Pray, don't find fault with the man who limps> Or stumbles along the road.> Unless you have worn the shoes he wears> Or struggled beneath his load.> > There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt> Though hidden away from view.> Or the burden he bears placed on your back> Might cause you to stumble too.> > Don't sneer at the man who's down today> Unless you have felt the blow> That caused his fall or felt the shame> That only the fallen know.> > You may be strong but still the blows> That was his if dealt to you> In the selfsame way, at the selfsame time> Might cause you to stagger too.> > Don't be too harsh with the man who sins> Or pelt him with word or stone> Unless you are sure - yea, doubly sure> That you have no sins of your own.> > For you know, perhaps,> If the tempter's voice should whisper as soft to you> As it did to him when he went astray> It might cause you to falter too.> >
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Judge Gently
Pray, don't find fault with the man who limps> Or stumbles along the road.> Unless you have worn the shoes he wears> Or struggled beneath his load.> > There may be tacks in his shoes that hurt> Though hidden away from view.> Or the burden he bears placed on your back> Might cause you to stumble too.> > Don't sneer at the man who's down today> Unless you have felt the blow> That caused his fall or felt the shame> That only the fallen know.> > You may be strong but still the blows> That was his if dealt to you> In the selfsame way, at the selfsame time> Might cause you to stagger too.> > Don't be too harsh with the man who sins> Or pelt him with word or stone> Unless you are sure - yea, doubly sure> That you have no sins of your own.> > For you know, perhaps,> If the tempter's voice should whisper as soft to you> As it did to him when he went astray> It might cause you to falter too.> >
Sunday, November 17, 2024
I'm Not Finished With You Yet
I was born in late September in Tennessee.The humidity was still high from August.Doctor said I was lucky to be alive.Severe allergies and all you I'm afraid was rough on my tiny body.Finally,got to go home.
My Daugher-In-Law
My daughter-in-law treats me like a mother. She calls me Mom. We are close to each other. Some people thinks she's my daughter. We go to different places together. But the best place together is when she and I with the whole family go to the house of the Lord.
Friday, April 08, 2022
Reveal
Saturday, October 05, 2019
The House That Love Built
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Proverbs 24:3
Walking up the steps of the long front porch I remember.Remembering the beginning stages of my young life, and the house that love built.Just like watching my father pour and form the concrete,my childhood took time to be mixed and poured to take the shape God wanted.But now I see where the concrete has cracked and chipped.Blazing summers and cold merciless winters have left their mark.Yet,it remains.A testament to my father's craftsmanship.I remain,cracked and chipped though.A far cry for the young boy I was.
That cement when it was poured was strong and tough.As it dried out and cured it got harder.So is a young man in his prime.I bend down to look at the handprints.One is mine,and one is my brothers.I look at my hands,and they are all that remain of that time.He is gone on to be with Dad and mine are left scarred and bruised from years of work and worry.
Foundations hold up a house,just like memories hold you up in times you feel alone.
Circling around the corner I see a tree.Underneath that old oak tree,my favorite dog is buried.And that tree could be seen from my small back bedroom window.I was excited to watch the walls go up on the house.I ran and played through the frame of the house.Playing chase in the maze of boards.Trying to find each other in our little game of hide and go seek.Dad looked up with his hammer in his hand and smiled.Realizing what he was working so hard for.Nail by nail,and board by board he built the house that built me.
Walls seperate and doors hide us from each other.Sometimes I don't when to stop building up around me.Entering into house,down the hallway to my room,I hear my mother's voice.She calls out for me to leave the door open to my room, so she can hear me if I need her while we played.As I became an independent minded teenager,I wanted the door shut cause I had it all worked out.The older I got the more I realized with each hand I let go,I felt a door shut that I couldn't leave open anymore.I wish to God I had more time to leave more doors open.But time is just finite.I shut more doors with my mouth than I leave open...
I look for myself among the things that this old house has stored in it.I go from room to room searching for me.I thought if I could just touch something or feel it,the brokenness inside me might start healing.I got lost in this big,old world and forgot who I am....
Is who I am,lost in here somewhere?
