How Many Days Are in This Month?

    Some time we use little mnemonic devices to remember certain things. One of them is the following little poem which keeps us straight on the number of days in a month. I rely on this poem a lot even though I am getting quite old. I find myself repeating the little poem to determine if a month has 30 days or if it has 31 days. I have February down so don't worry about it too much. “Thirty days hath September,April, June and November; February has twenty eight alone All the rest have thirty-one Except in Leap Year, that's the time When February's Days are twenty-nine” There are two examples of mnemonic devices being used in the Old Testament. One of the is Psalm 119. Psalm 119:1 says, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.”      

         Verses 1 through 8 all begin with the Hebrew letter “aleph.” Verses 9 through 16 all begin with the Hebrew letter “Beth.” Many Bibles will have the Hebrew letter for the verses in groups of 8 verses each. A child could learn the Hebrew alphabet by learning Psalm 119. We can also learn the same alphabet if we desire to do so, by studying this particular Psalm. We can also discover a more valuable lesson from the Psalm and that is the Psalmist love for the Word of God. There are a total of 176 verses, or 8 verses each for the total of 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Hebrew, each verse begins with the corresponding letter. Try to do that in English and you will find it most difficult to come up with words that begin with each letter of the English alphabet that make sense in what you are writing. Of the 176 verses, all but five verses speak about God's Word. That has always been amazing to me. I often challenge people to find the five verses which do not speak about God's Word. The Psalmist will refer to the Word as the law, the testimony, the precepts, the statutes, the commandments and the word. The question comes up for us is “How much do we love God's Word?” Would you be willing to spend the time in this Psalm to memorize it? We have heard of people who do spend a lot of time memorizing the Scriptures and they are few indeed. It was said that Jack Van Impe had memorized the New Testament and we have a few others who have memorized large portions of Scripture. The older we get, the more we say that we can't memorize anything anymore and so don't even try. God's Word, however, is important enough that it demands to be memorized. Even this portion has verses that proclaim the value of memorizing God's Word, as it says in verses 9 and 11. “Thy Word have I hid in mine heart...” Spend some time in this Psalm and read it often and perhaps you too, will develop a strong desire to have God's Word in your heart. Praise God today for His Word. Oh, and by the way, one of the other portions of alphabetized the in Hebrew, scriptures is found in Lamentations, the first 4 chapters. The fifth chapter is not alphabetized.

Peanut Butter and Traps

          Everyone looks for the “better” mousetrap. We used the old wooden type with a delicate spring that if you were not careful, would snap your finger before you placed it on the floor. A good dab of peanut butter always seemed to work to entice the mouse to lick it and then to meet its doom. I did find a new mousetrap, made of black plastic with a bright yellow slab for the peanut butter or other bait that you might choose. They were easier to get “set” and ready for the next customer. I used one type of trap in my work as a janitor at an elementary school. The trap was a piece of sticky tape that once the mouse stepped on it, could not get it off. Then, it was up to you to dispose of the “live” mouse in any fashion you wanted. Traps are interesting and there are all kinds of them. Unfortunately, they are also around in our dealings with people. Jeremiah 5:26 says, “For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.” 

         Jeremiah was warning the people with the warning that he had received from the LORD. There were going to be traps that were being set by the enemy to catch men. Who would do such a thing? I have been in some interviews that were filled with “traps.” The questions asked were ones that if you answered in such a way, you would give off an indicator of something in which they disapproved. We might say that it was a loaded question. We often find even in the church that there are those people who are against your ministry before you even begin. You have to learn how to avoid the traps. If the mouse wasn't so attracted to peanut butter, it would live a lot longer. If people were not so prone to be proud of what goes on in their life, they would be a lot more prevalent to stay in their ministry. Like the mouse, we are tempted in our own “peanut butter” which Satan has used for centuries, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. If you can avoid these “traps” you will last a lot longer. If I were a mouse and could tell them to stay away from the peanut butter they would all end up being a lot happier. God has given us ample instruction in His word about the traps that people set and especially the traps that Satan sets for us every day of our lives. Jeremiah was warned about men who were going to be setting traps to catch men. God has warned us about the traps that we are going to face. So, take heed to the Word and be ready. Don't say, “well a little bit of peanut butter won't hurt just this once...SNAP!” Praise God today for His instruction in His Word.

Let the Phone Ring Twice

           “Let me know when you get there.” This would be the request of my Mother as we would begin the travel back home. In those days, you couldn't find a telephone company that would have free long distance, so the plan was to call home, let it ring two times and then hang up. That would be the signal that you had arrived home safely. Mom and Dad, knowing the plan would not answer the phone until after it had rung two times. It is all because of our concern for our loved ones that they had a good journey with no problems and had arrived there at the expected time. The same was true of the Apostle Paul. Philippians 2:19-21 says, “ But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.  For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.”

