person asks around about the different churches of consideration, it doesn’t take very long before it turns into a Clint Eastwood movie, you know – The good, The bad, and The ugly.

    Why is it that it is really difficult to find a church that lives under the full authority of Scripture? In John 17 we find the real “Lord’s Prayer.” Here, Jesus is praying to His Heavenly Father. It would appear that the most important thing on the mind of Jesus Christ during this prayer is that His disciples be different from the disciples of other religious groups of His day.

    Jesus prayed this in verse 22-23, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity…” It would appear that the primary concern for Jesus concerning those first disciples is that they display His “glory” by living in “unity.”

    Now we travel from Jesus’ prayer in John 17 to the beginning of the “church” in Acts 2. The Holy Spirit now indwells all born-again believers, and the church appears to have the bond of “unity” that Jesus prayed for. Each one who has excess, sells it, shares with those in need and all are in “awe” of what God is doing! Perhaps this thing called “church” should have ended there, but it didn’t.

    Turn with me to the book of Ephesians where the Apostle Paul turns from the doctrinal truths he has been teaching in the first three and one-half chapters, to Chapter 4 where he teaches us how to correctly apply biblical truth. First, you have to grasp verses one and two of Chapter 4 to understand 4:3 where we read, “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

    Dr. D.L. Moody once skillfully preached this whole chapter to his congregation; with quite effective results I might add. Dr. Moody began the series with these words, “Any time you slide two Christians together in a pew, you create friction.” A statement that has been lived out for centuries within the church.

    The great coach, John Wooden once declared, “Sports do not make character, they reveal it.” It is with that in mind that I would adjust Dr. Moody’s statement to read, “Any time you slide two Christians together in a pew, your REVEAL friction.” It appears to me that the reason Jesus Christ diligently prayed for His disciples of all generations to reveal “unity” through “love” is because we do not possess either on apart from the working of His Spirit.

    Again Ephesians 4:3, “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Unity is as unnatural as selling you possessions and giving the funds to someone else is unnatural. However, when the first Christians were so excited about what God was doing within them, they wanted to reveal His love to those around them, so they loved one another, just like Jesus had prayed for.

    But it wasn’t very long before unity was replaced by disunity within the body of Christ. Why? May I suggest because we have turned “church” into something we do in the flesh instead of in “the Spirit.” In an effort to remain in control of our lives, even spiritually, we have learned to trust humanity over trusting the Spirit. After all, fully trusting the Spirit could be costly!

    In Hebrews 13:5 we are told, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content…” So, the Bible tells us to love God with all we are and have, yet we are warned that the love of money will breed discontent, which when you slide two discontent people together in church, they reveal how unloving people are who trust in self and stuff rather than in the Spirit. All of which painfully reveals just how little we allow the love of Christ to dwell “richly” within us so that it can work through us to reveal the “light” of Jesus to a very dark world.

    Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man…” So, one has toa ask, “Do we lack maturity because we lack “knowledge.” I think NOT! I would suggest that we lack maturity because we lack obedience to the knowledge we all ready possess..

    Have not money and power been the downfall of humanity and the division of many churches through all generations? Jesus said it this way, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other…You cannot serve both God and wealth.”

    Perhaps we should be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit.” A church that really loves God and each other is the kind of church I am praying for our special young lady to find. I know that such churches exist and I thank their pastor for his excellent leadership!

    Pursuing “unity” within the local church with you, Neal

  • God is?

    May 23, 2026

    35 degrees at daylight, 75 for a high with a west wind. and some clouds to keep things on the cool side. A little warmer tomorrow.

    A.W. Tozer once commented, “The first thing you think of when you hear the name God, is most likely the most important thing about you.” Some folks won’t be up for ten minutes before they use His name as a cuss word. Others will likely go days without even thinking of His name. For others, they will think of God for a few minutes while they are at church tomorrow and then go on living as if He doesn’t exist.

    Some folks try not to think about God because of the guilt or fear they feel when they do pause long enough to think about who God is. Others have an opinion that God is out there somewhere, just waiting to lovingly escort them into whatever view of heaven they might have.

