Our son, Tim is graduaing from Army airborne school this afternoon. We are very proud of him. As his mother, I am nervous about him jumping out of planes, but at the same time I am comforted. He has taken his airborne training seriously. He follows the instructions very carefully.
The course is three weeks long. There is a lot of preparation the first week, learning about the planes, and equipment. The second week is practicing jumps from a 250 ft tower. The third week is dropping from the planes. They have to have 5 jumps in, in order to graduate.
This class has been challenged in many ways...one of which was the weather. Last week it rained all week, prohibiting them from doing the tower jumps. They were told last Friday, never mind the practicing, they would just go straight to bailing from the planes.
Tim has told us from the beginning that he has listened and paid attention to the instructors. Everything they have told him is for his safety and well being. He knows if he heeds their teaching, he will have an easier time with the jumps.
Some of his fellow classmates listen...some do not. The ones that don't follow the instructions have to pay the consequences. Some have injured their feet, by not landing correctly. One classmate broke his leg. A couple of incidents were more severe. One girl failed to hand off her snap line and just let it fall to the plane floor. The next jumper bailed from the plane immediately afterward, and got his arm wrapped around the loose cord. When he jumped, he ripped his bicept off. The girl had to leave airborne. Another man was about to jump, when at the last minute someone noticed that he had his line wrapped around his neck. Had they not noticed, it would have snapped his neck and killed him. Can you imagine how grateful he was to the one who noticed he was in danger?
Tim did well on his jumps. The first two jumps, he said were like pillows. Nice and smooth. The third jump, he decided to try and save a little time by pulling one of his lines a little to the right. He got caught up in a wind gust, and started heading toward a truck! He brought his legs up quickly and narrowly missed the vehicle. This landing was harder and a bit painful. Did he learn his lesson? Yes. It doesn't always pay to try and take a shortcut. He has his last two jumps this morning. I'm confident he will be paying attention.
We are all in training. It is called LIFE. We are preparing ourselves for where we will spend eternity. But how do we know how to get through the training? We are given an instruction manuel. It is called the Bible. In 1995, Kiliah Priest wrote a song, "B I B L E, Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth". Like the airborne students, we are given countless opportunities to learn about what to do in situations that may come our way. We can listen and learn, or choose to not pay attention, and suffer the consequences. Some situations are well planned, some circumstances are thrust upon us with no opportunity to practice or rehearse. If we choose to try to take matters in our own hands, we can get bumps and bruises, or even be broken. Some choices can leave us with more severe outcomes. As with the young girl jumper, some of our decisions can affect and hurt other people.
It is important that we keep close to our Heavenly Instructor, and learn how to handle the various situations that occur in our lives. God has filled His Word with solutions to every circumstance that we come up against in our lifetime. All we have to do is pick it up and learn.
Let's not forget our fellow 'jumpers' in this thing called life. We were not meant to live our lives alone, void of other people. God gave us the people around us for a reason. We are to look after each other, and help one another. If we notice that someone has a potential noose around their neck that could be fatal, it is our job...no...our obligation to bring it to their attention. Perhaps, like that young man in the plane, we have a noose around our own neck and don't even realize that we are about to jump into a potentially fatal setting. How grateful would we be, for someone to bring it to our attention?
The Bible gives us the basic instructions on how to live in this life and beyond. It gives us assurance that we will go to heaven when we die. But why would God give us the Bible in the first place? What is it all about? It's all about love.
God loves us so much that He created us to love Him in return. He made man to live in perfect harmony with Him. But sin entered the picture, through man's disobedience. Everyone has sinned. (Romans 3:23) All disobedience, or sin deserves punishment. The punishment was death, and separation from God when we die. (Romans 6:23) That very real place is called hell. But God loved us too much to leave us in that situation. He had a plan to allow us to be with Him, in heaven for eternity. But, heaven is perfect. How can we, as sinful people go there?
