Lots of people are scared today because they think this day belongs to the devil. Some think something terrible is going to happen today because the date is 6/6/06. In the Bible in Revelation 13 is where the number 666 is spoken of. This passage below is from the revelation God gave to John the apostle about the future and the end of the world as we know it.

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

If you’re worried about this stuff and how it all fits together and how it will affect you remember this one fact: if you don’t know Jesus it doesn’t matter. One way of looking at it is that Satan has already kidnapped the entire human race through Adam & Eve’s fall. But Jesus came as the ransom to buy us back. But there is one little caveat: The only ones who get to be redeemed are those who choose Jesus to be their ransom. If they don’t choose Jesus, they stay in the grips of Satan for eternity. If you don’t have this issue settled, I’d be way more concerned about that than today being 6/6/06.

I’m not trying to scare the hell out of you but maybe scare you out of hell. If God’s goodness has not caused you to come to Him, if what Jesus did for you has not caused you to love Him, if you don’t know that Jesus gave His life so your sins could be all washed away then maybe telling the truth about your future without Jesus will help you see that hell is not a place where you should consider taking up residence. Billy Joel said he’d “rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, ’cause sinners have much more fun”. I’ve never met a person who could laugh when their own flesh was on fire.

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Accept Jesus, pray to Him, ask Him to be your Lord. He’ll be your friend and give you eternal life.
Love ya, Hope to see you there(in heaven) when we die.
Joe

Think about these sayings for a moment:

Gimme, gimme never gets.
They’re always taking and never satisfied, no matter how much they receive.

“So, what’s wrong with you?”
When someone asks that question it puts your focus on “wrong” things.

Proverbs 15:15
All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

A cheerful heart does not look at negatives. They are focused on the positive.

A thankful person always has enough because they spend so much time counting their blessings they don’t have time left to focus on what they don’t have.

Be thankful.
Start thanking others for what they’ve done.
Start thanking God for what He’s done.

Giving thanks is kind of like giving a receipt to someone who’s purchased something.
You giving them a receipt says “I’ve received the money you were giving for this item.”
Giving thanks to God or a person is like giving them a receipt saying, “I received what you gave me.”

Being thankful is so much better than complaining.
Try you’ll like it. And so will those around you.
Love ya
Joe

Most people love to watch action movies. We see the star beating unimaginable odds scene after scene. Our adrenaline is pumping while we’re watching because we see the imminent danger and our bodies are reacting like its us facing the danger. We love movies like this because we love to see great achievement.

I believe the reason we are so intrigued with these types of characters is because we want to be great. These movies give us hope. They stir up our dreams.

God put greatness on the inside of you. He has a specific purpose for you to accomplish. No one else can do it. You are it!

Have you fallen prey to the idea that “somebody else will do it” or “I’m too busy” or “I don’t think I could really do that.” ?

Your future, your God-given potential destiny is inside of you. It’s in your dreams. But it can be real. You can realize your dreams. There is a way for you to feel good about yourself, what you’re doing and where you’re going. The only way is to line your life up with the road map that is on the inside of you and the only One who can help you read that map is the One who wrote it.

Give your life to Jesus. Keep your heart right with Him. Read His Word. Ask Him to teach you. You’ll begin a great relationship that is the only path to the greatness that is in you.

That dream is within reach. Your arms may be too short, but if you make Him your partner, it can be yours.
Achieve!
Joe

There’s a verse that I love in Psalms 34 it says “Those who look to Him are radiant, there faces are never covered with shame.”

Do you remember the story of Moses coming down the mountainside from meeting with God and the people noticed something very strange: His face was glowing! He had been spending time with God and there was something about being in God’s presence where it took a long time for that reflection to wear off.

I remember the second time I met Nancy, my wife, her face seemed to be radiating light. Maybe it was just an angel shining a flashlight on her saying “This is the one.” But she had been spending time with God, praising Him, talking to Him, enjoying Him. So when I saw Her I could still see His reflection on her face. It was quite an experience. But it wasn’t just me being love-struck, my two buddies saw it too. They looked dumb-founded.

Jesus talked about how when your eyes are full of light your whole body is full of light and when your eyes are full of darkness your whole body will be full of darkness.

If you always focus on negative things – that is darkness. If you’re always happy and thankful its probably because you’re focusing on the positive things in life.

The interesting thing is your face reflects what you look at. I think this is one of the reasons my daughter Sarah is a great photographer, because she’s happy! Her happiness seems to reflect on the people’s faces. They respond emotionally to her.

So, my friend, look up! Be thankful! Find the good and look at that. Ladies this will do more than any makeup could ever do. And if you really want your face to be bright look at my Friend, Jesus. Then you’ll be eternally bright.

Love ya
Joe

There’s an old hymn that talks about leaning on the everlasting arms – I love that song.

I ‘m not afraid to tell you that I can’t do all this on my own. You know, life. I can’t do life without some help. A lot of help!

