By Gary Andrews
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Not so long ago I was in a traffic jam on one of the major interstates. I have been in many slowdowns or stops on interstates but this is the first one I set there for three hours. It is amazing who you see, what you see, and who you talk with when sitting in the middle of a highway and nowhere to go.
I saw cars, pickups, and tractor trailers displaying license plates from all over the United States. I watched people get out of their cars or trucks and talk with others about anything and everything. I read the advertising on the side of tractor trailers, many with bright, shiny logos and catch phrases relating to the products they were carrying. Many of these trailers carry Christian logos and sayings and/or Bible verses.
There is one trucking company that has the Bible verse Matthew 6:33 written on it. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all things shall be added unto you.” I have also seen trucks with John 3:16 and there are many others. With the distances these vehicles travel these verses may very well be the one thing that could encourage an individual to better things or possibly save an individual from a terrible thing.
Riding the road ways, as I do, I witness first hand big rigs pulled over on the shoulder of the road helping someone in need. There are many good drivers who exemplify the meaning of the words values, morals, and ethics. Of course there may be many that display just the opposite; however I haven’t witnessed any of them yet.
There are many truckers that will display “Driving for Jesus” on their rigs. These drivers may never know whose lives may have been touched because of their boldness in living for Jesus and doing God’s work.
The afternoon I spent in the traffic jam I witnessed many truckers talking with each other and many other people explaining what was ahead of us and the reason for the delay. They seemed to calm a lot of anxious people and once they had said what they wanted to it seemed a peace came across the ones that had the opportunity of hearing their voice.
It would be good for all of us to witness first hand some of the situations these truckers go through. Not all truckers are Christians but the ones that are seem to in a high percentage. I know firsthand of one trucker, several years ago, stopped and picked up a family stranded on the side of the road and took them to where they were going. That family was mine. He gave my wife, four children, two miniature dogs, and me a ride and made life a lot easier for someone not sure of what to do.
Prayer: Father God thank you for the drivers that are on the road and not afraid of sharing their faith. Thank you for that particular driver that gave my family and I the much needed help we needed on the night we had van problems. I pray that I can display the same kind of love and help for all of my neighbors, friends, and anyone else that needs assistance. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Psalm 28:6-9; Monday – Romans 12:9-13; Tuesday – Jeremiah 29:11-13; Wednesday – John 1:1-13; Thursday – Isaiah 55:6-8; Friday - Matthew 7:7-12; Saturday – Mark 11:22-26.)
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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Since time began there have been witnesses for God that many of us today would have never thought of as people who stand up for the truth. Even in our days we see people stand up and speak up for Jesus because it seems that many of the leaders and politicians of this world will not do so. Times have changed and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has been eliminated from the vocabulary of our leaders because we have allowed naysayers and atheist to gain control of our laws.
We have become a nation of idol worshipers and have strayed away from what God has given us. We have forgotten what our forefathers taught us because we have fallen into self-indulgence seeking treasures and pleasures that we generate.
Many of us will say there is no hope for our world today however we must remember that God has allowed His chosen people, the Israelites, to go through these same problems as we are facing now. All one has to do is read in the Old Testament the book of Amos.
Even though Amos is considered a minor prophet, he wasn’t raised in this manner nor was he the son of a prophet. God called him out of the fields from sheepherding and a tender to sycamore fig trees. He was an unlikely person to be called by God however he gave up what he was doing and went where the Lord sent him. Amos left his home in the southern kingdom of Judah and went to Samaria in the northern kingdom of Israel.
This was during a time when the people of Israel had reached a low point in their devotion to God. The people became greedy and stopped following and adhering to their values. The wealthy were becoming wealthier at the expense of others that couldn’t help themselves. They were becoming dependent on foreign trade, mostly wine and oil.
Doesn’t this sound like America today? Haven’t we gotten away from our values of the past and opened the doors for our dependence on foreign trade, mainly oil? Aren’t we putting value and attention on self-righteousness, greed, money, control and power? Hasn’t our leaders become dependent on what they think is right for our country instead of looking to God and asking for His leadership?
One will say we continue to be the most powerful nation in the world and provide food, medicine, and other commodities for countries not as fortunate as us. Yes this is true, however how long is it going to be until we become one of those countries needing help from other countries because we allowed our value system and trust in God to deteriorate?
We have many Amos’ in our country today wanting to stand up but will not because of fear and rejection. All of us need to believe that being God’s witness is a precious privilege, divine expectation, and a potential risk. Amos did this and thanks to his boldness and acceptance of God’s command Israel was spared potential disaster until the Lord decided to let them experience a famine of God’s word. One day we will all realize that the rejection of the Lord and His word eventually results in loss of opportunity. This is a dangerous gamble. Many of us like to hear the word of God preached however we don’t want the commitment of witnessing and spreading the message of God.
Will you be the Amos in our modern day society?
