Vengeance

          What is your first reaction when someone cuts you off in traffic? The same question can be asked in a number of situations and can usually be attributed to stupid responses that come naturally when one's so called rights are violated. One of our responses leans toward showing the other person that we can get even quickly. The combination of these feeling when coupled with both individuals often results in what we call “road rage.” It is only one of a series of things that take place each day in our lives. I was riding on a school bus going home after school and felt someone pulling at the chain of my wallet which was sticking out of my back pocket which actually contained nothing of any value. My response was to jerk my elbow back catching the much larger boy square on the nose. My bus stop came up and I got off and ran as fast as I could, not looking back. Second Thessalonians 1:6-7 says, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,”

         The things in life that are concerned with this verse are far greater than any incident on a school bus. There are those times when people cause you trouble just because it seems to please them to do so. Our response is what is important. You should read the other verses down to the end of the chapter as it brings us the total picture of what God is going to do. Wrong actions can cause you more harm than good. The answer lie in the context of this passage which contains a rather long sentence but the main thought is right there in verse 6 when it says, “...God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you...” God doesn't come down and sock them in the nose, as He uses many other, more natural, things to bring tribulation to someone. He even once used a swarm of bees to take down an invading army. Can you imagine having on full battle armor and getting just one bee down inside of it? God also once used a worldwide flood to take care of a lot of unbelievers and He also used the waters of the Red Sea to drown the might army of Egypt. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with divine judgment. This doesn't mean that God is your personal avenger for taking care of the bullies in your life but will take care of all things in His own way. The murderers of the five missionaries in Ecuador over 50 years ago eventually became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. God often has His own unique ways to melt the hearts of the bullies and evil people of this world. Why, even the Apostle Paul, who was going about trying to kill as many people of “The Way” that he could, eventually had his own first hand experience with the Lord Jesus Christ on the Road to Damascus. Vengeance is more often not fire and brimstone, but love. When you find yourself in a situation that tends to irritate you and fills you with anger, try praying for the other person. It is difficult to hate someone that you are lifting up in prayer. Praise God today for His working in our lives every moment.

Getting a Different View

           Halloween in Indiana usually meant that kids would try to be as evil as they could be. We would make a “Willy Wood Tacker” out of an empty spool of thread by cutting notches in the two rims of the spool, tying a string on it, put a nail through it and then rest it upon an unsuspecting families house, pull the string as the empty spool made a terrible noise on the window pane, pull the string quickly, and then run as fast as we could. Sounded like fun at the time. The second and perhaps the most terrible of activities as the overturning of as many outhouses as you could find. The third thing we would try to do is the “soaping” of windows. As you can see, our Halloween activities were nothing to be admired. Mankind doesn't have to take too long to figure out ways to be evil. It comes naturally. Halloween is not a time to be admired and in my estimation should not even be considered to be a holiday as such as it feeds man's inherent nature to do that which is evil in the first place. The history and purpose of Halloween should give you enough information to make you want to do something other than begging for candy in a disguise. You may say that I am an old, “fuddy duddy.” I guess that would be right. Emphasis should be placed on the positive rather than on the negative. Mark 12:30-31 says, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

         There is none other commandment greater than these.” In Romans 12:1-2, the Apostle Paul wrote about the subject of renewing of one's mind. Our minds are naturally in the negative mode from the start and doesn't need to be prompted more and more in that direction. The course of one's thinking needs to be focused in a different direction and that is were the passage for today comes in. In the above passage, the Lord Jesus Christ is summing up the whole Ten commandments and heavy emphasis is placed on the “Loving of God” first and foremost in your life. If you feel that you have spent too much time in loving God and therefore need a temporary diversion by being evil, it will come easily and will move your spiritual growth back a few steps. The living out of the above passage is a lifetime project. It needs to be done every day, every moment, every hour and every second. If you slip into neutral for one moment, you will have already began to chip away at your own progress. By putting on a costume and assuming to be something different from what you really are, places you into the category of Flip Wilson's statement, “The devil made me do it.” The devil doesn't have to do it; we can do it adequately ourselves. Focus then should be directed in another direction and that direction is towards God. This takes a conscious effort before it comes naturally and it is a lifetime battle. It's thinking about God when you get up, throughout the day, into the evening and before you go to bed. You may ask, “How can I function if all I am doing is thinking about and worshiping God?” If what you are thinking and what you are doing is not honorable in the presence of God, then Guess what? You shouldn't be doing it in the first place. You can begin by Praising God this moment for Who He is and How He is working in your life.

Things That Defy Understanding

          There are some things in life that will challenge your concept of understanding. I remember seeing a ship in a bottle. I was amazed as to how it got inside of the bottle. I never did know how the ship got into the bottle and I am sure that if you looked it up, one cold figure out how it took place. It amazed me to see one and it remained a mystery until recently when I looked it up and saw the simple solution. Now it isn't an item of wonder anymore. There are some things in life that are very difficult to understand and almost defy comprehension with our finite minds. I find that there are things in life that are difficult for me to understand yet I accept them because of faith. If a politician says something, I may really have doubts as to the validity of the statement. If God, on the other hand, says something, I accept what He says because of Who He is. Job 38:4-5 says, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?”

        Job had gone through some difficult things in his life and that is to put it mildly. I probably would have caved in early if I was in his life. Job's life is important to us because it shows his faith even though he did have some questions. After much talk between Job and his three friends, Job gets a personal interview with God. God mentions in the preceding verses the fact of words without knowledge. That pretty much sums up our problem. We have a lot of words without knowing what we are talking about and so we don't understand what is going on. When I think about the eternality of God, my mind seems to have a blocking point. When I think of the fact that God is eternal, or the concept of the Trinity, or the rapture of the believer, or the ascension of Christ or the magnitude of the payment of sins on the cross or the feeding of the 5,000 or of Christ walking on the water, I just can't seem to understand how it could possibly take place. These are the matters that I accept because of my faith in God Who did all of them. God's presentation to Job is a good example of not knowing something, but still accepting it as a natural thing. The uniqueness of snowflakes, finger prints, DNA, eyeball iris and such all point to the Creator, in other words, God Himself. Scientists sometimes refer to the orbit of the earth as the “Goldilocks orbit.” It is perfect. It is not too hot nor is it too cold. One degree either way wold make the earth barren and uninhabitable. It was all a part of God's design. We are safe today because of what God did in time past when He laid the foundation of the earth. While I may not understand how God did this or that, it still gives me hope in my daily life. Since God is eternal and since He laid the foundation of the earth, and since God is omnipotent and omniscient and omnipresent, I can certainly trust Him for that which is going to take place today in my life. As Psalm 139 declares, He knows all there is to know about me from my getting up and down to every thought that is on my tongue. He knows my every sin and He knew how to make them go away. He sent His Son the Lord Jesus Christ to make the payment for my sins and for your sins and He paid the price for them all. I may not understand the far reaches of that act on the cross where sins could be paid for that were in the past, the present and the future, but I accept it anyway because Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished.” That's good enough for me. I am not going to ask, “How did you do it?” He did it and it is finished. Praise God today for His power. God does the impossible.