As a father, one thing I love is holding my little girl’s hand as I walk her up the steps. That little hand in mine is precious. She trusts me. When I’m holding her hand she knows she won’t fall. Daddy can catch her. She doesn’t mind holding my hand – she seems to like it.

One day I was driving in the car with one of my children(I’ll leave it gender neutral so they won’t know who I’m talking about), as we were going along in silence I found myself unsure of what to say. I didn’t like the quiet. I wanted to communicate. I wanted a free flow of love and joy between us. I got more uncomfortable as the time passed. As far as parental communication goes I was failing the test. The next day when I was in prayer the Lord spoke to me, “You thought you were alone. I would have told you what to say, if you had asked.”

I had been driving all that time and never thought to ask God to help me. I felt so stupid. Self-sufficiency is stupid when the person next to you has the answer. God was with me. I wasn’t with Him.

Leaning on someone else requires trust. I needed God’s help. He wanted to help me. But if I won’t lean on Him He can’t help me.

Lean on the Lord. Put some weight against Him. He’ll support you. He’s right there with you. He won’t force you. But if you begin to rely on Him you’ll be blessed. That’s the beginning of the faith walk. A joyful journey where showers of blessings come on you. Mostly His love.

The Lord bless you today as you simply lean on Him.

Love ya
Joe

You know the Bible says that God is at work in you “to will and to act according to His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13

He’s actually trying to adjust your desires. He’s trying to fix and heal and focus your heart so that you desire the right things. God’s ultimate desire is that your heart desires the right things so that He can lead you by the desires of your heart.

I see our heart acting like a compass, it points in a certain direction. You follow in the direction that your heart is pointing.

Years ago I saw some movie where these guys were in this warship and they were trying to navigate by the compass. But their calculations were not coming up accurately. So the captain went and opened the lid on the compass and found that someone had placed a magnet next to the compass so the needle would always be pointing toward that magnet. So the ship was totally off-course.

It’s often so easy for desires or distractions to come up and suddenly we set our hearts on these things and begin to pursue them only to find out later that we are totally off-course and we wonder how did this ever happen? You may be married but that other woman looks soooo fine. That is a distraction! You may be dissatisfied with something and then set your heart on a wrong desire. Don’t do it. You’ll end up where you do not want to be.

The enemy is after the cleanness of your heart. He would like to dirty that thing up so that you can never really get to the core of what God is trying to get you focused on. Get alone with God. Ask Him to forgive you. Ask Him to heal you. Ask Him to put His desires into your heart. The devil will lose His grip on you.

More later…
Joe

I had a very interesting experience several years ago that I’d like to share with you.

I was working as a telemarketing manager at Tyndale House Publishers in Carol Stream, IL. One day I was feeling anxious, actually it had been for several days. I was just anxious. I wasn’t sure what I was anxious about but I was short with people and just generally not happy.

I remember walking into my office and sitting in my chair when I sensed the Lord asking me a question. “What do you want?” Well I didn’t quite know how to respond but I sensed He wanted an answer. He was going after my heart and the source of my anxiety.

He asked again, “What do you want?” I said, “I don’t know, Lord.” He said, “Do you want a raise?” “No.” (Sure I’d love a raise but that wasn’t going to meet the need I was feeling in my heart.) “Do you want a promotion?” “No, that’s not it.” “Do you want a new car?” Again his voice sounded as if he was really pressing me for an answer. “No.” “Do you want a new house?” “NO! That’s not it!” Then He said, “Well what do you want?”

I remember sinking back in my chair saying, “Lord, I guess all I really want is You.”

When I said that, I felt all the anxiety lift off of me. I felt so satisfied. I felt pure. I felt unencumbered. What a relief.

You know the most amazing thing about this is that over the next year and a half after this little visit from the Lord He gave me everything He asked me about. He gave me a raise, a promotion, a new car and a new house. God is good. He really does want to be #1 in our lives.
Make Him #1 not for the raise but just because He’s God.

See ya
Joe

Being productive. It doesn’t happen much online unless you are a content provider.

Receiving input(reading web-pages & blogs) is important as long as it results in some change. You could spend all day online reading one blog after another but if there are no results all you’ve done is lost precious time.

Well, for some, time is not worth much so they don’t really care if it is wasted.

But you can give your life meaning by getting things done. So what are you supposed to get done today? Have you even thought about it? Have you made a list?

I love this verse:
Proverbs 17:24 NIV
A discerning man keeps wisdom in view,
but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

I think so many of us are so easily distracted that if we don’t have a to-do list that is based on what we really want to do then our time gets eaten up and we never get to where we really want to go. (how’s that for a run-on sentence?)

Today, look at (or create then look at) your to-do list. Is it leading you where you want to go?
If so, dive in, get something done! Clean your room. Clean out that drawer. It won’t take that long.

Remember Napoleon said the reason he won so many battles was because he understood the value of 5 minutes.

Do you know that in 5 minutes you could get a wet rag and clean up behind the toilet. You could call your mom. You could write a list of what you want to accomplish. You could kneel down and pray. You could write a note of love or encouragement to someone close to you. You could call someone and invite them to dinner.

