The Light

          I was in the sixth grade when I received my first New Testament. The Gideons came to our school and passed them out to all of the students. I don't even recall anyone refusing to take one. It was sometime later that I got my first copy of the whole Bible. It was a black zippered Bible with a mustard seed enclosed in a plastic ball on the end of the zipper. I had it, but can't say that I read more than a couple of random verses in all the time I owned it. I have always noticed that Bibles are available in many places and at reasonable prices. You can even get one in the “dollar tree” for a buck. There are several groups in the world that promote translating the Scriptures into languages that have not seen or ever heard of the Word of God. Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” 

         If you are reading this, then you probably have read some of the Bible yourself but there are thousands of people who have not read even one word of it. I know of one young man whose first encounter with anything Christian was the movie, “The Robe.” The young man was Jewish and no one wanted to speak to him about Christ. The Bible is readily available in the United States as there are groups such as the Gideons and Pocket Testament League that distribute Bibles everywhere they can do it. At the same time, there are those people whose desire is to extinguish the Word of God and make it illegal to own and even try to physically destroy as many copies as they can. For over seventy years, the Bible was illegal in the USSR. Now, many of the people are hungry for a copy of the Word of God. I have mentioned Psalm 119 many times before and how its 176 verses speak about the Word of God in one way or another with the exception of five verses. In today's passage, the Word of God is compared to a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Most of us know how it feels to be stumbling around in the dark and that we wish we had a light at that time in order for us to see where we were going. Total darkness is frightening and I only experienced it once in my life while on the deck of a Navy destroyer with running lights off and a cloud covered sky. It was so frightening at that time, I never took my hand off of the handle of the hatch that would lead me back to the light of the interior of the ship. Without the Word of God, we would all be stumbling about with no direction, every person going their own way and probably bumping into each other in the process. The Word of God explains the condition of sin in the world and the remedy for that sin. The word of God shows us the standards by which we should live this life and to be prepared for the next. The Word of God lights our path to show us how to live the victorious Christian life each and every day. While men have tried to do away with the Bible, it has still existed mainly because God has preserved it, in tact, through all of time from Genesis to Revelation. How much of God's Word have you read this week? May we be like the Psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 and love the Word of God more than anything else. Praise God today for His Word.

A Watchman

 

        A number of years ago, it became a law that a person could no go into a crowded theater and shout "Fire!"  Someone could be killed if such a thing was done and there was no fire.  There may come a time in your life when it is necessary to sound an alarm.  Take for instance a burning home where you notice the fire.  What should you do?  Should you walk by and ignore what you have seen or should you sound the alarm?  Obviously, you should sound the alarm as loud as you can.  One night before Easter, my parents went out to a party and left my sister and myself at home. Around midnight, my dog, “Trixie”, jumped up on my bed and on top of me as she tried to wake me up. She was sounding the alarm as the house was on fire. Ancient Israel also had an alarm system and had the practice of setting a guard or a "watchman,"   You never knew when an advancing army would appear so watchmen were set and were ready to sound the alarm should the enemy appear.   Ezekiel 33:5-6 says, "He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand." 

          We have taken this section of Scripture and given it an indirect application to all of us in connection with warning people now about the dangers of passing from this life without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ..  As a believer, you know the "end of the story."  You know how things are going to turn out.  You know that Satan will be defeated and that the unbelieving will be cast into the Lake of Fire.  You also know the terrible wrath that is going to come upon every person that doesn't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Now comes the choice.  You have to decide whether to sound the alarm or not.  There are many who are ignoring the position of "watchman."  They are comfortable in their salvation and for one reason or another, don't see the need to sound the alarm.  What would it take to increase our awareness of the severity of the final judgment?  It may be that some people need to spend some time thinking on what it will be like to go into an eternity without God.  That is, what would it be like to spend the rest of eternity without Christ, without God, without light and without the blessings of heaven?  When you read the book of Revelation, you soon find out all of the wonderful things that will be in heaven.  The opposite is also true.  If you do not go to heaven, then you will go somewhere else.  That "somewhere" is the Lake of Fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels.  Would you be God's watchman today?  Will you sound the alarm and let those around you know that the enemy is coming and in fact, is here among us?  Praise God for salvation and be prepared to share it with someone today and in the days to come.

God's Word

             I had the blessing of meeting a man named Uzele Mesa. He was an evangelist from Kenya and had come to a local church to speak as a representative for a mission organization. He was speaking at our annual mission conference and he challenged us about reading the Bible through. Uzele read the Bible through ten times in one year and each time in a different language. At least one of those times would be on his knees and his instructions to those around him was to not bother him with food until he had finished. If you read the Bible around the clock, you could finish in 96 hours which is four days. People would walk for days to come to one of his evangelistic meetings and thousands were coming to Christ at each one of them. His prayer was for people to take care of the new believers with follow up material. I know that there are many people who read through the Bible each and every year as it may only require 20 minutes a day or less. Not all of us are avid readers and there are times when I struggle keeping my mind on the task at hand. Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 

         This passage is very popular when one speaks about the value of the Scripture itself. The passage reminds us where the Scriptures came from as being “God breathed.” The passage also reminds us of four different applications during various times in our lives. For many, their exposure to the Word of God may only come in the end zone of a football game when someone raises a poster with John 3:16 written on it. The world has long tried to imitate the life of the believer by the wearing of “religious jewelry” so as to try to designate themselves as some sort of follower of Christ. The bumper sticker or the cross around ones neck or the display of verses on your body doesn't make a person a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe in God's Word as being perfect in every way and true in every way. What Paul said in this passage is true and trustworthy as it holds up the value of God's Word in our lives. Without the scriptures, we have no way of measuring any kind of standards in society. The world ends up like the last verse in the book of Judges where it concluded with, “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” The second verse of today's passage shows us the purpose of the Scriptures in “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” If you want to know how to live a good life and end up in a blessed eternity, then follow God's Word. If you want to know what success is, follow God's Word. If you want to find peace, hope and love, then follow God's Word. In the end, you will never go wrong. Now reading God's Word is just one of five ways you are to have an input of the Scriptures into your life. There is also, hearing, studying, memorizing and meditating on the Scriptures. You may not be the best reader in the world but there are at least four other ways to enjoy God's Word and all of them are important. Paul spoke of the renewing of our mind in Romans 12:1-2 and John wrote about the blessing of reading the book of revelation and the Psalmist spoke of the value of meditation on God's Word and the memorizing of God's Word. May the Scriptures be more than a book on the coffee table, but written on the tables of our hearts. Praise God for His Word today.

