Our Hope

             In what or Whom are you placing your hope today?  There are two kinds of hope in the world.  Webster defines them in his 1825 dictionary as, 1.  "A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety."  The second definition is, "Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense."  As you can see, one of them is just a desire of some good whereas the second is a confidence.  To the believer, there is a great hope.  Colossians 1:23 says, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"  
      Our hope is in the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We live in an age where we always are under the desire to have hope in something.  We hope that our children do well in this life.  We hope that we have a job tomorrow or next year.  We hope that we will have good health and not have some major illness.  All of these and the host of other things in which we hope are things in this life that may or may not come to pass.  While we have these desires, we also have a confidence.  This is a much different type of hope.  When you have confidence in something to come to pass, it is a hope that is guaranteed because our hope is placed in Him who is able to grant us such a confidence.  Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for us.  Our hope is based on the promises of God and not on temporary things.  The gospel itself can be summed up in the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 where the "gospel" was defined.  Paul said there, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"  Because Jesus died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead, our hope is guaranteed.  It is in the gospel that we have this confidence.  So, while things today may change your desires, your confidence will always be there because it is based in God's promises.  If you are having a day when things seem to be going in ways you didn't plan, remember the hope that you have in God and praise Him for it.  Praise God for being our Hope in all things.

Real Success

       There are some words in the Bible that are used many times such as the words, love, joy, peace and grace.  The word "peace" is used 429 times in the Bible.  There are also a few words that are used quite sparingly.  One such word is the word, "success."  It is used only translated one time in the Scriptures as "success" and it is in the following reference.  The Hebrew word is used some 70 times and translated in about 25 different words.  The question might more be, "What is God's understanding of 'success?'"  Joshua 1:8-9 says, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou salt meditate therein day and night, that thou gayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou salt make thy way prosperous, and then thou salt have good success.  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou guest."  This was the given prescription to attain "success."  

       Now, there are many people in the world today who seek to be successful.  There are also all kinds of seminars, books and methods to try to measure a person's success.  They ask questions like, "Are you reaching your goals?"  "Are your goals measurable?"  "Do you have a plan?"  "Are you using your time and money in the best way?"  But, these are not the same things that make up "success" in a spiritual sense.  The Apostle Paul had seen the inside of most of the jails in every town that he visited.  He had been beaten, shipwrecked and stoned.  He didn't know who his friends were.  Yet, he was persistent in the preaching of the Gospel.  He wouldn't have been classified as a successful man by today's standards.  But, according to the Bible's standards, he was quite successful.  Joshua was getting ready to embark on a vast military campaign and God gave him the prescription for success.  The only thing he had to do was to  be faithful to "book" of the law.  He was to think upon it and he was to do according to all that was written in it.  If he did this one thing, he would be prosperous and he would have good success.  He wouldn't have to track anything in his Day-Timer nor would he have to evaluate his "Managing By Objectives" list.  He was to just be faithful to the Book of the Law.  Do you want to be classified as a "successful" person?  If you do, then it won't be according to the world's standards but rather the keeping of the Book.  The indirect application is there for us.  Be faithful to God's Word.  First Corinthians 15:58 says, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."  Stand fast in all that the Lord gives you to do.  In the end, you, too, will be classed as "successful."  Praise God that we find our true success in Him and in His Word.

What's Up?

 

     Studying the Bible can lead to some interesting things.  For instance, some words can mean the opposite such as the word "cleave."  It can mean to separate or it can mean to bring together.  Even the small words sometimes have interesting meanings.  What about the word, "up?"  One quote goes on to say about this little word,   "To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.  If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more."  Psalm 119:9-11 says, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." 

    

         God's Word, a term we quite often use to denote the Bible, is a collection of words.  They are, for the most part, simple words whose structure make the thoughts of God relevant to us.  Children can understand what the Bible says, and very often, easier and better than some adults.  There was a simple song that said, "Faith is just believing, what God said is true."  I have gotten just a little excited by the prepositions that are mentioned in the Book of Ephesians.  Such phrases as "by Christ," "in Christ,"  "with Christ" and so on, go to show our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  How wonderful it is to realize that we can be "in" Christ.  Ephesians 2:6 says, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"  The verses for today remind us that God's Word is important for us in order to do what we ought to do in our Christian life.  While we won't end up being perfect while we are living upon this earth, we are still able to be under the conviction of the Holy Spirit as the Word of God reminds us, indeed commands us, to walk according to His ways.  In fact, Psalm 119 has 176 verses and all but five of those verses speak about our relationship with the Word of God in one way or another.  So, what's up in your life today?  Praise God for His letter to us.