Poverty

         I think that poverty comes in degrees. I never told myself that we were poor when I was growing up. I never had to miss a meal and my grandmother taught me how to make pancakes when my mother was sick. I basically had a mountain of flour, snow cap the mountain with baking powder, run a river of salt from the top of the mountain to the edge of the bowl. Add milk, stir and cook. They must have had some shortening in it somewhere. They may have not been the best of pancakes but did the job in those days anyway. I also recall eating bread with ketchup and mustard and sugar sandwiches if we had the bread. I got enough to eat and I had clothes to wear. I was barefoot most of the summer which meant you ran fast across the asphalt highway to get to the other side before it burned your feet. God indeed took care of us even when we didn't know about it. God knew me before I knew Him. Matthew 6:31-32 says, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”     

          The basic necessities of life are still the main needs of many people in the world including believers. The lesson in the passage above is that if God takes care of the lilies and the sparrows surely He will take care of us. The lesson for us attacks our feelings of anxiety. We have a tendency to be concerned about the days coming up and fear that we will not have the things that we need to get by. My Mother and Father went through the depression and had a lot of unpleasant stories of events during those days. I was peeling potatoes one day and kept peeling over the dents until it was smooth. My Father reminded me that the peeler had a tip that would remove the dent without wasting so much of the potato. They wasted nothing and used everything that they could. We never through out watermelon rinds as Mom would make them into preserves for the coming year. You and I may have some concerns today about the provision of the things that we need even before that day gets here. We sometimes need to realize that we had that fear yesterday and God still provided today. It may not have been lobster but we had enough to eat and drink. God does redistribute many of the things in this world to those who are in need. We were at an orphanage in Argentina with the Navy and the Nuns opened up the storehouse for us to see the sacks of grain supplied by the U. S. A. for the people that were at that facility. It was a provision by God for them and it had been supplied by those who had more than enough for themselves. We still have anxieties however even as many in history have had the same thoughts. The Israelites were concerned about the manna in the wilderness and some tried to get more than a days supply for fear that it would not be there the next morning. The result of the excess was that it spoiled. It was only good for one day, except on the day before the Sabbath, when a two day supply could be gathered and it would not spoil on the Sabbath. You know God had to do that. Yes, God supplies our needs in even miraculous ways, just ask George Mueller as he would pray before an empty table, thanking God for the food they would receive and then finding it on the front steps. God blessed us all yesterday and surely He will bless us today and in the days to come. The future blessings will be the greatest of all. Don't be anxious for today but rest in what God has in “store” for you. Praise God for His continual supply of blessings beyond our expectations.

The Album

        Hurricane Agnes destroyed a lot of things on the East Coast including my slide collection of about 25 years. I lost all of my slide photographs from my South American Trip plus everything that I had photographed from my high school days through college and into my Navy and A. T. and T. days. I now have a basement full of photographs that I have taken since that time plus many from my parents. Sometimes it is good to sit down in the pile of photos, some loose and some in albums, and recall the people that have been in our past and the part that they played in our ministries. We have photos of Zion Baptist Church in Orange, Virginia, of Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia and then to Christiansburg, Spain, Ark, Parkersburg and now in Roanoke. We were never alone in our ministries and that has been an encouragement to us both then and now and gives us a special hope for the future. Romans 16:1 says, “ I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:”

         The Apostle Paul didn't have a poloroid camera or a 35mm camera or anything like that but he did want to remind people of his evangelistic team that was working with him for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He begins in Romans 16 with the verse above which mentions Phebe and then goes on to include the names of at least 27 different people. It is a passage of Scripture that reminds me of the missionary prayer letter that shows a group of people all waving to the supporters at home. The same things is taking place in Romans 16 especially in the first sixteen verses. Some are never mentioned again in the Scriptures while others are. Paul, who was a persecutor of the church in his earlier days, wasn't alone in the work that was being done in the early church. Some of them had churches in their homes, others brought things to Paul when he needed them. They were all a part of the early church and had the same goal in mind and were excited about the ministry and what God was doing with and through them where they were. The same is true for us today. We are not alone in our ministries. We always say that God is with us and we know that and it is an overwhelming confidence but there are also people and as I think about the past, names come up like Flint and Mary Ann, Randy and Zoann, Monroe and Lois, Larry and Sue, Dick, Gary and Rita, Paul and Joyce, Ron and Becky, and the list could go on and on. They were and still are a part of the ministry for the Lord. When you think about it, your life is probably dotted with the lives of friends and helpers in the ministries in which you have found yourselves. Like the Apostle Paul, you can create your own Poloroid photo by remembering the people that have been such a vital part of your life. We are often reminded that the church is not merely a building sitting on a piece of property, but actually is the people themselves. The groups of people are what make the church what it is and not the building, pews, carpet, organ, piano and stained glass windows. When you get a little discouraged in your ministry area, and we all have one or more, then reflect on the people who have encouraged you, prayed for you, been there in times of sorrow and joy and then rejoice in who they are and that they are just plain there. Remember the words of Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” Praise God for you own team in the work of the Lord.

First Day iof the Week

            Some times, life throws you a curve ball. While in Spain, one of the first things that we did was to get a calendar. I also purchased a planner to put down everything that we were going to be involved in during our stay in Spain. When I looked at the calendar, I was struck by the fact that the first day of the week was “Monday.” That meant of course, that the last day of the week was Sunday. On most of the calendars, the last day of the week was made in red compared to black for the rest of the numbers. I never questioned as to why this was in Spain if it was either a religious reason or a reason from the government. Our local church met on “Sunday” or “Domingo” as it always is in most countries but the calendar in that country showed that Domingo was the seventh day of the week. If our church in Spain followed the Scriptures tot he letter, we would be coming together on Lunes or “Monday.” First Corinthians 16:2 says, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”

          Early on in the New Testament, we see the women heading for the tomb on the first day of the week and then from that point on, the first day of the week has the preeminence for local church worship. In the above verse, Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth to take up the offering on the first day of the week suggesting that is the time when they would gather together as a group of believers. The “sabbath” is still the seventh day of the week and is not to be confused with the “first” day of the week, or Sunday in our case in much of the world in which we live. Some things are important to note at this point. First, the believer is exhorted to worship not just on the first day of the week, but every day. Our worship is not confined to just one day a week but goes on through the week and includes every day. It is also important to note that the original church did not have a specific building associated with it. They met in homes such as in the case of Philemon and the church that was in his home. It would seem that the early church did come together for a specific reason on the first day of the week as was the case in the church at Corinth. Hebrews 10:24-25 exhort us to come together for encouragement one to another and to do so until the Lord comes. It was interesting to note that the church in Spain still came together on “Sunday” but the local calendar said it was the seventh day in the week and not the first. One thing for sure, we are to worship the Lord every day and we are to come together as a local church group on a weekly basis since they gathered together on the first day of the week. Are you enjoying the fellowship of a local body of believers somewhere? Are you worshiping the Lord each and every day? Praise God that we can come to Him everyday.