I walk outside and glance at the sky.Clouds roll by.Taking forms and shapes in a child's imagination.Looking upward I saw my Dad working on the roof.He waved down at my brother and I while we played in the front yard.I stopped what I was doing and waved back.Now I look to that same sky and wonder how many times did my father look down from heaven and wave at me.But,I was too busy to even notice.
I expect to see my brother standing beside me waving up to him.But I stand here alone in this yard.My wife honks the horn and says it's time to go.I see my new life before with my children.I wonder if they will look back upon their days like this or have my past mistakes clouded that option?Only time will tell.
My journey has lead me down one of many paths in my soul.At the end of this path lies one of my fondest spots.The spot where the house that love built stands.
To be continued...
by
Lance Gargus
Monday, December 05, 2016
Rib
Genesis Chp 2:
18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man."
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
The word rib....means in Hebrew means side. It is a feminine noun.
It also translates into: boards, chambers, hillside, leaves, one...another, rib, ribs, side, side chamber, side chambers, sides, walls
The Hebrew word is Tsalah.
Rib also means curved. As a woman's body has significantly more curves than a man. God made her to be curvy. This is just one of the many perfections of His creation.
1 Kings Chp 6: vs.5 and 6 refers to enclosing God's holy temple like ribs. Showing a woman's strength standing together with other women for God. They stand side by side enclosing and protecting God's Holy Temple. Just as a rib, woman, brought forth the Messiah...carrying him in her womb. Protected Him as He developed. Mary now carried God's Holy Temple inside her.
1 Kings Chp 6: vs 15 refers to ribs of cedar or fir in the Temple Walls. Cedar and Fir is the very best building material they can find back then and still is. It's know for its sturdiness and durabilty. Just as ribs are know to be tough and hard to break. You can break a rib, but they heal up fairly well compared to other bones and will be tougher next time. Just the same as a rib, or Godly woman is. The cedar was used for the wall and the fir for the floor with planks. Cedar ribs were used for the walls because cedar is highly rot resistant since it contains natural preservatives and resistant to pest. Cedar will resist shrinkage more than other lumber varieties. Cedar is also resistant to warping and twisting and responds well to high humidity. Cedar has a pleasant aroma and attractive appearance.
So God's temple walls were made of cedar. A Godly woman, rib, has all those characteristics....of being resistant to age and wear if she lives a proper lifestyle, and this comes naturally to her. It's in her true nature. Her nature helps her resist the pest of this world that try to steal her joy. She resists warping and twisting when the elements of this life blow against her. Lastly, this toughness doesn't make her less pleasant to be around or less attractive. Just like cedar ribs she has an air about her, of kindness and gentleness that people want to be around. And she like cedar is beautiful to behold, especially to man. He's amazed that something so stunning can stand so tall and not move by the things of this world. A Godly man is in awe at the help mate God has brought to him.
The curves and flexibility of a woman are more than a man. God made rib, woman, this way to bend and dodge the darts of this world. To help protect her help mate.
Just like ribs protect the internal organs. The ribs help protect the most important one, the man's heart. But its not just one rib but several. A man has several Godly women that protect his heart. Grandmothers, sisters, daughters, mother and the wife...God made them to work together to make up the ribcage. One by themselves does little good. But together the ribcage, the Godly women network as I like to call it, does so much more. It provides vital support as part of the skeleton and, simply put, breathing wouldn’t be possible without it. All this means is that the ribcage has to be flexible to allow for the miracle of breathing.
So, without you, rib, man could not breathe. Gives new meaning to a woman taking a man's breath away. Cause breathing, the very act, wouldn't be possible without her. A woman's love supports this network.
Her act of prayers strengthens the man. And the prayers are like calcium to the ribcage, strengthening it. Allowing him to grow stronger while protecting him.
Fir ribs were used for the Temple floors cause of its stiffness and strength. Used alot for bridges and railroad ties. It can withstand high winds or earthquakes. The stiffness quality makes it good for flooring. Wow! God sure knows what He's doing. A Godly woman is a foundation that can be stepped on, stomped on, and ran on, but will not break. These women are the ones all newer Godly women stand on cause they came first and the rest were built upon them. These fir rib women can hold up the heaviest weight like childbearing or caring for an elderly parent or a sick child. And the high winds and earthquakes of this world will not and cannot shake their faith. But they must stand together to protect the man's heart they all love....son, father, brother,...husband. Without them he can not accomplish God's purpose...they must work together.
