Final Thoughts

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

     As years go, this has not been one of my best.  I have had four stays in the hospital.  After the first three episodes, i tried to reestablish the devotions only to have them interrupted each time.  After the third stay, I decided to call it "quits" so to speak.  The devotions started in 1999 and ran for 20 years.  My most recent stay would have interrupted the once more. It turns  out that my body is getting more and more frail as the years go by, in fact even as the days go by.  My eyesight and hearing are getting worse and worse each day. which makes it difficult to type a devotion.   The one thing that seems to still be present is my voice.  During my last stay in the hospital, I was sitting on the bedside commode waiting for the nurse to return and decided to sing a verse of "When the Roll is Called up Yonder."  The nurse opened the door and surprisingly said, "Are you singing?"  Well, it worked better and quicker than the call bell.  Yep, I still sing wherever I am at maybe to the dismay of some other people.  Ecclesiastes 12:6-8 says, "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.  Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.  Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity."   

     God has His ways and the progression of life is one of them.  We may not like it, but it still happens.  People may joke about it, but we start out naked and helpless and end up the same way, dependent upon the care of others.  We can thank God that there are those whether they be professionals, or better yet, our family, that can take care of us.  In the 1950's I memorized a portion of the Literature book for the tenth grade class in Rolling Prairie Hight School.  It was Ecclesiastes 12:1-8.  I didn't even know it was from the Bible at the time, but it was an assignment that had to be completed.   It is the story of old age and one that I am getting to learn quite well through the final days of my life.  The grinders are few, the eyes grow dim, the sound in the streets is low and the body shakes.  There is comfort however in the final verses of the passage.  It is found in the words, "...and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it."   This part is inevitable and as inevitable as all the rest of the passage.  For some some, it will result in eternal glory with God while for many others, it will result in eternal separation from God and all that is good.  Some may ask if I actually believe that.  Yes I do and I have preached it at may funerals.  God is still working.  He is not surprised at what is happening in the world nor that which is happening in my own life nor in the life of each and everyone of you all.  

     For the devotions, after twenty years, so long for now but I will be updating various things in our lives from time to time any way possible, whether it be on Facebook or other media.  I thank God especially for each of your prayers and comments, and "Likes" and "comments" on Facebook.  I praise God how He is working in each of our lives.  As some of you know, I put together a collection of the devotions entitled, "Encouragement on the Road of Life" available on Lulu.com or Amazon or even Barnes and Noble.  Praise God daily for what He is doing in all of our lives and if I never see your face again on this earth, "See you in glory" but probably only after I spend a few thousand years looking at the face of my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your Brother in Christ,

Daniel Freeland, aka, pastor dan

 

Advice

      “How many times have I told you not to do that?” That has to be one of the most repeated phrases that I heard as a child. There were times when I would do something and my Mother would repeat those words over and over. I might well say, “How many times have I heard that phrase?” Well, it was necessary because of some repeated violation that had been set forth from the rules of the family. It could be in reference to socks, chores, feeding the dog, getting up on time, doing my homework or practicing the clarinet. My Mother probably felt like a tape recorder giving the same things over and over. Peter said in Second Peter 1:12, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” Peter felt that it was necessary to repeat himself with some instructions for the readers of his second epistle. Notice the words, “…though ye know them.” They already knew the truths that he was going to tell them, yet he did so anyway. It is as if he was saying, “How many times have I repeated these things to you?” Still, we seem to need to be reminded of them anyway. Why? Because we get caught up in the affairs of life, start going our own way and forget the instructions that God has given to us. It is like we are shutting the barn door after the horse got out. We have heard that before. We know the truth, we know the results and when something happens, we know what we should have done to prevent it. Yet, we forgot, once more to do what God’s Word said we should do. So, as you begin to go out into the world today, take heed to what God’s Word has said. Be reminded that God has the answer, that He is in control, that He is not being surprised by the conditions in the world or even in your own life. Keep the armor on and be ready for the spiritual battle that looms ahead. Praise God today for the equipping of the saints.

Loose Change

      How much spare change do you have in your pocket or purse?  Spare change can be classified as those loose coins that are roaming around with no specific place to claim as their own.  We often get frustrated with the spre change and so find some container in which to put it.  Canning jars, jugs of all sorts and tine cans soon become the depositories for all of your loose change.  Then, you have to go to some place where you can pour the change into a container and it will count it for you and give you paper money instead or you can roll it all up and take it to the bank, but who wants to do that. I have heard it said that if you have spare change at all, you are among the top 15 percent of the wealthiest people on earth.  Acts 1:8 says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”  People need to hear the Gospel message of salvation.  We are, however, feeding the masses a bunch of costly platitudes that reap no benefits in the end.  False religions abound as the greater mass of people pursue after paganism rather than the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you are not pursuing Christ, then you are pursuing after paganism according to Romans 1.  You can read it for yourselves.  Then, whose responsibility is it to send forth the gospel to the people of the world?  It would fall on those who have the resources to accomplish the task or the group that is classed as the richest in the world to share their wealth by sending forth the Gospel message.  It was once reported by a missionary, Harold Stevens, that the world spends more on pet food than it does in sending forth the gospel message.  The task was not just for the evangelical churches but they are failing in the task as well.  Usually 94 percent of the money that is given to missions remains in the United States and so never goes to a foreign land.  The huge masses of Africa and Asia don’t hear of the message because it never gets to them.  What does that mean to you and me? There are ways in which we can channel some of our “loose change” to mission groups who are responsible and Biblical in their mission activity of spreading the Gospel message.  You can give, you can pray and you can go.  Choose which of the three ways you want to be involved in being a part of world missions.  Praise God today that He is still sending forth the  message of salvation and that the final call has not come, but it is getting closer.

