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The Last Mountain

The old man stands at the foot of the mountain. The way ahead is very steep. This is not the first mountain he has climbed, but it will be his last. As he looks up the path, he is leaning on a staff that he has carried for many years. He will carry it one more day.

He is not familiar with the trail on this mountain. But this is not a problem. God has always guided his steps. This journey will be no different. He has always been faithful to his God. The Great I Am has always been faithful to him. Now, with his staff in his hand, he takes the first of his last steps.

Moses was a true hero of the faith. He had climbed many mountains for God. In Deuteronomy 34, we read about his last mountain. On that day, his eyes were undimmed, and his strength was unwavering. And yet the steps he walked that day would be his last steps on earth. However, because of his obedience and faithfulness to God, his last step on this mountain was his first step in Heaven

When Jesus invites us to walk with Him, He doesn’t promise an easy life. Instead, He calls us into a journey filled with challenges. Jesus is urging us to embrace the adventure of faith. Life is filled with many mountains. And one day, like Moses, we will come to the Last Mountain. On that day, with Faith in Jesus as our Staff, we will begin a climb that will end in the Heights of Glory.

Today, I am thinking of a precious preacher friend of mine. Obediently and faithfully, he has climbed many mountains for his God. But today, the relentless nature of time has left his eyes dimmed and his mind confused. Now he stands at the base of his last mountain. It will be a difficult journey, but his spiritual strength is unwavering. God has always directed his path, and today is no different. Soon, with undimmed eyes and a clear mind, he will step onto the summit of The Last Mountain.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

From Down Where the Pavement Ends

www.pavementendsministry.com

email-douglas@pavementendsministry.com

Dead Last Week

Jairus stood by her bed watching as she slept. His heart was so happy it almost hurt. At twelve, she was still a little girl yet so close to being a young woman. Also at twelve, he had almost lost her. He listened to her breathing as she slept and saw a sweet smile on her beautiful face. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks because he knew that before Jesus came, she was dead last week.

His sisters were raising a ruckus. They did not think he should be working in the hot sun. But working in the vineyard is what he wants to do. Rocks have fallen from the wall and need to be replaced. Vines have to be pruned and briars must be pulled. At the end of the day Mary and Martha will continue to nag him about taking it easy. But his sore muscles and his sweat-soaked clothes are trophies of life. There was blood trickling from a scratch on his arm. Lazarus looked at it and chuckled. He said, “Just think, before Jesus came, I was dead last week”!

The church people are skeptical and his friends think he is crazy. But he knows the truth. He had been sitting under a bridge with a bottle of alcohol and a bag of pills. He had a plan. He was going to drink the alcohol, swallow the pills and die. Then a hand touched his arm and he heard a voice saying, “There is a better way, come follow Me. I will make you whole again.” Yes, down at the church they are skeptical, and his friends call him crazy. But his children are no longer afraid of him and his wife now stands by his side. The bottle is broken, the pills are trampled in the mud and he is alive. And he knows, if it had not been for Jesus he would have been dead last week.

Jesus is right here. He has power over death, hell, and the grave and is victorious over modern demons like drugs and alcohol. In John chapter 6, we hear Him say “I tell you this, and you can be sure of it. If you believe in Me, you will have everlasting life.” He has shown us that he can bring hungry little girls back from the dead and call a friend out of the grave. Life is but a vapor and death is but a shadow. Put your faith in Jesus and the fear of death will be gone like last week.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

www.pavementendsministry.com

Email-pavementendsministry@gmail.com

Trust

The other night, we ordered takeout from a local restaurant. When I arrived to pick it up, the order wasn't quite ready, so I had to wait a few minutes. As I stood waiting, I could see the kitchen area and watched the cooks prepare the meals. Seeing how the food was handled made me wonder about their cleanliness and hygiene. Despite my concerns, I was hungry and decided to have faith in the restaurant and eat the food.

Have you ever considered the various people and things in which you place your trust? When you sit down, you trust that the chair was built strong enough to support your weight. When you drive a car, you trust that the oncoming traffic will stay in their lanes. Eating at a restaurant reflects your belief in the restaurant's ability to prepare a healthy meal.