Voices From the Past

       There are times that my memory is jogged by something and a person from my past comes to mind and i think, "I wonder what happened to that person?  Most of them are good memories and may have been one of my supervisors in one capaccty or another.  Likewise,  I wonder what happened to the people who struck Christ and buffeted Him on the night of His mock trial?  We sometimes hear of people who are acting in a very perverse way and how another person will not want to stand next to them for fear of God striking them dead with a bolt of lightning.  While God doesn't seem to work that way in most cases today, there still is the fear that He might destroy something as a result of being in conflict with Him and His Word.  In the closing chapters of the Gospel of Mark, we read of the events of that night and how the people indeed hit Him and to spit on Him.  We all think that was at terrible moment and truly it was.  One has to wonder whatever happened to those people who struck the Son of God in anger.  Perhaps the next event was even worse.  Mark 14:72 says, "And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept."  

         One of His own beloved disciples, the Apostle Peter, denied Christ.  He even denied Him three times.  We all know the account as it appears in the Gospels.  Peter had claimed that He would rather die with Him.  This he claimed just a few short hours before the events that led to his denying Christ on that night.  While there are many lessons we might learn from Peter, let us learn just one today.  We don't know what we are going to do in the face of adversity.  We have not suffered so much in this country, at least, as in other countries where saints are being slain for their faith in very brutal ways.  In the same moment, we perhaps do not voice our denials to the world, but we sometimes to deny Christ by our actions.  We begin to adapt the ways of the world into our lives so that we look like the world, smell like the world and act like the world.  We are so much identified with the world that there is no cause for anyone to suspect that we are Christians in the first place.  It is as one person put it, "If we were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?"  For many, it would be a short trial. and the judge would say, "Not guilty."  So, while we did not verbally deny Christ, our lives already had done so.  We have been reminded in the Sermon on the Mount to let our light shine and not to hide it under a bushel.  Christ has instructed us to be His witnesses and we are to fulfill the "one another" commands of the Word of God.  May our lives today be a living testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God today for His faithfulness to us.  May we be faithful to Him.

New Things

        I now have these new spatulas that I use in the kitchen which are able to help me get all of the batter or whatever I am working with, into the pan to put in the oven. They are also helpful in getting all the mayonnaise out of the jar. However hard I try, which I have to admit isn't too hard, my wife can come along and get still more out of the jar. There is always something left and I am ready to get the new jar and to quit trying to get the last drop out of the jar or even the tooth paste tube. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “ Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

         God never ceases to amaze us in present us with new facts, new promises, new hope and more strength to get us through the day. I was sitting on the platform with a seminary graduate who made the comment, “When I went into the seminary, I thought I knew all there was to know. Now, after graduating, I find that I know nothing and that I have a lot more to learn.” Biblical knowledge is present in many different levels to most all the people in the world. Some may know nothing, some may know a little, some may know a lot, but no one knows it all. The above exhortation was given to Jeremiah in his situation and in his day, but certainly has application to us also. Jerusalem was in a terrible state in the days of Jeremiah and hope was promised to him by the exhortation to come to the Lord and to ask Him and certainly God would answer and show Him mighty things. The statement is just as true for us today. In times of distress, discouragement and depression, God has guidance and help that will be important to each and everyone of us. In many instances, people will try to explain or understand things that happen to them in light of their own knowledge. Job had a lot of thoughts in regard to his predicament until finally God set him down and showed him some mighty things that Job didn't know. God often does the same thing for us. We may sit there wondering what is going on and then someone will share a thought, a verse, a promise from God's Word and all of a sudden, you find comfort. You may have studied the Bible for the past 80 years and God is still showing you something different and something new. I had a lady at one of the local retirement facilities that every time I approached, she would ask me for a new gem from the Word of God. How much greater it is to approach God and ask Him for a gem each day. God gives us the comfort that we need for each particular day and through many different ways, but they are all connected to His Word. When I get overly confident in my Biblical knowledge, I come to this passage and notice that God says,”...show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” It is like a spring that never runs dry. If you are not experiencing this in your own life, it is probably because you are not “calling unto the Lord” for some comfort, thought or promise from His Word. God will give you His thought from His Word which means that you are going to open it up and read it, hear it, study it, memorize it and meditate upon it. Take some time today and call upon the Lord to give you something for your day. The, open up His Word and behold the wonders that He gives to us. Praise God today for the opportunity that you and I have to call upon Him and then to get an answer that shows us great and mighty things that we didn't know before.

Don't Put It Off

        Even as old as I am, I still have a couple of projects going which could take a lot of time. I am currently trying to speed up an old computer by getting a lot of the unused data and programs removed. It takes time to do it. I usually say that I will work on it tomorrow. Tomorrow has now turned into next week and if I am not careful it will turn into next month which is about ten days away. It always seems easy to put something off no matter how big or small of a task it is. I can at least be thankful that nothing in my box of things to do has a deadline. If you are a church choir director planning the next cantata, you need to be listening to Easter music now, have it picked out by Thanksgiving and ordered by Christmas to have it in hand on the first rehearsal probably on the second week of the new year. Some things, you just can't put off until tomorrow. They need to be done today. This is especially true in the area of eternal life. Second Corinthians 6:2 says, “ (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

       If my time runs out and should God call me home, the computer downstairs on the workbench will not be cleaned up unless someone else decided to do it. It won't be my worry anymore. If I am not prepared for eternal matters today and should God call me home at that time, it would be a spiritual disaster for me. That is why the passage for today is so important. It simply says that there is one important issue that needs to be taken care of today and the final six words makes it very clear. “...now is the day of salvation.” A lot of people are very good at putting this off especially based upon their age. It is assumed that all of the AARP members would have this taken care of and that those in junior college have plenty of time to think about it. That certainly is not the case as we are well aware when we read the obituaries in the daily newspaper. This passage in Second Corinthians reminds us that salvation is something that can't put off because you do not get a second chance after death to make up your mind about the things concerning eternal life. The matter of eternal life can be concluded quickly by reviewing one statement made by the Lord Jesus Christ in John 14:6. He simply said that He is the way, the truth and the life and that no one can come to the Father except through Him. You could spend countless hours reviewing the claims of all the religions in the world and trying to figure out which one will get you to eternal peace with God or you could take the words of the Only One Who was eternally resurrected from the dead. That eliminates all other religions. We know about the Lord Jesus Christ simply because He was raised from the dead and therefore His statement is true in John 14. He is the only way of salvation. Therefore, Paul's statement to the church at Corinth is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, If you want to have life; If you want to have salvation, then it has to come from The Lord Jesus Christ. Procrastination may be possible with some things, but with your eternal destiny the decision is not something to be put off until tomorrow. You know how good it feels when you have completed a project or when a deadline is met or when the last dish is put in the cupboard. Likewise, you can have the best peace in life by knowing that the matter of eternal destiny has been taken care of. Praise God today for His plan of salvation. Now is the day of salvation.