          We want to know the condition and the state of our loved ones and our associates when they are away from us. Paul had promised to sent Timothy, his partner in the ministry, to the church at Philippi in order to gain some information about the young church. Once Paul would get that information, then he could be comforted in what he heard, especially when things were going well. Paul remembered well how things went in the founding of the church, Paul himself and Silas had ended up in jail so they knew about possible opposition to the Gospel message. When the church was formed, it didn't have the most solid group of people leading it at the time. It probably didn't take too long for it to begin growing and Paul was anxious to find out just how things were going. We often think about the same thing for our family and friends when we are separated from them. We are also concerned about the believers that we have left behind and how they are doing with the normal functions of the church. I often think of the churches that I have left to go on to other works and wonder how things are going and what a thrill it is to find out that they are doing well in their ministries. I often think of the people of the church in Mostoles, Spain and how they are doing today. I think of the people of Christian Fellowship Church and how they are doing. I think of the people in Ark, Virginia at Grace Bible Church and how they are doing and I think of the people of Bethel Baptist Church and how they are doing today. Sometimes you receive word that things are not going so well and you begin to feel sad but you increase your amount of prayer for that group. Our communication is far better today than it was in the days of the Apostle Paul. With texting and email, we can reach around the world in a matter of seconds. When we find out the current condition, then we can either praise God for His Work or increase our prayer time for that particular group. So, my friends and co laborers, “How are you all doing?” Praise God for His work which is going on around the world, of which you and I are a part.

Holding Forth God's Word

         Everyone seems to be wearing T-shirts with some message or another. I saw where I could purchase a gross looking T-shirt online that bore the name of my home town. It would be neat but the shirt costs almost $40.00 and looked like it was from a motorcycle gang. It wasn't my style. You can get almost anything written on a T-shirt these days. You can proclaim your message to the world without having to say anything. Our Grandson was over to the house the other day and had on a T-shirt from Camp Bethel which had a verse of Scripture on it. The verse was Philippians 2:16 says, “Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” 

         The verse brought back memories from 60 years ago and my involvement with the Navigators, a Christian organization that began serving the military and later spread out to include campuses across the nation and later the general public. The connection is remote, but the founder of the Navigators was at Schroon Lake, New York, the home of “Word of Life” who had the above verse as their motto. Every believer should be holding forth the “Word of Life.” This refers to God's Word, the Bible. We always have opportunities to speak about the Lord. One of the things that I learned from the Navigators was that every conversation can be turned towards God. Every experience that you have can be used to teach some lesson from the Word of God. That has been the format of these devotions for the past 20 years. Every experience, every job, every conversation, and every lesson learned can and should be used to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ. Your walk in the woods, your plowing of a field, your meeting of a friend, can all be used to “hold forth the Word of Life.” Just think of what has happened in your life during the past day and see how you could use it to speak about the Word of Life, the Bible itself. You should be able to see many examples where you could have said something about God and His Word during those times. Take for example, the Trinity. It is called “Trinity” because it is the name that denotes the persons of the Godhead, the Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. Keeping that in the back of your mind, just think of how God has used that in His testimony towards us. How many “3's” are there such as animal, vegetable, mineral, or red, blue, yellow (primary colors) solids, gases, liquids) and the list goes on and on. God has given all of us perfect opportunities to speak about Him yet we often let them pass by and fail to mention it to the person to which we are speaking at the time. Are you holding forth the Word of Life today and in the opportunities that God has given to you. Praise God today for His great witness to each of us.

Meaningful Words

            How much meaningful conversation do you have with your wife, husband, kids or friends? I am stuck at home these days because of the double vision and so tuned in to a sermon on the computer yesterday and several facts in that message made me think about some things in my own life. I thought I would share a couple of thoughts today. Fathers were asked by a secular organization how much time they spent talking to their children. The reply was that they thought they were spending about 20 minutes a day, which is not great, but things got worse. When monitored, they were down to about 1 minute and in many cases fifteen seconds. What it boils down to is how much time you spend discussing, teaching or mentioning things that have eternal value or which are considered to be the most important things in the world? I went to lunch the other day with our son and he asked me what the preacher poke about the week before down in North Carolina, which I had tuned in on that Sunday. I couldn't tell him the topic. I could see the man preaching, but the topic of the message was gone. I could safely say, “well, he spoke on the Bible.” We speak about projects going on, work issues, things are happening at home, the neighbors, television and so on but we rarely speak about Biblical issues or subjects. Deuteronomy 6:1-2 says, “ Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:   That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.”

           In order to fulfill these verses of Scripture, you are going to have to speak about Biblical issues so well that you children will tell their children the same things with the same amount of enthusiasm that you have for the things of God today. If we are speaking to our children only 15 seconds a day about meaningful things, then who else is speaking to them? The answer is obvious. The world is yelling at them everyday with the values of the world system and they are accepting the message and the message given by the world is beginning to change them and to mold them into a “worldly” person instead of a “Godly” person. Deuteronomy 6 has the command and the rest of the Bible has the message that is proclaimed. The above passage focuses on the family, but the conversations should also be not only with our families, but also with those we have contact with each and every day. It should be with our customers, or with those that serve us or our neighbors. We notice that there are three generations mentioned in the above verse. There are times that we fear what will happen when we start talking about spiritual things and that we will be offending someone. You don't have to debate Calvinism or Creationism or evolution or where Cain got his wife or all the other questions that the world wants to throw at you. You can, however, speak about God's love for you and what He has done for you in your life and the hope that you have for the future or as in the case above, speaking about God's commandments. We can spend hour getting stressed out over who is going to win the election or the price of gasoline in California or we can speak about the promises of God. We all need to try to be having “meaningful” conversations with those around us today, not tomorrow. Praise God for His instructions to us.