Small and Great

           Every now and then a group wants me to complete a survey and at the end of the survey, they ask a lot of questions concerning who I am and where I came from. They want to know how much money I make, how long I went to school, how many degrees I have and the race to which I was born. I often think, “What difference does it make?” I have found that the people in the North like fried potatoes and toast for breakfast while the people in the South like grits and biscuits. The sad thing about all of the statistics is at the end, the only thing that will matter is if they are saved or not. Now, how does that affect how we feel in regard to the passing of an “important” or “influential” person? Revelation 20:12-13 says, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” 

          When the average person passes away, they don't usually lie in state anywhere. That is always reserved for those who are heads of countries or important political or governmental people. When a celebrity dies, people flock from the four corners of the earth to leave flowers and teddy bears at the front door of their home or of a famous place that was associated with them. I knew a lady who was a very devout fan of Elvis and had his picture on her wall, on her bed on a blanket and even on the top of her little Christmas tree. She once asked me, “Do you think Elvis went to heaven?” None of us know about the “others” in the world but one thing we do know. The passage for today reminds us that the dead, “small and great” will stand before God and if it is at this place, the Great White Throne, their destiny has already been determined. There will be poor people and rich people. There will be those who did a lot of good deeds and those that did nothing. There will be those who were great politician and those who did nothing for their country. There will be those who had degrees in education and those who were completely uneducated. There will be those who laid in state and those who dropped dead in a corn field. There will be those whose remains are in marble tombs and those who are in unmarked graves. The only thing that will make a difference is their own personal relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Philippian Jailer got the answer from Paul...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Jesus Himself made the statement, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” That is the difference. Trophies, money, degrees, influence, power will all mean nothing. Is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Don't depend upon good thoughts about others and their passing, but whether they had believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Praise God today for His holiness and justice.

Reflectors

              “If I knew then what I know now, things would have been different” or “Youth is wasted on the young.” These are little sayings that show what we think about our own actions at an earlier age. As we prepared to go to a different mission field, we were assigned the task of designing a “prayer card.” The card would have a current picture a few facts about where we were going, the name of the mission board, family names, a couple of addresses and most of all, a Scripture passage that defined our purpose for going. We chose the passage that is mentioned in today's devotional. Second Corinthians 4:5-6 says, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

          As new missionaries, we had been persuaded to learn our Spanish in Spain rather than Mexico or Latin America due to the different pronunciation of certain letters. We were landing in Spain with no language skills and were thrown in the midst of a people to whom we wanted to be their servants for Jesus' sake. We basically struggled for nine months as we endeavored to get a basic language down well enough to communicate to the people. While the goal was great, the skills did not lend them selves to accomplishing the goal. Paul's objective was to not preach himself but Christ to all those in which he came in contact. He described the process as a light that shined out of darkness and then shining into our hearts and then reflecting out to others. I have mentioned before that we were nothing more than “reflectors” of that Light. Going to a different culture to tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ is no different than the task to which we have been assigned here in our own culture. Missionaries are being sent all over the world from one culture to another and from one language to another. I knew of one missionary who was from South America who was called to go to Germany while a missionary from Germany was called to go to Majorca. There are those times we we forget the mission that is right in front of us. You can travel over 3,000 miles in America and still speak English. The Light is still shining in our hearts even here and it is reflecting out to those to whom we come in contact each and every day. Paul's mission is the same as ours. Acts 26:18 gives us the message from God to Paul as to what Paul would be doing. “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Paul was going to be able to do what God commanded because that Light was shining in Him and reflecting out to others. It is quite evident that the world is in darkness as God's standards, precepts, laws, commandments, testimonies, Word are being broken time and time again. How will people hear the message of redemption? It is up to you and me to reflect the Light to others. Praise God today for the mission that He has given to all of us.

Doomsday Clock

  In 1947 some of the world leaders came up with the idea of a “doomsday clock.” If things were to remain on a certain path, destruction would come. The clock was originally set at seven minutes before midnight and has been changed some 24 times since that 1947. The last change to the clock was made in January of 2020 when it was set to 100 seconds before midnight. The world's scientist believe that if things were left unchanged that global destruction would occur. This is the closest that the clock has been set to midnight in all of history. In this scenario, midnight would be when it was all over and life on the planet would cease to be anymore. John 14:2-3 says, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” 

