Blessings from God

God Keeps us Humble, and Blesses Us, in Just the Right Proportion

/ Bill Jones / 8 Comments

I’ve had great fun with my book being published, and God has blessed me in the process – but he’s also kept me humble.

As you get closer to finally having a real book out there, thoughts of it becoming wildly popular do creep in now and then – at least they did with me. What if it becomes a best seller ! You could go in the bookstore and see it on the shelves right in front as you walk in the door. Amazon could declare you a “Best Selling” author. You could get rave reviews, even in the national media. You could write a book about writing your book, and it be a best seller too.

I have been realistic, and hopefully a little humble, enough that those extreme thoughts didn’t come to mind (most of them sound rather scary and bothersome), but a limited level of “wildly popular” did pop up.

I have prayed that the book would be to the glory of God and the good of His people, and it’s a sincere prayer. But, it’s also a phrase that flows easily across the lips so it shouldn’t be made without thought, which has been the case at times. And, it shouldn’t be prayed and then your mind start wandering and come out with a thought about how neat it could be for the book to be wildly popular. That has happened, too.

So, how wildly popular is it? My royalty payments from the first four weeks of sales came today, and the total was $16.52 in American dollars, plus 2 pounds, 60 pence from the UK. I won’t be retiring to the South Seas anytime soon.

I just checked Amazon to see where my sales rank. It made me smile to see I’m still in the seven digit category.  My book is ranked at 1,725,727. No national media headlines coming any time soon.

But, the reason for the royalty in pounds, is that two books sold in the United Kingdom. That’s awesome to think about. I have friends who tell me they use the book for a daily devotional. Others have read it, and bought additional copies because they want to give them to their young adult children, or their brother and father, or their Pastor and Bible Study teacher. What wonderful, and humbling, blessings.

God has a way of answering our prayers, in spite of ourselves. He can keep us humble while uplifting us. Praise the Lord!

“Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good” Psalm 135:3

Lay Aside the Weights Which Hinder Us in Our Race

/ Bill Jones / Leave a comment
Bent Power Pole

Bent Power Pole

This power pole is next to US Highway 80, along the route between our house and the church we attend. So, for quite awhile, on my trips to and from church, I’ve watched it bend a little more each year. (Yes, we electric utility engineers do notice the power lines as we drive along.)

It’s not leaning. You can see it’s straight at ground level. Leaning would mean the foundation is weak, but the foundation is strong (in this case it’s the dirt around about 6 feet of pole in the ground.) No, it’s just bending.

The pull of the attached cable that goes off to the right is causing the bend. Is the pole in danger of breaking? Probably not, unless it stays a long time, with enough bending and enough age (like our bodies, a pole’s strength lessens as it gets older.)

The more the pole bends, the more gravity comes into the equation. When it’s straight up and down, the entire pole carries the weight. But, as it bends, the weight of the top of the pole and, in this case, the weight of the transformer, create offset forces that increase the bending even more. That concentrates more force at particular locations along the pole (think of breaking a stick with your hands – it bends, then breaks at a particular point.)

If it’s not likely to break, what’s the problem? A power pole has one purpose – to hold things up. This next picture shows the span of cable that goes off the pole.

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You can consider the two photos and see that, as the pole bends more, the cable will sag closer to the ground. If it’s significant enough, the clearance to the ground can become unsafe. The pole’s purpose – to hold things up – can be compromised by weights and pulls and burdens. Even while just doing it’s job.

As I’ve passed the pole these many years, my thoughts often go to Hebrews 12:1-3: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our purpose is to glorify and worship God. Laying aside sin is obviously needed for us to fulfill that purpose (run the race). But, the Scripture verses and the pole in the picture remind us there are also weights and pulls and burdens, even “good” ones, that can hinder our race and compromise our purpose – slow us down, or get us off track, or cause us to sag under the burden. Those can be subtle and require continual self assessment to keep under control. And, as the verse also says, keeping our eyes on Jesus, and remembering what He has done, will help to reinforce the purpose in our life, and allow us to lay aside the sin and weights that hinder us.

What are some of these weights, and pulls and burdens that you’ve come across in your life?

My New Book Will Be Available Next Week – Thank the Lord!

/ Bill Jones / 10 Comments

 

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Createspace says it should be available on Amazon in 3-5 days. The Kindle ebook is in progress and I’ll have more info on all of this soon.

Here’s the back cover info –

What Biblical lessons can you learn from falling out of your uncle’s pickup truck, accidentally hitting your cousin in the eye with a paddleball, or watching toads patiently wait for tasty bugs? Bill Jones pondered those, and other memories and observations of everyday life, and found the lessons God gives in them. Such thinking crystallized his understanding  that God’s goodness and greatness are all around us, and He is with us every step of our journey through life.

The stories told in these devotional readings illustrate how God uses the happenings in our life, both the good and bad, and the small and large, to show us His love and mercy, and teach us how we should live. Mixing touches of humor and unconventional perspectives, the author gives us the opportunity to do some thinking about our great and gracious God, and, hopefully, get a little closer to Him.

Bill Jones and his wife, Sharon, live in a rural area of southeastern Georgia where they attend a small community church. He has had inspirational articles published in Evangel, Keys to Living and The Christian Journal magazines.

 

 

Angel Trumpet Topiary Blooming Update

/ Bill Jones / Leave a comment

I posted this picture earlier when I was trying to get the Angel Trumpet topiary going. Just wanted to post an update and declare a success (at least in my opinion).

 

Angel Trumpet Trees

Angel Trumpet Trees

Angel Trumpet Topiary Blooming

Angel Trumpet Topiary Blooming

In the previous post I also wrote about starting new plants from cuttings. I had a successful season for that, too, and gave away several plants – always a fun thing.

God’s wonderful creation – it just keeps amazing me.