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the opportunity of living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I pray that we will always have these gifts that have been provided by many through your leadership. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – 2 Chronicles 7:14; Monday – James 5:16; Tuesday – Amos 7:4-6; Wednesday – 2 Peter 3:10-13; Thursday – Proverbs 3:5-7; Friday – John 14:6; Saturday – Matthew 10:26-33.)
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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Several years ago I viewed the movie “The Passion of the Christ”. I found the movie to be very good and gave explicit graphic displays of what our Christ actually went through when He was crucified. One can only imagine the agony Jesus Christ went through on the cross and the days leading up to His crucifixion.
I appreciated Mel Gibson standing tall and producing this movie when many others were against him and said it would never survive. The movie did well even though Gibson was criticized by many for his undertaking. Maybe Gibson was the one person that helps us realize the suffering that Christ went through for our sins and maybe, just maybe, bring all of us back into the realization that all of us need to get on our knees and ask forgiveness for the way we have allowed our society and country to become as it is today.
I read a story several years ago and I cannot validate the story because I did not do the research, however I feel it could be well founded.
In 1858, a Boston Sunday School teacher named Kimball began visiting one of his students at the shoe store where he worked as a clerk. Eventually, he led him to Christ. That student’s name was D.L. Moody.
Twenty-one years later, Moody, now an evangelist, visited London, and a great spiritual awakening took place. F.B. Meyer, a local pastor, went to hear Moody, and his life was transformed. Late Meyer went to America to preach, and in one of his meetings, a student named J. Wilbur Chapman got saved. Chapman became active in the YMCA, where he met and discipled a former baseball player called Billy Sunday.
Billy Sunday became a great revivalist, and in one of his crusades in Charlotte, a group of businessmen came to Christ. A year later, they decided that their city needed another crusade, so they invited Mordecai Ham to be their speaker.
After three weeks, Ham left town, discouraged because he’d only had one convert: a 16-year old boy called Billy Graham.
One Sunday School teacher started it all.
One brother, Andrew, led another brother called Peter to Christ; and Peter brought multitudes. One woman whose name he still doesn’t know, led David Yonggi Cho, Korean pastor of the world’s largest church (over 1,000,000 members as of 2007), to Christ.
One person – just one – can make all the difference. Will you be that one?
Prayer: Lord God help me be the one person that will help others see and ask for you Saving Grace. Use me as your instrument and give me the words to say and the strength to say them. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Acts 4:23-31; Monday – Isaiah 6:8-9; Tuesday – Matthew 5:13-16; Wednesday – Psalm 119:25-32; Thursday – Revelation 20:4-6; Friday – Proverbs 10:19-21; Saturday – 2 Corinthians 4:1-6.)
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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In today’s society we run across someone every day that has been in trouble or have some skeletons in their past. Most of us will say that we are forgiving people and what you have done in the past, well that is in the past and has been forgiven.
I remember working with a young man that was incarcerated by the state. He was a model inmate and was allowed to help with some community projects. We were putting out stakes to help line up that year’s Christmas parade. As we walked along the street I was able to ask this young man why he was a prisoner.
His initial response was, “I was stupid.” He told me that he was a school teacher, had a master’s degree in education, and thoroughly loved his job. From being around him I could tell he was a person that kids would relish to follow and listen to in a classroom. His goal in life was to help kids grow and become successful participants in life.
“At a low point in my life I allowed one so-called friend to talk me into delivering drugs to another person,” he said. “I was caught, sentenced, and about to finish serving my time in jail.”
He had paid his debt to society however, since he has been incarcerated he can no longer teach school or work with children. He did one thing wrong and was caught even though the person that talked him into it is still on the streets. Is this right or is this fair? Society says it is but what does Jesus say?
Another incident about a class room teacher that taught middle school, was well respected and well-liked by the students and parents has been dismissed and will probably never finish her career as a teacher because some students found out she was in porn ten years before. Is this fair? Society says it is.
I remember another man that had been in prison for torturing men and women, being an accomplice to murder, and treating all who did not agree with him with disrespect and harm. He was of a fiery temperament and very outspoken. However for all the bad he had done his life was changed and he became a noted writer and a well-disciplined person for his beliefs. He was the Apostle Paul of the New Testament. He had been forgiven for his persecution of the Christians by Jesus.
I am not saying that drug trafficking or porn people will be the best teachers of our children, I am just wondering when we say you are forgiven, are you?
Prayer: Thank you Lord for your forgiveness for our sins. May we realize that we need to forgive others as you have forgiven us? Lead us in the path you would have us travel and let us always look to you for guidance. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – Genesis 50:15-21; Monday - 2 Corinthians 2:5-11; Tuesday – Jonah 3:1-10; Wednesday – 1 Peter 4:7-11; Thursday – Psalm 103:11-18; Friday – Acts 7:54-60; Saturday – Micah 7:14-19.)
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