Week Thirty-Six, 2025

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved (Romans 10:9-10).

Each United States president has an official portrait. Some were reluctant to take the time to sit for theirs. Such was Theodore Roosevelt. The portrait painter, John Sargent, kept following him to pin him down to a time and place. Finally caught on a staircase, Roosevelt, known for his restlessness, was reportedly frustrated with the process. Sargent is said to have responded by implying that Roosevelt didn’t understand what was involved in posing for a portrait. Roosevelt, then on a staircase landing, swung around, placed a hand on the newel post, and retorted, “Don’t I!” and reportedly said “do it here and now.” Thus, his is the only presidential portrait painted on a stairway.

When I read this in a book I was recently reading, it led me to a spiritual application. Christian teaching emphasizes the urgency of accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. The Bible states, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). This verse highlights the importance of making this decision without delay, as life is uncertain and tomorrow is not guaranteed.

The renowned wrestler, Hulk Hogan recently gave his heart to the Lord and was baptized. Shortly thereafter, he suddenly and unexpectedly fell over dead. You never know when your number will be called.

Have you ever gone to a doctor who diagnoses you with a certain need and says it has to be taken care of now and cannot wait because you can’t risk what may happen tomorrow. The same with your salvation. Jesus is open for business 24-7, but so is the devil. So, make sure you get with the former before you deal with the latter.

I am dealing in my profession with a man who came home for lunch and was instantly killed on the way back to work. You never know what change in your life may happen even in the next hour.

Humanity is understood to be inherently sinful and separated from God due to sin, and salvation offers reconciliation and eternal life. It is time to confess and be saved.

Be like Roosevelt and don’t wait. Do it now! Repent and be saved!

Sometimes True Stories

DON’T DO ANYTHING. JUST REST.

Don’t fall into the trap of believing that doing nothing… means doing nothing for yourself. We’ve been conditioned to believe that not being productive is somehow a failure. That if it doesn’t have a visible outcome, it doesn’t count. That rest is wasted time.

We’ve become so used to being busy — to checking off boxes, to tracking our progress, to measuring worth in output — that we’ve forgotten something essential: Rest is productive.

It’s the moment your body heals. Your mind exhales. Your soul whispers. Reading a magazine. Taking a long shower. Sitting in the garden with a warm cup of coffee. None of it is a waste.

Because time spent resting… is time well spent. We’re not machines. We’re not meant to hustle 24/7.

We are human beings. And sometimes, we just need to be.

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Seven secrets of life:

Make peace with your past so it won’t disturb your present.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

Time heals almost everything. Give it time.

No one is in charge of your happiness, except you.

Don’t compare your life to others and don’t judge them, you have no idea what their journey is all about.

Stop thinking too much. It’s alright not to know the answers.

Smile. You don’t own all the problems in the world.

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The “woke” word police are at it again; you can’t call someone lazy anymore. We now have to refer to them as “temporarily idle.” We can play games with words, but being lazy has its ramifications. When we continually delay things that should be done, we are lazy. In today’s world, too many people want to blame their failings on parents, employers, circumstances, or anything else that absolves them of responsibility.

The truth is we can do something about our circumstances, but we have to take responsibility and act. This proverb tells us that procrastination, playing when we should be working, will lead to poverty. A lazy mind can become the devil’s workshop, but focus, diligence, and hard work will beat laziness every time. Tony Ferguson

Quotes You Can Use

What has God put in my keeping that He will someday require an accounting for? Dan Shock

Wisdom always makes men fortunate: for by wisdom no man could ever err. Plato

Happiness comes when we test our skills towards some meaningful purpose. John Stossel

A blind person asked St. Anthony, “can there be anything worse than losing your eyesight?” St Anthony replied yes, “losing your vision!” When we fail to trust the Lord, we lose our vision of eternity.

So, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him, it is sin. Tony Ferguson

Reconnect with Jesus, the friend who died for us what no other could or would. A friend like no other. Old Lazy Dog, Marty Stubblefiled

Today, with our enemy the devil waiting to devour and destroy, we need to prepare our minds and hearts for action. We need to put on the full armor of God. We need to choose now how we will think, act and react. Tony Ferguson

Jesus sums up this portion of Scripture with a single word: Watch! Dan Shock

Never go out of your way to demean and mock others. Jim Daley

Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. Samuel Johnson

Jesus’ death on the cross is the pivotal event in God’s plan for redemption. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Through His sacrifice, Jesus pays the penalty for sin, offering salvation to all who believe.

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