Help

 

     There are times in life when you simply need help.  Those are the times when you may find that you need to call our for someone to come alongside and help you out of a sticky situation.  During the war, my father was a truck driver here in the states and because he often was called up on haul gun powder, he wasn't drafted into the military.  One winter, it was snowing extremely hard but Dad went to work anyway.  On the way to work, he saw a man whose car was stuck in a ditch.  He helped the man get out and the man gave him $5.00.  A little way further and the same thing happened.  Soon, Dad realized that he was making more money helping people out of the ditch so he never really made it to work that day.  When you need help you cry out for the closest one who would be able to help you.   Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."   

     We may find ourselves at the point in our spiritual life when you simply need help.  While many people could substitute for Job's friends, we need help that is really going to work.  At this point, we turn to God for the help that we know He is able to supply.  We may be spiritually stuck in a snow bank and unable to see the way that we should go and so we cry out to God to help us.  Hebrews 4:16 reminds us, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  So, whenever you find yourself in a time of need, you can certainly find the answer in that cry for help to our Great God.  I have had times when you feel as if you are pressed into a hole and can't get out unless you have some help.  Spiritually speaking, those times can only be met with the help that God provides.  Intercession is a prayer that is said for others.  We quite often pray for the needs that others have as they cry out for help in those times of need.  It is a vital ministry as many of you can agree with having had spiritual and maybe even physical needs met  as a result of prayer.  I know I appreciate the prayers that are said on my behalf which further reminds me to pray for you all.  Praise God today for His ministry to us each and every hour.

8/28

     Certain verses in the Bible seem to be very popular for use as plaques to hang on the wall.  If you are any kind of a learning institution, then Second Timothy 2:15 will be around somewhere.  Many homes have Proverbs 3:5-6 displayed somewhere to speak about God's direction in our lives.  As I was writing the date for today's devotion, another verse came to mind.  Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." 
         This is the verse that usually is mentioned when there is severe or even moderate trouble in a person's life.  It is also used when we don't know what else to say.  It is used when we have no other explanation for what just happened in our lives.  It is a "catch all" verse that seems to apply to so many different situations.  When temptation comes, we usually think of First Corinthians 10:13.  When unexplained things take place in our lives, we think of Romans 8:28.  It is true that it does seem to fit many different occasions in our lives.  While we use this verse, sometimes, we fail to notice a couple of words that are really important.  What we fail to notice quite often is the little phrase, "...those who love God."   Even non believers will quite often use the verse to explain the difficulties in their lives but who have never loved God in that personal sense.  We are reminded to love God with all our heart, with all our mind and with all our strength.  That means that we will be putting Him first in our decisions no matter what comes up.  The "convenient" believer will do that which is good for them to do at that moment.  If you have a choice to worship God or to go to a special event, which will you choose?   Our true love for God will often be displayed by our actions and our choices.  So, then, the rest of the verse will not apply to most situations.  If I fail to love God, then we should not be dismayed when things don't seem to be working our for the good.  The person who truly loves God will be able to fully trust in God's plan for their life regardless of whether it seems good or not.  You can have confidence that things will work out for good if you have your affection in the right place, in other words, if you are loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Praise God today that He does have your best interests in mind in all things.

The Good Stuff

         We sometimes have things in the home that we call, "the good stuff."  We have a lot of those things in our home.  The "good stuff" are those things that are well protected and put away in a drawer or on a shelf for some future use.  There are some things from our wedding of 57 years ago, that we really don't use.  They are part of the "good stuff."  We have china, some real silver items and a few other things that would be classed as being a part of the "good stuff."  Probably, the only way they would ever get used would be if someone really important would come to our home for dinner.  If they did come, we would probably look for the "good stuff" to put on the table.  John 12:5 says, "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment." 
         There are a couple of occasions in the Scriptures where "the good stuff' was used.  One of those times was the wedding feast when they ran out of wine and Jesus made the "good stuff."  Then, we have the account here in John 12 where Mary annoints the feet of Jesus with an ointment of spikenard which was equivalent to about a year's wages.  That would be classified as the "good stuff."  The Lord Jesus Christ is certainly worthy of not only the "good stuff" but the absolute best of what we have in every regard.  He deserves our wealth, our time, our talents, our clothing.  He deserves the best.  He deserves the best praise.  We honor Him by giving Him our best.  Even in the Old Testament, when a sacrifice was to be offered, it could not come from the blemished sheep but had to be a perfect specimen in every way.  Mary had it right when she took the "very costly" ointment of spikenard and wiped his feet and then dried it off with her own hair.  What would you serve dinner on when and if Jesus came to your house?  Would you use the plastic melmac or would you look for the "good stuff' that is tucked away in your expensive china cabinet?  If you knew that Jesus was going to be at church on Sunday, what clothes would you put on?  Would you look for your everyday jeans with the holes in the knees or would you look for the "good stuff."    Praise God that He sent His very best to save the very worst.