Game Changer

      Every now and then a new word pops up that hasn’t been used much but now seems to be on everyone’s lips.  We had “unprecedented” last year and it seems that this year’s new word is “gamechanger.”  I have heard it countless times in the news and even in a Depends underwear advertisement.  One definition states, “The term game-changer refers to an individual or company that significantly alters the way things are done as a whole. ... By mere virtue of their actions, game-changers can make changes that transform the landscape as a whole.”  And so you have our new word for the year, at least one that is being used by a lot of people these days.  Will there ever be a “real” game changer?  You bet there will be and it may be coming sooner than you think.  First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  You can’t help but wonder what it is going to be like the day after the rapture.  People will have to come up with an explanation as to where so many people went in so short a time.  “The Russians did it.”  “The Extraterrestrials did it.”  “The government has them all hidden away in a secret labor camp.”  This event will be a real “game changer” for the world to cope with.  I personally don’t agree with the “Left Behind” series that people will have a second chance for salvation after having rejected it while here on earth.  Instead, they will believe a lie.  The average person will be more willing to accept that UFO’s came down and gobbled them up than to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ came to catch up His own church.  John wrote about this event in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself when Christ said in John 14:3 “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.”  The acclamation of two angels standing on the Mount of Olives at the Ascension also speak to us about this event.  Acts 1:11 states, “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”  For the believer, the second coming of Christ is not a game changer but it will be for the rest of the world.  Form fitting paper underwear is not a game changer, but the second coming of Christ certainly is.  Praise God today for the real Game Changer that will soon take place.

Errors

      If you took your whole lifetime and wrote a book, how many errors could be found in the text?  I say that because I use “google docs” to write the draft of these devotions, and it is continually coming up with errors or suggestions  on how to phrase something better than what I did.  I get all kinds of lines, green ones, blue ones and even some red ones that point out my errors.   What is a tad funny is that when I often do a cut and paste of the Bible, the program will suggest changes to the text.  I leave those alone.   John 17:17 says, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”   People were looking for the truth back 2000 years ago and they still are.  As the years have progressed, we find many more examples of falsehood in our lives which tend to lead us away to false claims for salvation.  Men and women seek to find peace and hope in their lives and only end up with a basket of nothing.  In the end, they have no hope as they have ignored the One and Only true way to find salvation.  Salvation, in this case, means to be saved from something.  For the believer, it is to be saved from eternal wrath of God this is to come upon all those who have not believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  I know of many who simply want to ignore the issue and hope that in the end, they will be granted some special visa to enter heaven.  After all, we live in America where when the going gets tough, you might get a stimulus check to carry you through.  Our hope begins then, to be applied to those in power in congress.  God has made the way simple while it was very complex on His side, it is simple on our end.  Ephesians 2:8-9 describes our salvation as a simple gift.  A gift cannot be earned or it wouldn’t be a gift.  A gift is given by the Giver Who, in this case, is God Himself.  The Philippians Jailer was instructed to simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and He would be saved.  The same manner of salvation is present today.  It has not changed over the years.  Praise God today that the Truth is still present in the Word of God.

B;ogging

   Blogging is one of those new things which has produced thousands of experts on any given field.  You can find all kinds of articles based upon the writer's experiences that has suddenly made them an expert in many different fields especially those of which they know nothing about.  A little knowledge seems to make some people dangerous.  This is especially in the area of religion and in Christianity in particular.  It is as if where two or three are gathered together you will find one moron who has come up with his or her own way of salvation or a denial that there is any judgment coming at all.  It reminds you of the time in the history of Israel when they had no man who was leading them so they just did whatever seemed to be right in their own eyes.  The last verse in the Book of Judges made it very clear.  Judges 21:25 says, "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes."  Christianity is not the only things that is suffering these days because of self-made experts.  Hollywood has also produced a number of people who, because they played a certain part in the movies, now think that they can be an authority in that area in real life.   But, it isn't so.  They are following the wrong script.  There is only one source when it comes to the matter of salvation.  That source is the Bible, God's Holy Word, The Good Book, the Scriptures.  God didn't leave us in the dark when it comes to the area of knowing the way of salvation.  When I go to a doctor's office, I find that there are numerous copies of his diploma hanging in almost every room.  I read them.  There are certain colleges and universities that are good in the area of medicine.  If I ever found one that read, "Popular Mechanics Correspondence School of Medicine," I think that I would leave right then and there.  Don't be deceived by people who think they know the answer when they are not quoting the Word of God nor do they even know anything about the Word of God.  Rather than doing what seems to be right in a person's eyes, do that which is right according to the Word of God.  Praise God today that He has given us His Word for guidance in every way of life.

