By Gary Andrews
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It seems to me that many in our society are trying to become something other than what they really are. We have so many reality television shows that tell us how to do things and how to live our lives. Young minds are seeing some of these shows and believing their lives can emulate the people on television.
We are becoming a fake world. Look around you and you can see how our political leaders are leading our citizens into a society that only follows and never leads. The reality television shows are doing the same thing. We are becoming dependent on what people tell us to do instead of being creators and self-designers of our own lives.
We see young women and men interviewing and dating other men and women on television trying to find true love. The internet is full of dating services soliciting input from unsuspecting people looking for happiness, true love, and total commitment from someone they have never met or had only a few days with. Yes, some of these can be true love at first sight and these couples may be together until death parts them, however this will be a very low percentage.
Television families have many problems as families of the real world do. The biggest difference is that television families seem to not work on their problems and take desperate measures against each other leading to stress and distress for everyone concerned. Real families should work their problems out and get them behind them, except we are listening and watching what the television tells us to do. Many people are in prison today because someone on television committed an act of violence and got away with it. People, in the real world it doesn’t work that way. You really do pay for your crimes.
What we need to realize is that these actors on television are working and when they are through they go home and, hopefully, enjoy a meaningful relationship with their real family. Too many of our youth are allowed to watch television and believe they can do what these actors are actually getting paid to do and that is paint a rosy picture for a bad situation.
I love to watch the old movie channels because the family situations seem more realistic and down to earth. There is very little violence in these movies and the good guys always win. There is also more family time together and they talk to each other, as all families should. They work out their problems together. These movies show families going and sitting in church together, then going home and having a family dinner around the table.
Our families of today are suffering immensely because we do not take time to talk and be together. One thing that you don’t see in these old movies is a family sitting around watching television, because there wasn’t any.
Think about your family. Do all of you sit and talk things through? Do you go to church together or does each one of you go in a separate vehicle? Do you share a family dinner without the television being on?
Not many of our families can answer yes to these questions because most of them are too busy watching television to see what their next move should be.
Prayer: Father God lead me away from the sinful programming nature of television. Even though it is a good medium in some ways, I pray that I glean from it what you would have me  to see. I pray that I can be a witness for you in all that I do. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – 1 Samuel 8:19-20; Monday – 1 Corinthians 4:14-21; Tuesday – 2 Kings 17:14-15; Wednesday – Joel 1:1-7; Thursday – Psalm 112:1-9; Friday – Philippians 4:8-9; Saturday – 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals.com

By Gary Andrews
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For the past several weeks I have had the song “The Lighthouse” on my mind. I researched the history of this song and found out it is not as old as I thought it would be and was written by Southern Gospel Music Great Ronnie Hinson. Part of “The Hinsons”, a tremendous gospel singing group that I grew up with and loved listening too, Ronnie wrote this song one night out of desperation. He was a teenager and his group needed new songs to perform when they would open shows for other well-known gospel groups.
Many of us go about our daily living looking for our own lighthouse to guide us safely home. Jesus is ultimately our Lighthouse and His brightness shines all around us if we are His child and have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. He tells us in John 8:12, “…I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
As we go through this life on earth we are surrounded by people that we consider “lighthouses.”  When we are down and out and it seems that we are on a dead end street, we talk to someone that will lift us up and show us a way that we can overcome our difficulties. Many people have the wisdom that can help us in our time of need and we often hope that we can obtain their wisdom so we can help someone else in need.
On our journey through life we are always going to look for these people of wisdom. Some of them will never know how much they have helped you because their outlook on life is not of this world but in eternity with our Lord and Savior. When we realize this and know that our hope and future is not of this earth then we will also become a “lighthouse” to someone else.
In the song “The Lighthouse” Hinson wrote, “Everybody that lives around me says, tear that lighthouse down, the big ships don’t sail this way anymore, there’s no use of it standing around.” We are in a day and age when atheists and other non-believers are telling us there is no God and that when we die there is nowhere to go. Our hopes vanish when we allow them to lead us. The second part of that verse says, “Then my mind goes back to that stormy night, when just in time I saw the light, Yes, that light from that old lighthouse, that stands up there on the hill.”
Our hope is renewed when we see or visit with someone that can be that old “lighthouse” that can get us back on the road to Jesus, the ultimate Lighthouse.
Life is sometimes cruel but we have an everlasting hope in Jesus. “And I thank God for the Lighthouse, I owe my life to Him, For Jesus is the Lighthouse, from the rocks of sin. He has shone a light around me that I can clearly see, if it wasn’t for the Lighthouse, where would this ship be?”
Prayer: Thank you Jesus for being the lighthouse for me. I pray that your light will show through me that I might be a lighthouse to someone else. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Psalm 27:1-6; Monday – 1 John 1:5-7; Tuesday – Colossians 1:3-14; Wednesday – Judges 5:31; Thursday – Hebrews 1:1-4; Thursday – Job 38:19-20; Friday – Ephesians 5:8-16; Saturday – John 11:9-10.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals.com