Sheep That Follow

          Our oboe instructor, an older master sergeant, was advised to take the advance course in order to become a warrant officer in the army. One of his new responsibilities would be leading a band and so was practicing in front of his advisors on the parade field with a band. He held the large baton in his hand, looked at the band, turned around and shouted, “You all follow me.” The band proceeded forward but not in the way they should have. The advisors dropped their clip boards in unbelief at the nonmilitary command. It seems as if we are all following someone at some time or another. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:”

         The word, “follow”, being used over 80 times in the Bible, has many different shades of meanings. Webster pointed out some 22 different examples of what it means to follow. It can mean everything from proceeding after a person, behind them, or even to worship something or someone, such as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You can find daily examples of following someone even when you go into a grocery store and ask a clerk, “Where is the seasoned flour located?” They may say, “Right this way” and off you go following the clerk through several aisles until you come to the product that you are seeking. Jerry Bridges wrote a book titled, “The Pursuit of Holiness” in which He advocates “following after” holiness and the Lord Jesus Christ. You can follow a story in the news as you listen to several news casts about the same event. In our verse for today, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks about “following” Him and this time He is the Great Shepherd and His flock are sheep and the sheep is “us.” Following the Lord Jesus Christ demands more than retracing His footsteps in the Holy Land. We could retrace all of His movement in Israel during His ministry to the best of our ability and still come up short in the end. It is not the following of His footsteps as it is His life especially His character. We can listen to the sermon on the mount and follow His direction in dealing with friends, foes, good situations, times of distress and lacking, disease, short supplies of food and clothing and concern for the future. We can see Him dealing with the Pharisees, the Teacher In Israel and a Samaritan woman at the well. We can see Him multiplying food for a large group and walking on water. His credentials are impeccable. Then, when we seem Him coming out of the tomb, we bow down in worship as we realize that He is God and certainly we should follow Him above all else. I often hear people say, “Walk this way.” I think to myself, “Does that refer to the direction or does it refer to the way in which they walk?” I know what it means, but I am just trying to be smart. In the case of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to walk in the way in which He walked. It involves “turning the other cheek,” or loving your enemies and praying for them, of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ in times of want or in times of grief and despair. So, whom are you following today. Is it just the clerk in the grocery store or are you following Christ in all that you do? Praise God today for His leadership.

Faith and Shingles

The word “faith” occurs over 230 times in the Bible, most of them in the New Testametn. Therer are some very famous verses that mention the word faith such as Ephesians 2:8-9 and the faith chapter in the book of Hebrews. I had an example of faith yesterday when I had to go to the eye doctor again due to my shingles. I have had a problem with the shingles causing double vision. I didn't know the cause until I got to the doctor's office. I was thinking about getting an eye patch for the right eye and got to checking the internet about double vision and possible causes. Almost all of the references mention goint to your eye doctor immediately. I thought, “well, I could drive with one ey closed but decided to give my daughter a ring and she came and assisted us in getting to the eye doctor. The trip was like an amusement park ride. I was seeing two roads converging at a point with trash cans, orange barrels and cars coming straight at me. I had to settle down and sometimes close my eyes but through it all, I had to have faith that our daughter was driving in the correct way. My eyes were worse than I thought and found out that the shingles virus, which affects nerve endings, had affected the optic nerve thus causing my problems Hebrews 11:1 says,” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

        We have many opportunities to express faith in little things around the house every day. We have faith that the chairs are going to hold us and have faith that the equipment in the kitchen are all going to work right and then getting into a car, we have faith that the car is going to start and then have faith while driving that the cars coming toward you will all be in their lane when they pass you. I remember a little song from Child Evangelism Fellowship which went, “Faith is just believeing, what God said is true.” This is why Ephesians 2:8-9 is so important which begins with “For by grace are ye save through faith...” The person hearing the message of the gospel need to believe that what God said is true. Hebrews 11 begins with the simple explantion of faith, “the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” The trip in the car yesterday was an experience of faith for me; faith that everyone was obeying the rules of driving and that my eyes were not giving me the true picture but a very distorted one. How is your faith today? Do you believe that what God said is true or are you trying to explain the things of God in your own way? Praise God today that everything, and I mean everything, is in His control even the things that are not seen.

Church Under Construction

          How long does it take to say “good bye” to someone? I remember going up to the big city every Saturday morning to purchase our weekly supplies such as groceries and items for the gas station during the two years that we had one. After we made all of our purchases and got them into the car, we would head out to one of my Mom's sisters and her husband for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. She always had a fresh baked cream pie of some sort or another piled high with meringue. When it came to time to leave, we would start with a phrase, “Well, it's time to head back to the ranch.” We didn't have a ranch, but we called it that. Then, we would get up and all proceed to the back door, still talking, then outside to the car, still talking, getting into the car, still talking and finally, with the windows rolled down and backing out of the driveway, still talking and finally a beep of the horn as we drove off. Saying “goodbye” could take up to 15 minutes or even more. In many of the epistles of the Bible, we also see the writer, saying “goodbye.” In one book however, there are no “goodbyes” mentioned at the end of the book. Acts 28:30-31 says, “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,   Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”

        Luke, the human writer of the book of Acts tells of one of the final episodes in the life of the Apostle Paul and then abruptly stops. It is as if there is no real ending to the Book of Acts. There are no goodbyes nor are there any mention of a team of workers who want to send their regards. It just stops. One commentary on the Book of Acts was entitled, “From Jerusalem to Rome.” It gave the story from the beginning of the church in Jerusalem to the arrest and confinement of the Apostle Paul in Rome. There is no official ending of the book. It could be entitled, From Jerusalem to Roanoke or From Jerusalem to Lawrenceville or from Jerusalem to Punta Arenas. The story of the church did not end at Rome. It is still being built even today in remote places around the world. God is still working miracles in the lives of people today. Every time a person is “born again” it is a miracle. Every time a baby is born, it is a miracle. Every time you give your testimony or do a work for the Lord Jesus Christ in your realm of activity, it is a miracle. Prayers answered are miracles that doctor's can't explain or unbelievers can tell what happened. Acts, the fifth book of the New Testament, is still happening today and you and I are a part of it. We learn about missions when we read the Book of Acts and see Paul's four journeys. We learn about opposition to the Gospel and yet it spread anyway in a miraculous fashion. We learn about trials and God's work in the midst of them even in storms on the sea and being hauled off to court to explain what you are doing. Yes, Acts is still going on. So, praise God today that you are a continuation of the mighty work of God's building His church, the Bride of Christ in the world today.