Prayers

       It sometimes amazes me what you get when you ask someone for it.  I remember asking for my Red Ryder B B Gun and I remember asking for my bicycle.  I didn't think I was going to get either one of them at the time I asked, but I did.  I got a lot more than I asked for with the bicycle.  I just wanted one with fenders so I didn't get my back wet every time I went through a mud puddle. What I actually got was a deluxe Hawthorne Bicycle with shocks, turn signals, front and rear lights, brake lights, horn, chain guard and of course, deluxe fenders.   In John 16, Jesus is getting ready to leave the scene and is giving some special instructions to the disciples.  When they wanted something, they were going to have to ask for it and it was going to be an entirely different situation than what they were used to.  Jesus was physically going to be away from them.  John 16:23-24 says, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."  This was going to a matter of prayer.  Jesus had already taught them how to pray and we have the example in the Lord's Prayer as we see it in Matthew 6.  We also see examples of prayer in the life of Jesus during His three years of public ministry.  Now, the lessons were going to be put to good use.  The disciples were going to have to exercise prayer in their lives.  What a lesson for us.  Prayer has become a vital part of our lives here on this earth.  Dictionaries define prayer in regard to religion.  It is a practice whereby a person contacts God.  The Bible mentions prayer, to pray, praying or prayed, over 500 times.  We used to say that if God said something once, it was important.  Well, God has mentioned prayer over 500 times.  I guess you could say that it is also very, very important.  While there are many lessons in regard to prayer, let us just think of one.  The above verses remind us that we need to ask God for the things that are necessary in our lives.  If we do, we have the assurance that He will answer.  Jesus had reminded the disciples that up to that point, they had done little asking but that they were going to be asking a lot.  He had given them the examples, the teaching and the instruction, but now, it was going to become very practical for them all. Acts 2:42 says, "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."  After the experience of Pentecost and Peter's first sermon, the apostles remembered to be involved in prayer.  Do you bring your requests before God?  We often hear the words, "Ye have not, because ye ask not."  That is often the case especially with believers these days.  When needs arise in your life, don't hesitate to bring them before God, and when you do, remember to leave them there with Him.  You will be surprised at what God will do.  Praise God today for answered prayers.

Doxology

      What do you do when you really get excited about something?  I have prepared a lot of sermons and lessons over the last 50 years and I always had a process that was similar in most cases.  I would write out the material as if I was going to read it word for word, even though I never did.  We were once told to always write out the introduction and the closing so you could get started and end as  you thought you should.  Well, I wrote out the whole thing and there would be  times when  I would get to a certain point and the excitement would overcome me and I would find myself standing up or walking around ready to shout.  I often wished I was preaching it at that moment.  The following passage in Ephesians is one where it seems Paul got excited and all of a sudden erupted in a Doxology of praise To God for what He was doing in the lives of the believers.  Ephesians 3:20-21 says, “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.”   We can easily see what is going on.  Paul has just set forth all of their wonderful blessings that they possess by being “In Christ.”  Their spiritual bank account is overflowing.  It makes no difference what is going on around them as they are blessed beyond measure and so Paul pronounces this doxology.  Have things changed in the past 2000 years?  God’s Word is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  It will never change.  God remains the same and His promises remain the same.  Do we have any less to praise God for then did Paul at the time the Book of Ephesians was written?  Obviously, we answer “no” to those thoughts.  Our excitement over the things of God often wanes in the force of the world’s things and we find ourselves overcome with discouragement, depression. Loneliness and loss of hope.  That should not be the case but we should be standing up and praising God for the fact that we also are “In Christ.”  So, be encouraged today and all of the days of our life because God doesn’t change and we can rely on Him each and every day.  Praise God today for His immutable character.

Lights

      Lights are, for the most part, always welcome in a dark situation.  I can recall one period in my life when lights were not wanted and it was during an  air raid.  World War 2 found a lot of people functioning as air raid wardens in towns across America.  The siren would blow in the dark of night while the sound of a single engine plane could be heard overhead.  It was the spotter looking for any light that it could find.  Hopefully, it wouldn’t find any light at that time. Our town had about 36,000 people, so, didn’t take long for the plane to fly over the populated area and then land at the local airport. We were listening to Henry Aldrich during one such air raid and Mom hung a newspaper over the lit dial of the tall radio. Spiritually speaking, light is important and many passages in the Bible speak of the importance of this light in our lives.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”  In this passage, the Light is likened to the Word of God and it is explained how the Light is both a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.   The two references are both important.  You need to know where your feet are planted and you need to know the path in which you are about to trod.  The Scriptures point out how that the Word of God is able to perform both of these functions.  No Scripture is unimportant.  It is very interesting to note how the smallest of lights are able to be seen. This was the concern during the air raid and people knew that the smallest of lights could be seen from the air and show the enemy the location of our building.  Of course, this is going to mean that each and every one of us are going to have to be in the Word of God each and every day.  You can’t absorb the Word of God by sleeping on your Bible and hope that it gets into your mind by the process of osmosis.  Each and every believer needs to be having an input of the Word of God each and every day.  Will you be content to stumble around in the dark or will you be walking in the Light of the Word of God?  Praise God for His Word today.

