Dear Christian Believers,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Greetings and God bless your wonderful hearts through Christ.

  2003 Recently I received a story about a merchant sea captain, and I would like to share it with you. It is titled, "THE TREASURE MAP' by Marty Smith of New Zealand.

  Once upon a time there was a famous sea captain. This captain was very successful at what he did; for years he guided merchant ships all over the world. Never did stormy seas or pirates get the best of him. He was admired by his crew and fellow captains. However, there was one thing different about this captain. Every morning he went through a strange ritual. He would lock himself in the captain's quarters and open a small safe. In the safe was an envelope with a piece of paper inside. He would stare at the paper for a minute, and then lock it back up. After, he would go about his daily duties. For years this went on, and his crew became very curious. Was it a treasure map? Was it a letter from a long lost love? Everyone speculated about the content of the strange envelop. Then one day the captain died at sea. After laying the captain's body to rest, the first mate let the entire crew into the captain's quarters. He opened the safe, got out the envelop, opened it and ... The first mate turned pale as he showed it to the others. Four words were on the paper, two each on two lines: "PORT LEFT, STARBOARD RIGHT." This story came to me by way of "Thought for the Day," that is emailed to me every week by John Fermandez minister of Bachelor Creek Church of Christ, a non-denominational Christian Church in Wabash , Indiana . John also includes his comments in his e-mail. John said the following; "So often in this life we seem to follow those who appear to know where they are going. Often, as in the above story, we find out that they aren't quite the knowledgeable leader we would have imagined."

  I believe this story also illustrates the simplicity of success when we are constant and faithful to the basics, by reminding ourselves of them daily. Surely this story would have been better had the captain pulled out a Bible from the safe and read it everyday instead of the four words written on a sheet of paper. Some of the simple basics of Christian living are to, pray daily, read the scriptures daily, fellowship with other Christians and witness to those that are not, walk in love and with compassion toward others, to know that God is able to deliver, no matter what the challenge, AND be THANKFUL to God by what we say and do. We should be so thankful to God for giving us His Word that we might know Him and His dear son. It's nice to have successful men and women to admire for their leadership achievements, but we have read in the story, maybe we too overate their knowledge and abilities this is NEVER the case with God. What God declares He is able to do, He does.

Ezekiel 12:25
"For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the Word that I speak shall come to pass ... will I say the Word, and will perform it saith the Lord."

  God is faithful, therefore His Word is faithful. If we are going to trust our lives to someone, if we are going admire and look up to someone because of their knowledge and abilities, then let it be God. The captain in the story relied on four words on a sheet of paper ... God has given us a book full of His Words. The captain's four words were important to guiding a ship through the sea. God's Word is our guide and direction for our lives in the sea of life. The story about the captain is like a parable, it teaches a greater truth, the truth that we need to remind ourselves everyday of the simple things that are very important to our Christian lives and walk. We have eternal life, we are sons of God with power, God loves us, and His Word gives us wisdom and direction for our lives. We have a captain to follow, the Lord Jesus Christ who is the captain of our salvation [Hebrews 10:2]. He has chartered a course for all of us to follow and has spoken four simple commands to us; Go to the world an preach the gospel, in his name cast out devils, speak with new tongues, and lay hands on the sick (minister to them) and they shall recover. [Mark 16:15 -18]. Being thankful is more than just saying the words; it is living the Words day by day. That is truly giving thanks or THANKSGIVING.

"HAPPY THANKSGIVING"

John and Mary Lou