    Yet for the mature born-again Christian, they think of God often with respect and an anticipation of Him working through their life each day. These folks have come to know God the Father through prayer, reading the Bible and through a real relationship with Jesus Christ, their Savior. Believers go to church to enjoy the fellowship of other believers, to hear of how God is at work in and through their lives, and to calm their lives for a time of worshiping God together.

    In 1 John 1:3 we read, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” That is what I think of when I hear the name of God. He is the One who draws His children together for fellowship – the regular sharing of life while rejoicing in His grace and love. Also, the name of God reminds me that I am to live my life in a way that pleases Him and blesses others, as we prepare to meet together in Heaven, through faith in Jesus Christ!

    The Bible teaches that God is the creator and sustainer of life. The Bible helps me to understand that God is constantly involved in the lives of people, in hopes that they will realize that without following God this life is difficult and full of pain. For those who love God as He first loved them, this life has its painful moments, yet this life is filled with opportunites to rejoice and be glad because of God’s great love and His amazing grace!

    So, when you hear the name of God, what is the first thing that comes to your mind. Perhaps you should grab a Bible and read about God. For you see my friend, the Bible is God’s love letter to you. You will never know God fully during your earthly esixtance, however, thorugh reading the Bible you will get to know Him well enough to love Him with “all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind.” And that my friend, is a glorious way to spend each day, as we prepare to fellowship with God for all of eternity!

    Rejoicing at the name of God with you, Neal

  • “Little children”

    May 22, 2026

    3:30 a.m. – 34 degrees and a wind that is blowing at that same speed. The ground is damp, but we could possibly receive a little more rain at daylight, hopefully. Sounds like there is more snow in the mountains! Today’s high of 61 will feel cooler than that because of the wind.

    The Holy Spirit poked me in the ribs around 3 this morning. When I asked Him what we needed to talk about this is all I got, “Don’t limit Me.” Wow, there was no more sleep, but a lot of praying and thinking. I finally got up and started typing to hopefully share what the Holy Spirit placed upon my spirit.

    My first question was, “Lord, how do I limit You?” It appears that we can limit HIs working in a couple of different ways: limited faith and limited availability. Lets’ take both of those ways one at a time and see where He leads us.

    To start with I want to make it very clear that nothing man can do limits God’s ability; however, when we have little faith and little availability, we can limit His working in us so that He can work through us. It would appear that almost all who call them self born-again Christians want to be used in mighty ways by God in ways that I believe God wants to use us, however, these two factors limit to what degree our Father will regularly work through us.

    I would suggest that we need to be growing “in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jeus Chsit” before our faith will stretch far enough to believe God for the impossible. In Matthew 19:16-26 we read the account of “The Rich Young Ruller.” This young man refused to let Jesus save him because of his personal limitation. He refused to give up his earthly riches so he could receive heavenly riches. I wonder how often I have limited the Spirit’s working through me because my limited faith refused to surrender “all” to Him.

    When we first accept Christ as Savior, we immediately have a desire to walk with Him, in limited capacity. Illustration, I have a battery that contains 500 volts of electricity, but I connect to that battery with a fuse and wire that is capable of carrying only 50 volts of electricity, I will never use the full power of that battery, however I will enjoy some of its power. You see my friends, In Matthew 19:25 we read, “And looking at them, Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

    Doesn’t the rich young ruler limit the power of Christ because of his limited faith to truly trust Jesus? And I have to wonder how often do we do the same? How often do we ask the Holy Spirit to use us in a mighty way, to which He often says, “Oh, you of little faith.” His amazing power is available, but my faith cable is too small to handle all that He could possibly do!

    However, quite often God works in spite of our little faith. Matthew 8:26, “He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.” And for this element of God’s amazing grace we are all grateful. Hopefully, you often stop and praise Him for working even when you didn’t expect Him to. You see, we really are much like those first disciples, and Jesus is still who He has always been.

    Repeatedly in 1 John, the Apostle uses the phrase “Little children” when describing something that they have not yet realized about the power of Jesus. They have faith enough to trust Jesus, but they do not possess enough faith to allow the Holy Spirit to draw them to full maturity in Christ.

    Second, it would appear that we often limit God’s power to work through us when we refuse be available. It has been well stated that “God is not concerned about our ability, He only desires our availability.” So, we must each ask, “Am I limiting God’s working though me by refusing to be fully available to Him?” Answer that question by asking another, “Am I willing to go anywhere that the Holy Spirt may want to send me?” If not, then I am limiting God’s power to display His full power through me!