            If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and have studied your Bible at all, you know that there is going to be an end to things as we know it and students of the Bible have studied this area for years. The Scriptures declare that this earth as we know it will be burned up. The world has not figured in the events of the Bible that pertain to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the passage for today, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself made the promise that He will return. It is not a matter of “if He will return,” but “when He will return.” The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Thessalonica, set forth the series of events that will take place once the trumpet sounds. He describes the abruptness of the event and the event itself in minute detail. Many will have died physically, but not all as when the event takes place, those that are alive will rise with the dead in Christ. Saint Jerome did a Latin translation of the Scripture and at this point, used a Latin word for being “caught up.” The term has stuck with believers as it is now referred to as the “rapture.” For the scientist of the world, they believe that the sign will light up that says, “Game Over” and that will be the end of the earth. For the believer, life continues but certainly a lot different than before. The Bible goes on to speak of the new earth and the new city and even describes some of the things that will exist during that time. We have been told what will be there and also notice what will not be there. It is a great comfort for all believers to notice what is going to take place according to the Word of God. I have noticed many believers today making comments about the nearness of the second coming of Christ and the expectancy of the catching away of the church. You don't have to look in the bottom of a tea cup to find out what is taking place. Just look at the condition of the world around you and look at your Bible. The evidence is clear. I often mention that every day that passes is a day closer to the second coming of Christ. God knows when it will be. In regard to that readiness should be the concern for those around us who do not know what is happening but just think they should party around until the end. As it was in the days of Babylon, the handwriting is on the wall. Praise God that He has His plan as revealed in His Word.

 

Direction in Life

             Do you have some direction in life?  By that, I mean do you know your purpose in life, or what you are going to do?  It seems as if many people, especially young people about to graduate have no direction.  They don't know what they are going to do or what profession they desire.  They are just going day by day wandering around from here to there with no interest, no direction and in some cases, with a zombie look in their eyes.  I remember back to my own high school days and when my parents had said that I could be anything I wanted to be with one exception.  My Mom didn't want me to follow in my father's footsteps in regard to his profession.  Dad was a truck driver with uncertain hours and all kinds of dangers. At one point he hauled a lot of black gun powder to the local ordinance plant during the war. She wanted something different for me and a lot safer. It was a good decision as I have a hard time backing up the car let alone a vehicle with a trailer on it.  Now, the Apostle Paul had direction in his life.  God made it quite clear what Paul's mission was to be. Romans 1:14-17 says, " I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.  So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." 

        These three verses contain the famous three "I AM" statements of Paul.  He said, "I am debtor,"  "I am ready" and "I am not ashamed."  Volumes have been written and preached on those three statements.  Paul was indeed "ready" to preach the Gospel and he knew to whom he should be preaching it.  So, what about you?  Most people spend their whole lives learning a trade and then working in that trade until they come to the end of their working years and then decide to retire and hopefully enjoy life until they die.  Who is the most important person in  your life?  It should be God.  He should be number one in everything that you think or do.  That which is done for Him is the most important thing.  Paul's three "I am" statements should also be reflected in my life and in your life.  We are all debtors to God for what He has done for us.  None of us could have accomplished what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. Therefore, we should all be ready to spread the gospel at every moment, and certainly, we should not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God today that He gives us purpose in life. We should be debtors. We should be ready and we should not be ashamed.

Understanding the Word

           According to some people, I am a genius because I can find an “8” in a group of 100 “9's” or because I can read something with no vowels or can read something upside down. It makes people feel good about themselves anyway if nothing else. I sense that most of you all are of the genius category if you can read my devotional which has an occasional letter left off of a word or even a word left out that should have been there in the first place. You all can get the sense of the message even with the words a bit jumbled here and there. I find many an error right after the first minute I hit the “send” button. A recent devotion had a dropped letter in the second word causing it to read rough, but the meaning apparently was still there as no one complained or poked a little fun at me for the omission. Acts 17:11 says, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” 

          I have mentioned before in one way or another, how the Bible is easy to understand and it is always trustworthy. Most publishers have really tried to present a valid copy of the Bible with all of the pages and everything as it should be. The church at Berea is the one spoken of in the passage for today. From what it says, the people of Thessalonica didn't check out what Paul said but the people of the church at Berea looked up in the Old Testament everything they could about Paul's message. We often sit at a traffic light and try to figure out the phrase that is hidden on a license plate as people try to give some type of message. The message of the Word of God is not hidden nor do you have to find some mystical way to analyze what it says. The Word of God is plain and easy to understand. My Father once looked seriously at me and said, “Calculate not your infantile poultry before the proper process of incubation has been thoroughly materialized.” I had no idea what he said. Then, he grinned at said, “Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.” I understood that! The Word of God is always plain in what it says and the vocabulary is one that you and I can understand. The problem often comes when we then add something by saying, “Well, what he meant was.....” Then we have left the words of Scripture and added our own and the understanding tends to get a little muddy. I thoroughly enjoy the simple statements of the Bible, such as “All have sinned,” “For by Grace are ye saved...” “For God so loved the world...” and most of all, “..ye must be born again.” May we all take the example of the people of Berea and search the Scriptures each and every day. God meant us to understand His message to us and His message had been preserved through the ages. Praise God today that He has given us His Word.

The Book Mark

    If you Bible falls open, what is the passage that is visible? While in college, one of my professors made the statement that a preacher's Greek New Testament should fall open at Romans 5:12. Mine doesn't as I have not spent that much time with the Greek language as I should have. Maybe the smart preachers have that happen to them. To do an in depth study of a word or a phrase can be very rewarding and this same professors spent a sabbatical studying Ephesians 2:8-9. In other words, he spent about a year studying just those two verses. I have my “preaching” Bible that was given to me by Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia in 1978. I happened to notice today that it fell open at John, chapter three. John 3:7 says, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

         My last messages as a preacher, so to speak, were from that chapter. We had begun to go through the Gospel of John as I wanted to make it the book of the Bible where I last preached should I pass on before I got to the end. A pandemic has interrupted the series as we were just getting into chapter four and making the comparison between the interview with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman at the well. The Gospel of John has been referred to as the “Gospel of Belief” due to the number of times that the word “believe” occurs in the book. Even the final passage gives this as the purpose of the book. “These are written that ye might believe...” (20:31) For me, this is one of the important sections of the Bible that speak specifically about salvation and eternal life and heaven. In that regard, it is to me one of the passages that I probably would preach on time and time again until all had heard the message. The world is not over populated with believers as many say that there are only about 30 percent who are actually Christian. That leaves about 70 percent that need to hear the message of salvation. We can spend a lot of time debating about various forms of theology or future events or how to take communion while at the same time people are falling into eternity without Christ doomed to an existence of eternal suffering instead of eternal blessing. You may have a ribbon book mark in your Bible. To what passage will it lead you? The Lord Jesus Christ said to Nicodemus that he must be born again. May that be the same message that we proclaim to others in the days ahead. Praise God today for His Word.

