I have had many people tell me they are not pro-abortion but they are pro-choice. To me the two are equal. If you are not against a thing then you are for it. And to give others the choice is to choose abortion.

It is obvious to me that the killing of the unborn is wrong. This is an individual. This is a life. This is murder.
My ultimate source of my conviction is always God’s word. So what does it say?

God knew David before he was born:
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Ps 139:13-16

God speaks to Jeremiah showing that the child in the womb is a person:
The Lord gave me this message: “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Jer 1:4-5

The entity in the womb is a baby:
A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. Luke 1:39-45

John (the baptist) has a pre-birth experience that no other has had – he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. Luke 1:15

God knows the personalities of the unborn:
And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations. From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals. One nation will be stronger than the other; and your older son will serve your younger son.” Gen 25:23

The Apostle says of his own self, but even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Gal 1:15

You or someone you know may be in a surprise pregnancy, whether it is a first child or the seventh. With the availability of abortion comes the temptation to “take care of the problem.”
The problem is not the unborn child; it is the selfish attitude of others to end this unique life.

What would have happened had an unmarried, pregnant young woman, named Mary, had sought to end her “problem”?
Or what if her cousin, who was quite old, had sought to end her “problem”?
What if your mom had sought…

There is a great story about this in 1 Samuel 25.

David was on the run from King Saul and had camped out near the homestead of a man named Nabal. David sent some of his guys to tell Nabal that they had protected some of his flock and servants while camping nearby and it would be nice if they could join in the celebration at sheep-shearing time.
This type of hospitality wasn’t uncommon at the time and was even expected.

Nabal turned him down flat and added insult to injury! So severe was the insult that David gathered some men to kill Nabal.
But his wife, Abigail, was a sensible and beautiful woman. 1 Sam 25:3
It was reported to Abigail what had happened – all that her husband had done.
She sprang into action gathering food and drink for David and his men; then she went out to meet him and try to make amends for her husband’s insulting behavior.

She fell at his feet and said, “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say.” 1 Sam 25:24
What an outstanding wife she is! She is willing to be blamed for everything even though she isn’t responsible. Even though her husband acted foolish – she defends and intercedes for him.

Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, since the Lord has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands, let all your enemies and those who try to harm you be as cursed as Nabal is. 1 Sam 25:26
She has not only protected her husband from being killed by David, but she turns it around and has kept David from becoming a murderer.
As a wife she has placed herself between the perpetrator and victim.

Abigail continued, “Don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance. And when the Lord has done these great things for you, please remember me, your servant!” 1 Sam 25:31
She sought to protect this future king of Israel and to have her house blessed (please remember me, your servant)

Now Nabal is fully responsible for his own bad behavior being a descendant of Caleb, was crude and mean in all his dealings. 1 Sam 25:3
Perhaps he was crude and mean to his wife, Abigail. Perhaps he was verbally or physically abusive.
I would not want any woman to live in an abusive situation. However, Abigail did not take any action against Nabal, other than interceding and protecting him.

This is what happened next.
When she gets back home she finds him drunk – not a good sign. She waited until he sobered up the next day she told him what she had done.
As a result he had a stroke, and he lay paralyzed on his bed like a stone. About ten days later, the Lord struck him, and he died. 1 Sam 25:37-38

Though he was a harsh and crude man, Abigail never raised her hand or voice against him. She may have called him a fool but this is what his name “Nabal” actually meant. (1 Sam 25:25 -he is a fool, just as his name suggests.)
Abigail did what a wife should and stood by her husband even during difficult times – for better, for worse.
She was rewarded.

I know there are abusive spouses. I know it is hard to live in such a situation. This is why I tell young women not to jump into bed with any guy that she thinks she is in love with; but to get to know him over time – a long time! If you are truly in love today, then you will be truly in love two or three years from now. What is the hurry in getting married or into a physical relationship with someone.

I tell both young men and women that if there is a quality they don’t like in someone they are in a relationship with, to not think that person will change for them. If they won’t change for themselves – they won’t change for someone else.
Jesus is the only one that can really change him/her.

Finally, don’t just settle for someone you can live with – find someone you can’t live without!

What about this – Jesus and disciples get into a boat to do some traveling. But on the way to the next port a storm develops.
Now anyone that has been on a lake when a storm kicks up will understand the fear the disciples had on being overturned and perhaps drowning.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Mark 4:38-41

Is it too much to believe that your prayer in Jesus’ name could also calm a storm?

I know what you’re thinking – that was Jesus and He could do anything!

