The recent flooding in Colorado has contaminated and ruined man crops, making them inedible. These crops were perfectly fine and destined for the local food markets until the devistating flood waters with their dangerous chemicals, molds, bacteria, and other contaminates made the fruits and vegetables unhealthy to eat. Fruits, vegtables, and grains all need water…
Author: Joshua Goodling
Plain and Simple
In Psalm 34:11-14 David wrote, “Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek…
Just Do What He Says
We read in the book of Joshua, the story of how God delivered the city of Jericho into the Israelites hands. However, it’s not how most people would expect the delivery to occur. Joshua and the nation of Israel didn’t bombard the city with battering rams and fierce warriors. No, God had a COMPLETELY different…
Delight IN God
Too many times in our life in this world, we seem to neglect the fact that God created us and HE ALONE knows what is best for our lives. We look for satisfaction, happiness, and contentment in the things of this world, our possessions, our status in life, our worldly friends, etc., rather than looking…
Seeking Advice
Psalm 1 is an encouraging and inspiring Psalm. It starts out describing the type of person whom God blesses. Notice verses 1 and 2: “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his…
Guidance
I was driving out to speak at a middle school last week. I didn’t know exactly where the school was, so I had typed the address into my Google maps app on my iPhone, and as I was driving down the road towards the school, I noticed the little blue dot on the map that…
We Get GOD!
People have often paid large sums of money just for the opportunity to have lunch or dinner with a famous person. Last year, the annual auction to have lunch with Warren Buffett resulted in someone paying 2.34 million dollars just to have lunch with him. For some reason, no one has ever offered to pay…
In The Morning
Sadly, my youngest brother passed away this weekend after an almost year long battle with cancer. It has been a sad few days for my family as we mourn the loss of a loved one. And while it is a sad time when people we know leave this life, it just makes the thought of…
Be still, and know that I am God.
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” We live in a world of “instant” everything. We have microwaves that very quickly heat up food in an instant. We have the internet where we can instantly find out what is going on half…
Experiencing God’s Best
The Apostle John writes in 1 John 1:1-4, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to…
Do You Love Religion Or Do You Love Jesus?
I don’t put a lot of stock in polls. I don’t think you can say 40% of all people like the color blue best when you only asked 1000 people. There are around 7 billion people on the planet! You would have to ask at least 1 billion people and even then you wouldn’t be…
It Made A Difference To That One…
We live in a world that pretty much is focused entirely on “self”. What I want, when I want, how I want, and why I want seem to be the principles that a lot of people live by. And yet, these life principles do not work, nor do they result in true peace, joy, or…
WORRIED?
In 1949, Alfred Smith wrote the short song, Why worry when you can pray? Trust Jesus, He’ll be your stay; Don’t be a “doubting Thomas.” Trust fully in His promise. Why worry, worry, worry, worry, When you can pray? We as human beings, some more than others I guess, seem to worry A LOT about…
It May Be A Difficult Road…But Don’t Let That Stop You!
Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and doctors didn’t expect her to survive. She did, but at age four, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her left leg paralyzed. At age nine, she took off her metal leg brace she had depended upon for the past…
I Must Tell Jesus
Elisha Hoffman was a pastor in Pennsylvania during the 1800’s. There was a lady who was a member of his church, who had experienced many trials in her life. One day upon visiting her, Hoffman found the woman overcome with discouragement. After telling him about her latest trial, she questioned, “What do I do? What…
What Are You Hungry For?
The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” When discussing this passage in his commentary on the Bible, Adam Clarke writes, “The deer feels himself almost entirely spent; he is nearly hunted…
Add To Your Faith
One of the great things about reading and studying the Bible is the directions and guidance we can find for our daily lives. In 2 Peter chapter 1, we find several verses that give us some instruction for increasing our faith. “…make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and…
His Will Is Perfect!
The story is told of an old Scottish woman who went from house to house across the countryside selling thread, buttons, and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick into the air and go in the direction the stick pointed when it landed. One day, however, she was seen…
What Are You Focusing On?
In the book of Genesis we find the story of Eve and the serpent. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said…
Out Of Business
One can read hundreds of stories over the past couple of hundred years as small towns and even large towns have gone bust after a factory closed or after a coal mine was completely mined out. You can see main streets that are empty now and even complete towns that are abandoned as the source…
YOU Make the Choice
To be REALLY honest, we should be willing to follow Jesus COMPLETELY with our lives and obey His commandments simply because He loved us enough to die on the cross for our sins. The writer of this hymn tells it quite well; There will never be a sweeter story, Story of the Saviour’s love divine…
Are You Jesus?
I recently read the following story: A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush through the airport, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently…
Can You Prove It?
Adelina Patti, a famous singer back in the late 1800’s, was traveling in France on a singing tour. She had instructed her home post office to forward all of her mail to a small French village where she planned to pick it up. “Any mail for Adelina Patti?” she inquired of the postmaster who did…
The Price You Want To Pay
In the Old Testament book of Exodus, we find the story of how God used Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and to the land which He had promised to give to them. The nation of Israel had been held captive by the Egyptians for over many years when God told Moses to…
HE is GOD!
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) When we become a Christian, and give our lives to God, he doesn’t send us a questionnaire with 100 questions to let us pick and choose what He will do with our lives, what kind of “trials” we want to face, and where we want…
One Step…
One Step… Several years ago, I applied for a job as an Editor of a Cancer Newsletter at the Dartmouth Cancer Center. There were many people who applied for this position, and I went through several over-the-phone interviews. They finally narrowed it down to 2 people. Me and another person, and after the final interview,…
What Are We Afraid Of?
Remember the story in the Bible about David fighting the giant Goliath? Can you imagine how it must have looked to all of the Israelite soldiers as David walked alone out in the middle of the battlefield to fight Goliath? Here was an entire army that was afraid of one man, yet David went ALONE…
One Life
Life is not a dress rehearsal…this is the real thing. We only get ONE SHOT at living this life. Thankfully God is merciful, and let’s us have second chances at some of the things in this life, but as far as our entire life goes – we only live once, and every choice and decision…
What Do You Talk About?
Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 12, when He said, “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” Whatever we value and think important in our lives is what we are going to talk about most often….
Following HIM!
A few years ago, I was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. In one part of the building is a hall that has 4 entrances leading into different sections of the aquarium. The hall is in the shape of a small circle, and above the entrances is a circular fish tank that goes…