Lastly,...1 Kings 6:34...She is used as the columns of the door and the hinges of the door. The ribs of cedar held up the door space to enter in. Just as the rib, woman, is the passage through which we all pass through into this life
1 Corithians Chp 11
vs 9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
vs 11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
vs 12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
She, the rib, is how we come here. But all this is God's doing. He made it this way to teach us about true Godly love for each other.
The woman, rib, is also referred to as the leaf...the part of the door, the hinges...that controls who enters and who doesn't. Or the ease at which one enters a room or space. A Godly woman protects the man's heart and who enters into it. She is the gatekeeper. She only allows those who truly love him, like her, to come near the vital heart lest they stop it from beating. So being a rib, at his side, under his arm, she has special access to his heart and his lungs. She can keep it beating and breathing, being his air and beat, or she can choose to be un Godly with her words and actions. Thus, shaking his faith and killing the heart and smothering the lungs like a broken rib that didn't do its job and pierced the heart or lung causing its collapse or dysfunction. Killing him, whom trusted her.
But if she holds up. He will protect her with his muscular girdle of his torso. The muscles he builds will protect her. He will use his powerful arms to fight the enemy and still use them to caress her when she's hurt. Cause she is now bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh.
Ephesian 5
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
He will protect the ribs, that protect his heart. He will all his muscles, strength, and agility to protect her. And she protect who enters his heart....cause....ribs also means chamber or cells.
Chambers, means a private room, where we go to sleep, pray, or make love. It's a private space away from everyone and everything. Not just anyone can enter in. Just like the temple had a private chamber. Only certain priest, who were totally trustworthy, who loved and obeyed God above everything were allowed to enter in. They had to be cleansed and proved to God this, otherwise the chamber could become defiled, just as the heart can become and thus die. So it was to be protected cause of the importance of this. A woman, a rib, enter into the man's private chamber, his heart, with hopefully good intentions...to be alone with him as his wife to share love together and rest in each others arms as protectors of each other. A love relationship is born and nourished here. And from this love children are born. Walking, talking embodiments of the love that came from that chamber. Love in the flesh of both. One flesh coming from two. And they enter the chamber they share to mulitply the love neverending. God dwells in this inner chamber as they pray together.
But if the rib allows a stranger in...the love dies and so does it all.
Proverbs 4 NIV
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
And what leaves out of that chamber of the heart, the rib protects is the blood that flows to every vital part of the body. The children flow out into the community and either magnify the love expressed in that inner chamber or the hate and anger that stops a heart.
So ribs must guard the heart....for the children that flow out from it are the result of this.
So be fruitful and multiply not just children but love. Be fruitful and multiply love. God's love that flows thru their little beating hearts. For everytime a child sings Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World. A rib, a woman, taught them that. Love put to music, flowing out from a heart, protected by ribs, that started it all beating.
The area in the center of the ribs is made up of bone marrow, which produces new red blood cells. Just as the woman, the rib, produces children that flow out into the world. Making life sustaining blood. Making life, itself, sustainable. God is the sternum, the center of the ribs, upon which the ribcage is built. Each Godly woman, connected to the Source, to create the structure upon which the protection and lifegiver is built. The love of the heart and rib form the body but God, the giver of life, the creater of the blood, give the baby Life. Otherwise, its just stillborn.
During exhalation ribs downward motion aids in expelling air from the lungs. Thus, getting rid of the bad air. So ribs together help remove the bad stuff. Women, ribs, who love their family remove the bad stuff. The stuff that can hurt the heart. Breathing in the smoke of this world so suffocate you. So the ribs help you cough to remove the smoke before it harms you. It may seem painful and unpleasant to you, but its for your own good. How many mother ribs have said that to a child before spanking them? But its true. The rib is trying to protect it before it gets in the bloodstream, the child's heart. For the more smoke breathed, even over time, it wears the ribs down. So, children, be kind to your mother rib. And it will be kind to you.
