Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 - Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.  NASU 

• Two Are Better Than One If 

If they are going in the same direction. If they have the same goals. If they have the same beliefs. Notice what the apostle Paul says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers."   2 Corin. 6:14 NIV
 
There are a lot of reasons why two are not better than one, and I believe the number one reason is your "Faith".
 
If you enter into a relationship, friendship, or marry someone who doesn't have the same beliefs as you all I can say is get ready for a wild ride.
 
A preacher friend of mine said a long time ago you can tie two cats together by their tales. You will have a union but you will not have unity.
 
You join yourself to the wrong person whether it is in marriage, friendship or a business partnership be ready to pay a very high price for this union.
 
I was listening to a documentary the other day and this young man said on numerous occasions he made friends with the wrong people and that was on him and it cost him from attaining a lot of his goals. 

• Two Are Better Than One If 

They want to work together and accomplish the same goals.
 
I have done my fair share of marriage counseling and I can tell you right now I was never able to help two people reconcile when only one was interested in reconciliation. Never!
 
In fact, the greatest Marriage Counselor in the world can't reconcile two people when only one wants to be reconciled.
 
So it is of the utmost importance when you want to accomplish a goal and it will involve other people that you like and respect each other, have the same faith principles, and you both believe in what you want to accomplish.
 
There are advantages of two people joining forces to accomplish something great. When one gets tired the other is there to help them keep on going. 

• Two Are Better Than One When 

You believe in each other, trust each other and together you make a great team. When you both are headed in the same direction, have the same beliefs and desire to see your goals accomplished.
 
If you are young and just getting started in life be very sure you make the correct choice when it comes to whom you consider your friends. You must be very careful with whom you associate or call your friends.
 
As the old saying goes, "Show me your friends and I will show you your future."
 
As you become older you likewise need to be just as cautious. I don't believe a day goes by that I don't read about or hear on the news about older people being scammed.
 
Two are better than one if you are both traveling in the same direction and both want to accomplish the same goal.
 
Think About These:
 
Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.
 
A man with a burning ambition is seldom fired.

Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word
​

​Luke 4:25-26, 28 - “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.… And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;…" 

• A Movie Line 

In the movie, "A Few Good Men" Col. Nathan R. Jessup played by Jack Nicholson makes the movie's famous saying, "You can't handle the truth!" to Lt. Daniel Kaffee played by Tom Cruise.
 
This statement I am sure has been quoted many times by many people. 

• The Truth Some Times Hurts 

It sure fits the scripture reference above when Jesus told the Israelites there were many widows in Israel during the famine of Elijah's day, but the only one God helped was a Gentile widow from Zarephath.
 
He goes on to say there were many lepers in the days of Elisha but God only helped another Gentile named Naaman who was a Captain of the Syrian army.
 
This was, in fact, the truth, but the Israelites could not handle these truths. They became so infuriated they wanted, and tried, to kill Jesus over His quoting these two examples of God showing His mercy to the Gentiles and not the Israelites. 

• Has The Truth Hurt Us? 

How many times have we become upset by someone telling us the truth?
 
Or there is the flip side to this coin, how many times have we been upset when someone didn't tell us the truth? In John 8:32 Jesus says. "…the truth will make you free."
 
What truthful statement are we hearing that we are fighting against today? 

• A Time When I Didn't Want To Hear The Truth 

When I was a teenager my parents tried to teach me, but I wanted to do it my way. My way cost me a lot of money, headaches, and some time in jail.
 
I will share with you one of my costly blunders: It was the night I got pulled over by the Ohio police. As I sat in the car under the influence of alcohol and a 1971 movie title "Vanishing Point" I decided to run from the police. As the officer was walking up to ask me for my driver's licenses and registration I pushed the gas pedal to the floor of my 455 cubic inch Pontiac and I was gone.
 
My bright idea was it is only 2 miles to the PA state line and once across the state line I will be free. Why would I believe something like that? In the movie, every time Kowalski was being chased when he crossed the state line the police stopped chasing him.
 
There is only one problem with that belief, it is false. The police in real life don't stop at the state line. They come right across after you and that is the truth. I received 11 citations that night, 6 from the Ohio and 5 from the PA police officers.
 
I should have listened to my parents when they said, "When the police want to pull you over, you pull over and be polite." 

• The Most Important Truth

What are we going to do with the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the One who lived a perfect life, and the One who died on the cross to redeem us?
 
Hebrews 9:22 says, "…all things are cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
 
This is why Jesus poured out His blood on the cross of Calvary. It was so all mankind could have their sins forgiven. One must choose to accept the truth and be redeemed by the blood of Christ.
 
So my question to you is this: "Can you handle the truth about Jesus?"
 
Will you man up, woman up, cowboy up or cowgirl up and say, "I have sinned and need the forgiveness that comes from the blood of Christ."
 
We all have sinned and this is the truth. We all can be forgiven and this is the truth, but you must do it according to God's terms.
 