God sent His Son, Jesus to earth as a little baby...human, yet also God. Jesus, being human understands all of our human weaknesses. He has experienced all of the temptations that we do, yet He never sinned. (Hebrews 4:5) He knew God the Father's plan, and chose to take our punishment for us, so that we would not have to suffer the pain of hell. He knew the punishment would have to be severe. Jesus suffered and died a humiliating death upon the cross. (Romans 5:28) But, as He predicted, He rose again three days later...very much alive! Soon after, He rose up into heaven and is waiting to come again to earth. (Matthew 28:1-7; John 14:1-3)
Jesus took my punishment...and yours. Salvation is offered freely. We don't have to DO anything in order to receive it. In fact, we CAN'T do anything to go to heaven. (Ephesians 2:8-10) If it were up to us, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. It is a free gift. But that gift is not automatic. We just have to make the choice to accept that gift. Is it hard to do? No. In fact, it's quite easy.
All we have to do is three things. It's as easy as ABC :
A - admit to God that you are a sinner, and repent (or be sorry) for disobeying Him. (1 John 1:8-9)
B - believe that Jesus is God's Son, and died for your sins. (Romans 5:8)
C - confess your faith, and choose to make Jesus the Lord (or boss) of your life. (Romans 10:9)
If you have done these things, and know that you would like to open up your heart and life to Christ, you can pray this prayer, or one of your own:
Heavenly Father, I know and admit that I have sinned. I have chosen to go my own way. I am sorry, and ask your forgiveness. I want to do better, and do what You want me to do. I believe that You sent Jesus to die for my sins on the cross, and that He rose again from the dead. I confess You as my Lord, and give You control over my life. I love and thank You. In Jesus' name, Amen
If you have sincerely prayed this prayer, you are now a Christian! Now what? I encourage you to find a Bible believing church in your area, and attend. It will help you to learn more about the Christian faith. In the meantime, here is a good link to go to that may help:
http://www.centralcal.com/christ8.htm
If you don't own a Bible, you can use the internet at http://www.bible.com/ until you can obtain one. There are many translations to choose from. The Message is a good one to start with.
Do you have to worry about losing your salvation, or God changing His mind? No. The Bible says
that we can KNOW that we have eternal life, if we believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)
God loves you. Pick up a copy of His Instruction Manuel and find out how much!
God Bless.
The course is three weeks long. There is a lot of preparation the first week, learning about the planes, and equipment. The second week is practicing jumps from a 250 ft tower. The third week is dropping from the planes. They have to have 5 jumps in, in order to graduate.
This class has been challenged in many ways...one of which was the weather. Last week it rained all week, prohibiting them from doing the tower jumps. They were told last Friday, never mind the practicing, they would just go straight to bailing from the planes.
Tim has told us from the beginning that he has listened and paid attention to the instructors. Everything they have told him is for his safety and well being. He knows if he heeds their teaching, he will have an easier time with the jumps.
Some of his fellow classmates listen...some do not. The ones that don't follow the instructions have to pay the consequences. Some have injured their feet, by not landing correctly. One classmate broke his leg. A couple of incidents were more severe. One girl failed to hand off her snap line and just let it fall to the plane floor. The next jumper bailed from the plane immediately afterward, and got his arm wrapped around the loose cord. When he jumped, he ripped his bicept off. The girl had to leave airborne. Another man was about to jump, when at the last minute someone noticed that he had his line wrapped around his neck. Had they not noticed, it would have snapped his neck and killed him. Can you imagine how grateful he was to the one who noticed he was in danger?
Tim did well on his jumps. The first two jumps, he said were like pillows. Nice and smooth. The third jump, he decided to try and save a little time by pulling one of his lines a little to the right. He got caught up in a wind gust, and started heading toward a truck! He brought his legs up quickly and narrowly missed the vehicle. This landing was harder and a bit painful. Did he learn his lesson? Yes. It doesn't always pay to try and take a shortcut. He has his last two jumps this morning. I'm confident he will be paying attention.