The New Day

            There is a saying that goes, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." It kind of describes the feeling of being able to go on after we have failed in one thing or another. Failure does happen. Usually, when it does, we find ourselves pretty low or down in the dumps. In my high school track days, I won my first ever 880 yard race and even got a little blue ribbon. I felt pretty good but our competitor was a much smaller school than we were. I did rather well in the races in the next few months until we came to the County track meet. This was a bit different since we were running against the big county school. The best I could do was a third place and thought I was going to pass out before I got to the finish line. No blue ribbon that time. It was white and said, “Third Place.”  We could have done better but, we didn't and then we suffered a bit of a fall which usually dampens your spirit when things end up with you not being on top. Losing takes place now and then when you are in competition with someone else. We may feel that no one has gone through this type of thing; that it is peculiar to us. That isn't true. Notice the following verse of Scripture. First Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 

           Losing a race is one thing, but finding yourself the victim of temptation is another. First of all there is not any temptation that is purely unique to you. You are not the first person to have to go through this temptation. Someone, somewhere has done it before. So, don't think that something that is going on in your life is only happening to you and will never be the same in some other person's life. Someone, somewhere, can say, "Been there, done that." Secondly, there is always a way of escape. The problem is that we often refuse to take the way out when it comes right in front of us. We either enjoy what is going on and desire to remain where we are or we think that we can handle it and seek to provide our own way when we think it is appropriate. If we refuse God's way of escape, then we are left on our own. But, what happens when you submit to the temptation? I suppose that never happens in your life but it does happen in some lives. That is where we need to realize that "Today is the first day of the rest of our lives." Things can change. We can make it with the Lord's help. When sin does occur then it becomes necessary to plead the promise of First John 1:9. We need to confess our sin before Him and He will restore us to the fellowship that we once had. So, there are really two thoughts here. First, your temptations are common to everyone. Don't think you are unique. Secondly, when we do sin, then we need to come to God in confession and He will restore us. So, how are you doing today? Are you making it all right? Is there a special temptation that is knocking on your door? Then, turn to the Lord. Look for His way of escape and then take it. Praise Him for providing for our every need.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

          We should give credit where credit is due. History is interesting in that it gives us a lot of details as to who did what and when and why they did it. In our old attic, which was later consumed by fire, we had a couple of records that were called “Edison records.” Thomas A. Edison had a lot to do with the development of recordings of music and such. His records, that we had in our attic, were almost a quarter of an inch thick and quite heavy. We used to play them on our RCA Victor wireless turntable in the 1940's. We also learn much about such people as Morse, Eli Whitney, Fulton and a host of other people who invented things that are important to us even today. Who could forget the famous Alexander Graham Bell, the father of the telephone. (I used to work for the old “Bell” system.) Even on Jeopardy, people are often asked who invented this or that and they come for with the name of the person who did it. After all, we give credit to where credit is due. We do that in most cases except when it comes to things we don't understand or want to admit. Exodus 20:3 says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

          Most of us have heard of or have memorized the Ten Commandments. We know the story and how it involved Moses on top of Mount Sinai. We recognize that they were written on tables of stone and preserved for a long time in the Ark of the Covenant. We had replicas in many government areas at one time. The number of places is diminishing in these days due to “pagan” influence in the world today. In our effort to erase the idea of God in our culture, we have had to come up with other names of those accountable for great acts, both good and bad. We have substituted “Mother Nature” as the one being given the blame or the source of the acts that go on in the world. In the Biblical account of the flood, we are confident that it was caused by God and not by “mother nature” or “mother earth.” It was God that caused the sun dial to reverse in the days of Hezekiah. It was God that caused the Red Sea to divide and give the Israelites dry ground in order to pass through the divided sea. It was God that sent manna for six days a week for forty years. It was God that cause the shoes not to wear out for forty years of walking around in the wilderness. It was God that caused the walls of Jericho to fall down. Of course, it was God who created the universe and everything in it. It was God who rolled away the stone in front of the tomb. Mother Nature and Mother Earth did nothing and are fictional characters equal to Bugs Bunny and Donald Duck. When it comes to anything that takes place in time and space, the Only Source is God Himself. We need to give credit where credit is due. When we cry out for salvation, only God can answer with that which we need. When we search for peace and safety and hope in the midst of the world's problems, it is only God that can give the true answer. When it rains after a drought, it is God that brings the rain, not mother nature. Out attitude should be the attitude of Abraham when he reasoned with God about Sodom and Gomorrah when Abraham said, “That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” God always does that which is right. Praise God today for all that He does.

Consulting the Experts

              As some may know, I have had a pain in my foot that has been causing me some discomfort in the past month. Shortly after it began, I tried to self diagnose the problem only to find that I was not doing it much good so decided to take the next step. I was going to consult a professional in the area in order to find out what the difficulty was. Now, where should I go? I decided against Wendy's even though I could get a Frosty while waiting. I also decided against Larry Byrd even though he is from Indiana. I also decided against going to anyone from Hollywood even though they make a lot of money for being an actor or actress.. I finally decided to call up my doctor since he has studied most of the parts of the body and knows more about it than I do or most of my friends and acquaintances. I needed to have a correct diagnoses rather than an opinion about my foot's condition. Many things are wrong in the world today and too many so called famous people are offering advice who have no idea what they are talking about. So, where do you go when you need help? Matthew 11:28-30 says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour 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.” 