But often, the things we trust in can fail us. Chairs have broken, causing people to fall on the floor. Automobile accidents often happen due to mechanical malfunctions or driver errors, and people have gotten sick because of poorly prepared food. However, we still place our faith and trust in people and things every day. The truth is to function in life, it is necessary to place trust and faith in others.

Every day, we trust things that might prove untrustworthy. Yet, many people refuse to live for Jesus because they don't trust Him. They struggle to place their faith in a Savior who can never fail them because they don't believe He is trustworthy. In Psalm 37, we are told that if we trust the Lord, we will thrive in His faithfulness. If we commit our way to Him and trust Him, He will fulfill all His promises for us. You must trust Him. If you can trust a man in a restaurant to make you a pizza, you can surely trust Jesus to make you holy.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

www.pavementendsministry.com

email-pavementendsministry@gmail.com

Everybody is a Nobody Who Can Be Somebody

In Mark Chapter 5, there is a story about a woman who was a nobody. We don’t even know her name. If we had been there on this day, she would not have been in our field of vision. Seeing her would have made us uncomfortable, so we would have chosen not to see her. If we had seen her, we would have assumed her problems were her own fault, because that is the way we think.

She was a nobody. Most people would have avoided her. She was not supposed to be there. For twelve years she had suffered with an issue of blood. This made her unclean. Because she was unclean, she could not be around others. She could not even worship God. In her shame and grief, she spent everything she had seeking help. She has suffered all sorts of abuse and indignities. Hopeless and helpless, she spends her days and nights lonely and untouched.

She felt like a nobody. But one day she overheard people talking about Jesus. I say “overheard” because since she was a nobody, why would anyone bother to tell her about the Savior? She considers herself a nobody so she cannot even face Jesus. She hopes that maybe she will be healed if she can just touch his coat. To the world and herself, she was a nobody. But to Jesus she is somebody. He stops everything and looks for her. He finds her and calls her daughter. Her faith in Him has made her well. She was a nobody, but now she is somebody. She is a child of God.

Do you feel like a nobody? Have addictions caused you to spend all you have seeking relief from your demons? Are you broken and abused? Do you stand there weeping? Is your life filled with loneliness? Are your days and nights spent untouched and unloved? Maybe it seems that no one sees you, because no one offers help. It seems that no one cares. To the world you are nobody.

Today I hope you hear about Jesus. I hope you will push through the crowd and reach out for Him. Have faith only in Jesus. He will stop everything to reach out to the ones the world ignores. Everybody is somebody to Him. The Bible tells us that God is rich in mercy. Because of His great love, even when we are nobody and dead in our sin, He makes us somebody alive in Christ. Wow, look at the love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Anybody can reach out to Jesus because everybody is somebody to Him.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

www.pavementendsministry.com

Email- pavementendsministry@gmail.com

That's What Daddies Do

Daddies fix things. They fix flat bicycle tires, start stubborn lawnmowers, repair leaky commodes, troubleshoot washing machines, and get swings swinging again. Most of the time, they may not know exactly what they're doing, but they always do their best because that's what daddies do - they fix things.

My daughter called me one day and told me the battery was dead and her car would not start. At the time she lived across the state. It was at least a three-hour drive. So, I told her that I was on my way. She said Daddy, I don't want you to come and fix it. I just want you to listen to me. So, I listened to her. After all, that is what daddies do.

But if she had wanted me to drive three hours to fix her car, I would have. I believe that is my job as a daddy. No matter how busy or important a man is, his children come first. Whether his son or daughter is five or fifty when they say “Daddy, I need you.” He will drop what he's doing and go to them. Because that's what daddies do.

For years, sitcoms have denigrated fathers. The government has tried to replace dads, and social groups have attacked men. In doing this, they have caused great suffering in this world. The world would be a better place if more men were real daddies. You see little girls need a daddy to be their first love, and little boys need a daddy to teach them how to be a man.