Ultimate Healing

         Upon checking my email this morning, I had a report from one of the missionaries that I know who has been in Belgium for the past 30 or so years. His message was letting us know of yet another missionary who had been in Norway for the same amount of time and who was from the same mission board in which we all had served. The account opened up with the following message. “NEWSFLASH: Gwen Taylor Martin COMPLETELY HEALED!!! On Monday, 14 October, 2019 Gwen Martin was completely healed and is now pain-free!” It was the opening line of the obituary. Gwen had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for the past six months and had been in a lot of pain. The announcement may have given off the feeling that she had been physically healed, but that was not the case. The thought from the obituary was what happens when we have the ultimate healing. Second Corinthians 5:8 says, “ We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

        In this life, we are plagued with a number of ailments, aches, pains, weakness, breathing problems, unreal sugar readings, heart rhythm that is uneven, dizziness, eye problems and whatever else. You get the idea. As you get older, you just live with them and realize that is what happens when you get to a certain age. The above obituary is what happens when you leave this world. It is, however, what happens when a believer leaves this world. It is not the case for a person who refuses salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Contrary to public opinion, not all religion leads to eternal life and peace with God. The Lord Jesus Christ made that quite clear in John 14:6. He is indeed, the Only Way. For the believer, this is what happens when a person passes from this life to the eternal peace offered by God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul reminded the Corinthians that to be absent from this body is to be in the presence of God. There is no holding cell or a period of time in la la land. It is instant. One moment, you are here in your pain and the next you are with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is truly, absent from the body, present with the Lord. That is the comfort and the real hope of every person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can have the confidence of not only this verse of Scripture, but all of the promises we find in God's Word. As Alistair Begg once said, If Christ had not been raised from the dead, you wouldn't even have known anything about Him. Time in history has been marked by His presence since it is now 2019. Our calendars point to the existence of the Lord Jesus Christ in spite of the world's attempt to make it “common era” instead of “the year of our Lord.” Death is not confined to just old people. No one is guaranteed the next second or the next breath. It is all in the hands of God. The thought of humanity however, is that life has no hope and that it is all just a pipe dream but that is not what the Bible says and I would rather put my faith in the Word of God than the empty expression of humanity. One day, if you are a believer, then you will experience the “ultimate” healing for whatever infirmity you have. Praise God today for the hope that only He can give.

Missin Rest

         My Father always allowed for a couple of mechanical breakdowns when we traveled anywhere. I don't recall every being late for anything. When we went to church as a family, we were the first to arrive, perhaps even before the man came to open up the building. We had to change some tires in our lifetime as they had tubes in them and the cars had fender skirts all of which made life a little more difficult when a breakdown occurred. There was a phrase that was sometimes used where it said, “You don't want to miss the boat.” If you got somewhere late, it was often said, “Well, you missed the boat.” In life, my dad never wanted to miss the boat so we were early for most things. Hebrews 4:1 says, “ Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.”

       We have been going to a study on the Book of Hebrews and this verse had special meaning the other day in our study. God has said much about “rest” in His Word. Our speaker, Pastor Alderman, mentioned that there have been at least three times when God mentioned entering into rest and how people are ignoring the opportunity right before them. The first was with Adam and Eve. Everything was perfect when God handed it over to humanity, but they blew it when they decided to follow the advice of the serpent rather than that of God. The second time, the Israelites were witnessing the greatest example of God's power as they left the slavery of Egypt and finally they accepted the advice of the ten spies instead of God and they blew it and spent the next 40 years in the wilderness. Finally, God sent His Son to the earth and if people miss this opportunity to enter God's rest, they will have blown it again. At this point, God says, “That's it.” They will have missed the boat. It is indeed a shame that we live in the time when communication is faster and more available than ever before. The Gospel message is being broadcast time and time again and in many different ways, and people are still ignoring it. There is no earthly reason why people don't come to God for the rest for which they long. People seem to be tired, depressed, run down, failing to find peace and happiness and still are missing the rest because they don't listen to God but instead, listen to false roads that lead to destruction. It is seven o'clock in the morning as I write this and already, 48,000 people have died today according to one of the world population clocks. The gospel goes out as missionaries, pastors, teachers, and you and me try to tell the world in which we live how to find rest in this life and in the next. We proclaim the message of the Gospel, of Christ's death, burial and resurrection. We proclaim the words of the Lord Jesus Christ that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that there is no other way to the Father, but through Him. People have chosen however, to follow the voice of the serpent and to follow the proclamation of the world and will end up missing the rest. Yes, we have a fear that many will miss the rest just as Hebrews 4:1 declares. Don't give up but continue proclaiming the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God today for the Promises from His Word and the hope that they give us.

Green and Growing

            A couple that we know are missionaries and as is usual missionaries, they sometimes travel with a variety of things in their luggage. This couple were traveling to a country in the Caribbean to do some work there and had an extra suitcase packed with flannel wordless books. If you remember, Child Evangelism Fellowship came up with the idea of the Wordless Book for its work with children. The pages have no words on them but are just colored pages. There is the yellow, black, red, white and the outside binding of green. Upon arrival at their hotel, they were setting the bags out of the taxi and when they turned around, the suitcase with the wordless books was gone. Someone had stolen it in that brief moment. We could only imagine the surprise on the faces of the thief when the case was opened as they looked at the pile of wordless books. They probably didn't get the message that the books were intended to send. Second Peter 3:18 says, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

          The green page of the wordless book is the last to be explained in the presentation of the Gospel to children, or to anyone for anyone. The green page is green because there are many things that are green in this world and they are mostly things that grow such as grass, trees, weeds, many vegetables and such. After explaining the first four pages, you instruct the listener to be actively involved in spiritual growth in the days, weeks and years to come. You might say that it is just plain basic discipleship. We often remark that when a person is physically not growing anymore, they are “stunted” in their growth or the development of the physical body. The same can be said of believers who just sit down and quite growing spiritually. You can sometimes hear a person give a testimony of what God is doing in their life and it is always the same testimony and always refers back to their salvation experience. That is great but isn't God doing anything else in their life? What did God do for you yesterday? How did God work in your life last week? Is God doing something in your life since you were saved? The verse for today exhorts us to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ...” How are you going to do that? You can do it by “growing” spiritually through the practice of God's Word. You can hear the Word, read the Word, study the Word, memorize the Word and meditate on the Word. All of these methods are mentioned in the Scriptures themselves. A failure to do these things will result in being spiritually stunted in our growth. When the green things in the world don't receive the right things to make them grow such as water and sunlight, they slowly wither and die and eventually turn brown. There are too many believers in the world who have come to the same end as their spiritual growth has stopped and they are in a process of withering up. As Peter remind his readers so many years ago, may we also be exhorted to continue in our spiritual growth. There is always room for growth especially in the spiritual life. Praise God today that He continues to feed us through His Word and His working in our lives.