            We have a lot of professionals in certain areas of our lives such as doctors, dentists, financial advisors, car mechanics. The question might come up at some point in your life as to where you are going to spend eternity. When the question comes up, where are you going to turn for guidance? There are a lot of people who think you die and that's all there is. I actually believe what the Bible says about death such as what is in Psalm 23, the passing from this life to the next as merely a shadow. The apostle Paul made this clear in Second Corinthians 5:8 where it says, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” It may happen quickly for some and perhaps unexpected but it will occur unless the Lord Jesus Christ comes first. The world has its own definition of the process, but then again, it is not the expert but can only observe what takes place when a person dies. The Only Expert in the area is He Who has an empty tomb, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is He that has the only truly expert advice for both life and death. It is through His instruction that we can find out how to live in this world and how to prepare for the next. The manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ lived upon this earth and His death and resurrection give only Him the authority to speak on matters of life and of the soul. So, whom do you ask when you want to find out the answers to life's questions? The Only reliable Source is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Praise God today for the rest that only He can give.

Cutting it Straight

            I suppose you can get a tractor with a GPS on it now and now worry about that first furrow. I have mentioned this before but the principle is important in the life of the believer. Before the GPS, I was instructed to go out into the field with the tractor and plow and cut the first furrow. That was going to be the most important one because what you did on the first furrow is going to be repeated time and time again. The Farmer said to pick out an object at the end of the field while sitting on the tractor at the far end. I was to focus on that object and not to take my eyes off it for a second until the tractor reached the other end of the field. If I was obedient, the furrow would be as straight as an arrow. A glance to the left or the right would result in a little “blip” that would become magnified in every furrow thereafter. There are some professions that require “straight” lines or cuts. Second Timothy 2;15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 

           This is another famous passage from the Bible that is used in many Bible Colleges or other schools that teach religious training. Paul was a tent maker by trade and certainly knew how to cut the fabric in order to make a tent. The term “rightly dividing' has the meaning of “cutting it straight.” The term refers to how you handle the Word of God. In the days of the early languages of the Bible, there were no punctuation marks. The letters just ran right nest to each other with no separation between words. Sentence structure had to be determined by the case and tense of nouns and verbs. It was a tedious process but was done accurately through great care and by those who were involved in translation of the Scriptures from Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Now, we can trust the copy of the Word of God that we have in our own hands and in these days on probably every electronic device. Paul's initial passage began with the word “Study.” We are to be “diligent” in our handling of the Word of God and not to be haphazard in our reading as to what we might think it says. Study of God's Word is certainly profitable to the life of every believer. The Scriptures admonish us to hear, to read, the study, to memorize and to meditate on the Word of God. There is no better thing to fill your mind with than the Word of God. Hearing it once a week or on “special” occasions will not be sufficient to know what the Bible says. Some may say that they are not educated in the languages of the Bible and so leave it up to the “professionals.” The Scriptures were written at such a level that even a “fifth grader” can understand it. The little song goes, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” You don't have to be a linguist or a rocket scientist to understand what it says. Praise God today for His Word and the message of salvation and hope for the world.

Profanity

          I was threatened as a child to have my mouth washed out with soap if I included certain foul words in my talking. Fortunately, I don't recall any time that I had to be “cleansed” by a bar of soap in my mouth. I quickly learned what to say and what not to say. We even found it almost difficult to discuss Hoover's big blocking of the river, you know, that huge concrete pile the keeps the river from flowing into the valley. It was too close to saying one of the taboo words and so people would giggle when the teacher discussed such things. We could now pause and say, “How times have changed.” Improper or inappropriate language is used more and more in our culture including the production of films and television series. We find that our minds are being dragged through the gutter, so to speak, in Hollywood's presentations of life as it is. While it is all around us, we don't have to accept it as a part of our lives. Romans 12:1-2 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." 

          The part of this verse that speaks to me of this issued is where it says that we are to have "renewed minds." We realize that much that occurs in our lives begins with our minds. There are those things that happen and those things that we think "might" happen which is often far greater than those that actually do take place. Instead of the world forming our vocabulary, change your view to that of Philippians 4:8. Mind renewal is a life time work which is quite often impaired by the world's introcution of profane words. Profanity is not the norm nor should ever be thought of as being the normal thing to speak or think. Philippians 4:8 exhorts us by saying, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” When our minds are fixed upon the principles of this passage, our mind renewal begins to make some progress. Colossians 3 has two passages that speak of two different categories of sins, one of them “speech” sins and the other “sexual” sins. We learn from those passages how coveting and anger are root causes for their easy progression. One list ends with fornication and the other list ends with filthy communication coming out of your mouth. (Colossians 3:5-8). Some people like to swear in front of you and then try to soften it by saying, “Pardon my French.” It didn't sound like anything French” to me. We all need to be involved in “mind renewal” as Paul mentioned in Romans twelve. One of the best methods is to keep Philippians 4:8 on your mind. Write it down and place it on the refrigerator or the “doorpost” of your house or on the middle of your steering wheel of your car and then practice what it says. Praise God today for His Holiness.