The Fair

        One of the highlights in my childhood years was the La Porte county fair.  It seemed to be the pivotal point of the year.  You worked to get to the fair and then after it was over, you started again just waiting for next year.  There were exhibitions for food and the animals.  These seemed to be the biggest attractions.  Then there was the horse pull where teams of horses would see which one could pull the biggest load.  This later was replaced with the tractor pull which did the same thing.  For me, the biggest attraction was the midway with all of the rides and strange sights.  Everyone in the county seemed to want to go to the county fair at least once during the time that it was open.  If anyone had an opportunity to go to the fair, they went and no one turned it down.  Today, I can say that there have been just a handful of people who don't want to go to heaven.  Everyone else wants to go there because of all of the changes it will bring about.  Revelation 21:4 says, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."  The handful that doesn't want to go to heaven is made up of those people who don't believe that there is a God and that there is a place like heaven.  So, they just don't believe it in the first place.  They don't think that heaven exists or that there is any hell.  They have various excuses, none of which will hold water in the end.  The proof is going to come 10 seconds after a person passes from this life.  That will be one time when you cannot reverse the time and do it over.  You won't be able to do it again and make sure you do it right.  You will have to accept the decision that you made before you "passed away."  When you are typing a paper, you can simply backspace when you make a mistake.  You can type it again and get it right.  There is, however, no backspace key in life and you won't be able to go back even 11 seconds.  You are going to have to trust God now and not wait to see if it is true after all.  You are going to have to take His Word right now, today, and not wait for a more opportune time or when you might think you will receive more information.  You may work all year for the annual horse show, or the scout jamboree or for the county fair, but this is far more important.  How will you decide?  Will you take God's offer for salvation or are you going to wait for proof from the "other side" before you make a decision?  Praise God today that He has given us a clear route to make it to heaven.  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Memorial

      Most of our lives are filled with memories and a lot of things that we like to remember over the years.  This time of year in Indiana was when our Iris plants would be in full bloom.  We had a lot of them and so Mom would begin cutting them on Memorial Day and wrapping them in groups with old newspapers.  We then loaded them into the car and headed out to a number of the cemeteries in La Porte County.  We would then locate the grave of a loved one and leave a bouquet of Iris until the car was empty.  Each year was the same routine.  There are perhaps a lot of things that we like to remember and one of them is certainly God.      Exodus 3:14-15 says, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.”   It is interesting to note that God introduced Himself to Moses and gave Moses His name.  This name, as given here in Exodus, is going to reappear in the Gospel of John shen the Lord Jesus Christ uses the same expression in what many refer to as the seven “I AM’s” of John. We might say, “Well, who would forget God?”  All we need to do is to look around us in our culture today and the answer is plain.  We, as a people and as a nation have forgotten God and made a mockery out of all that is spiritual.  The laws and precepts of God have been disregarded and altered until that which was originally classified as sin now appears to be legal and accepted in the norms of society.  It has become a mockery to God and the words of Second Timothy 3:1-5 echo around the world.  God is certainly able to change things but we can see judgment coming.  We need to ask ourselves if we have forgotten to remember God in our daily lives.  It is a time of remembering and God should be at the forefront of our “memorials.”  Praise God today for all that He is doing in all of our lives.

Umbrellas

          Can you dodge rain drops?  I seemed to have tried it at times but still arrived spotted with rain.  When the rain starts to fall, one of the first things you reach for is that umbrella that is in the back of the car or under the seat. Umbrellas are marvelous things. They keep you dry, at least your head, while the rain falls. We are always eager to run to the nearest protection when storms come. Tents and awnings become temporary places of protection while the storms rage around us. God has not left us out in the storms of life without protection. Psalm 91:2-4 says, " I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler." We are all in a spiritual warfare and we need to take heed of the protection that God has provided. In this Psalm, the writer states that God's protection is similar to that of a mother hen who protects her young chicks under her wings. This is always a marvelous thing to behold. It doesn't matter if it is a storm, an animal bent on capturing a chick or an eagle in the sky. When she sees the danger she calls her chicks and they come running, squirming to get underneath those wings that enfold the whole group of them. Then she squats down and keeps them protected. The writer here states that our protection is like that of the mother hen. We are under God's wings. The storms of life might include both physical and spiritual battles that we are going through. When you face failing health, physical injury or even spiritual battles, God is always there and He has provided us that "umbrella" of protection. Now, some people have a tendency to step out from under the umbrella and try to do it on their own. The analogy would be the same if a person decided to get out from under his umbrella during a storm. Will they get wet? Of course they will. Will a person suffer the consequences if they get out from under God's umbrella? The answer is still, "yes." So, by staying close to God and His Word and by keeping in touch with Him through prayer, you can be assured that you are under His umbrella of protection. Praise God today for His protection and for His "wings" of comfort.