East and West

          How many things from your past do you remember? You might think that the question is really a dumb question as I don't know the things I have forgotten, therefore, I don't remember them. My thoughts on this is that there are things in our lives that we often remember that are not the most pleasant things in our past but the more unpleasant things. Those unpleasant things seem to plant a picture in our minds which doesn't go away. I can still see the telephone pole being split in two by a lightning strike even though I was being held in my mother's arms at that moment. Then, there are those things which I have done in my life that I wish I could have done over again or take back, but you can't seem to make it work out. There are those phrases you said when you put your mouth in motion before you put your brain in gear and you said something that you wish you had not said as it caused some hurt in the life of the one to whom you were speaking. There are the occasions of the fits of temper that you wish you had not done, but you did. Those things seem to pop up now and then when the memories are triggered. Many sins are like that as you can't forget them but you hope that you at least can learn from them and not do them again. Psalm 103:12 says, “ As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”

        It is a great comfort to know about how God forgives our sins. We know from the Bible that the Lord Jesus Christ paid for all of our sins and not just a part of them. We know that the list is wiped clean by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and we know that God has put them in a place where they have been forgotten and He doesn't bring them up again. The above verse of Scripture has always been a great comfort for me in the sense that north and south will meet each other. You can walk north for approximately 12,000 miles and then, without turning around, you will be walking south for another 12,000 miles. North and South meet at the poles of the earth, but East and West will never meet. You can walk the complete distance of 24,000 miles and still be walking east or west. There are no East poles or West poles. When God wrote the words east and west we know that it is in infinity as the two will never meet. As usual, the Word of God is explicit and shows us what God intended by what He said and the words that He chose. He has moved my transgressions as far away as the east is from the west. My feeble mind cannot comprehend just how far that is. When I think of this passage I can only thank and praise God for what He has done in regard to my transgressions. The Lord Jesus Christ made a final statement from the cross at Calvary when He said, “It is finished.” The meaning of that phrase is that the price was paid in full. That means that He paid the price for past sins and future sins. They were all under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know this fact yet we still remember many of those sins that took place in our life time. Our hope is however, in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. When your memory throws out one of your past sins, just remember that God has put them so far away that they are gone forever, as far as the east is from the west. Praise God today for payment for all of our sins, the sins of all of the yesterdays, the sins of today and all of the sins from the tomorrows that are left. Truly, Jesus paid it all.

Depression

        I got out of the hospital on a day in June 2016 and went home to recuperate after having a stroke. It was a hot day and then we heard the warnings of an impending storm. It had a different kind of name as it was called, “El Derecho.” It is a Spanish term and I never figured out the connection. It was a storm with a straight line of wind that was traveling in a line from Chicago to mid Pennsylvania and heading south at a good clip. It hit us in the evening with 80 mph winds and flattened trees and power lines. In about 20 minutes, it was over and we were in the dark. I was not that excited about being in the hospital, but this looked like I was going to be worse off than before I left the hospital. People said that the streets of our town looked like a war zone with transformers popping as the poles went down. Well, some war zones look a lot worse. Sometimes, though, storms can devastate an area and leave people with everything gone but the clothes on their backs. It can be just a bit depressing when such things take place. Job was a man that cursed the day that he was born. Job 3:3-4 says, “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.”

        Job had lost everything. His livestock were all gone, his sons and daughters were gone, he had skin problems and he couldn't come up with an answer as to why these things were happening to him. You might say, he was just a bit depressed. Such disasters can cause one to go into a fit of depression. For some, the loss of just one item can cause depression. Job had a lot of questions and he had his friends to thank for their words of reply which didn't really help matters that much. Job shows some glimmer of hope in such passages as Job 19 where he speaks about the fact that he knows in the end, he will see his Redeemer face to face even after his physical body is destroyed, yet he will stand in the flesh before God. He never lost that hope but he had a lot of questions. Finally, God sits him down and says for him to be quiet while God presents a series of facts before Job about many different subjects from the universe to the animal kingdom to the weather and the oceans. In the end, Job gets “doubly” blessed but you could say that Job was depressed while this was going on. We often find ourselves in times of need when we question God as to why certain things are happening to us. In such times, we may even question God and be angry with him for allowing such things to occur in our lives. Depression is real and can be debilitating to many people. The story of Job is in our Bible to show us that there is always a hope that is beyond our understanding. God will always take care of us no matter what is going on. He will provide and He will meet out needs in His time and in His own way. He has His reasons and they are beyond our own reasoning. You may have things going on your life today that could be depressing if it were not for God Who is still working in your life. There may be those times when God says to us, “Be quiet and sit down and listen to what I have to day.” Praise God today for the fact of the story of Job and the encouragement that it gives to us.

Separation

  I have mentioned several times about my work on a farm and the cream separator but there are many other ways to get involved with separation. Separating the cream from the milk is one thing that we did but we also separated the nails from the screws and the washers. Separation of items then gets down to another level when you separate the nails that have heads and the ones that don't and even the nails that are square instead of round. Screws get separated from the phillips to the flat head and now there are square, octagonal, star and other types of fasteners that require different drivers in order to do them. We simply do the separation in order to find something later when we need it. The larger coffee can was the one that held all kinds of items and you never knew exactly what was in it. Spiritually speaking, separation is also mentioned in the Bible. Second Corinthians 6:17 says, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”         

        There were those times when a person liked to straddle the fence. You couldn't tell which side they were on, this side or the other one. The problem in the early church in Corinth was that the people were being saved that were involved in idolatry and the Apostle Paul reminded them that they needed to be separated from the things of the former life. Many people have a hard time with separation from the things of the world and usually bring up the idea of witnessing the them instead of pulling out of their fellowship. The question for today is “when do you separate yourself from that which is of the world?” The world has already earmarked many people as being either orthodox or unorthodox, conservative or liberal, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic and the list goes on and on. Baptists then separated themselves into Southern, American, Free Will, Independent and Anabaptist. There are probably a lot more than that around today. The separation gets finer and finer as years go by. Separation needs to be in regard to the truth of the Scriptures. Separation involves many different areas such as religious and secular. It is discussed quite frequently in family relationships and how or where you can worship God. I may enjoy the music at one church and the building at another church and the parking lot of still another church, but the one thing that is central is the groups regard for the Word of God. We know that the building is not the church but the people in it that make up that particular local church. Through the years, I have looked for the perfect local church. The story then goes that if you find the perfect church and join it, then it is no longer perfect. It is you that made the difference. That is because we all have our own feeling in regard to sermon length, temperature, music, carpet color, window glass and involvement in missions. To me, one of the first items should be the stand on the Bible. When I hear a church leader say, “The apostle Paul had it all wrong...” I immediately have a problem with their regard for the Bible. In the above verse, Paul exhorted the believers in Corinth to separate themselves from the idolatry that had been a part of their former lives. The same thing can be said of us today, even here in our country. Unfortunately, the church seems to think that it should incorporate the things of the world in their ministry in order to attract the world, but it doesn't work that way. When you can't tell the difference between the world and the church, the church has gone too far. Use the Bible as your standard and you won't go wrong. Praise God for His Word.