Four Things

            I took a course for taking the FCC exam for a radio license while working with A. T. and T. company. One of the sections of the course was on how to take a test. The initial instruction was to read through the complete test, from beginning to end and then to follow the instructions. The last statement on the exercise was to close your test booklet, stand up and leave the room. Of course, many did not even read the test completely to the end and so after a short time began to work the many problems in the booklet. Those that did read the complete test, laid down the booklet, got up, and left the room having finished the instructions. We are not a people that are particularly good at following instructions. The more steps that are in them, the more likely we will try to skip some steps and not follow them completely. It is clear that God has given us instructions on how to live in this world and if we follow them to the letter, we will have no problem. Our difficulties arise when we decide we can skip a few steps and then hope for getting the best results. Second Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 

           The verse for today is one of those important verses that appears on political adds by conservative people or on plaques in Christian bookstores. It is possibly one of the more quoted verses in times of difficulty for most Christian nations. We know the scene. Solomon has just finished constructing one of the most lavish and expensive buildings in the world considering the amount of gold, silver and brass that were used in its construction. It was dedication time. God tells Solomon about some possible calamities that might be around and how to avoid them. He mentions in verse 13 those things that would cripple the nation. God uses even bugs to get his will accomplished. Then comes the instructions on how to avoid them. God mentions four things as a set of instructions might do, in order to avoid a national catastrophe. Number one, they shall humble themselves. Number two, they shall pray. Number three, they shall seek the face of God and number four, they shall turn from their wicked ways. Any failure to do the four things will result in a forfeit of their blessings. Immediately after the short list of four things, comes the word, “then.” We are not a particularly humble people in our society today. This can be noted by the number of “selfies” that appear on social media. We seem to have this desire to look at ourselves in the mirror and glory in how good we look. The next step was to pray. Again, we are not a praying people and find it difficult to spend more than 10 minutes in prayer on a daily basis. We seem to be satisfied with making a nominal gesture at saying thanks for our food in a 15 second statement. We fail to notice that we called upon the LORD Who is the King of heaven and of the universe. We next find it difficult to seek the face of God in all that we do. The final one is perhaps one of the most difficult because we simply don't want to do it. We are to turn from our wicked ways. We love to feed the flesh in every possible way that we can. God has given us a list of those things that are wicked and everyone probably know what they are in their own heart, but we fail to get rid of them because we enjoy them too much. The result is that the healing doesn't come. God said He would do three things: hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land. It took Israel seventy years to learn that lesson. How long will it take you and me? Praise God that He is Sovereign in all the world.

Continuing

          We have heard a lot of comments about this year. One person's advice was to not watch the news and to stay off of the bathroom scale. Both of those things might be the cause of depression. It is because we see the actual facts of Second Timothy 3:1-5 being lived out in our lifetime more than it has ever been. It was true in the days of Paul and Timothy and it has spread into our culture as well. Much has been said about the first five verses of this particular chapter and examples of every trait can be found in the morning or evening news cast. Paul continues with some more facts about the condition of the world. Second Timothy 3:10-14 says, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” 

          Paul gave testimony of what had happened to him almost 2,000 years ago. Could history be repeating itself? He mentioned that things were going to get worse but then expressed what we are to do. This is important for us today. Paul said, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of...” As dark as the opening verses of chapter three may be, the chapter ends with the famous verse that speaks of the inspiration of God's Holy Word. Paul went on to say that Timothy had been taught the Word of God by both his mother and his grandmother. This is another lesson for us that we, as parents and grandparents, need to be teaching the Word of God to our family members. Paul then concluded the chapter with verses sixteen and seventeen. You may have the first five verses of this chapter memorized because you can see it taking place in every generation. It is gradually getting worse and worse. As always, however, there is the “but” that comes when God steps in. Paul's advice to Timothy is our advice today. He is speaking to us and reminding us to continue in the things that we have learned and been assured of. We are to remember the promise of Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Praise God today for His promises from His Word.

Eleven Chaptger

 

           If we didn't have enough books in the world, we now find ourselves living in the age of self publishing. You now have the capability to write a book on any subject there is and self publish it. I know this to be true because I did it. I wrote a book that contains 366 devotions taken from the devotions that have appeared on the internet during the past 21 years. I had one of my relatives proof read and edit any gross grammatical errors. The manuscript had to be sent with a certain format to fit a common 9 x 6 book with a simple binding. Once submitted, I had to purchase one copy to proof it and then say “go.” Wow. I am published, have an ISBN and available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Fortunately, there were no educational requirements to do this and just about fifteen dollars would cover the cost of the one book. Anyone can write a book. Some have said that there is at least one good book in every person. I think the book is important but the rest of the world probably doesn't think so. After all, why do we need another “devotional” book in the world today? There is, however, one book that is supreme to all others and it is the Bible. Genesis 1:1-2 says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” 

            Many people begin reading the Bible with the first chapter of Genesis. After all, it is the beginning of the book. Since you are reading this, it is most likely that you believe what the Bible says about most things that are in it. How much you believe about God's Words is going to be summed up in the fact if you believe the first eleven chapters of Genesis or not. There are many professing believers who don't really believe what it says in the first eleven chapters. Most kids have played with mud pies. All you need is dirt and water, mix it around, and you have a nice blob of mud. We form it into little balls and squish it here and there, but that is where it ends. I have made a few mud pies in my youth, but never ate one of them. God, on the other hand made man from the dust of the earth as it says in Genesis 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” The unbeliever cannot comprehend the creation of man from the Biblical account in any way and many so called believers, also have difficulty in accepting God's account of creation. I probably have been accused of putting my brain in neutral when it comes to such matters but the truth is, I would rather accept the Biblical account rather than the theory of evolution. The Biblical account shows the creation of man, his fall and the plan of salvation, the worldwide flood including the ark constructed by Noah, the tower of Babel and the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is true that we can all write a book but only the Bible has the truth in regard to life both on the earth and in the future to come. I can't say how God breathed life into a glob of dust and made it “man” but He did. Of all the books in the world both past, present and future, only the Bible stands as the absolute truth. Just trust what God says and you won't go wrong. Praise God for His Word.