Rewards

     My rewards during my high school years consisted more of music medals than anything else.  I recall mentioning that I had run on the high school track team when I was a teenager.  I did get a number of ribbons during that time.  I had a couple of blue ones, a couple of red ones and a lot of white ones.  The third place ribbon was white and I seemed to have more of those than any other color especially at the county tournament.  The big school had a lot of runners and one of them even lapped me on the half mile run.  Well, regardless of the color, they were my trophies and went along with my high school sweater with the big "R" on it for "Rolling Prairie."  People like to receive rewards for those things that they have done and especially where some accomplishments have been made.  The concept came from the Olympic games.  We often see them in current times as podiums set at a different level.  The first place is higher than the second place and the second place is higher than the third place.  Paul used the example of these awards when he spoke of the "Bema" seat judgment.   Second Corinthians 10:5 reminds us, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."   These are rewards where we receive certain items for work done here on earth.  Paul used the example of the games to show that these were rewards for the winners.  When I was on the track team, the rewards were good and certainly a goal for me to win the race.  That wasn't the only thing however.  I just flat wanted to win.  We all probably like to win in whatever area of our lives.  There is a catch to these rewards that are mentioned in Second Corinthians.  It all depends on the attitude you had when you did the work.  We know that we can do things either for our own selves or for Christ.  There is no middle ground or a half and half deal.  It's all or nothing.  Examples abound where people do things for their own glory.  Oh, they may say that it is for God's glory, but that doesn't make it so.  For some, it depends on who they are trying to impress.  Are you trying to impress your neighbor, or your son or daughter, or your father or mother, or your boss?  I am reminded of another verse of Scripture which says, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." (Colossians 3:17)  You can do the same work and one will have credit from the Lord as gold and silver while the other, who has done the same work, will have his work regarded as no more than wood, hay and stubble.  What made the difference?  The difference was for Whom the work was done.  Praise God today for His working in your life.

Just a Peep

       I remember as a young boy, playing “spy.” You would try to gather information from them without their knowing it. I remember seeing instructions for making a periscope out of a slender tube or box and two mirrors. By putting the mirrors at 45% angles facing each other and about a foot apart, you could make a periscope that would help you see around corners and over fences. There were also “knots” in the boards of the barn that would provide “peepholes” from which we could observe others that were on their way to the barn or traveling down the road. These “peepholes” were good for us to get a glimpse of something, but certainly not the whole picture. I was thinking the other day that the Bible is a “peephole” into heaven. It gives us a glimpse of what lies ahead. Revelation 4:1 says, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” The Apostle John was summoned to heaven to get a glimpse of things to come. Revelation 4 and 5 are wonderful chapters that give us a mere peek into heaven itself and indeed, into the very throne of God. Beginning in Revelation 4:4, John states almost 30 times that he saw something wonderful in heaven. These are but 30 peeks into the future that God has for those who believe in Him. In fact, the whole book of Revelation is but a peek into heaven. God has given us a glimpse of things to come and when we read of the wonders of heaven, we are even more challenged to be there and to invite others. It is also amazing that God has given us clear and understandable instructions on how to get to heaven. Praise God today that He had planned such a wonderful place for His children.

The Name

  I have mentioned how I was searching for a Christian during the past Easter season only finding that they were few and far between, at least in the hospital in which I was a patient.  Different ethnic groups had different names, mostly derogatory and given by other ethnic groups.  Like a caricature it would be due to some specific trait that would mark them as being different from other groups of people.  Early Christians were not a popular group of people and so it was a little more difficult to detect who was a Christian and who was not.  A tradition states that they sometimes drew half of a fish and if the other person was a believer, they would complete the picture either on the ground or even in the dust, making the outline of a whole fish.  Acts 11:26 says, “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught many people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”  The tradition states that the Greek word for fish forms an acronym which stands for Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.  The fish symbol has become a popular item in some book stores for display on cars, books, walls in the home or business, denoting the occupants as believers.  I still recall the statement of a nurse, in the dark as she drew my blood, when I asked her if she was a Christian.  Her reply, “No.  I don’t know what I am.”  Sad to say, this seems to be the state of many people in the world today.  They are not believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and actually have no real belief of their own to claim.  They are true in stating that they don’t know what they are.  Before the time of Constantine, you could be killed for being a Christian and the time may be returning sooner than we think to our own culture.  We may find ourselves returning to drawing fish in the sand or on the dust of a table top to indicate our faith to someone else.  To do so, will indicate that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Son and your Savior.  Those days may well be approaching but in the meantime, are you seeking out those that believe?  Are you asking others about their faith?  I am finding that the older I get, the more freely I ask questions of others.   “Where are you from?”  “Do you go to church?”  “ Are you a believer?”  We often miss out on wonderful opportunities to meet people and even to find out that some are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God today that He sent His Son to die for our sins.  Are we willing to speak out for Him?

Possible or Impossible.