    Two elements, “little faith” and “little availability” seem to limit to what degree the Spirit of the Living God will use me for His glory, and for the good of those around me. Yet, could it be that there is a third element that prevents me from realizing fully who God is and how He wants to work through me? I would suggest that the third element is pride.

    Perhaps pride is what kept Jesus from transforming The Rich Young Ruler? The young man’s pride of who he was and what he owned kept him from humbly accepting the salvation of Christ. I wonder, how often does our pride prevent Him from using us to the full extent of how He would like to use us? How often does my pride get in the way of His power?

    It has been well said that “faith” is like a muscle, the more often you use it, the stronger it gets. Regardless of the amount of faith we might possess, God can and will still work with what we have. It appears that the more we are humbly available, the more our faith will grow. And by the way, we all praise God that He often works through us in spite of our little faith!

    Perhaps I should have just stayed in bed???

    Praising God for who He is with you, Neal

  • Which one?

    May 21, 2026

    Good morning everyone! Well, we seem to be continuing our crazy weather pattern: at 4 a.m. today the temperature is 40 degrees. The last two mornings have started in the 20’s. Today’s high is to be around 60, with evening thunderstorms, continuing through the night. Here’s the crazy part, they are saying the mountains across Wyoming could receive up to another foot of snow! I’m just saying, “Praise the Lord!” for sending moisture!

    Have you recently met someone who is from a family that you knew of years ago? If so, you quite possibly asked, “Now, which one are you?” Or if you are looking for a certain part to put your lawnmower back together and you look into your bucket of parts and find three parts that are very similar, you might grab one of those parts and say, “I can’t remember which one this is?” Or you might have the joy of taking a little one to have an ice cream treat and you ask, “O.K. so which one do you want?” and your little person responds with, “I want this one.” No, I want that one!” To which you reply, “You can only have one, which one do you want?” If any of that sounds familiar, then you understand the value of “one.”

    Today, we are going to talk about the value of the correct “one” In Ephesians 4:4-6 we read these words, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Perhaps we should get the idea that “one” is rather important.

    But, as you study this passage, sooner or later you will need to ask, “Which ‘one’ is the correct ‘one’?” For you see my friend, in God’s kingdom there appears to be only “one” correct “one” when it comes to salvation. In the book of Acts we read these words speaking of Jesus, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

    In many spiritual circles, folks will attempt to convince you that “all roads lead to heaven.” Yet the Bible clearly states in Matthew 7:13-14 that “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter thorough it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” These verses are talking about the gate into heaven; leaving the impression that there is only “one” gate that leads to eternal life in heaven!

    So, which gate are you going to choose, the “wide” one which implies that God owes everyone a free pass to heaven, or the “narrow” one that is surrounded with biblical evidence that faith in Jesus Christ is the only “one” way into heaven??? Two options but “one” is correct, “one” is not.

    In a world where some folks believe in all sorts of spirits, in Ephesians 4 we read that the Holy Spirit is the only “one” correct spirit. Also, we read there is only “one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God” that is biblically correct! Contrary to popular belief, not all roads lead to heaven. Not all gods are the same. Not all faith beliefs will get you into heaven. In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that there is only “one” true GOD, and only “one” way into His holy presence, faith in the “one” and only Jesus Christ!

    When Ephesians 4:6 states that God the Father is “in all,” we have to keep it in context of the rest of the book of Ephesians which makes it is very clear that there is salvation in no one else other than Jesus Christ. As such, the words “in all” means that God is the Father of “all” who have faith in Jesus only.

    I know, salvation in Jesus Christ is restrictive in that His way into heaven is “narrow.” As such, I am very narrow minded when it comes to how a person enters into heaven. There is only “one” true faith, in only “one” Savior, that leads to a person choosing to walk the “narrow” path into heaven – the only answer is Jesus Chsit of Nazareth! Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

    So, in a world full of spiritual options, which “one” are you going to choose? But please realize that there is only “one” correct path to heaven, not many. “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord,” as born-again believers in the finished work of Jesus Christ; nothing more, nothing less. Yep, there are a lot of options out there; Which “one” will you choose?

    Choosing Jesus as the only “One,” Neal