Life Changes

      History is a great teacher even if it is only your own personal history. When I look back over my life I soon come to the conclusion that I could have done a lot better especially in my attitudes toward people. Perhaps it was due to the competitive spirit that seems to be so prevalent in our society. There is that desire to be number one in whatever we do. In music, I was “groomed” to play a solo every year in order to receive a review and a possible medal and then to go on to state each year and do the same thing over and over. We competed for grades and educational achievement and to see just how high we could score on the test given at the end of each school year. We always seemed to have a desire to be at the top of any list that was available except the “naughty” list. The same attitude often carries over into our adult years as people become less important to us. After graduation from high school, I couldn't tell you any facts about my friends as my concern was more self centered than people centered. Where did I go wrong? Titus 3:3-5 says,”For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” 

      Paul gave some amazing answers to the above question and he mentioned it in Ephesians 2:1 and Second Timothy 3:1-5 as he described society in general. We were not God centered but self centered. Paul, in his writing to Titus, explained about our previous state which was characterized by foolishness, disobedience, deceiving and serving lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy and even being hateful. Wow! What a description and I would like to say it all applies to someone else, but it applied to me in my past. It is a dark picture of the life of an unbeliever, of one who is not born again. Paul went on to say however that there was one of God's great contrast statements that begins with the word, “but.” The Lord Jesus Christ come on the scene and changes are made. There are no works of righteousness that we could possible do in order to attain this wonderful status. It is all of God. “but, according to His mercy He saved us...” How great is that? Some of the disciples had a desire to be “first” in heaven in trying to determine who was going to sit where but the Lord Jesus Christ but a stop to that right away. When you get to heaven, the most important thing will be to worship the Son for what He did on the cross in His death, burial and resurrection. Revelation 4 and 5 will become a reality as it is proclaimed that “Worthy is the Lamb...” Praise God that He can change people like you and me.

Red Sky

   My Father told me a poem as a youngster that went, "Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors take delight." I had used it for years and often found it to be true. I even found out later that there was some scientific evidence that explained how it took place. If I remember it right, when certain ice crystals are sent out in advance of foul weather, it will affect the color of the sky. I was excited when I saw the same principle in the Bible. Matthew 16:2-3 says, " He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

       Predicting the coming of a storm was something that people were able to do even in the times of the Lord Jesus Christ and was dependent upon when the red sky was seen, either in the morning or in the evening. The Lord Jesus Christ, however, was pointing out another important lesson rather than giving a class on Meteorology. He went on to say that you can predict the weather by looking at the sky but you can't discern the signs of the times even though they are just as recognizable as the color of the sky. One could probably say that very same thing in every generation and the problem is not due to ignorance of plain facts, but of the condition of the heart. Debates are going on today in the circles of supposedly well educated, degree holding people, some more, some less, and they still can't see the real problem and its natural solution. We see violence taking place with people shooting each other and decide that we we need more laws on the books to take care of the situation. We read about people leaving their newborn babies in dumpsters and condemning the people involved while at the same time doing their best to abort babies at any time during and soon after the pregnancy. If the Lord Jesus Christ were walking the streets of any city He could declare, “...O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” The issue at hand is the spiritual condition of the people. No amount of educational degrees can change the heart of mankind. No amount of laws on the books can correct the problems of society. People have an itch that they can't scratch and building a bigger back scratcher isn't going to solve the problem. The answer for today is the same as it was in the days of Nicodemus. “Ye must be born again.” Unfortunately, the world is also filled with people who want to “abort” spiritual birth as much as physical birth. The problem is further complicated when we have pastors who don't believe in the Word of God or that the Bible is filled with errors or that even the Lord Jesus Christ made mistakes. The Bible declares that the Lord Jesus Christ was sinless, tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. Christ has the answer and Christ IS the answer. The next time you see a red sky, whether it be in morning or evening, think about what Christ said almost 2,000 years ago. You should be able to also see the signs of the times. Praise God that He has everything under His control.

Learning Satan's Tactics

        We can learn many things by simple observation. You can watch a fish in shallow water and how it is attracted to certain things, movements an colors. Soon, you are able to come up with an artificial lure that will help you catch fish. We can also look at the wind and the affects of the wind and soon come up with a kite. I have had a couple of kites in my younger days and even tried to fly one with our kids at one time or another. My Father came up with a kite, not his original design, but one that was the best kite I ever had. I was probably seven or eight years old and my Father built a “box” kite our of wood slats and newspaper. He put a tail on it, got some string and let it go in the Indiana breeze. It rose quickly and was soon just very visible at the end of the long string. I could feel it tugging at my arms and then, as I told the story to my Father, I felt it beginning to lift me off of the small cement porch of our house. Becoming fearful, I let it go. My fear of being lifted into the air overcame me and much to my dismay and that of my Father, the kite was never seen again, but it was the best kite ever. Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