    We sometimes spend a lot of time, money and effort to save us time, money and effort in the future.  One of these items was the construction of the Panama Canal.    The Canal would save ship captains days and months by making a passage through Panama that would connect the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.  You would no longer have to travel around the continent of South America and especially the dreaded Straits of Magellan.  We may come to a point and ask ourselves just how much time, money and effort are we willing to spend on a mammoth project?  In the early 1980’s a Spanish newspaper ran an article about Israel’s desire to construct a canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea.  It will supply the necessary fresh water to capitalize on some of the riches of the Dead Sea.  The Judean area however has some extremely rugged terrain that makes it almost impossible.    Well, as we know, with God all things are possible.   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.”   You can take a ruler and place it on Jerusalem, running East to West,  and then notice the two ends are on the Mediterranean Sea and the Northern tip of the Dead Sea and it flows right through the Mount of Olives.  Just as in every case, God has it all planned out and this little passage tells us how it is going to come to pass.  When it comes to time, money and effort, we couldn’t come up with enough of either one to make it work but God is going to do it in an instant as soon as the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ touch the mount.  How does that compare to the things that are going on in your life today?  Man made canals don’t take place overnight.  They often require months and perhaps years to complete.  In the above passage, all it requires is the touching of a foot, the foot of the Savior, to cause the shift in a huge land mass to open a canal completely across the country of Israel even through the Judean hills and valleys.  Maybe you are a tad perplexed today about some situations in your life that seem to be almost impossible to correct.  God knows all about it.  Maybe you can’t figure out how you are going to ever get back to good health.  God knows all about it.  Maybe there are broken relationships in your life that you don’t know how to correct.  God knows all about it.  God has all things worked out and nothing is beyond Him.  Praise Him for the answer to all of life’s questions.

Controlling the Tongue

 

             Some people love confrontation.  Others do not.  I am the type of person that doesn't really like it.  Sometimes, I found myself in a place of opposition so that I would want to say something with a more opposing view than other members of the group.  It usually ended up with people trying to outwit one another and to see who could come up with the best argument and the last word on any given matter.  At times, knowing what was likely to happen, I would write on the top of my agenda notes, "Keep your mouth shut!"  Sometimes, I would even come up with my own Spanish phrase, "Cierra la boca."  It worked for me.  But, I think the Psalmist had a better idea.   Psalm 17:3 says, "Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress."   You notice that words can't be taken back.  Once you say something, it is out there for all eternity and there is nothing that you can do to retrieve what you said.  It is gone.  This same verse in another translation reads, "You have scrutinized my inner motives; you have examined me during the night.  You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.  I am determined I will say nothing sinful."  The word "purposed" in the KJV is the one I want to zero in on today.  Sometimes, it is necessary to purpose to do something or as in this case, not to do something.  If a person has no purpose, then, they just seem to "react" to what takes place around them.  They say what they think regardless of who they hurt.  After all, they assume that is their right.  The Psalmist however, wishes to not sin or to not say anything sinful.  Those sinful words are the worst ones.  They hurt people, they give wrong information, they puff up the speaker and worst of all, they can't be taken back.  Maybe you have tried to take back words that you have spoken.  It usually begins with the phrase, "Oh, I was only joking."  You already know that is not true.  It is just one more sin that has been added to the speaker's already growing list.  It would be far better for us to get up in the morning and say as did the writer of the Psalms, "...I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress."  Praise God today that He has the power to control your tongue.

Free Gifts

  I have had a few things in my life that I received as a result of doing something.  In other words, I earned what I was about to receive.  It may have been a paycheck or a prize.  It was just something that I got as a result of accomplishing something for someone else.  I fulfilled a goal of some sort in order to receive.  On the flip side, there have been very few things that I have received as a result of doing absolutely nothing.  Why even the list of the fictitious Santa Clause depended upon who was naughty or nice.  I recall going down to a university to apply for a scholarship.  I was to play the bassoon for them and then they would say whether I got a scholarship or not and there were only eight of them to give.  Well, I got one of them so they must have approved of what they heard.One of the most sought after things in life however, is often ignored.  It is the gift of salvation.  Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  It is amazing to note how many of the world’s religions are based upon works of one sort or another.  It may be the number of flowers you sell or the number of prayers you pray or the number of converts you make or the number  of kind deeds that you perform.  Whatever it is, the end result is that it is a work of some sort or another.  You see, my efforts cannot add anything to what God has so adequately done in the first place.  God has supplied the perfect salvation and there is nothing that I can do to improve on what He has already done.  So, He made it a completely free gift.  Notice that it is what is said in the passage.  It is the gift of God and not of works.  Not one work can make it any better than it already is.  It is perfect in every detail.  I can’t play the bassoon or pray a number of prayers or live the good life.  It is a free gift and like all gifts, all I need to do is to receive it in the simplicity  in which it is given.  There is, however, an interesting side note which we find in the third verse in today’s passage.  We do “good works” not for our salvation, but because of our salvation, so works are there, present in every life of every believer because of what God has already done in our lives in this amazing gift of salvation.  So, praise God today for this amazing gift that you could not earn and just rejoice in it.

