Never judge a book by its cover

Time for a little good ol’ down home honesty this morning. I have been in a funk. There have been no words of inspiration, no insight into the Christian walk, and very little desire to do anything actually. We all go through those times, and if you say you don’t, I really want to meet you and find out your answer for avoiding them.

But guess what…our God is the most gracious and benevolent person we will ever know, and He has His ways of bringing us through the valleys. The last few days, He has brought me out of mine, and today there is a compelling need to shout Him from the rafters, put the joy back in my life, and be thankful for all the He has done for me.

There is a song that I love and it is a song that brought me out of my last valley. It reads: Cause when I think of where I coulda been Shoulda been, woulda been if He hadn’t stepped in Oh, I got a praise on the inside that can’t be denied And I gotta get it out right now …It might get loud

That is exactly where my spirit is today and the need to share it is overwhelming. We have a good God. He is our Father that loves us more than anyone else. He is our provider, our comforter, and our great and merciful savior. And that brings me to another song. It reads: Without Him, I could do nothing Without Him, I’d surely fail Without Him, I would be drifting Like a ship without a sail Without Him, I would be dying Without Him, I’d be enslaved Without Him, life would be worthless But with Jesus, thank God I’m saved Oh Jesus, oh Jesus Do you know Him today? Please don’t turn Him away Oh Jesus, my Jesus Without Him, how lost I would be Without Him, how lost I would be Odds are you know that song. Without Him is a song that has been sang in churches for decades. IT is a song that has been covered by so many, including a range of voices from Bill Gaither, country singer Josh Turner, and the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley. What you might not know is the song was written by a 17-year old Army private named Mylon Lefevre. Lefevre would one day launch into Christian rock music and his music was the milk that fed this baby Christian and so many others. LeFevre is now an evangelist that travels the world sharing the same Gospel that he sang about as a Christian rocker.

I tell you Mylon’s story to get to this single point. Your story isn’t finished yet, nor is mine. No matter where you are in your life, if you give that life to Jesus, it will change. A life led by Jesus will always evolve, and I have proof of that too.

The man who sits here at his publisher’s desk writing these words to share with you, once found himself at sunrise in a Kmart parking lot in Balch Springs, Texas, with no idea how he got there. The car he was driving had four flat tires, and he was still so drunk that he started the car and drove it the rest of the way home on those four flat tires.

I am not that same man today, despite all of the valleys. He has brought me through every single of of them, just like the one just experienced.

The key for all of us is to not judge those around us…ever. You have no way of knowing what season of their life they are in, or what valley they may be going through. The old adage of not judging a book by its cover is so very real.

If you want to take the time to test that theory, watch this link, and then think of all the times you have sang the words to Without Him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSIOLmcpxA