Author: Chris Walker: Your Friend in the Car Business!

Is it really worth it?

/ Chris Walker: Your Friend in the Car Business! / 2 Comments

Oh the stories my grandpa Jack would tell.  I do wish I could remember them all.  I could probably right a best seller book if I could remember them.  But one story I do remember I would like to share.

Jack (I call him Pap) grew up in the Centerville area of Yell County, Arkansas.  He took me there many times to go hunting and just reminiscing about growing up. He was telling me of a time on a Saturday morning, after doing his chores, of taking the family horse to “town”.  Pap and a few friends in there early teenage years were going to have a day.  Well, he was doing this out of mischief and disobedience to his pa.  This horse was the family horse and used to work on the farm.  On the way to back from town, the boys saw some girls they knew.  Well, the boys got to showing off and playing with the young ladies.  And Pap being the center of attention and “flirt” he was, had to show the girls what the “stallion” could do.  So he begins to ride the horse at a gallop and as he applied the reigns to the horse to stop it.  Those back hooves slipped from under the horse and skinned the hind end of the horse all up on the gravel.  Oh was Pap up set.  He had made a fool of himself in front of the ladies and the trip, he wasn’t supposed to make, to town would be found out by his pa.  The fun and excitement had just turned into dread and misery.

As he told me this story more than once, I began to ask him as I got older, “was it worth it?”.  And he told me, “In the moment it was all great and fun, but in the long run I wish I had listened and obeyed, pa!”

How do you live your life?  Do you live your life for the moment? Do you live your life for the fun with no consequence attitude? Or, do you live life thinking about tomorrow? Do you think about the positive or negative consequence before you act? Do you live for the rewards of the future?

You may still be asking where I am going with this.  Well, let’s do what I do now for my decisions.  Let’s take a look at what the Bible says and what hero’s of the Bible did.

Let’s start in Genesis with Adam.  Adam had it all.  God gave Adam dominion over every living creature (Gen. 1:28).  He could live with a wonderful relationship with God and the living things on earth.  He was to subdue it or control it all.  But, he gave it up when he and Eve decided to partake of the only thing God had told them to stay away from, the fruit from the tree in the Garden of Eden.  It was so tempting and so pretty.  The fruit looked so delicious and smelled wonderful.  Just how can you resist something like this right before your eyes.  But God had said, No! Do not eat of this tree.  So simply put, Adam and Eve could obey God and maintain a wonderful relationship with God, maintain dominion over all things, and never want for anything.  But they wanted this thing.  They wanted it now.  And with one bite or two. Their eyes were opened and their world turned upside down.

A little too extreme you think.  What about the children of Israel being led out of captivity by Moses and Aaron.  They were delivered from the hands of Pharaoh and saw supernatural event after supernatural event occur before their deliverance.  They saw the hand of God.  They knew God had their back.  Yet, when Moses went to the mountain to get the instruction for God and was gone, in God’s presence, for forty days and nights, the children of Israel couldn’t stand it.  They were impatient.  They questioned Moses’ legitimacy.  They talked Aaron in to building a golden calf to worship.  They wanted immediate satisfaction.  They couldn’t wait for the good stuff from God.  Those who committed sin against God were “blotted out of His book” (Exodus 32.33)

Maybe one more quick story.  In the Book of Esther, you see Haman devises a plan to do away with the Jews.  He was angry because Mordecai, a Jew, wouldn’t bow down to him.  Haman was a power-hungry man with a huge ego.  But Esther, Mordecai’s uncle’s daughter, was made queen to King Ahasuerus.  She in position to pray and petition the King for the sake of the Jews and let Haman’s plan be brought to light.  And because of Haman’s selfishness and ways, he was hanged at the gallows he had built for Mordecai.  Haman could have lived greatly the rest of his life as second to the King.  But his greed and ego overtook him.  And the Jews, God’s people, lived and were blessed instead.

So, may I encourage you to be careful as to what you choose.  Be careful where you have your eyes set.  Are you looking for an earthly reward? Or, are you waiting on the greater reward in heaven?  I choose the reward in heaven.

Bible Reference:

1.  Genesis 1:26-28 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

2. Genesis 3.

3. Exodus 32

4. Esther

Just One More Game, Please!

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I can remember growing up loving to play card games.  I loved playing games.  It made me very competitive.  I hated to lose. I didn’t like not being able to play another game.  And many times, especially if I was playing with my parents right before bed, I would say, “Come on mom/dad, just one more game”.  And I know you have probably heard this from your kids or maybe you have said it yourself.  “Come on, just one more game.”  I know even as an adult I have heard other adults say, “Just one more game.”