Good News

       I may have tried to proclaim my innocence a number of times in my life when in reality, I was guilty of the charges that had been made.  Most of my infractions were minor and did not carry a lot of punishment, but there were those things of which I was guilty as charged.  One of my worst times was in the area of disobedience and going along with the crowd thus ending up being guilty in the end.  The sad thing about some of those situations was that I knew what was being done was wrong, but it was easy to go along with the majority of the group at the time.  One such situation ended up with a poor review by my superior.  It could have been worse.  Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  What a joy it is to come to a given situation and hear the above words.  The Book of Romans can be divided up into several sections, with many different convenient outlines.  One that I have used contains all words beginning with the letter. “S.”    Salutation, Sin, Salvation, Sanctification, Service, Sovereignty and a conclusion, or as I called it, “So long.”  Romans 8:1 occurs in the “Sanctification” section.  The words seem to jump off the page as you have just come through  several chapters of how bad things look and then to hear the words, “There is therefore, now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus….”  When you get right down to thinking about it, you deserve all the punishment that God could give you but instead, you find out that there is no condemnation.  Now that is good news.  We live in a world that is scarce when it comes to good news.  There are but a few instances of good news around these days.  News programs scour the area to try to find at least one encouraging story about good news whether it be a story about a young person or a person who does something in a humanitarian effort to better things around him.  I know of many families who have refrained from watching the evening news due to the fact that it is often depressing to look at.  The first several chapters of Romans could be very depressing if it were not for the words of Romans 8:1.  “...No condemnation…”  Of course, you did notice the phrase that follows, “to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit..”  We do this by knowing what it says in the Word of God.  We do this by following the directions that have been already given to us.  While the world may be filled with depressing news, every believer can rejoice with the words of Romans 8:1.  Praise God today for His Salvation.

Comparisons

          It is true that there are many things in this life that can be compared. Other things, however, can't. We sometimes use the phrase, "It is like comparing apples to oranges." That simply means that the two items to be compared are so different that you wouldn't be able to draw any real conclusions if you did compare them. The Apostle Paul was comparing two things in the following verse. Romans 8:18 says, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." The two things being compared in this verse are the sufferings of this life and the glory that is coming later on. One of them far outweighs the other. Paul indicates that our present sufferings are really insignificant when compared to the glory that is going to come later. That may seem hard to believe for some who are really having a bad day. You may have found yourself on such a day, perhaps even today. While we are in the midst of suffering, they seem to be overpowering and squashing us down to the point that we feel as if we will never get up to get a breath. Sufferings are never pleasant. This is why this verse seems to be such a comfort. It speaks of sufferings, yes, but it contrasts them with the glory that is to follow. From all indications, the glory is going to far surpass all of our sufferings. The glory is going to be so great that your sufferings will be forgotten in an instant. We often give gifts to our family members during their birthdays. We usually give something big and then a number of very small things. We save the big gift for last, sometimes even hiding it so the person will not know it is coming. Once, however, it is received, the joy of that particular gift far outweighs the other gifts. New socks are forgotten as a new bicycle appears. In this sense, sufferings are not worthy to be counted in comparison to glory. The Book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of glory. It is a glimpse that offers us just a peak at what is to come. We can observe some of the sights and sounds of heaven. We get a quick picture of the Holy City. As we have seen all of these pictures from the future, we realize that the glory to come is going to be great. It is going to be far greater than we ever imagined. So, what does that do for us in the here and now? It says, "Hang in there. Your sufferings are nothing compared to the rewards that are coming. Be patient and endure the warfare, the pain and the suffering, the illness and the grief. Peter wrote much about this in his first epistle. In fact, you could call his epistle, "Suffering leads to Glory." Praise God today for what He has in store for you.

Getting Lost

      I am inclined to get lost easily whether it be a woods or a populated city area.  It makes little difference.  I just get turned around a couple of times and I could easily be lost. While in the Navy, we docked at a city in Southern Chile, named Punta Arenas.  It was at the foot of the Andes Mountains and when the wind starts to blow, almost everything is swept into the sea.  The captain of  our ship advised us to be close to the ship at all times and should a breeze start, make your way to the ship immediately.   Knowing my propensity for becoming turned around, I ventured off of the main dock but kept the ship in sight at all times.  I didn’t see much of Puntas Arenas that day.  God gives us some good directions in reference to knowing which way to go in life.  Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”  This passage is one of those wall Plaque verses that you can purchase in many bookstores.  It is sound advice.  There are three things that need to be done in order to keep on the right path.  We are to Trust in the LORD with all of our heart.  We are to not follow our own own inclinations and we are to acknowledge the LORD in all of our ways.  Wow!  It sounds like a simple formula for never getting lost even in our spiritual lives.  Okay, just take the first one and endeavor to trust the LORD with all of our hearts.  I dare say that many of us may have failed in this one even since we got up this morning.  It is easy to say that I trust the LORD with all of my heart but then when the first problem comes, we find ourselves wondering what we shall do.  Soon, anxiety and fear creep in and we begin to devise plans to make things happen ourselves.  Thus, we find ourselves following our own path instead of the LORD’s path.  That is when our “own understanding” comes into play.  Perhaps we heard of some advice from another person or we read a “self help” book that describes how to be rich and famous.  Our own plans will get us lost in a maze for sure.  When we do follow the LORD’s direction, we find that we will arrive where God intended us to be and in complete safety.  What do we say then?  That is where we need to give God the credit and not ourselves.  It is acknowledging that God did it.  The world may not like hearing it so often when God is given credit for something publicly.  If God helped you, then tell the world that He did it and not yourself or some worldly person.  Praise God today for His working in all of our lives each and every day.