A rib is also referred to as a curved arch. Arches are uniquiely shaped for support. Without arches, ribs, the catherdrals of Europe could not have been built.The Aorta, arches, like a rib, and is the largest artery in the body. It's unique structure allows it to give off branches that go to the head and neck, the arms, the major organs in the chest and abdomen, and the legs. It serves to supply them all with oxygenated blood. The aorta is the central conduit from the heart to the body. Thus, relieving the heart of some of the gravity loads of moving blood. The rib, arch design, relieves the heart of the a burden by its shape, just as a woman compliments a man by her shape. They entwine perfectly when joined together. My hand fits perfectly in yours quote so to speak. Reliefing his heart of the stress of the day when he sees her, his rib, his help mate.
So, the rib, the woman, the women, are protectors of the man's heart. Life sustainers...givers of life flowing out from God. And he in return protects the one with his muscular frame and shape. In a relationship, that only God could design, right down to the minute characteristics of the wonderful woman....the rib of man and the complementary completion of man to be made whole.
Proverbs 31
10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
The One
they shall be one
Genesis 2:24
In my life,I could have taken so many different roads.These roads could have wound up with such different results. As a child, I read Choose Your Own Adventure books. Reading the stories lead to a crossroads in the adventure. The chapter ended, and you had to answer a question. The question forced the reader to become actively involved in the storyline. Choosing one answer lead to one page and another lead to another page. For example,the question posed maybe,"Should Jack go into the cave? Choose page 24 if he should and page 36 if he shouldn't." You had time to shut the book and think on it. If you wanted to cheat, you could look ahead to where it lead. Either way, the choice lead to the character's demise or lead to another decision futher up the road.
Life is alot like those books. Everyday is filled with choices. Choices we either regret or glad we made. Sometimes those past choices come back to confront you from time to time. A road not traveled and still left unresolved. Memeories are funny things. A song, a place, a date, a thought can bring old feelings, past things, and long ago dreams rushing back. I've moved on and alot of water has went under those bridges,but I'm still trapped there at that moment in time. My former self still holds on to what might have been. The other person who has touched your life in an intimate way has taken a different way too.
Still a part of who you are stands on that bridge waiting. Waiting for that person. That piece of you waits hour after hour, day after day, year after year, for that person. All the time unaware that person never comes. Emotions that ran deep and left you vunerable took on a life of its own in your mind and soul. How can you leave yourself so exposed and not realize that it takes on this life? Past loves will leave the heart bleeding and longing. When you see them, you realize that a piece of you still stands on that bridge looking up at the stars. I spent hours looking up at those stars and praying that God would send me the love my heart so desperately needed.
As each time I held someone and then they left, they chose their own adventure just like the books. A different version of me was left standing on that bridge wondering about the heavens. I went away like a wounded animal to lick my wounds and left that part of me there. Only to be reminded of them when these past loves passed by. Whether bumping into them in the store, talking through a friend, or meeting their new spouse and find out who their married too. A conversation can start about current events on jobs, family, or homelife. But sometimes it turns to what happened to us, and what went wrong. No answer ever fully resolves it. I walk away and see that part of me staring at the stars. Him still believing the past love is still standing beside him. He's oblivious to my words. He refuses to take his eyes off the heavens. I try valiantly to get his attention but with no results.
I scream,"Get over it." But he doesn't even realize there is anything to get over. I touch them, everyone of the many different selves standing on that bridge. Each one is of various ages. Younger to older, each one has an intense stare at the sky. I can't get them to look down. I touch each one on the shoulder and feel the pain and anguish of a soul left raw and exposed to the cold. Yet,they are forever optimistic that God hasn't abandoned and the true love God has sent still stands beside them. Never realizing no one stands beside them but a phantom. A mirage of a past that might have been but wasn't meant to be.