Scrambled or Over Easy?

August 24, 2017

         There have been those times when something has passed me by simply due to the fact that I didn't ask.  Such is the case of the Breakfast Bar.  Some times, things seem to good to be true.  There is one restaurant in town that is quite famous and who has had a breakfast bar for many years.  But, the breakfast bar only has scrambled eggs.  Now, if you like scrambled eggs, that wouldn't be a problem.  But, there are many people who prefer eggs cooked some other way other than scrambled.  One day, a mission group was with us and we decided to take them all out to this restaurant for breakfast.  The missionary said to the waitress that he wanted the breakfast bar but that he would like to have his eggs cooked over easy.  The waitress replied that it would not be a problem.  For years, I had been taking scrambled eggs because they were on the bar when I could have had them any way I chose.  The difference was, I didn't ask.  Are there some things in your spiritual life that you would like to have changed?  Have you asked or have you just accepted things the way they are?  Psalm 55:17 says, "Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice."  

          There may be those times in our lives when we just simply fail to ask God in regard to a special situation.   While it is true that God has three basic answers, "Yes, No and Wait.", He still does hear and He will answer.  The Psalmist here indicated that he prayed three times a day and he was confident that God heard his voice.  To me, the Psalmist is saying that you can pray any time of the day you want, morning, noon or evening and you can be confident that God will hear you.  There are days when we spend a lot more time in prayer especially when things get tough in our lives.  We often, however, accept things the way they are while all along wishing that they were different.  Our problem is that we have failed to take it to the Lord in prayer.  So, don't hesitate to approach God with matters that concern your life, whether physical or spiritual.  God is just as concerned about the small things in your life as He is with the big things of the entire world.  God knows each hair on your head and how many of them fell off today.  So, don't hesitate to ask Him of the matters that concern you.  Just come to Him and "ask."  Praise God today that He answers prayer.

Speechless

          Marvelous events seem to leave people almost speechless.  They are almost speechless, but not quite.  The event of the recent eclipse had many talking about it as we saw it on television in various reports in different parts of the nation.  We saw the president and his family watching the eclipse and we saw two former presidents also watching the eclipse.  We saw thousands of people on the road going for a better view of the one minute event.  News commentators were heard to say, "I am speechless."  That would be a first.   There are many events that occur in the world today that are able to be seen by millions of people at the same time.  If you would have read the Book of Revelation in the 1930's you might just wonder how such a thing could take place.  Take the following passage for example.  Revelation 11:11-12 says, "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."
       The event will be able to be seen by the people of the world at the same time.  How could this be?  Then, we realize that events like the Olympics or the tearing down of the Berlin wall was able to be seen by the people of the world in real time.  Everyone from all parts of the globe were able to see it taking place as it was being done.  We can do that now because of the communication capabilities that we now have via satellites and radio transmissions.  There is something better now than beating drums and smoke signals for the communication of a message.  So, the above passage will be able to be seen by everyone at once.  God always has an amazing way to communicate with us.  We should not be surprised at His ways.  Have you ever wondered about God's hearing of all of our prayers from around the world at the same time?  Even if someone would pull the plug on all the electric power in the world, God would still be able to communicate with us via the prayer line.  No cell phone tower is needed to speak to Him.  So, what is it that will really make you speechless?  Just thinking of God's power, His communication with us, His love for us, His plan of salvation, His sending of His Son to come again and the power of the resurrection should all be things that make us speechless.  Praise God for His power.