We are all in training. It is called LIFE. We are preparing ourselves for where we will spend eternity. But how do we know how to get through the training? We are given an instruction manuel. It is called the Bible. In 1995, Kiliah Priest wrote a song, "B I B L E, Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth". Like the airborne students, we are given countless opportunities to learn about what to do in situations that may come our way. We can listen and learn, or choose to not pay attention, and suffer the consequences. Some situations are well planned, some circumstances are thrust upon us with no opportunity to practice or rehearse. If we choose to try to take matters in our own hands, we can get bumps and bruises, or even be broken. Some choices can leave us with more severe outcomes. As with the young girl jumper, some of our decisions can affect and hurt other people.
It is important that we keep close to our Heavenly Instructor, and learn how to handle the various situations that occur in our lives. God has filled His Word with solutions to every circumstance that we come up against in our lifetime. All we have to do is pick it up and learn.
Let's not forget our fellow 'jumpers' in this thing called life. We were not meant to live our lives alone, void of other people. God gave us the people around us for a reason. We are to look after each other, and help one another. If we notice that someone has a potential noose around their neck that could be fatal, it is our job...no...our obligation to bring it to their attention. Perhaps, like that young man in the plane, we have a noose around our own neck and don't even realize that we are about to jump into a potentially fatal setting. How grateful would we be, for someone to bring it to our attention?
The Bible gives us the basic instructions on how to live in this life and beyond. It gives us assurance that we will go to heaven when we die. But why would God give us the Bible in the first place? What is it all about? It's all about love.
God loves us so much that He created us to love Him in return. He made man to live in perfect harmony with Him. But sin entered the picture, through man's disobedience. Everyone has sinned. (Romans 3:23) All disobedience, or sin deserves punishment. The punishment was death, and separation from God when we die. (Romans 6:23) That very real place is called hell. But God loved us too much to leave us in that situation. He had a plan to allow us to be with Him, in heaven for eternity. But, heaven is perfect. How can we, as sinful people go there?
God sent His Son, Jesus to earth as a little baby...human, yet also God. Jesus, being human understands all of our human weaknesses. He has experienced all of the temptations that we do, yet He never sinned. (Hebrews 4:5) He knew God the Father's plan, and chose to take our punishment for us, so that we would not have to suffer the pain of hell. He knew the punishment would have to be severe. Jesus suffered and died a humiliating death upon the cross. (Romans 5:28) But, as He predicted, He rose again three days later...very much alive! Soon after, He rose up into heaven and is waiting to come again to earth. (Matthew 28:1-7; John 14:1-3)
Jesus took my punishment...and yours. Salvation is offered freely. We don't have to DO anything in order to receive it. In fact, we CAN'T do anything to go to heaven. (Ephesians 2:8-10) If it were up to us, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. It is a free gift. But that gift is not automatic. We just have to make the choice to accept that gift. Is it hard to do? No. In fact, it's quite easy.
All we have to do is three things. It's as easy as ABC :
A - admit to God that you are a sinner, and repent (or be sorry) for disobeying Him. (1 John 1:8-9)
B - believe that Jesus is God's Son, and died for your sins. (Romans 5:8)
C - confess your faith, and choose to make Jesus the Lord (or boss) of your life. (Romans 10:9)
If you have done these things, and know that you would like to open up your heart and life to Christ, you can pray this prayer, or one of your own:
Heavenly Father, I know and admit that I have sinned. I have chosen to go my own way. I am sorry, and ask your forgiveness. I want to do better, and do what You want me to do. I believe that You sent Jesus to die for my sins on the cross, and that He rose again from the dead. I confess You as my Lord, and give You control over my life. I love and thank You. In Jesus' name, Amen
If you have sincerely prayed this prayer, you are now a Christian! Now what? I encourage you to find a Bible believing church in your area, and attend. It will help you to learn more about the Christian faith. In the meantime, here is a good link to go to that may help:
http://www.centralcal.com/christ8.htm
If you don't own a Bible, you can use the internet at http://www.bible.com/ until you can obtain one. There are many translations to choose from. The Message is a good one to start with.
Do you have to worry about losing your salvation, or God changing His mind? No. The Bible says
that we can KNOW that we have eternal life, if we believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13)
God loves you. Pick up a copy of His Instruction Manuel and find out how much!
God Bless.
I knew you could do this, Peggy! i am so proud of you!!!
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