        Once we learn how things work, it is much easier for us to get things done when we use the information we have. I once heard of a vet who had to check a heard of cattle for pink eye. The vet simply went into the center of the field and lay on the ground. Soon, every cow came by and looked at him, thus he was able to check their eyes. The vets knowledge of the curiosity of the cow was used to help him do his job that day. In the above verse of Scripture, there is one word, “wiles” that is very helpful for us in our daily lives. The word means, “methods.” The original word is the word from which we get the word, “methods.” We know from this passage that Satan desires to lure us away from the truth of God's Word and since we know his methods, we should be able to come up with a plan to combat his efforts. If you know you are going to get hit, you can protect yourself from the blow. The Bible reminds us that Satan is continually battling with the perversion of the truth. He can put just enough of a lie in it to make it something that it is not. Oh, it will look like the real thing, but it is in reality something else. Things will look similar, sound similar and feel similar, but they are not the real thing. It is said that treasury agents are educated to spot counterfeit money by looking and studying the real thing. So, in order for us to spot the counterfeit or the facsimile of something, we need to study the real thing. The answer, of course, is for us to be in the Word of God and to know the truth so well, that we are not persuaded by that which is similar. Read what God has said in His Word and know it well because Satan is going to attack you just as he has attacked others over the years. His tactics have never changed. Praise God today for the copy of the Bible that you possess and make sure that you spend some time in it today and in the days to come.

"And I quote..."

          Whom do you find yourself quoting? I find myself quoting my father a lot. I guess I remember the little "proverbs" that he would say now and then. At least, they stuck with me over the years. I also quote some very famous preachers such as John MacArthur or Charles Stanley or David Jeremiah. I get this little email during the week that includes a quote from someone else. I notice that I keep the ones that I recognize and don't bother with those that I don't recognize. Anything that Charles Spurgeon says is worth keeping as a quote or a quote from Jim Elliott, but quotes from some person that I don't know isn't going to make it to my "quote" file. Exodus 20:1 says, "And God spake all these words, saying,”  

       When it comes right down to it, the One Whom I quote the most is the Lord Jesus Christ or simply put, "God." Now there is Someone Who is always worth quoting. The simple verse for today is the beginning of the Ten commandments. Moses began by quoting God. As you go through the Old Testament, you see so many occasions where the words, "Thus saith the LORD" appears. The phrase just mentioned occurs 413 times from Genesis to Malachi. That is something worthy of note. Every time that the phrase occurs, the following words are going to be something that God has said. There used to be that advertisement about a brokerage firm that when they said something, everybody listened. Well, when God says something, everybody ought to listen. What God says is going to have a lesson for all of us either directly or indirectly. This is one of the reasons that the study of the Bible is so important. We can quote poets and remember some of their famous lines, but the Bible is going to end up being the most important work of all. We could spend time studying just the Ten Commandments and right at the beginning learn of how we are to regard the God of the universe. The Ten Commandments set forth the basic principles of life and the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament, summed them up into two commandments that if we kept them, would really be living the Godly life. Jesus said unto him, Matthew 22:37-39 remind us, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”  Right away, we see that the task is impossible for us. Who can love God with all of their heart and with all of their soul and with all of their mind? We may go through life with a lot of little sayings that we have heard here and there by some people famous and some not so famous. They might sound good and make people laugh or maybe even think for a moment, but the One Who is worth always quoting is God Himself. You may hear John Wayne saying, "That'll be the day" but God will the One worth quoting. So, praise God today for His Word to us and may you be found quoting Him more and more in your life.

The Great Invitation

         I can't say that I ever received a great invitation to anything. I never received an invitation to attend the birthday party of one of the most admired girls of my class in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. Only the elite would get one of those invitations. About one of the most sought after invitations in my life would come two days before I would leave the U. S. Navy. I had waited for 8 years and 364 days for an invitation to go to the U. S. Navy Band, but it never came. One thing would happen after another and the invitation never arrived. The School of Music had been transferred to the Little Creek, Virginia area and two days before I was to leave the Navy, a call came from one of the leaders of the band with an invitation to come to the band. It was, however, too late. I was on my way out and chose to say “no” to the invitation. There would come, however, an even greater invitation that was before me for many years and that I had ignored time after time after time. Matthew 11:28-30 says,”Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

          This invitation meant a lot in the days of Jesus and it still does even to us today. The Jewish people were laden down with all kinds of laws from the Pharisees and it was oppressive to them. They needed rest. We are living in a time when we also need rest. In fact, there has not been a time in this world where people have not need to find rest. In many cases, people are oppressed by their religious choice. Their lives are governed by a severe set of works that must be completed in order for them to ever find any kind of rest in the future world. There are others in this world who simply ignore anything religious but soon come to the end of their lives and find that they are tired but can't find rest or peace in anything that they have accumulated over the years. So, many have missed the great invitation that was given by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself so many years ago. The invitation however, is still available as there was no time limit given to it. There was not time limit, but it does have to be accepted before you die. You would think that people would jump at the opportunity to finally come to a place of quiet rest. It should be obvious to us today that we are a people in need of rest. It is simple to say that the Lord Jesus Christ offers us that rest. So, I would call this the “greatest invitation” of all. It is greater than one from the King or Queen of a country, or a high religious leader. This is an invitation from God Himself. Who would refuse such a great invitation? Praise God today for this invitation to find rest.

Dick, Jane and Spot

          I think one of the greatest blessings I have had in my life is the ability to read and write. It all began at Weller Avenue Elementary school where I was introduced to my first reading book which had the story of the family of Dick and Jane and their dog, Spot. I loved reading. It was so exciting that I couldn't stop reading that book. The teacher found out and taped my book shut as I was going too far ahead. I just loved reading and caught myself being caught up in the affairs of Dick, Jane and Spot. I praise God for the ability to read today and the availability of the Word of God. 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.”