So I am thinking of how this little phrase applies to every day life.  (I am not insinuating life is a game. I just feel the phrase is fitting for 2nd chances.)  Then I remembered my pastor telling a story.  He said, “Would we be willing to give someone just one more chance?”  He was referencing saving a marriage.  But I want to take this thought a little bit further.  Would we be willing to give anyone another chance to make a relationship work? Let forgiveness work by way of Holy Spirit.  Have faith in the Holy Spirit and show mercy with a cheerful heart.  Let the Holy Spirit work on the other person.

Better yet, if I choose to forgive someone and show mercy to this person walking in the way of grace and the Gospel of Jesus, which is the Christian way and mandate, I free myself of the evil and bitterness that can set itself in my life. For Ephesians 4:32 states, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” And also in teaching us to pray, Jesus says in Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”  There is freedom for me when I forgive.

What does forgive mean? To give up resentment of; to grant relief from payment; to cease to feel resentment from or to an offender; to grant a pardon; and finally one last definition:stop feeling angry or resentful towards (someone) for an offence or mistake. (Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.)).  Do you feel someone owes you? They owe you an explanation?, money?, an apology? Or maybe they don’t owe you anything but they forgot you? or left you? or mistreated you? or said the wrong thing? or just were not there when you needed them? Maybe they don’t understand what you want? I know life is not a game like playing cards or pool or table tennis.  But life is about giving people second, third, fourth,…, tenth chances and maybe more.  Matthew 18:22 tells us we should forgive “up to seventy times seven”.  Are we willing to turn the other cheek? Are we willing to say, “Just one more game”? Is your marriage worth it? Is a life dream of getting to know someone worth it? Is a friendship worth it? Is letting someone see Jesus in you worth it? I think it is.  I know it is.  Just one more game, Please!

Scripture references:

1. Ephesians 4:32 “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

2. Matthew 6:9-15 “9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

3. Matthew 18:21-35 “21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

4. Mark 12:28-33 “28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

The New King James Version.

Are you still feeling like your short of capacity?

/ Chris Walker: Your Friend in the Car Business! / Leave a comment

I want to take my previous post (Are you running on empty?) a little further.

Now, I don’t know about you.  But I know when I have a sip of water, I only want more.  I want a bottle of water.  Thus, my spirit man wants more of the Holy Spirit.  And as my friend Lisa R. said, “Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper to get to the core.”  You ask how deep do you have to dig?  Well, this is just up to you and God.  It all depends on where you are with God in your walk/relationship with Him.  Let me see if I can explain it a little.

When I first started going back to church (after not going to church for 15 years), I knew I was supposed to be there.  But I was not going to participate.  Participate! (Yes, you cannot just go and sit on a pew.) I tried to just sit on the pew.  I would come in to church just as it was started.  This way I didn’t have to talk to anyone.  Then I would leave as they were giving the altar call.  Again, I didn’t have to talk to anyone or really get to know anyone.  And they sure didn’t get the opportunity to get to know me.

Then the Holy Spirit began working on me.  You must be thinking how this would happen.  Well, during the worship when the music was playing and the choir and congregation begin to sing praises to the most High King, my hands could not be held in my pockets or down to my side.  They seemed to be raised in the air in honor of God Almighty.  Then my foot would begin to move.  And I began to sway.  I was being filled up.  I was being healed. Slowly, very slow.  We are at a snail’s pace here.  But God was doing it.  You know that saliva I talked about from John 9.  The Holy Spirit was connecting me.  He was softening me.  Then I began to go to church on Wednesday night.  Oh wait.  You mean go more than once a week to church?  Yes, I mean go as much as I could get.

On Wednesday, I took a class to learn about church and to get involved in a small group.  This interaction and the pastors encouragement to get involved in a ministry of some kind helped propel me even deeper into God.  All a part of God’s plan Jeremiah 29:11-14, “11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity;…”.  You see God know what He was doing in my life.  I was digging deeper in Him.  He was using the Holy Spirit (water) to fill me up.

All the time God is waiting on you to move.  He is waiting on you to put your foot on the shovel.  As you dig, let him pour the water in with the Word of God and Holy Spirit.  For Proverbs 2:1-9 tells us we will understand the fear of the Lord if we seek His wisdom, treasure His commands, apply our heart to understanding His ways, cry out for discernment, seek and search for God’s wisdom as silver or hidden treasures.  We must dig in the Word of God.

For as we dig deeper in the Word of God, the Word will fill us up nothing short of capacity overflowing with rivers of Living Water.  Philippians 4:8-9 says if we meditate on the things of God, the God of peace will be with us.

Scripture reference:

1. John 7:37-39  “37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

2. Philippians 4:8-9  “8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”

The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Are you running on empty?