James says, “Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.” James 5:17-18

Elijah wasn’t Jesus!
Elijah prayed and affected the weather.
That’s because the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16

In reading the Bible you will find prayers to hear from God, to have a baby, for healing, for life to be restored, and even to meet the right woman – that one worked for me too!

Jesus gave some great instruction about prayer in Matthew chapter 6. If you struggle with prayer perhaps you should start there and remember you can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it. Matt 21:22

Matt 6:5-13
When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

When you think of it God has done some pretty funny things or some things that have made others laugh.
One comes to mind.

God visits with Abram and his wife, Sarai. They don’t have any children and she is close to 90 years old, way past child bearing.
But God says that next year she’ll give birth. Sarai was eaves-dropping and heard the whole thing.
So she laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?” Gen 18:12
She perceived this as a joke and laughed.
She laughed right into a pregnancy.
She laughed at the birth.
Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” 7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” Gen 21:6-7
She laughed so much that she named her son Isaac, which means laughter.

Laughter brings joy into your whole being.
Laughter takes away sorrow.
Laughter relieves stress and problems.
Laughter brings cheerfulness to the soul.
God says a cheerful heart is good medicine, Prov 17:22

The Psalmist said, “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.” Ps 126:2

The Bible also makes it clear there is a time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. Eccl 3:4

This morning I am watching the destruction of yesterday’s tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. My eyes often burn with tears at the stories of children that were killed in school. It’s hard to imagine but the people of Moore will laugh again. Those that have lost everything they own will find joy again.

There is always a time to be sorrowful, a time to cry and grieve – Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Ps 30:5
Those that know Jesus as Savior already have it!

Ps 37:5 – Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.

Ps 55:22 – Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

John 14:27 – “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

There are many more verses.
The one thing each has in common is to trust God. He will not leave you or steer you wrong.

There have been times I have been stressed out, usually by external factors out of my control but I let it control me. This is how stress happens – when you are out of control.
One final word – don’t let your trust in God stress you out. God does not think nor act in a way that equal to your thoughts or actions. Still, He knows what is perfect and best. So go ahead and give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.1 Peter 5:7

My blend of family was not a pleasant one. It certainly wasn’t as fun and adventurous as The Brady Bunch.

A year or so after my mom and dad divorced, mom remarried a man that had been a friend of the family during the final year of their marriage.
He had just gone through a divorce himself.
So in my mind I saw him as an intruder and perhaps the cause of the breakup of my family.

My relationship with him was rocky. I was a rebellious teenager and did not want someone that was not my dad telling me what to do.

The sad thing is mom divorced him too!

I know all blended families are not like my case. Many are very happy and loving. Many times the step-dad/mom is the only parent that the children ever know.

As I sat thinking about these things this morning, I began to wonder how many step-families exist in the Bible. One came to mind immediately.

This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus. Matt 1:18-20, 24-25

Our Savior was raised in a blended family. His Father is God but He was raised by Joseph.

What I find fascinating by this account is God CHOSE the man that would raise His own Son. If I would have had a choice I would have voted for my mom and dad to stay married.
But that did not happen.

Chances are I would not be writing this Morning Thought had they stayed together.
I may never have moved to East Texas. I would not have gone to Bible College. I would not have met Linda, fell in love, and married her. I would not have surrendered to the Gospel ministry. I would not be pastor of CrossRoads. I would not be an on-air personality at two Christian radio stations.
I would not have the children or grandchildren that I have.

For all the emotional pain and suffering that my blended family may have brought, I am very happy to be where I am today. It is my life through living in a blended family that has partially made me what I am today.

I think I can now understand a bit more something that Paul said – I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:11-13

All in all I would say that my life is well blended and I am content with where this journey has brought me. And the journey isn’t over!

The Bible also says a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day. Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands. Prov 27:15

Now I do not know if he was speaking from personal experience or not but several years later he and his wife divorced and I heard that he left the country.

You know it’s not just women that this can be aimed towards; it is men.
Perhaps the husband gives his wife a reason to quarrel. If he won’t keep a steady job, if he won’t repair things around the house, or if he won’t take off and turn his dirty socks right-side out, then she may have a legitimate reason to quarrel.

Many husbands could be content with clean clothes, hot meals, and the remote control.
It’s going to take more than this to have a great marriage. She is your wife not your slave.

Most women want assurance and security in financial stability, love, help raising the children, and some help in keeping the home clean and livable.

It is the responsibility of the husband to bring out the best in his wife – and the wife to bring out the best in her husband.
When both give their lives and family to the Lord then He will bring out the best of Himself through them.
NOW THAT’S A MARRIAGE!