Only one can speak to them and get their attention. The one God had promised to me underneath those stars. She stared at those same stars in someone else's arms then and how the substitutes I held pained me. I refused to believe they were substitutes for her until she arrived. I tricked myself into believing they were the one. Now only the one, can break through to them and the lies I told them. The one has to take them by the hand and look at the stars together. Telling them in her small,tender voice,"My love, the one you have been waiting for has arrived. The one who will laugh with you, cry with you, dream with you, and live for you. I have come to pick up the petals that have fallen from your hands. And restore the blossom of love to you."
Saturday, August 22, 2015
A Paradox of Romantic Love
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Greatest Love
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
People need loving the most when they deserve it the least. --John Harrigan
This neat little trick could open up the door to witness to someone. Open your Bible up to the middle. Fold the pages without bending them. Only one on the left and one on the right. Curl both around and insert the ends back into the Bible. Notice that it makes a heart shape. Oh, the Great Love of God.
The Greatest Love... holds the world together.
... shows God and is not self-centered.
... displays the Greatest Power as a burning fire.
... exhibits the suffering Christ endured.
... governs all that God does.
... extends love to your neighbor, even the unlovable ones.
... reveals God's gift of patience, kindness, and humility as a hymn.
... binds all other loves together with His divine love.
... rebukes jealousy, boastfulness, arrogance, rudeness, and resentfulness.
... proves the cross of Calvary was given as a ransom for freedom.
... declares the worth of man by God making him in his own image.
... imparts faith that can face anything.
... discloses love of family, church, and others.
... uncovers the mysteries of life in words that are indescribable.
by Lance Gargus
Books:Christianity,Bible,Jesus,Angels,Soul,God,Holy Spirit,Doves,Love,Children,Heaven,
I Fall Down But I Get Back Up
We all fall down in life. Life has a tendency to knock the breath out of us. Do we just lie there? In Proverbs 24:16 it says :"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again."
One time we could understand. Two times we start to wonder. But seven times? God is not like a man. His mercy is unfathomable. He forgives more times than we can count. What do we do when we fall down? A just man gets right back up. He gets right back in line. He picks himself up. Starts walking back down that road. Back again to the mercy seat of God. Hitting our knees bowed before Him, we say,"Father forgive me. I've failed you again."
We all have messed up in life and had to get punished by our parents. They always seem to know about my mess up. And I always deserved punishment for it. "This hurts me more than it does you." I never understood that until I had children. There was that underlying Love behind that punishment.
Through it all, no matter how many times I messed up or how bad I was, they loved me. Never turning their backs on me. They would always give me another chance. Even when I had noone to call, they were just one phone call away. Waiting on me to call if I needed them. I was their child and nothing on Earth would change that.
God is like that with us. A understanding Father who knows our hearts before we speak it. Some people never had parents to love them. The relationship was torn or severed for some reason. They didn't have someone to run to. But I tell you, they do now.
A father of many chances. He's waiting on you. He patiently waits on all of us. Give the hurt to him. Let him pick you up.
My parents picked me up when I fell down. They fixed my toys when they were broken. When I got older, they helped fix my broken heart. You may not have experienced this growing up. But you have a Heavenly Father that is the great fixer, when it comes to matters of the heart.
You say, ‘you have no idea how many times I’ve messed up,’ it doesn’t matter – I’m introducing you to A God of Many Chances!
He cleans us up and dusts us off. We get back up everytime with His help. Thank you, God, that no matter how many times I fall. I get back up with your help. Then you will pick me up and carry me to your mercy seat.
Lord, I pray for You to help anyone who reads this today. Their lives may have been shattered by mistakes! People may have walked out of their lives and devastated them. This day we come before You for our friends who feel they failed too many times and can't turn to you. May the power of the Holy Spirit make Your presence known. May your comforter, the Holy Spirit, let them feel Your intense love! May they raise their head up. And see Jesus extended hand being given to them. Let them rise up and feel the merciful love You give.
In Your Precious and Holy Name, AMEN!
by Lance Gargus
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thank God
Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Psalm 75:1
"From David learn to give thanks for everything. - Every furrow in the book of Psalms is sown with seeds of thanksgiving." [Jeremy Taylor]
This post was written by my mother. After my dad's death, she has started writing some, too. This helps me in my soul searching. To help me discover more of who God wants me to be. Here is her post....