          There are a lot of books in the world today. You can own a Kindle that will allow you to download book after book, many of them free and many others for a charge of less than a dollar. Most of all, my electronic devices can download the complete Bible absolutely free along with those other books. How great it is to have the ability to read! We can rejoice in that wonderful blessing and at the same time realize that there are, I have been told, over two billion people who cannot read. That means that they cannot reap the blessings of reading the Scriptures for themselves. They cannot read the words of Psalm 119 as the Psalmist declares His love for the Word of God in 176 verses. All but five of those verses speak of the Word of God in one way or another. Yes, we have been blessed and naturally if you are reading this devotion, you too, have the ability to read. You can choose what you read and how much time you spend reading it. Dick and Jane taught me to read but it prepared me to go on to read the Scriptures years later. Reading can take you on journeys to distant lands and to even enjoy the smells and sounds through the written page. Most of all, reading relates to us the character of God and shows us His wonderful love as mentioned in the Gospel of John. Here, the Son of God came to this earth because of the love of the Father for a sinful person like me. We can read of Calvary and what took place on the cross and can hear the screaming people demanding the death of the Sinless Savior. Then, we can walk with women down to the tomb on Sunday morning only to find the stone rolled away and the body gone and then to hear the angels say, “He is not here, for He has risen as He said.” We can read this and tons of other things about God and you soon find that in all of the books of the world, the most important one is that one that is on your coffee table, or the book shelf in the den, or in your office, your purse, or on your Kindle, it is the Word of God. So, praise God today for His Word and the ability you possess to read it. Take some time and Praise God for His Word and then to spend some moments in His wonderful Word today.

Snuggles

           Snuggles are good. You know, snuggles are those times when you cuddle up against something and find comfort. Animals are especially good for this especially when they want to snuggle. Such is the life of our cat. She likes to snuggle just a little when she has run out of energy and has quit running at break neck speed through the house flipping small rugs in her path and bouncing up and down on her cat tree and pulling towels down from the chairs on which she sits to view things outside the window. Finally, perhaps she will come and nestle between my legs for a couple of hours which is almost too much snuggling for me. She sticks her chin up and wants me to rub it. But, how do we find the comfort of snuggling when we have run out of steam? Psalm 101:1 says, “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.”

            I have chosen this Psalm to reflect a bit about our spiritual snuggling. The fact is, you can turn to almost any of the 150 Psalms and find out that they are all directed towards God. God is the subject of every one of the Psalms. Professors have stated that the Book of Psalms reflects up upward relationship with God while the Book of Proverbs show are living relationships with our fellow human beings. The Psalms are Vertical and the Proverbs are horizontal. The Book of Psalms offers times of snuggling, if you so wish to put it that way, with God. We have often seen the picture of children sitting on the lap of the Lord Jesus Christ or of Christ holding a little lamb. Life is not always as smooth running as we would like and often leads to the times when we want to find just a little comfort to help battle the events of the day. There are those times when life seems to be just a tad severe to us as we come face to face to death and of the eternal state, or to sickness of which we seem to not have any control at all. We are also plagued with the issues of our family and friends, of which we also have no control and feel that we just need to find a place of perfect rest. These are just a couple of examples that should drive us to the Psalms. Psalm 23 is perhaps one of the most famous Psalms of comfort and is indeed a “snuggler” so to speak. Is your day and night filled with anxiety and stress? Then you need to have a “snuggle.” Are you perplexed and feel that you are not in control of your particular situation? Then you need to have a “snuggle.” The physical snuggles of a dog or kitten are good for a moment, but the real lasting snuggles come from you relationship with God. Spend some time in the Psalms and feel God wrapping His arms around you. Praise God for His desires for your life.

A Fish Out of Water

       Needs that people have are not always monetary. That seems to be one of the biggest needs in our lives because we tend to live above our income. I have spent some time fishing and when I did catch a fish it would flop around for awhile before it settled down and then its gills would flex open and shut looking for water. We sometimes use the term. “he is like a fish out of water.” It is used to indicate that he or she is out of her accustomed surroundings. When a fish is caught it has only one goal, to find water as soon as it can or it will die. We can say the same thing that when we are out of our realm we begin to flop around like a fish out of water. So the question is, “What is our realm?” We were created by God and we were made in His image. We seem to have forgotten this. Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” 

       Other passages from the Bible speak about God in His working and creating of a human being such as Psalm 139 or Jeremiah 1:5. So, there is a natural realm to which we belong and we are not in that realm, we are like that “fish out of water” with our floundering around and our bodies looking for peace midst a troubled world. Sad to say, we don't find that peace and we never will until we can come back to the realm in which we were created and that is the realm of God's family. How many times to we hear of people who say, “There must be something more to life.” They have accumulated the wealth of the world, the fame and the fortune, so to speak and still find that there is a void that the world hasn't filled. All of the power and fame and the abilities and talents don't satisfy the void that is still present in their lives. There is only one thing that can fill that void. There is only one thing that will make any individual complete and that is to be in God's Family. God has created us with “choice.' We can choose Him or we can refuse Him. He gave us that ability. Choice was present in the Garden of Eden when Eve was confronted with the “fruit.” Choice is present today when we are confronted with the offer of eternal life with God or eternal life without God. You can choose which one you take. Sad to say, many have chosen to refuse God and to walk the way of the world. There is however, the wondrous opportunity to change your choice but it must be made before you die. Once you die and go into eternity, you cannot change your decision. You will just be heard saying “oops” at the last judgment of the Great White Throne. You may feel as does the fish out of water in that something is lacking in your life and that Something is God. Praise God that He is tenderly calling you Home and don't refuse the call.