New Things

           I am not a maintenance person. That is, I don't seem to be very good in fixing mechanical things. That doesn't stop my curiosity and so I usually take an object that is broken and take it all apart just to see if I could discover something so obvious that I could repair it. There are those times, however, when a spring pops off and you don't know where it came from and hence there is no chance in getting it back to the way it was. The broken items would then be put in the trash with the exception of every screw, washer and nut that could possibly be used somewhere, sometime in the future. They all end up in the great storage coffee can. I often come out of the whole repair scenario with a handful of parts but no solution as to how to fix it. I don't understand how a hard disc can possibly work nor can I understand just how a CPU works in the computer. That leads me to spiritual things. How am I changed? Second Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 

         This passage along with a couple of others in the New Testament, speaks about being transformed, or being “changed” as it appears in this verse. It is the same word that is used in Romans 12:2 and the same word that is used in reference to the Mount of Transfiguration where Christ was “transfigured.” It is the word from which we get “metamorphosis.” At this point, we usually use the illustration of the worm to cocoon, to butterfly. One can see the end result but the process still seems to be a mystery and is especially true when referring to the life of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The process, in the case of the believer, is attached to one's beholding as in a “mirror, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our continuous gaze upon Him begins the process of change in our lives. It may be difficult to determine just how much you change from day to day and perhaps one can see some change from year to year. The more time we spend gazing upon the glory of the Lord, the more change that will occur in our spiritual lives. Even Peter did the seemingly impossible by walking on the water while his eyes were fixed upon Christ, but the moment, he took them off of the savior, he began to rapidly sink like a rock. I can't take it apart and see how it works, but it does work. I will just accept what God does and not be concerned as to how He does it. I put it alongside such things as the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the baptism into the body of Christ and being born of God. You have perhaps seen those images that when you look at them for 60 seconds and then close your eyes, you see the of the image as it is supposed to be. The hymn writer expressed it well with, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace .” Praise God today for the change that He is doing in all of the lives of each and every believer.

The Flip Side

          I always liked to hear good news rather than bad news. At the end of the school year, we would receive our final report card which was in an envelope that had our name on. I would always slowly pull it out until I could read the line, “passed” or “failed.” In all of my years, it always said, “passed.” We moved into the country in the middle of the school year and so instead of trying to catch up on the local first grade, I started in the first grade the following school year. In some cases, it was like having a head start which helped me in my first several years. I enjoyed seeing the word “passed” at the end of the year. To “fail” meant that you were going to have to do the entire year over again until you got it right. You also would be bigger than the rest of your class mates. In some areas, failing is bad but not the end of the world. It is that way in most things except for one and that has to do with personal salvation. John 5:24 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” 

           In light of salvation, we go out and tell others about the blessings of heaven and the torments of hell. With Child Evangelism Fellowship, we used the “wordless book.” We started on the “gold” page and described the benefits and blessings of heaven. We mentioned all of the things that would be in heaven and tried to mention all of the things that would not be in heaven. We didn't want to frighten the children too much and so would not go into great deal about hell. Most passages about the blessings of heaven almost always have a flip side such as the one for today. You will have everlasting life “and not come into condemnation...” When I touch a hot pan without a potholder, I immediately pull my hand away. I don't stand there and carry on a conversation while my hand burns to the side of the pot. The Scriptures give us numerous descriptions of what hell is like. The sound of some of them seems to be agreeable to many believers. We say, God will not be there. The lost say, “Good.” We say, Millions are going to hell. The lost say, “Good, I won't be alone.” I had one friends that would often say three simple words to a lost person. “Turn, or burn.” The Scriptures go on to say that hell is not only the absence of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but is also a place of fire, darkness and the sense of being absolutely alone like a wandering star.....forever. It is a place of agony and torment and separation but not destruction. Death is not destruction, but separation. It is the separation of the soul and the spirit from the body. Death is never described as destruction. Our memories of things seem to be only for 70 to 80 years, some more, some less. Eternity is for ever. Even John 3:16 includes the phrase, “should not perish.” It also shows the flip side to “have everlasting life.” We have the tendency to sit at our morning table, reading our Bible, drinking our coffee, watching the neighbors walk their dogs not realizing that any of them or yourself could be ushered into the presence of God in the twinkling of an eye. At that point, the results of your decisions go into effect. What if all of those people who passed by you in your life suddenly were able to stand before you and say, “Why didn't you tell me?” What would you say? “I didn't want to embarrass you.” “I didn't want to force you to believe my way was the only way.” “I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship.” None of us, as far as I know, are great theologians but we do know beyond a shadow of a doubt, what God has done for us. The Apostle Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” We should not be ashamed either. Praise God for the message of the Gospel.

Prayer

          While being a part of the ministry at Trinity Baptist Church in Christiansburg, we had the blessing of doing services at two nursing facilities in the county, one in Blacksburg, and one in Shawsville. At the one in Blacksburg, there was a woman who had a very difficult time sleeping so she would prop herself up between the back of a recliner and the wall just in case she dozed off, and would spend the time in prayer. I never hesitated to give her any prayer request that I had because I knew she was going to pray about it. Prayer has always been an important part in my life as I believe that we do have the ability to pray to God and that He answers. It seems that the older I get, the more needs I might have to express to others for prayer. Recently, we sent out a prayer request on behalf of my wife in regard to the removal of all her teeth. As a result, over fifty people have responded saying that they are praying for her healing and for the other issues that are going on in our lives at this present time. Do I believe in prayer? Yes, I do. Philippians 1:3-5 says, “ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;”