Doubts

          The world is filled with promise makers, but few promise keepers. It is the time on the calendar when “leap year” is coming. We all know what that means. Other than the fact that the date February 29 will appear on the calendar, there will also be a presidential election. This is the time that we will hear of the promises that are made very few of which will ever come close to being kept. Granted, I am a person that is rather doubtful that the promises will be kept. I tried to pole vault one time while on the track team. It was a disaster to say the least. I doubted that I could do it and It turned out that it was true. I have my doubts about a lot things in life and there is only one thing that comes to mind where I have absolutely no doubt and that is the claims of the Bible. Matthew 28:16-17 says, “ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.”

        Just think of this. The Lord Jesus Christ had made an appointment with the disciples that after He would raise from the dead, they were to meet at a given time in a given spot on a specific mountain in Galilee. Matthew 26:32 states, “But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” To be honest, I probably would have doubted that it was even possible. I have been to a lot of funerals and no one has ever breathed one breath let alone got up and went to another room or spot in the city. The account in the 28^th chapter of Matthew states that some doubted. After realizing that the Lord Jesus Christ had been crucified, how was He going to rise from the dead? Well, we know the end of the story. He did raise from the dead and He did meet them where He said He would. The fact of the resurrection is the key event in the Christian faith. As First Corinthians 15 reminds us, we would be in a terrible condition if it were not true. For almost 2,000 years, we have staked the claims of the Holy Bible on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If anyone wanted to disclaim the Christian faith, all they would have to do is product the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some have tried to come up with man made schemes or guesses, but none have been able to produce the body. Where are your doubts today? Do you doubt that God will do what He says He will do? Do you doubt that God will take care of your needs today and the next day and the days to come? Do you have doubt that God cares about your needs? Do you have doubt that the rapture will occur? Do you have doubt that God paid for all of your sins? The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ cancels out all of our doubts. They have been erased with one event in history. What Christ said He would do, He did do! When you think about it, the resurrection is the capstone of events in the Christian faith. There are also other events that are also remarkable such as creation, the crossing of the Red Sea, The supplying of manna, shoes that lasted for forty years, an ax head that floated, the battle on Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, the handwriting on the wall in the book of Daniel, the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water. In my own life, I would have doubted it was possible but God did it and the Bible is the testimony. I may have doubts today and tomorrow in some things in this life, but when I think of God and His working in my life and the lives of others, all those doubts fade away. With God, all things are indeed possible. At times, we just need to hang on and watch God work in mighty ways, even today and in the days to come. Praise God for His power.

How is Your Light?

         It is difficult to walk into a dark building and stumble around looking for the light switch. You will usually find that you run into a number of items such as furniture, cat's toys, kids toys and anything else that might be deposited on the floor in the past few hours. An electrician once told me that a house or a building needs to be designed so that there is a trail of light from any door. As soon as you walk into the building, you should be able to find your first light switch and then there is a light switch in the next space after you leave the one you entered. You should be able to walk through the complete building with a “trail of light.” Even as I got up this morning, I realize that principle as I went from room to room never having to walk in the darkness. Ephesians 5:8 says, “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”

          The Gospel of John points out that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the world. He is the Light that came into a world of darkness.   Second Corinthians 4:6 reminds us that we are reflectors of the Light as He has shined in our hearts. The Apostle Paul then goes on in Ephesians 5 to remind us of the various walks that we are to have, one of which is the walk of light. In the past, before we became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we were living in darkness. In fact, Paul says that we were “darkness” but now there has been a change and we are not light in the Lord. He goes on to then say that since we are light in this world, that we should walk as “children of light.” A reflector is something that gives off a light, but the light does not generated by the reflector, but the reflector gives off what it sees. When a source of light hits the reflector, then one can see the image of the reflector in the darkness. There may be times in our lives when we need to ask ourselves what people are seeing when they look at us. We often remark that God is not finished with us yet and use that to explain the rough character that has recently manifested itself. In the same line, Satan is not finished with you yet either and he is doing everything that he can to stop you from being the light that you should be. We can silently sit at our desk or armchair in the morning, have our devotions, expect great things from the Lord this day, walk out the door and find ourselves in a devastating blow to our spiritual plans for the day. The author, Jerry Bridges started out his book on the “Pursuit of Holiness” with an just such an example. It can come from a phone call, a conversation you didn't want to have, a problem you can't deal with or the fact that it is raining and you just stepped in a mud puddle. The result can be just like taking the air out of a balloon. We know we can't isolate ourselves around our comfortable arm chair or desk, but must go out to exhibit the characteristics of the Light to a world that needs to be lit up by the lives of the believers that are living in it. We probably have taught the children's song, “This Little Light of Mine.” Sometimes, it is hard to really let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. We don't have any real excuse because we know what Satan is doing to stop us but we should also know the God is more powerful than He is and that the battle is the Lord's battle. When Paul went on to describe the armor of the believer, he ended the list with the words, in the eighteenth verse, “praying always...” These are the little prayers that you utter while someone is talking to you and you are praying, “How should I answer this?” “How should I respond to this.” “Lord, give me wisdom this moment.” Our tendency at times is to go our on a wing and say whatever comes into our minds which can result in our light being a bit dim at that moment. We know we are lights, so may we shine today wherever God has put us. Praise Him for being the Light source for our lives.