Shingles and God's Grace

        In my last job, I met a lady who was in her senior years and she had a wood carving on the top of her television that said, “Old age ain't for sissies.” Normal life makes that a reality just trying to deal with the everyday issues of life. I developed a rash on my forehead and for the first day thought it was due to eating too many strawberries. Then, at the end of the second day, I knew what it was. I have a case of the “singles.” At least I made my doctor laugh a little when I replied, “I'm not even a roofer.” You might as well have some type of sense of humor during the pain. Second Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 

        God's grace is certainly a blessing even in times like the shingles. While I am hurting and extremely uncomfortable, I still have more blessings than problems. I am no where near the man called Job endured. He had it far worse than I have. He lost everything and still praised God plus he really got a lot of information at the end with his conversation with God. I have something even a bit better than did the Apostle Paul. What I have will last only for a short time whereas Paul's “thorn in the flesh” wasn't going to go away. Even though my temporary suffering should be short, I still look upon God's grace for it is His grace that has given me so much in this life. I am sitting in a controlled environment able to write to you all on a computer with a cup of coffee and everything I need right around me. I am blessed to be in what I consider to be the greatest country in the world. I have family that I know where they are at, what is going on in their lives and their relationship with God. I also am quite comforted in knowing that God is still using me for His work in this place. So, these are but a handful of reasons that I rejoice in God's grace today. Even though I am a “chicken” when it comes to pain I can still rejoice in God's wonderful grace. Old age isn't for sissies for sure but we can all make it when we realize that God's grace is always there and that He has given all the grace we need to get through every problem. Yes, I do believe in God's Word and what He said to the Apostle Paul still applies to us in our “times” of need. You might be dealing with issues in your life this morning and throughout the day and you may also need to realize the presence of God's grace in your lives. Praise God today and rejoice in His grace and a whole lot more.

Miracles

        Sometimes a series of events can produce something that is quite unusual.  I was reading a comic strip many years ago where the father was eating dinner and he dropped his biscuit on the handle of his spoon, which flipped a pea into the air which landed in his glass of milk.  He said, "Wow.  I bet I couldn't do that again."  His wife, however, was also sure that he was going to try.  God often does the unusual and that which could quite often leave your mouth hanging open.  One such case was seen in the Book of Acts as Christ was about to leave the disciples and go back to heaven.  The disciples didn't know it at the time, but this was going to be one of those most unusual events that they would never forget and neither would the rest of the world.   Maybe you can see why I am so excited when it comes to this particular miracle.  The disciples were actually there when it took place.  Acts 1:9-11 says, "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.  And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." 
         It is one thing to walk into the sunset never to be seen again, but it is quite another to go straight up into heaven while people around you witness the event.  Defying gravity always gets people's attention.  As I mentioned, God often does the unusual.  All of the miracles testify to that statement.  We might think that God has ceased from doing the unusual today but that wouldn't be the case.  Being born again is a miracle.  God answering prayer is a miracle.  All of the coincidences that surround your life are miracles in the sense that they are part of God's plan.  The problem that we might have is that we often do not expect God to do the unusual or the unexpected and so we miss it.  As you go out into the world today, expect great things from God and keep your eyes open.  You might be surprised at what you will see.  Praise God today that He is still doing miracles in our lives.

Banquets and Peanut Butter

          One of my relatives, who had a large family, once stated that she wanted to retire in Arizona with plastic furniture. After raising a family with a large number of children, she was simply tired of cleaning up after the messes that occurred in her everyday life. The thought of the typical plastic furniture was that it could be cleaned off with a hose. Our everyday lives are filled with “messes” that need to be cleaned up. Our young cat or old kitten, has not been feeling well and has had some issues with the litter box resulting my “cleaning up” messes here and there. If that was all I had to think about, life wouldn't be too bad, but there are more messes than the cat and the litter box. This is why the following passage is such a blessing to me and many others. Psalm 37:4-6 says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.   And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.”

         I recently had a lady tell me that she almost lived in Psalm 37. The entire Psalm has lessons for us especially in the issues of daily life. My cousin wanted plastic furniture because it was quick and easy to clean. She did get a simpler life after all of the children left to begin their own lives, but she never got plastic furniture, that I know of. Most of the time, we would settle for something rather small on any given day, such as a glass of ice tea and some time to drink it in peace. Verse 4 begins with the statement that we are to “delight ourselves in the LORD...” Ice Tea and plastic furniture are just a quick fix to a daily problem, but delighting ourselves in the LORD has a long lasting effect available to every believer. The Psalmist says that God will give us the desires of our heart. In this case, the desires of the heart are not the ice tea and the plastic furniture. The desires of the heart is what God gives to us. God gives us a desire to know Him deeper. God gives us a desire to read His Word more and more. God gives us a desire to come to Him in prayer each moment, day, month and so on. God gives us a desire to rest in Him in all things, big and small, simple and complex. There are times when we seem to forget all that God can do and all that He wants to do in our lives. That is when we turn to the ice tea and plastic furniture not realizing the promises that He has for us in His Word. We notice the words in this passage and the following verses that say, “delight, commit, trust and rest.” Now, there is nothing wrong with the ice tea and the plastic furniture, but God has so much more because His Word simply tells us the end of the story. We know what is coming and so to settle for something else in this life when you don't have to do it, just seems like a waste of time and of the wonderful promises that God has given us. I am reminded of a story of a poor man who wanted to come to America and so saved up for the passage price, got his ticket and filled his suitcase with bread and peanut butter to make it on the trip. He noticed the rest of the people enjoying the fine dining on the ship as he ate his peanut butter sandwiches during the trip. At the end of the trip he found out that the passage price had included all the meals. He didn't enjoy the blessings that were there all the time but still ate his peanut butter sandwiches. Sad to say, we are sometimes in the same predicament. We are eating peanut butter sandwiches and not enjoying the fine dining that has been provided for us. So, Praise God today for the wonderful blessings that He has provided for us. Maybe we should live awhile in Psalm 37 ourselves.