Dark Glasses

         I am writing this on Monday, the 21st  on the day of the eclipse at  8:45 AM, it hasn't occurred yet where we live..  The talk is going around about the excitement of looking at the eclipse.  News reports are out about the bargain glasses that are defective and so shouldn't be used.  I saw a series of photos from previous eclipses where people were squinting at the sun as the peered through pieces of exposed camera film.  they also were using smoked glass and to be frank, looked like a bunch of aliens all peering in the same direction.  Everyone seems to be aware of the fact that looking at the sun can cause serious eye damage.  The sun seems to be able to cause a number of problems.  When I was a kid, I ran around with no shirt on during the summer months.  In fact, I had no shirt, shoes or socks on as I would run across U. S. 20, the hot asphalt almost scorching the bottom of my feet.  Now, i pay for it by going to the skin doctor to have moles removed from my back due to excessive damage caused by the sun.  I never heard of a sun block during those days.  What can be brighter than the sun?  Revelation 22:5 says, "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.  
       The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel speak of the Brightness when referring to being in God's presence.  There will be no need for dark glasses when we are in heaven mainly because we will possess a resurrected body and our eyesight will be something far greater than we ever thought possible.  We are able to see only a small spectrum of the colors and the ears only hear a certain bandwidth of sound.  We are fortunate to hear sound between 300 to 3,000 cycles.  We know that dogs have a higher range and can hear the sound of the "dog" whistle which emits no sound for us, but the animals can hear it.  Being in God's presence, we will have a source of light that is far greater than the sun.  The Brightness is often associated with the glory of God.  So, don't worry about your dark glasses when you stand in the presence of the Lord.  You won't need them in heaven.  Now, if you are standing at the great white throne judgment as a non believer, you will need more than dark glasses and they still won't do you any good.  Praise God today that He has the plan for our future.

The Reunion

         Reunions are always interesting affairs to attend.  I have had some class reunions where the remaining members of the class get together to discuss what has been going on in their lives.  There are also those family reunions.  I remember how my Uncle Ernie would be involved in the family reunions for the our family.  The families would get together at a designated spot and renew old acquaintances.  Quite often, we would be able to see how people had aged or what important things had been going on in their lives since we had last seem them.  Uncle Ernie was buried out in the country and I remember the last words of his son, "I'll see you in the cornfield."  The cornfield was located near the burial site and would be a reminder that his dad was there.  There is going to be what one might call a great reunion and that is the one that is described in Paul's first book to the Thessalonians.   First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."  
       This will be far more than a local event.  It will be worldwide as people from all points of the globe will be "raptured" up to meet the Lord in the air.  Many songs have been written and many sermons have been preached about this "homecoming reunion" that will take place in the future.  Paul gives more than a casual word about the event.  He describes it in detail and gives the sequence of events that will take place during the departure.  It is interesting to note that those who are dead in Christ will rise first and then we which are alive at that moment will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.  Most believers look forward to this time as it will be the release from the pressures of the world.  When the moment is just right, the Lord Jesus Christ will come for the church, the Bride of Christ and then we shall remain with the Lord.  So, if you are filled with the feelings of depression or discouragement or just don't know what this world is coming to, then look to the sky and realize that the time is soon coming when we shall be a part of the best reunion ever.  Praise God that He is getting ready to come for His Bride!

Gold and Silver

      I have had trouble most of my life in regard to having the money that I wanted in order to live the way I wanted to live.  When I got on my own and had joined the U. S. Navy, I soon learned that $80.00 a month didn't go too far.  I would start out the month having a blast during the first week and then suffered the rest of the month.  Now, the government provided all of my meals and a place to sleep so I was well taken care of.  Going to the base store and the Gedunk, a small café for enlisted sailors, soon took a toll on the rest of my monthly salary.    Of course, you could always borrow $5.00 for $8.00 but that got a tad expensive.  After we were married, I soon discovered what a budget was and how to make one   Haggai 1:8 says  "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts."  

     Now, God owns it all.  That's obvious.  There is nothing that isn't His in the first place.  Every now and then it gets reapportioned to those who have specific needs.  God is not going to take care of my frivolous living, but He will meet all of my genuine needs.  He provided me with opportunities to work.  This was especially true when I went to Washington Bible College.  God gave both my wife and myself a part time job.  Veteran's benefits helped with the education bill and other believers did marvelous things for us during those years.  I often see advertisements for loans to help you to the end of the month but the interest is worse than my five for eight dollars.  While we look at this verse from the Book of Haggai, we soon come to realize that God does "own it all."  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills and here he owns the silver and the gold.  If you find yourself in a pinch then you can find help from God Himself.  Just make sure that you are not having a problem with sin that is causing your shortage.  Expensive habits take you away from God as you are trying to replace Him with things or with feelings that are the result of sinful living.  In the end, we need to be loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind and with all of our strength.  Once you find yourself doing these things, you will also find your cup running over.  Praise God that He supplies all of our needs and not all of our wants.