/ Chris Walker: Your Friend in the Car Business! / Leave a comment

Recently in my Sunday School class and a church service, we had a discussion and the pastor spoke on the word fill, filled, or refill.  In Sunday School, we discussed definitions of the word fill or what it meant to us.  Here are a few things mentioned: to put into as much as can be held, to bring back to capacity or a desired level, to occupy completely, to build up to the next level, and to saturate an area/object.  

As I listened to each definition or phrase for the meaning of fill, filled, or refilling, I envisioned a cup or pot and someone pouring water into it.  As the water was being poured, some spatters could be seen on the surface around the cup/clay pot. The water began rising to the top of the cup to where it reached capacity and ran over the edge.  Overflowing the rim of the cup allowed the water to join or include the spatters which had landed on the surrounding surface.

I, also, saw a cinder block sitting outside in the rain.  The longer the block sat in the rain and water.  The darker the block began to become.  The block also became heavy from being wet.  This tells me the block absorbed some of the water as a sponge would soak up water.

So when I think about John telling of Jesus miracles in the Bible.  I look at John 9:1-7 where Jesus heals the man who was blind from birth.  I think we can see a spiritual blindness with this man as well his physical blindness.  And as we see Jesus takes saliva (water) with dirt (making clay) and heals his physical blindness and spiritual blindness. The man can see.  He became a walking testimony.  And as the saliva is water and water is a type (metaphor) of Holy Spirit, the man is filled by the Spirit as he is made whole in spirit by a supernatural healing.  For the Bible also tells us in Ephesians 1:13, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”, the Holy Spirit began residing in us at salvation.  He filled you up.

Do you want to know how to fill the emptiness? Follow me down the Roman Road:

Step 1.  Realize and acknowledge you/we/all are sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Step 2.  Realize and understand God loves us all.  Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Step 3.  Know there is a penalty for sin which is death but a gift was given for all of us.  Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Step 4. Confession is made by mouth and believe in your heart, Jesus Christ is Lord.  Romans 10:9-10, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Reference scripture from post body:

John 9:1-7

1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
The New King James Version. (1982). (John 9:1–7). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Are You in a Slump?

/ Chris Walker: Your Friend in the Car Business! / 1 Comment

How many people do you know are in a slump? No, I’m not talking about a shooting slump in basketball, maybe a hitting slump in baseball, maybe you haven’t sold anything at your job and this is the way you make a living for your family, or maybe you just do not like the way you are pursuing life at this time.  All these slumps are generally products of what you are thinking or focusing your thoughts.

I want to talk about a slump in the way you think about things.  I guess you could say, “what are you thinking?”.  Is it something negative?  Can you just not get those negative thoughts out of your head at work? Are you listening to negative people? Are you listening to your own negativity?  Why are these thoughts there?  When will they every go away? Let’s look at some reasoning behind all this.  Because I think if we can focus our thoughts in the right direction and way, our slumps may never get started and at best may never materialize to even call it a slump.  I want to look at things for what they truly are.

Let’s start by looking in the Bible at what David says in Psalm 42. In verse 5, David says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? And in verse 6, “O my God, my soul is cast down within me;” And one more time in verse 11, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?, And why are you disquieted within me?”.  David is struggling here.  David is in a slump in his thought processes. He is depressed.  If he is like me, he has squirrels running around in his head telling him things like: “You are not worthy!”, “Remember what you did in your past”, “Remember how you treated your classmates in school!”, “Remember when you didn’t open the door for the elderly person!”, and these thoughts are just a few of what may have or are running through your head as they have mine at some time in my life.  The question is what do I do with those thoughts?  What did David do with his depression?  His solitude?  His squirrels that made him have a bad day just because of what he was thinking about himself, his situation, his employment, his family, his relationships with friends or his vision for what he wanted to do in his life.

David tells us what to do in Psalm 42 just as he let us know he was down cast, depressed, and chasing squirrels in his mind. His soul longed for God.  Again in verse 5, David tells us to “Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him!”.  So when I turn my focus on God, whether I am meditating on His word or praising His name, my countenance will change.  My negative will become positive.  Is it something that happens and stays? Not necessarily, I have to continue to praise God and focus on Him.  Because when I focus on God, I am seeing who I am.  For I am “made in the image and according to the likeness of God” according to Genesis 1:26.  For as I see God, so I should see me in my thoughts and my countenance will change.  I will no longer think negatively and the slump will end.  Don’t hang out in the slump like pigs hangout in the slop.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33. For our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  So if He got you through the past. He will get you through today. And He will definitely see you through tomorrow if you focus on Him.  Thank you God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

May you be blessed this day.

Chris

Psalm 42
1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”

4 When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.

6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a breaking of my bones,
My enemies reproach me,
While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

11 Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
The New King James Version. (1982). (Ps 42:1–11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.