By Gary Andrews
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After spending many years in the print media business, I was asked by my wife of over 40 years, what I wanted to do when I grow up. This is a very thought provoking question especially when you have had a very successful career, a tremendous marriage, beautiful and loving children, and made many friends throughout the places you have been and lived. Would I change any of this? No.
The Lord has truly blessed me and my family and given us a very good life; however this question looms over me about what I want to do when I grow up. When I was a youngster I only had one quest in mind and that was to be a professional baseball player. As this dream faded I had visions of being an electrical engineer, and then shifted to coach and math teacher, then even possibly a career in the military. I had many and varied options and the Lord led me into a profession I had never dreamed of.
When I was younger I disliked reading or writing and ended up doing this for a profession. Even as I left the military I had visions of being a computer analyst. I went to college and got a degree in computer science, however the desire I had was with a wrong motive because I could see dollar signs all over this career. My dreams changed significantly from childhood of doing what I loved to doing something for financial gain. I am so glad the Lord knew what I needed to do.
I am not alone in these dreams. I hear people say if I could only go back and do what I wanted to do. I really have to ask the question, “Would you really go back and change your lifestyle and job?” Some would actually answer “yes” and I feel this would be by people who are unhappy or that haven’t been happy in what they have chosen for a career.
When I was a child of 12 years old I asked Jesus to come into my heart and lead my life. When my wife and I got married the first thing we did was to ask Jesus to be the head of our household. Jesus has never let us down. As I look back over my life the only times I remember difficultly was the times I took my eyes off of the Lord and tried to do things my way.
To answer the question that my wife asked me, I would have to say I want to do what Jesus wants me to do. For me to do this I will continue to study His Word and talk to Him on a daily basis. It would be my hope that the people of this world would come to the realization we are on this earth because Jesus allowed us to be. It doesn’t matter what our situation is or has been, we need to look to Him for continued guidance and trust in Him for our future.
It is my sincere hope that you are complete in Jesus. I hope that you will ask Him for forgiveness of anything you may be ashamed of in the past and look to Him for guidance in your future endeavors. Jesus may not lead where we think we should be, but He will lead us in the right direction if we will follow Him.
(Prayer: Thank you Lord for guiding my life, my marriage, and my career. I give you all the praise and glory for what these have been. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Genesis 11:1-9; Monday – Luke 22:24-38; Tuesday – Proverbs 10:1-10; Wednesday – Ephesians 5:15-17; Thursday – Jeremiah 45:1-5; Friday – James 4:13-17; Saturday – Ecclesiastes 7:29.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals.com

By Gary Andrews
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As I grow older, and hopefully wiser, I become more increasingly aware of what has helped me get to this point in life. With the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, my wife and I have made many, many friends along the way of our marriage with the many stops we have made through our moves.
We made the decision to get out of the US Air Force some 40 years ago because of not wanting to move around. Being in the print media business over these past 40 years, we have moved seven times and each time has been a true blessing. These moves were and continue to be great educational rewards for, not only for my wife and me, but for our children. The many people we have met along the way and the friends we have made continue to be one of the blessings that we will cherish for as long as we are on this earth.
I can remember many of my high school classmates. Through the internet many of us have had the opportunity of catching up on old times and bring back memories of things we used to do and places we used to go. The best description I have heard of a friend was stated by Elbert Hubard; “Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you."
As I have grown to the state of retirement and the world is slowing down a bit, I find myself wanting to know how and what my friends of the past are doing and how they are getting along. Even those I haven’t seen for many years I considered my friend because of our closeness of years past. Friends are the ones who have celebrated good times with you and listened to you in your down times. Things in life are always going to change but where ever your life takes you no one can take away your friends.
I have to say that throughout my marriage my best friend on earth has been my wife. No one could or will ever take her place and I feel this has been the secret to our long and happy marriage. Even though we have been thoroughly blessed with a lifetime of love we are both anxious to hear from friends of our past.
Many times we scan the news media and find some of our friends have gone to be with the Lord. We read about our friends losing loved ones when we read the obituary pages and our heart goes out to them. We try to call them just to say we are thinking about you so that they can hear a friendly voice from the past. Something that everyone should remember, a friend is one who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love and encourages you with hope.
Even though our earthly friendships will dissolve we have one true friend that will last forever. His name is Jesus and should you not know Him personally, get on your knees and ask Him to come into your heart and join Him through His saving grace. In the gospel of John 15:13 He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus did just that for you and me when He died on the cross to save us from our sins.
Never lose sight of your many friends you have on earth and enjoy these tremendous lifelong relationships but know that God is the only one that will be with you in eternity.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for you love and your saving grace. Thank you for taking my place on the cross to save me from my sins so that I will live with you throughout eternity. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Romans 5:1-11; Monday – Proverbs 20:5-7; Tuesday – Ecclesiastes 4:8-12; Wednesday – James 4:4-6; Thursday – 2 Timothy 1:15-18; Friday – John 15:9-17; Saturday – Mark 9:50.
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals.com