The Bible for Dummies

 

     The advent of computers saw the rise in books that were published to help explain what was going on with them.  Forty years ago, the section for computer books in the local book store was indeed very small and in many cases, non existent.  Then, as more and more technical books were being written, it became necessary to have a section for them.  Most of the books were difficult to understand for the average computer user.  The term "user friendly" became known as it described whether a computer or even a program was easy enough to be used by the average person.  One book came out to help explain just how the computer worked.  It was called "DOS for Dummies."  DOS stands for Disk Operating System and was one of the more basic programs for the working of most computers.  The book was laid out in such a way as to explain something for even the person who was computer illiterate.  It wasn't long before the idea caught on for other areas of life.  Soon, there were books for auto repair or cooking or gardening, all written for those who were not experts in the field.  I wondered how long it would be before there was a book, "The Bible for Dummies."  Sure enough, there it is, "The Bible - God's Word for the Biblically-inept."  The book, from the outside, looks just like all of the other "dummies" books with the yellow and black theme.  The Book states, "(the author) ...breaks the Bible down into bite-sized pieces making it easy to understand and incorporate into your life."  Second Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

     The Bible itself states what is necessary for the understanding of the Scripture.  For the believer, the one thing that is helpful is for the person to begin studying the Scriptures.  We are to be diligent in our time in God's Word.  Then, we will find that the Holy Spirit will be able to illuminate God's Word to us.  It is interesting to note that the term "dummy" doesn't occur in the Scripture.  There are no dummies in God's eyes.  People may be Biblically inept due to the fact that they have a very small diet of Scripture in their lives.  For some, it may only exist in what the preacher says on Sunday morning or Sunday evening and if they are fortunate, on Wednesday evening.  That is probably far short of 3 hours a week in corporate study.  Obviously, one needs more time than that to study God's Word.  We spend more time in a week, watching the news on TV than that.  So, Paul was right when he admonished young Timothy to "Study the Scriptures."  How are you doing?  Are you spending time in Bible study or do you just listen to what others have to say?  Praise God today that He gave us His Word for us to learn about Him.

It's Going to be All Right!"

 

   Every now and then, trouble may come into your life that seems to be so much more than you can handle.  I have mentioned this before about the time we had severe storms in Indiana and I was probably close to five years of age.  I was screaming at the top of my lungs, half scared out of my wits.  My mother was trying to calm me down and so she picked me up and was saying, "see, everything is going to be all right."  Just as she said that, a lightning bolt hit the telephone pole outside oft he window and split it from top to bottom along with the clap of thunder that shook the house.  At that time, I had not been assured that everything was going to be all right.   Job 42:1-3 says," And Job answered Jehovah and said,  I know that thou canst do everything, and that thou canst be hindered in no thought of thine.  Who is he that obscureth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not." 

       Job had been in a storm but it was a storm of life and he couldn't understand what was going on.  The counsel of his friends didn't seem to help that much and Job was going off track in his own mind until chapter 38 when God speaks to him and basically tells him to be quiet and listen to what He had to say to Job.  Job was getting the picture and chapter 42 and comes to the conclusion that there are things that God does that are far too wonderful for him or even us, to understand.  Perhaps it comes down to our lack of seeing and understanding the "big" picture.  We, of course, cannot see all of the reasoning of God as to why things happen the way they do.  There comes that time when we have to rely upon God's plan and that not of our own in order to gain some type of peace in our lives.  Since we have our own personal copy of the Bible, we can understand more than Job did at that time in his life when things seem to be going down the tube.  We know that God has the plan in His mind and that He will not lose His grip on us and that we will survive.  Our confidence in the Scriptures reminds us that God is saying, "See, everything is going to be fine."  Praise God today that he is in control and that He has the plan for all of our lives.  God is working out a 7 billion piece puzzle every second.

"Oops"

August 15, 2017

Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Every now and then, you come across some action in your life whereby you say, "Oops."  When it happens, you know you are in deep trouble.  A good example is when you are driving along, going down hill, letting the car coast and all of a sudden you notice that State Trooper sitting along the edge of the road, his car pointed in your direction with that cylinder hanging on the side of the window.  You glance down at your speedometer and notice that you are well over the speed limit.  You might then say, "Oops."  As you go by, you look in your mirror to see if his cruiser comes onto the highway with his lights on.  You wish you could back to the top of the hill and start over, but you can't.  What's done is done.  There are some things in life whereby you do something and then wish you hadn't done it.  The only thing you can do is to ask for forgiveness and hope that the other accepts your offer.  Romans 4:5-7 says, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,  Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." 