God's Provision

          We sometimes overlook the beautiful things that are right before our eyes. I have become a lover of the Iris flower through the years. We had them at home in Indiana and used them to decorate the graves of relatives on Memorial day. They were the typical violet and purple Iris that is so common. Since then, I have grown many different colors of the Iris family and have enjoyed photographing the flower. I have noticed through the photography and the use of the computer that there are many surprises in the Iris. You never know what you are going to find when you zoom into the deep recesses of the Iris. I have found small insects and even a glistening of the petals that seems to be more beautiful than any human could create. God compared the Lily to the riches of King Solomon and all of the splendor that he could afford, and the Lily won. The Iris is not difficult to grow. In fact, I threw one of the Rhizomes away on a trash pile and it rooted and grew and then bloomed right on top of the trash of garbage and grass clipping. Matthew 6:33-34 says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” 
     The journey of the dandelion seed, which was presented by the Moody Science film series, is amazing in itself as we see God moving it from one place to another. The Lord Jesus Christ was speaking on the Mount of Olives and mentioned the Lily and the fowls of the air. God mentioned the birds and the flowers as being designed by Him and the provision that He gives to them. There seem to be two areas in our lives for which we are deeply concerned. We wonder what we are going to eat and we wonder what we are going to wear. Mrs. Marcos had over 600 pairs of shoes so she probably didn't wonder too much about her feet being covered. As people in this country, we usually have closets full of clothes that we feel we cannot live without. Our pantries are stocked with items that sometimes run out of date because we just can't eat it all. I was peeling a potato at the home of my parents before they both passed away, and I kept peeling though the divots of the potato until it was smooth. My Father criticized my method reminding me that there was a little cutter on the end of the peeler for taking care of the little roots in the divot. My parents had come out of the depression when every part of anything edible was used and not wasted. The Lord Jesus Christ reminded the crowd on the Mount of Olives that God would take care of their needs. His promise to them was that if God the Father would take care of the Lilies and the birds that He would take care of them. If God would clothe the flowers and make the the most beautiful in the world, then He would clothe them also. If the birds found enough seeds and other things to eat, then God would provide for His children also. That's the lesson for us even today. The basic needs are still present in the lives of each and every one of us and our trust for the provision of those needs is still in the hands of God. The lesson goes even deeper as it shows that God is faithful in what we would call the smallest of things and therefore we can conclude that God will also be faithful in the largest of things. Praise God today for the things He has provided, is providing and will provide.

Great Expectations

        In 1860 Charles Dickens released hi 13^th book and 2^nd novel, “Great Expectations.” The only thing I remember from my Tenth grade literature book was the title. A quick review reminded me of some of the characters, such as the main one, an orphan named “Pip.” What intrigues me is the title. The title should remind the believer of his or her own “great expectations.” There were a number of events in my life that one could refer to as Great Expectations. Sometime around this time of the year, we would received the Sears and Roebuck Toy Catalog. When it came, I would look at it almost every day. Another one of my great expectations would be on the last day of school and opening that report card and pulling it out slowly, revealing grade after grade until it came to the phrase, “Promoted.” Another period of great expectation came when I got my first “real” job with a time clock punch at the Allis Chalmers Corn Picker Factory in La Porte, Indiana. My life has been dotted with a number of great expectations, but the best is to come. First Thessalonians 4:16 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:”

          All the rest of the great expectations pale in comparison to this one. Maybe I don't understand all of the details connected with it and how it is going to be accomplished, but the Bible says it and that's enough for me. If I have passed on by the time of this event, I will be in that number. If I am still alive at the time it takes place, then I will be in this second group which is in the next verse where it says, “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.” We sometimes refer to this as the “rapture.” The word itself comes from the Latin word for the phrase, “caught up.” Now, this is a great expectation. It doesn't stop there but goes on with Scriptures such as First John 3:2-3 which describes what we will be like, in other words, how our bodies will be changed and just a glimpse of some special characteristics. Then, we can go on and find more great expectations in the place in which we will dwell. The Book of Revelation gives us a good picture of that as well as telling us what we will be doing. Not everyone on this earth can sing, but they still enjoy good singing and just plain good music in general. Even the tone deaf people will be able to sing and to be able to see and hear far better than while here on this earth. These are truly “great expectations.” A lot of people seem to get bored easily on earth. I don't think they will get bored in heaven. One thing is also clear about all of this. Not everyone will have great expectations. The ones who hate God, who hate worship, who hate Christian music such as Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs, will be the ones who have no hope and who will spend eternity in hell. There are no great expectations for them but what they do have are false expectations such as “all my friends will be there so it will be a grand party time.” The Scriptures never say that but paint a quite different picture, one of torment, darkness, loneliness and anguish. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who has the “Greatest of Expectations.” Praise God today that He has great plans for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the believer, the best is yet to come.

"Hey You!"

           I have been called by many people. Some knew my name and others did not. I was known as “hey you” to some and to others “swabbee” referring to days in the Navy. My father once called me “numskull” when I didn't know how to do something that I should have known how to do. Most of the time, I knew who people were talking to when they used whatever title. There were times when my Mother would call me by my “nickname” which was “Danny.” When she got to the point of using my full name, Daniel Charles Freeland,” it usually meant was had about 3 seconds to be where she told me to be or to do what she told me to do. Psalm 139:1-2 says, “O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”

        People that know you, use your name when you first come into their presence, then after that, the conversation changes to some other type of name. When you get old, everyone seems to call you “sweetie,” “honey,” or “darlin.” At one place where I worked, it was often referred to as “elder abuse” and was quite frowned upon by the upper management. People, however, still call you by those terms especially when they don't know your name. It is interesting to note that the above passage indicates that God has known me. He knows who I am individually. I am not just one of 7.4 billion people. He knows me and everything about me. He Who named the stars knows you and He knows me and everyone else. He knows those who have died. He knows those who are being born and He knows those who will be born in the future. He will never look at me and say, “Hey you with the gray hair...” He knows my name. The passage from Psalm 139 is one that points out the omniscience of God. He knows everything that there is to know and there is nothing that He doesn't know. Individually, He knows my downsitting and mine uprising. I don't know that about myself except when it happens. He even understands my thoughts. When I think about that, it is just a little scary. He knows everything that there is to know about me and you and about everyone. That means that God even knows about your problems and the things that are concerning you at this very moment. God knows the grief and the sorrow that are in your life right now. God knows the problems of life in which you find yourself today and He knows what you are going to be dealing with tomorrow. Our finite minds can't understand fully what God knows. It is beyond our understanding, but nonetheless, God knows what is going on in your life. When you come to Him in prayer, God doesn't say, “Hey it is the skinny lady down the street, or the young kid on the bike. He knows your name. Verse 13 goes on to say that he “covered” you in the womb. In other words, He hedged you in and gave you ultimate protection. That means that God also knows the names of the millions of aborted babies, each and every one of them. If God knew me in the womb, He knew them also. The destruction of life whether it be abortion, war, genocide, euthanasia or whatever form will someday reap God's judgment when the killers of mankind will take the knee before God. Thank God for the fact that he knows you and that He knows every mortal being. God's omniscience should make us thankful because we know we are never alone, no matter where we might be physically, God is with us. Praise God today just because He knows who you are.