So, guys step up and be the Daddy your family needs. Give your life to Jesus. Cherish your wife and keep your vows. Read the Bible to your family and take them to church. Love God with all your heart because a man who loves God first loves his family best. You may not always know how to fix things. But if you lean on God, you can do the things a Daddy does.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

www.pavementendsministry.com

Memories

I remember Gin Creek. I assume it was named Gin Creek because at some point in time and someplace in its travel it must have powered a cotton gin. I remember a smooth path alongside this creek where I would walk. I remember crawfish running backward and minnows threading the quick current.

Long before cell phones and computers, there were creeks with elm leaves and water snakes floating in them. Long before boys entertained themselves with video games, they kept themselves busy damming up creeks to make swimming holes. They also rode bikes with no brakes down steep hills. And now old men have scars and aching bones as a result of the glorious crashes that occurred at the bottom.

I remember cane poles and catching bream. In those days there was nothing to worry about. As we rambled through the woods, ticks did not bite and people were good. Also in those days, flat screens were used to keep the bugs out of the house and the net was used to catch fish.

I remember going to church. And preachers who gave out bubblegum and the love of God to children. I remember Vacation Bible School with white-haired ladies and crafts. I also remember Kool-Aid, cookies, and the gospel being served. This is where I decided to follow Jesus.

I remember Sunday School and a teacher who took his boys squirrel hunting. I remember a pastor who walked with Jesus daily and modeled humility. And the legend of Brother Jack lives on today. He and others like him are the type of preacher that I hope to become someday.

Memories. I don’t press them in the pages of my mind. Instead, they are running on the screen saver of my heart. They tell of simpler times and sweeter pleasures. They remind me of places and people who have shaped my life. But most of all they remind me of how much Jesus loved that boy who used to play in the waters of Gin Creek.

Memorial Day

3,000,000. If Google is correct, this is the approximate number of American Soldiers who have died in service to this great country. These are the ones we honor on Memorial Day.

Now this may shock you, but listen carefully. The sacrifices of these great heroes were not made in defense of our freedoms. In their Oath of Enlistment, every American soldier swears to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and bear faith and allegiance to it. You see their great sacrifice was made for a document. Oh, but what a document it is.

In its preamble, we read that the Constitution was ordained and established in "Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." So yes they did die for our freedom because they died defending the Constitution and the Constitution secures our Blessings of Liberty.

Now consider this. The Constitution is not the source of your rights, no it only secures them. When we read about "The Blessings of Liberty,” we must understand that blessings can only come from a Gracious God. The Declaration of Independence says; "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” This truth is evident. Our rights are declared by the Declaration of Independence, secured by the Constitution of the United States but they are given to us by our Creator and God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On Memorial Day I pledge to remember and honor over 3,000,000 great men and women who sacrificed greatly in defense of the Constitution and for my Blessings of Liberty. Also because I am free, I will never stop glorifying my God and Savior Jesus Christ. He has given me the Rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness found in the Hope and Promise of Eternal Life.

Call Your Mama

Among the last items of business that Jesus took care of, even as He hung on the cross, was to make sure that His mother would be cared for. His mother’s life was turned upside down at His birth. She was there while He grew, changing His diapers and kissing His skinned knees. She worried when He was left behind in the temple and tried to understand when He said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” For this reason, before Jesus said “It is finished,” He looked at John and said, “Behold your mother.”

Jesus was His Father’s son, but He was His Mama’s boy. In the Bible, it seems as if He performed His first miracle to please His Mama. Like Jesus, we should always try to please our mamas. Just like all Mary, all mothers make great sacrifices for their children, and like Mary, all mothers should be honored and loved by their children.

Here are a few ways that you should love your mother.

Love her verbally. Tell her how much you love her. Love her physically. She needs and deserves your hugs. Love her patiently. Goodness knows she was patient with you. Love her with your ears. Remember all the time she stopped what she was doing to listen to you. Take the time to sit and listen to her. Love her generously. There is nothing too good for your mama. Remember all the sacrifices she made for you. Be generous with your love and money, but most of all be generous with your time

It does not matter who you are, what you do, or how much money you make. If you honor your mother, she will be proud of you. Love your mother with all your heart. Love her so that she will be thankful for all the time she invested in you and all the sacrifices she made for you. Remember whoever you are, you owe a lifetime of love to your mother.

So, call your Mama!

Honor your father, and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Exodus 20:12