      These verses are speaking of much more than going over the speed limit.  They are speaking about issues of life that if they go unchecked will have severe consequences.  You don't want to leave God out of this equation.  In the first place, you are asking God to forgive you for all of your sin, past, present and future.  That is salvation.  The burden of sin has caused you to hang your head low and a deep feeling of despair to come over you.  The need for forgiveness is great in your life.  At first, you may try other things to try to get rid of the guilt.  There is nothing that you can do other than to come to the One why has been wronged by your actions and to plead for forgiveness.  God has made forgiveness available to all those that call upon Him.  So, you come with true repentance in your heart and a desire to walk in a different way from that moment on.  The verse that says, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered," sparks a promise that is great to each one who sees it.  Your sins can be forgiven and your sins covered.  The payment that Jesus Christ made on the cross was sufficient to cover the cost of your sins.  The feeling of guilt is gone and you can now lift your head high knowing what God has done for you and it was completely without your help.  Secondly, forgiveness can come each and every day as true repentance is present for sins that are committed throughout our daily lives.  So, praise God today for the fact that true forgiveness is possible.  Praise Him for the cross and the empty tomb.

The Madedonian Vision

August 14, 2017

Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     How many churches are there in your area?  That question plagued me one day while living in a town in Southern Virginia.  I found that in our county, there were over 40 different churches and that perhaps 20 of them would be groups that would be preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They were what we might call, fundamental in that they believed in the Bible.  They were churches that believed the Word of God.  Now, that meant that there were at least 20 churches in one county for less than 20,000 people at that time.  We had just been challenged by a young Spanish man about working in Spain in a city of 200,000 people that had only one church of about 150 members.  I was reminded about the following passage.   Acts 16:9-10 says, "And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.  And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them." 

      The Apostle Paul was pioneering the gospel  in Asia Minor and then decided to go back and check up on how they were doing.  In Acts 16, we find that the Holy Spirit forbid him from doing it.  It all ended up in Paul and Silas waiting in Troas for God's direction.  It came from the vision of the man of Macedonia.  In other words, he was to leave the comforts of the people he had helped to begin a new work and go on to where he was needed.  Sometimes I wonder about how effective a ministry we have and if it is time to take another direction in our life.  I can't say that I have had a vision of anyone saying, "Come over and help us."  Yet, at the same time, there is always a need to share the Gospel in different areas even here in what is called the "Bible Belt."  I once did a study of local churches in our area and found that there were a total of 249 churches within a five mile radius of downtown Roanoke.  When we moved here, a phone book gave us the information that there were 144 Baptist churches in our area.  That's quite a lot to pick from.  I still think of those towns in Europe that have no Gospel witness.  There are, however, still needs that are right here in our own local area.  There are those needs that exist right outside your door on your street, in your hometown and in your state.  May we all be willing to go where He wants us to go to share the gospel message with those that still need it.  Praise God that He is still directing people.

 

Thin Skinned?

      I had a little scrape on my arm recently and so decided to put on a band-aid.  The next day, I removed the band-aid and the tape at the end pulled off more skin than the original scrape which then resulted in a bigger band-aid, which I just left on until it fell off after a shower.  I have found that in my later years, my skin is getting thinner and I can easily have a "skin tear."  When I was just getting ready to go to Washington Bible College, my pastor reminded me that a pastor needed to have a skin like that of a Rhinoceros.  He was referring to the criticism of people who would be against the message of the Gospel.   The meaning is a little different we sometimes refer to people as either being thin skinned or thick skinned and we are referring to their attitude.  You can't seem to insult a person who is thick skinned.  The criticism or insults seem to roll off of them like water off of a duck's back.   Matthew 5:2-5 says, "Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,   Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." 
     The passage just mentioned is the beginning of the Beatitudes.  It shows the character of the attitude of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The word "blessed" in this passage can also be translated as "happy."  So, why are believers happy in the first place?  the believer is happy because they are secure in the Lord Jesus Christ and there is nothing that Satan, demons, or anything else can do to us to change the outcome.  The truth of John 14:1-5 or Philippians 4:13 or John 3:16 will always remain the same because we are secure in Christ.   The Savior was crucified for the sin of the world which we need to be reminded of the fact that the sin includes your sin and mine.  You may have reaped the insults of people and felt like crawling into a safe and secure place and not coming out for a long time.  If and when you get into that situation, just remember the beatitudes as mentioned here in the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount.  Find comfort in the words of Christ and you will find that the thickness of your skin is not the issue at all.  Praise God that He is watching over His children.