Disbelief

         I have my favorite programs that I use on my computer especially in the area of Bible Study. There are some very expensive programs on the market but I have used one free program for the past twenty or more years and it is called,”E-Sword.” I had an occasion to download a new version of the program and it is always set to open the first time on a particular passage of the Scripture which is John 3:16. Some have referred to John 3:16 as being the golden text of the Bible. The one verse says a lot and gives us the purpose that the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth. John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

       There is a contrast right at the last verse of the chapter. I have mentioned before that many refer to the Gospel of John as the Gospel of Belief. The word is mentioned some 70 plus times in this book alone. In the above verse, John uses a different word which results in the opposite of believing, which would be disbelieving. The word is almost always translated in the negative which ends up appearing as “disbelief.” The little letter, “a” at the beginning of the word changes it into “disbelief.” It is like saying, “You almost persuaded me to be a Christian, but not quite.” Sound familiar? The Apostle Paul was preaching to Agrippa in Acts 26:28 when Agrippa said that Paul “...almost persuaded” him to become a believer. He didn't quite make it at least from the evidence in this passage. John's Gospel depicts “disbelief” as not being obedient. What our lips say and our life says are sometimes not the same. They in fact can be just the opposite. If you have been around a church for any length of time, you begin to learn the words to say when someone asks you if you are a Christian. For the most part, no one in church will even ask you that question because you are in church and so you must have come as result of being a Christian. Praying Hyde was a missionary that would plant both of his hands on the shoulders of a person, look them square in the eye and ask them about their eternal destiny. If they were unsure, Hyde would have them on their knees praying the sinners prayer of repentance for their sins and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. John's Gospel present disbelief as being disobedient. I was in church much of my life even from being 12 years old. I was in the presence of the Gospel for many years but I was in my late thirty's when I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I recall a meeting in our home church in Alexandria, Virginia when an evangelist came down from the pulpit and was going through each row asking people about their salvation. I was sitting in the fifth row and was scared that he was going to confront me at that time, but he returned to the pulpit after about three rows and I felt relieved. I was relieved at that time, because I did not have the evidence in my life that I was a believer. In fact, I was disobedient to the Lord. Our families, our culture and our church often give us a false sense of security because in reality, we may not be truly born again. I would pray that this would not be the case in your own life. God knows your heart and so do you. You may be reasoning with the devil as he tries to convince you that you are doing it right, but in reality, you may be lost. Don't let your “unbelief” keep you from eternal peace with God. Turn your disobedience into obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God today for His plan of salvation.

Hold Fast

          Sometimes, when we are in a period of difficulty in our life, someone will exhort us to “get a grip” on things. I had a heart attack a number of years ago and had the usual amount of visitors that came to see how I was doing. As I lay in the hospital in Charleston, WV, one man came and said to me, “You seem to be taking this well.” I guess I had put up a good front because after he left, I thought, “I am not taking this well at all.” I was 51 years old and had a heart attack so the prospect at that time was not at all pleasing to me. While it was true that no one said, “get a grip on it” I still had just gone with the flow. What was done, was done and I couldn't change what had happened. There was not a “restore point” as in computers and so could not go back to one month before the heart attack and change the outcome. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”

          We had a preacher at our assembly the other day that reminded us to “hold fast” to our faith and who had exhorted us to not throw in the towel, so to speak, but to hold fast to the end. I looked up the little two word phrase and found that there are nine reverences in the King James Version. One of them perhaps would not apply to the positive exhortation, but the other eight do apply and exhort us to “hold fast” to several things during our Christian life. The writer of Hebrews here exhorts us to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. I can say that I have not wavered in my profession thus far and do not see any circumstance that would make me waver in the future. While I am holding fast to my profession of faith in Christ, God has been holding fast to me. Our salvation doesn't depend on our holding fast to God, as He is the One Who is holding us fast. There are times in some people's life where they seem to just plain give up. There are some who frankly have said that they are no longer Christians and have what they call a deconversion. It is basically a renouncing of your faith. I would say that they never had it in the first place but if they did, even their own actions couldn't remove themselves from the hand of God. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are in Christ and Christ is in the Father. It is double security. John 10:27-30 reminds us, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.” It is as if we are in a double grip of both the Son and the Father. Romans 8:39-39 also remind us that nothing, including ourselves, can remove us from the love of God. We fit under the category of “any other creature.” We can't even remove ourselves. You may feel as if you are not saved, or a disciple, or a believer, but that doesn't change the reality of it from God's perspective. You may be doing something that is not pleasing to God but God doesn't throw you away because of it. God is holding you fast. We are not to come before God and say, “Okay, I quit.” This is one time that you can't quit and walk away because God is holding you fast. Therefore, may we all, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, hold fast our profession without wavering. Praise God that He is holding us fast in all of the storms of life.

The Single Cup

           You may have a cupboard full of cups but there is that one which is your favorite and for as long as it doesn't get broken, it will be the one you use to get your first cup of coffee in the morning. My years in first through third grade were in a one room school. There were about 20 students and one teacher who taught the four grades in our building. The rest room was outside in what was called the “outhouse.” There was a pump on the concrete porch of the school building with one cup hanging on the pump. Miss Hastings and the twenty students all used that same cup. That's all there was. If you didn't want to use the cup, you would use your hands, which were far more dirty than the single cup. Then, shortly after, a company came out with a folding cup that would hold about six ounces of water and would telescope out to make a little aluminum glass, but it was only for those that were squeamish about that one cup and who had the money to buy one. To be honest, we never thought anything about all of us using the one cup. First Corinthians 11:25 says, “After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”

        This has to be the most famous single cup ever mentioned in any writing. Historians often refer to it as the “Holy grail.” Everyone wants to see and to hold the cup that Jesus held that night when He instituted the Lord's Supper. It seems that everyone has their opinion as to what it looked like that is not the important thing about this one cup. In the church of the believers, there are two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper. The loaf of bread and the cup are the symbols of the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ as He was crucified for our sins and the cup is a symbol of the shed blood that paid the price that had been set by God the Father to pay our sin debt. We now attend an “assembly” in our home town which observes the “Lord's Supper” every Sunday morning and “no” we don't get tired of doing it nor do we take it for granted. There is no special music to get us in the mood. There is no praise band. Sometimes, there is silence as we think about what happened on the day when Jesus went to the cross. We sing hymns without accompaniment, men read from the Scriptures and perhaps say a word or two as our minds are focused on what happened when Jesus was crucified. Towards the end of the service, a loaf of bread is broken and passed among the believers where each one takes a small piece. The cup is blessed and passed among the believers and the words are remembered, “This do in remembrance of Me.” We will keep doing it until Jesus comes again. We attended our first assembly in Washington, D.C. Where a “single cup” was used to pass among the believers at Minnesota Avenue Assembly in Anacostia, D.C. No one died from drinking from the same cup as far as I know and no one worried about it either. The important thing was the remembering of what happened almost 2,000 years ago in the city of Jerusalem where Christ as crucified, died and was raised from the dead. When you take your cup of coffee from your favorite cup, just remember the most important cup of all. The Lord Jesus Christ drank all of it that was mentioned in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember then the words, “This do in remembrance of Me.” In this day, we no longer use a single cup during the Lord's Supper, but use little disposable plastic cups. The elements of the Lord's Supper are a bit different from those of the “upper room” but the importance is still there in remembering the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood for the satisfaction of the price for our sins. This is the “one cup” that you won't want to miss. Praise God today that we can remember what happened at Calvary and the empty tomb.