There is so much you could do but if you don’t do it it won’t get done.

The wonderful thing about getting things done is that it makes us feel better. Your conscience is wired to affirm you if you do right. So do right, you’ll feel better.

I’ve got some fun, some interesting, some challenging topics coming up so I hope you stop back within the next few days.

See ya
Joe

God has got a plan for you. He has a destiny for you to fulfill. He wants to maximize who you are. He wants the gifts that He has placed inside of you to reach their full potential.

I believe real life is where all of our needs are met and we can focus on others. This keeps us from being self-focused. As we’re others and outward-focused we’re drawing from the giftings on the inside of us and actually God Himself on the inside of us and giving that out to others. As givers we’re much more satisfied than if we’re on the take.

An interesting illustration of this was something my dad taught me when I was young, about being nervous in front of an audience. You see, I had a problem with that: when I was in fifth grade me and three of my buddies had to get up in front of class and give a presentation on something(I don’t remember the topic just the hell that ensued).

When it came my turn to speak I got nervous, my mind went blank, everybody was staring at me then I realized that the right side of my upper lip was quivering violently and I don’t mean a slight unnoticable quiver, I’m talking at least a 1/2 inch or more back and forth. I looked at my buddy next to me and he had this look of fear on his face like something was tragically wrong with me – I can’t remember if I started to cry or what happened. I don’t know how we got out of that situation. What a terrible childhood memory, yet it has a pleasant ending:

My dad told me, he said, “If you ever get nervous when you are talking in front of an audience you are being selfish. You are more concerned about yourself than the people you are supposed to be helping.”

As I pondered his words I realized that he was right. I started thinking about what the people needed and how what I was telling them was going to help them. I got my thinking turned around all the way to the point where now I am more comfortable in front of an audience than in an audience. When I had several opportunities to teach at Living Word (where we attended for training) I spoke in front of thousands of people without getting nervous at all. When you’re focused on giving you’re not nervous about getting. People can tell when you’re there for yourself or there for them.

So real life is giving not taking(and it can keep your lip from quivering violently).

I hope this helps you.
Joe

Its gonna be great day. I can tell it. Every time I get a clear word from the Lord it pulls everything together, brings focus, confidence etc. I love it.

Keep listening to Him for what He’s trying to speak to you today.
It may come from a scripture, it may come from something in this blog, something someone says or something He speaks directly to your heart.
He loves you. He wants you to hear Him. He loves being near you.

Some of you may have taken this thing about hearing God’s voice and taken off with it. Others may feel like its elusive to you. Don’t lose hope! As you can see from previous posts that the things of God are precious, not common. They are for those who press in to Him to get to know Him, who seek Him out. Like it says about wisdom in Proverbs 2: “who search for it as for hidden treasure.”

God seems to like to play hide and seek. First He hides himself, then He hides riches in secret places. He lays clues for us to point us to the treasure.

Nature itself is not God but it is a clue, a signpost, a pointer to the fact that He exists and wants us to pursue Him. You know how when you watch a beautiful sunset or look at a mountain range or examine closely the wings on a butterfly or contemplate the life of a flower? There’s something about nature that points you to its creator.

One day Nancy & I were watching a segment on TV about the beauty of nature and I heard the Lord speak to me: “Receive the courting of the Lord!” As I pondered what He was saying I realized that like a man tries to woo a woman with flowers or gifts so that her heart is turned toward him; so the Lord was saying, “All nature is my attempt to draw you to myself. Turn your heart toward me.”

God wants to be pursued. He doesn’t want casual relationships with people. He wants fervent, white-hot relationships full of passion, compassion, love, purpose, integrity and commitment.

If you want to get to know Him, He’s awesome. If anyone was ever “awesome” He defines the word.

When we begin to pursue him we find out that there are obstacles in the way. As we press through those obstacles we come closer to the life of God; the love of God. We find we are transformed by pursuing Him. Our lives change because we have set Him as the object of our desire and measure all else as less than Him. He continues to hold out the hope to us of the glory and beauty and great reward of finding Him.

He promises that if we seek Him we will find Him.
I wrote a song years ago called
“If You Seek Him”
(copyright 1988 Joe Barlow)

Here’s the lyrics: (You can also listen by clicking here)

We are not to hide from the Lord
But we are to seek His holy face
He has many wond’rous things in store
All for those who seek His holy face.

Don’t you know that
If you seek Him
You will find Him
If you seek Him
He will be found by you (repeat)

For there is joy in the Lord
For those who seek His face
There is peace in the Lord
And there is no disgrace
There is love in the Lord
He has poured
All of His love out in our hearts
All of His love out in our hearts

Don’t you know that…

There is a kind and gentle Friend
For those who seek His face
And your life will never end
If you seek His face
The Holy Spirit He will send
He has poured
All of His love out in our hearts
All of His love out in our hearts

Don’t you know that
If you seek Him
You will find Him
If you seek Him
He will be found by you

Don’t you know that
If you seek Him
You will find Him
If you seek Him
He will be found by you

Bye for now
Joe