RESTING ON "THE REST OF THE STORY" TO TAKE US HOME

Do any of you remember going to the movies and watching a serial?

Do any of you remember going to the movies and watching a serial (a continuing saga...Green Hornet, Batman, Dick Tracy)? Note: Now you can tell how old I am!

Every Saturday, the continuing saga of the Green Hornet from last week's last minute ordeal finding Green Hornet on the rail road tracks and the train fast approaching. Even comic books were like that. Every month a new continuing story of Superman, or Batman...but, it was not real!
The CIA, highly acclaimed TV series that came out several years ago was a continuing story, 24...leaving you not knowing what was going to happen to Jack until the following week. Sherry and I are watching Heartland. About 100 episodes of a ranching family living in Canada. You get to the point where you are loving each of the individuals who make up the show. But...you know what I can do? I can stop it in mid-sentence, stop it on a still view. Not real! All a façade; an unrealistic story or image.

Life is not that way...it is not a façade. You can't stop it in the middle of bad things, good things...LIFE IS REAL TIME.
We need to understand that life is not all fun and games...Life is today. You can't stop me in mid-sentence, take me home and finish this story...unless you are taping me. I'm real and so are you. We have to call our own balls, strikes, and outs. It is called "choices." Our life is either in the 1st inning or one of the 9 which will end the ball game (at some time the game ends).
What we do today for our family, for ourselves, and our Lord should make a difference tomorrow as to where we are in this game called "life."
In today's world, we are entertained and amused to the point of ridiculous! Amusement...muse = to think... "A" in front negates it...amusement = "not to think." That is what television, movies...entertainment...do...these technological tools think for us. Technology is great so long as it is not misused. And when it is used to keep you from thinking...and paint the picture of life for us, then we are misusing technology.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 , "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

Ecclesiastes 8:17, "Then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it."

What will "The Rest of the Story" be for you in the future? Will you try to stop life in mid-sentence, try to turn off life, or live life to the fullest and give God glory for it all?

Do you want to know who Gerald Cumby is?
I believe in the following principles and practices:

• Put God first in all things and, in the end, I will be rewarded for standing for truth and obeying God's rules. Not that I seek a reward, but the honor of being able to hear my God say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." I will then have the honor of placing my reward at my Savior's feet in recognition that He gave His life for me.
• Thanking every American and every foreigner who has stood up for what is right and wholesome, pure and noble by wearing a military uniform that protected homeland and the right to be free.
• Thanking doctors that have been educated in the wonderful practice of healing the sick.
• Thanking the preachers and pastors for preaching the Word. Giving the opportunity for all people to come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
• Making sure that honorable widows and orphans are given the means to pay for their room and board (living with honor and dignity).
• According to Scripture, "If a man does not work, he does not eat." I propose and agree with that. Realizing that there are those who are not able (incapacitated due to injury, illness, or birth defects [mental or physical handicap]), it is understandable that there will be some in which this Scripture does not include. My wife and I know for sure that our precious grandson with all of his physical and mental problems would work if it were possible. He is completely dependent on others for his daily sustenance. With all due respect, this Scripture holds true to those that are evidently able to work.
• Working to pay my bills on time and making sure that my debtors are respected and given ample time to return what is owed.
• Loving my family and willing to give my life for their protection if necessary.
• Romancing the wife of my youth and doing everything to honor my marriage to the very end of my life.
• Protecting the unborn, the innocent ones in the womb, who are completely dependent on someone else's decision for their entrance into this world.
• Protection of the marriage definition as being "one woman and one man being joined together as one" and the understanding that "what God has put together let no man break, separate or tear apart."
• Heaven is real...and so is hell. The Bible is very clear on this truth.

Joshua 1:8 "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Solomon was the one that said earlier, "No one can comprehend what God has done."

Paul says about heaven, 1 Corinthians 2:9, "However, as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived' - the things God has prepared for those who love him..."

The rest of my story will end with my entrance into the eternal state with my Lord Jesus Christ.

The Rest of my Story continues, however...What I could never do as a missionary or preacher or teacher will be done through the internet.
We have developed a website (maranathatoday.com). Twenty (20) months since its inception (Jan. 2016), the devotions, Bible Studies, training tools have gone into 83 countries. There have been 3,032 different visitors to the website (called unique visitors). The 3,032 unique visitors represent 5,029 visits, 10,216 pages viewed, and 41,919 hits on maranathatoday.com website. Every month since inception the numbers have increased over the previous month.
One site keeping statistics for our web host states maranathatoday.com has had 69,684 hits on our website in the last year (October 2016 through September 2017). The #1 presentation read and studied more than any of the more than 85 devotions, 48 Bible Studies representing 290 hours of teaching, and 13 Training sessions is Evangelism 101...training people to tell the salvation story. Praise God...and Him alone!

The Rest of the Story for me will end in a few years. What about you? Where will your life be in the next year...10 years...20 years?

Preparation for eternity should be an exciting and joyful experience. Are you prepared for eternity?