Simplicity

    Somewhere along the way, I heard an expression that was quite simple. The term was, “KISS.” I am thinking that I first heard it in a class on how to preach a sermon, sometimes called, “Homiletics.” The little acronym was to mean, “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” It was referring to our writing of sermons. The message I was to give was not to show how much Greek I know, which isn't very much, or my wisdom of the English language, which is also lacking. It was to be simple. The message from God, which we commonly call The Bible, is a simple message. The reason for the simplicity, as I see it, is that God wants us to know how to get to heaven. Therefore, He has explained it clearly in the pages that we have. The plan of redemption can be traced through the Bible and how it culminated at the cross when the Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for our sins. The acronym fits me and should fit a host of other preachers and teachers that are trying to teach and lead people in the Word of God. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” 

          Sometimes, our efforts in the classroom and in the pulpit seem to “muddy” the waters more than they should. Many of us have taken standardized tests at the end of the school year and then we were assigned a “reading” level. When I was in the third grade, I might have a reading level equivalent to a fourth grade student. That would have been good. I say all of this because it has been stated that the Bible is written on a level that is low enough for everyone to understand it. It is a simple message. The problem is not in the understanding of the simple message. The problem is in the person who reads it and thinks, “That can't be true.” In the above verse, the word “whom” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ Who is mentioned in the preceding verses. So, it is His blood that has redeemed us and given us the forgiveness of sin. Sins are sins. They are neither white nor black, neither venial or mortal. One sin is all you need to condemn you to eternal punishment. God, however, provided the simple answer to your problem and my problem. He provided the Ultimate, Perfect Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, to redeem us. He bought us with His own blood on Calvary's cross. When God set forth the plan of salvation, He made it very simple on our part. The plan is seen in the Garden of Eden with the coverings made of a slain animal to replace the fig leaves of Adam and Eve. The plan is seen in the vivid description and requirement of Passover in the book of Exodus. The plan is seen in the description of sin offerings in Leviticus and Numbers. The plan is seen in the statement of John the Baptist, “...Behold the Lamb...” in the Gospel of John. So, I hope you notice just how simple salvation is for us. Simply put, we need to believe in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary for our sins. It was and is simple for our part, but very complex on God's part. The Old Testament shows the work done on Calvary in great detail. The Lord Jesus Christ can be seen in the feasts and the sacrifices of the Old Testament. The letters of the New Testament point out the simple truth that is necessary for our forgiveness of our sins. Now you can either accept the simple truth of the Word of God, or try to come up with your own way of salvation. Ephesians 1:7 tells us that our forgiveness of sins, which is what we all need, was paid for on the cross. Christ died for us. We need to “believe” on Him. Praise God for the simplicity of the Gospel message.

To Jog Your Memory

       Our memories are important to us and dementia is never a pleasant thing. While at one of my ministries, I noticed that the staff in rehabilitation would create “memory” books for some of the residents. It would consist of a book or album of pictures that were labeled in order to remind the person of who they were, what their family looked like and many important events of their past. I guess it is why we have so many photo albums around the house. Now, I have several photo programs on my computer that have stored over 5,000 pictures. Every now and then, I look at them and memories just come back where I had perhaps forgotten certain events that took place some years ago. Second Timothy 4:19-21 says, “Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.” 

        Paul didn't have memory problems that I know of. He also wrote a large portion of the letters in the New Testament do different groups of people scattered over Europe and Asia Minor. Missionaries used to be advised about using a few pictures in our letters home or to other groups of people in order to make them aware of the ministry. Paul didn't have a camera in his day, but he still left a word picture at the end of many of his letters. Here, in the final words to young Timothy, Paul names several people that Timothy was to remember as they greet Timothy through the writings of the Apostle Paul. This list of fellow workers in the ministry of the gospel was an encouragement to Timothy. In like manner, we should be speaking words of encouragement to others. I recall a couple of times in Spain where the entire group of missionaries from United World Mission gathered together for a meeting and we took a group picture and each of us would send it to our supporters to help show the work that was going on in Spain at that time. Everyone was waving in one of those pictures. In the end of Paul's second epistle to Timothy, it is as though everyone is waving to those who are reading the letter and it is a reminder that the work is not being done by just one person who is isolated in a distant land but is being done by thousands of like minded believers around the world. You may not be suffering from dementia or even have forgotten just a few things now and then, but be encouraged by the ministries that continue in places where you have been. The LORD has blessed us abundantly and sometimes it takes a picture or a memory to remind us of what He is doing right now in the ministry to which we have been blessed. So, praise God today for the workers in your “field” of ministry and be encouraged. Also, be a blessing to others as you say “Hello” to them in their own field of ministry.