So husbands, let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. Prov 5:18
The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord. Prov 18:22

Driving is a great example. By itself, you can do it very well. Add texting or talking and the results are completely different, as you learn from watching the evening news.

When you add another item you can no longer do one thing with your whole heart, just half; no longer with excellence but pretty good.

Add a third or fourth and you’re lowering your ability to do anything whole heartedly and excellent.

Take something like parenting. There have always been other things to do but the family was involved.

Mom’s once stayed home while the dad went to work. Mom devoted her time to cleaning, cooking, and raising the children. These three things combined to create her home, which she took care of with her whole heart, though divided her time among the three.

In an agrarian society the children would end up in the field and barn area, helping to sustain the family.

When dad had a trade the son would often work with him and learn the same trade. Daughters often stayed in the home with mom and learned how to cook, clean, and mend clothing.

At the end of the day the family sat around the table and ate a meal. They talked about the day’s events or perhaps the children practiced reading from the family Bible.

Now both parents work and children are put in childcare or come home from school to stay with a friend until a parent gets home.

Very few families sit around the table. Very few talk. Kids are busy playing the PS2, listening to the iPod, or texting friends.
Washing, cleaning, and cooking are now done after mom and dad both do a hard day’s work.

It is written, let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Ps 103:1

Is your time spent with God done with your whole heart?
Do you let distractions take your attention away from prayer or meditating on God’s word?
As pastor, I see how many are distracted while the praise is going on or the sermon is being preached.
Perhaps during the preaching you may be wondering where to go eat after the service. Or maybe thinking about all the work you have to do at home once you get back.
A report due tomorrow, the grass needing mowing, and a vacation starting this week can all add to distracting you and keep you from praising the Lord with your whole heart.

When it is time to spend time with God, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Col 3:2) and do it with your whole heart.

It was my way of prying out information. Had she gave a date or said one had not been set then I would have known that she was seriously engaged. Or she could have said that she had just met the guy or that she wasn’t engage yet.

I asked her how old she was and she replied with 21 years old. I told her that by the time Linda was that age she was married and had a child.

Though there are a few exceptions, girls are not getting married or having children at an early age. My eldest daughter had her first child at 29, after 5 years of marriage.

Young moms are getting older! Like I said, there are some exceptions.

My great-grandmother was married at the age of 17, and my great, great grandmother was 16. These ages and even 14 or 15 years old were not uncommon.

In Biblical times it was even more common for young women 12-15 to be married in an arrangement. Such may be the case with Mary.

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Luke 1:26-28

Though Linda was a mom at 21, I cannot imagine someone being a mom in the early teen years, though it does happen. That’s a child with a child.
But it is what God chose for His own Son, a young woman. The exact age of Mary at the time of Jesus’ birth is not known. I guess it around 15 years old.

When my great grandparents of old married, most of life consisted of farming and raising children.
Today young moms are faced with the husband working, her working, and putting the children into daily childcare. It is not easy.

Even moms, like my eldest, are having to work and deal with childcare. But to these moms, whether young or a bit older, if you are serving the Lord, the same message that was given to Mary is given to you, “The Lord is with you!”

Irritate is defined as 1) make (someone) annoyed, impatient, or angry.
2) Cause inflammation or other discomfort in (a part of the body).

A grain of sand in your eye would be irritating. Leave it and your eye will become infected and eventually loss of vision.
The same grain of sand in an oyster will also be an irritant. But the grain of sand in the oyster will cause irritation, secretion, which will create one of the most beautiful and sought after gems – a pearl.

Now the sand did not cause the eye to lose vision or the oyster to make a pearl. The sand is simply an irritant that reveals the inner properties of the eye or the oyster.
To justify this – does a pearl pop out of your eye each time you get a grain of sand in it? NO!
If you take a rose and step on it the aroma of the rose will saturate the air.
Did your stepping on the rose create the aroma? No, the pressure of your foot simply revealed the inner properties of the rose – the aroma.

Now when another person irritates you, like your spouse, does that irritation cause you to be angry? Does it cause you to say hurtful things?
No, it simply reveals an inner property of you that is already there.
What you need to do is take that irritation and make a pearl!
How is this done?
Only one way – LOVE!

This is what the Bible says; Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 1 Cor 13:4-5

Did you get that part? Love is not irritable.
Love does not keep records of wrong.
Love forgives!
Love just loves!

Think about this, Jesus said, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls…” Matt 13:45
You are an irritant to God but He will make a pearl out of you!

So next time someone irritates you become the best part of it – the pearl!