God's Word says, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
 
Think About This:
 
Many men seek the truth-not because it is lost, but because they are.
 
To hear the truth and not accept it does not nullify it.
 
Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word

​2 Sam. 11:1 - Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. NASU
 

• Hang Out At The Wrong Places

If you want to get in trouble then frequent places where you don't belong. David did exactly that. He was a king and it was time kings go out to battle, but he stays home.
 
In most times home is the right place to be but not this time. He is to be leading his army into battle. He doesn't lead his men into battle and because of this one little change, David will find himself in more trouble than he possibly could have imagined.
 
From this one seemingly little insignificant decision his whole world is about to change for the worse.
 
He is going to make one bad decision after another and these bad decisions will cost him dearly. His life will never be the same and all because he was somewhere he shouldn't have been. 

• Results Of One Bad Decision 

We don't usually stop and ask ourselves, "Where will this decision lead me?"  Even if David did stop and ask the question I am sure he would never have dreamed his life would have ended up being in this much of a catastrophe.
 
He stays home and he goes to bed but he can't sleep. So he gets out of bed and goes to his roof and there he sees a woman taking a bath. It just gets worse from here. He calls for Bathsheba and she is brought to him.
 
Her husband is in the army and is in battle, where David should be. David has a sexual relationship with Bathsheba. She becomes pregnant and informs David. David tries to cover up his sin so he has Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, summoned back to Jerusalem.
 
David is hoping Uriah would go to his house and have sex with his wife and his sin would be covered, but Uriah will not do such a thing. He says it this way:
 
 2 Sam. 11:10-11 -Now when they told David, saying, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?" Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing."
 
David will try even harder to hide his sins. He has Uriah stay in Jerusalem with the king and David gets him drunk, thinking that when a man gets drunk he will want to have sex.
 
Uriah got drunk but once again he will not have sex with his wife.
 
David makes another very bad decision. He sends Uriah back to Joab with a message and the message says, to send Uriah into the heat of a battle and then withdraw from him leaving him all alone.
 
David has now planned Uriah's death.
 
The decision to commit adultery with Bathsheba and to kill Uriah all started when David made the decision to hang out in the wrong place. 

• Think Your Decisions Over 

Before you make any hasty decisions do yourself a favor and think them over and even seek counsel from others as it states in the Proverbs (Prov. 12:15 - The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.). 
 
David was a fool for sure with what he thought would be his little secretive operation of covering up his sins.
 
But this is what God thought of David's action plan: 2 Sam. 11:27 - But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
 
Do yourself a favor and don't hang out in places that will only lead you into associating with trouble.
 
Think On These:
 
To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.
 
A wise man learns from the experience of others.
An ordinary man learns from his own experience.
A fool learns from nobody's experience.

Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word

​Matt. 10:1-4 - Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these…and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.  NASU
 
Judas was a popular name in the first century. Judas means "he shall be praised." I guess it is fair to say he didn't live up to his name. His last name isn't "Iscariot" as many people seem to think. Iscariot means "man of Kerioth."  Therefore, Judas Iscariot was actually "Judas the man of Kerioth." 

• He Associated With The Right People 

One point of interest I would like to share is Judas associated with the right people. He was with Jesus and the other disciples on a daily basis. So why didn't he make the change?
 
As any athlete can tell you having the right coach is very important. As any coach can tell you having an athlete who will not only listen but they will also apply what is being taught is vitally important.
 
Judas was associating with the right teacher and students so where did he go wrong?
 
He was given the same power and authority over unclean spirits as the other disciples. He was able to heal every kind of disease and sickness the text says.
 
Imagine all the good he could have done. He could have totally eliminated every leper camp he approached because he was given the power to heal every sickness and disease.
 
How many people do you know that have many God given talents, have associated with the right people and yet, they have wasted these talents? 

• He Said The Right Words 

John 12:3-6 - Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus… But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?" 
 
WOW!  
 
Why wasn't the perfume sold and the money given to the poor? Those words sound spiritual. How noble of Judas to think of all the poor people in the world.
 
This proves that what a person says doesn't always reveal the contents of their heart. A person's actions will tell you more about them than their words.
 
I am pretty sure we are in contact with people on a daily basis who say one thing and do another. 

• He Gave Into The Things That Tempted Him 

One thing I have noticed about our Lord and that is He will allow you to be around the things that tempt you. He didn't take the money box away from Judas even though the Bible says; Judas was a thief and stole from the box (John 12:6).
 
He could have given the money to Matthew to watch over it since he was accustomed to collecting money, but He didn't.
 
The only way you and I are going to get spiritually stronger is when we face our temptations and conquer them.
 
If you are facing temptations today don't pray that the LORD remove them. Pray that He will strengthen you to overcome them, to defeat and destroy them once and for all.
 
Judas started out traveling on the right road, but some where along the way he took a wrong turn.
 
It doesn't matter how you start it matters how you finish.
 
Think On This:
 
A hypocrite never intends to be what he pretends to be.

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word

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