         I often refer to this passage and others because Paul prayed for people. He prayed for those in the area of Philippi and many of the other cities where he and his team would go to start or to reinforce a local church. Colossians 1:3 says much the same thing for the saints that were there in Colosse. First Thessalonians 1:2 says the same thing about the church at Thessalonica. Was it just a figure of speech that people used in that day? I think not. I believe that Paul indeed prayed for the saints in every church from his missionary journeys. Yes, he probably had a long prayer list but he didn't have TV, Radio, Facebook, Twitter or any other type of media in which to rob him of his valuable time. What would occupy his time as he traveled from one place to another? What would it be that would grab his attention while traveling or even getting ready to travel? His long prayer list would occupy his mind and he would spend that time in prayer for the needs of each and every church. We sometimes feel it difficult to carve out ten minutes to spend in prayer. Our schedules are packed with appointments both for physical needs and for business appointments. It seems to be difficult to find a person in these days who has time to pray. That same church that I mentioned above would spend time from 6:00 on Friday evening until 8:00 AM on Sunday morning in prayer with people praying for 30 minutes around the clock, Friday through Sunday, ending with the men's prayer breakfast on Sunday morning. It was different to get up in the middle of the night to go and pray. Oh, and everyone would go to a prayer room in the church that was unlocked always with maps and prayer list provided to praying around the world. What about today? Do you find it difficult to find a prayer warrior or to be one yourself? Jesus prayed. Paul prayed. We need to pray also. Praise God that He still has a desire to communicate with us through prayer.

Do You Have the Son?

           I believe the Bible from cover to cover. In other words, if the Bible says something, then I believe what it says. I have heard a discussion where a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. While speaking to an unbeliever, makes a statement that goes: “If you are right and I am wrong, then I have lost nothing. If, however, I am right and you are wrong, you have lost everything.” The non believer is willing to bet his or her soul that the believer is wrong in his or her belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is easy for us to accept the fact that John 3;16 is correct in that God sent His only begotten son to this earth to die for our sins that we might have eternal life. Christ, later on in John 14:6 makes a clear statement that He is the only way to the Father. If that be so, then that rules out any other and all other ways to heaven. In September 1957, I left home to go to Indiana University to study music. It became more of a pilgrimage for me rather than a time of music study as I was searching for some meaning to life. Every week would find me in some different church and by that, I mean, some different denomination. Who was it that that had the answer for that which I was seeking? I found myself in the U. S. Navy by June 1958, still searching for peace in my life. A fellow instructor opened the door of my small studio and quoted the following passage from the Bible. First John 5:11-12 says, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

          He finished the verses, closed the door and left. There was no explanation given for his opening the door, saying the passage and leaving without another word. There was no dramatic change at that point. That would come in about thirteen years later. The truth and frankness of the passage stripped away all philosophies and arguments and claims by spiritual people. The answer would lie in one simple statement. The Apostle John made it clear in this small letter by stating, “...He that hath the Son hath life;...” It would be years later that other lessons would be learned about this epistle such as the sixteen different tests to see if you are a believer or not. John's purpose for the epistle can be seen in verse 13 of today's passage where it says, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” A person, then, can know about their future destiny and it will hinge on only one thing. If you have the Son, you have life. If you do not have the Son, you do not have life. Perhaps God has seemingly oversimplified it, but it seems to be clear enough that anyone can understand it. For the believer, there is no one more important than the Lord Jesus Christ. The lives of the believers revolve entirely around Christ in all that they do and think. No one is more important. Many people do not even want to think about it and just try to go on getting as much happiness as they can any way that they can. It will all be short lived as our time on this earth is short when compared to eternity. James describes it as nothing more than a vapor. The final question is, “Do you have the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? Praise God today that He has given us His Word. Believe what it says.

The Mount of Olives

            I was watching a concert recently by Andre Rieu and it was being performed in a beautiful, peaceful city in the Netherlands. I found some information about the city and watched an advertising video about the city as it is today. It is a beautiful place and one could see how it could be a peaceful place to live. Over the past century, however, a couple of world wars were fought in Europe causing much destruction. Wars go on almost all of the time but they don't always affect us personally until one is fought on our own soil. We then remember them a bit longer but they too, can be forgotten. While there are some very peaceful places in the world today, it is not always as peaceful as we might think. I have remarked before about a newspaper article published in Spain in 1985. It was a lengthy article and was reporting on how many conflicts were going on in the world on that particular day. There were fifty-eight wars of varying degrees going on at that time. Some of the wars were big and some were small and most of them, if not all, had some religious conflict as the root of the problems between the warring factions. The world takes little not of the skirmishes going on until they exist in their own back yard. A time is coming however, when all of the world's attention will be focused on one spot. Zechariah 14:4 says, “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.” 

          We don't know when this event will take place, but we know from the Word of God that it will take place and when it does, all of the world will take notice. The events in Washington, Portland, Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, Kenosha will all be events of the past and of no importance as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords appears and His feet touch the top of a small mountain, just outside of Jerusalem. It will be the spot where we last saw the Lord Jesus Christ standing in Acts 1 and the spot from which He arose into heaven. When He returns, His feet will touch the Mount of Olives in that day and the world will stop as a large crack appears and half of the mountain moves to the North and the other half to the South. The crack will extend from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea. The clamoring voices of the world will be stopped and all attention will be focused on one place, the Mount of Olives. For the believers of the world, it is a promise of the Sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ that gives us peace and hope for the eternity. We know that His Righteous Judgment will prevail and nothing can stop it. It will be the time when God says, “It is enough.” Until that time, we still live and die in a world of sin and degradation that continues to get worse and worse. We live in a time when Second Timothy 3:1-5 is more real than ever. Where, then, do we put our hope for today? We put it in the only Wise God of the universe. We put our hope and trust in Him whose feet will someday stand on the Mount of Olives. Praise God for the fact that He has each and everything in His control and that nothing will ever catch Him by surprise. Rejoice in Him Who is greater than all of your problems and all the problems of the world.