Music and the Son

 May 14, 2021

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

   People are attracted to various genres of music.  A lot of people like country music, folk music, rap and many other kinds.  I was attracted to classical music almost from the earliest time I can recall music of any kind.  My Mother played polkas on an old pump organ but that still wasn’t the type of music that I liked.  I could also say that religious music held a special place in my heart.  I would like the works that told of the life of some prophet such as Elijah and was especially drawn to many of the works that depicted great events in the Bible.  It was easy for me to be drawn to the church with the biggest organ, the best choir and the best music.  At that time in my life, it felt “religious.”  One day, my friends who taught a few doors down from my studio, opened my door and said two verses from the Bible. I have added the following verse in this passage.  First John 5:11-13 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. 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.”   He quoted verses 11 and 12, shut the door, and left with no explanation as to why he did that.  Those two verses blew away all of my music, my tradition, my artwork, my stained glass windows, my robes and everything else that was “ecclesiastical” in my own little religious world.  God was knocking at my heart and prying away all of the items of the world that seemed to be religious but were just added weights.  Only one thing was important and John made it clear in these verses.  If you have the Son, you have life.  If you don’t have the Son, you don’t have life.  At that time, I didn’t have the Son.  All I had was frills and material things that looked religious, sounded religious, everyone else was doing it, sort of trappings.  I find that in this life there are many people holding onto things that appear to be religious but are not.  It is something that they have put together to make their own religion.  The only problem is that they don’t have the Son and therefore don’t have the Life for which they long.  How many people have you heard that get to the end of life after acquiring riches, fame and power and still find that their life is lacking something and that Something if the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no substitute for the Son so if you are looking for eternal life, then, look no further than the Son of God.  Music, art, tradition, robes, liturgical calendars and such will not replace the SON.  Life can only be found in Him.  I think that John the Apostle made it pretty simple in this passage and notice the following verse, “...that ye may “KNOW…”  Praise God today for sending His Son to provide salvation.

Finished

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

     Finishing a project has not always been one of my “forte’s” so to speak.  I could take you to a visual picture of uncompleted model airplanes, battle ships and half painted models as well as other items that were not finished, at least the way they should have been in the first place.  I dabbled in oil painting for a period in my life which produced a number of paintings, some of which were finally placed outside of a dumpster between Christiansburg, VA and Pilot, VA as we prepared to go to Spain.  A few of them survived but a close scrutiny of the pictures might reveal when I got tired of them and wished them to be finished.  When you are the artist, you get the job of determining when it is finished and when it is not done yet.  Some ideas are determined to be “half baked” which could be another example of a work that was not done to begin with, or at least the thought of doing a work.   Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”  This has long been one of my favorite passages as it shows that God is just the opposite when it comes to finishing a project.  The prime example here is we ourselves.  There are however, many other exampled in our surrounding that depict how God has completed that which He began in the first place such as the Bombardier Beetle, the iris flower, Pleiades, the arrangement of the solar system and the distance to the sun, the chemical makeup of “water, old H2O and the blood system in our own bodies.  The list is endless as we look around us and see God’s projects, all of them finished and completed even when we don't understand each and every part of them.  In the end, we can rest assured in what God has planned for us and the rest of our lives.  Oh, we don’t see all of it yet as we are on the wrong side of the tapestry.  God, however, is on the right side and knows the picture even as it unfolds before His eyes.  The pain, the grief, the joy, the surprise and many other things all make up the excitement of our lives which are still under construction.  So, what do you have to fear?  What anxieties keep you from good sleep at night?  Giving it all to the Lord as He works His miracles in our lives should be the comfort that we need.  I know, it is what I need.  God is working the work in my life and in your lives  that make us who we are and what we will become.  Praise God today for His working in your life and in all of our lives.  As my friends once said, “God is working a 7.7 billion piece puzzle every second.”

Is God Here?

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

       Some have said, “What happened?”  Others said, “Are you all right?”  I guess it was obvious that something took place that changed the course of my life over the past two months.  It all began on a Saturday afternoon with some chills, a nap and then sliding out of bed and landing on the floor.  That episode was going to repeat itself at 2:15 in the morning which would eventually result in the men in the red truck coming and taking me to the Emergency Room.  I didn’t know what was going on except that I was weak and stuck on a hospital bed in the ER for the next day and a half.  The VA was full and transferring patients to this hospital so couldn’t go over there.  One thing led to another and I learned new terms such as “sepsis.”  It meant that things were going on in my bloodstream as an infection raged through my body.  Extreme cellulitis in the left leg seemed to be the culprit and antibiotics were being injected.  I was at the mercy of another five teams of medical people from surgical, medical, vascular, infectious disease and podiatry trying to fix what was broken.

Psalm 139:13-16 says, “ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”  God’s presence was still there even in this hospital as I spent Resurrection Day 

On a hospital bed.  I recall the day when I thought it was Easter, but I was a day early.  I asked a nurse taking blood, “Are you a Christian?”  I was surprised when she said, “NO.  I don’t know what I am.”  I kept repeating the phrase, “He is risen.”  No one was responding with “He is risen indeed.”   For a while I thought I was in a pagan world until finally one replied with a Christian response.  Finally, someone was a believer.  God was still there.  He was there long before that day and even before the Saturday of the chills.  He was there when I was formed.  God was there at my birth and God has been there in every aspect of my life.  Psalm 139 dives into the riches of life and how it is formed in the beginning stages.  When we realize that God was present even when we were conceived, it should give us a glimmer of hope in a world that is falling into oblivion.  We probably have all experienced those days in the hospital when things were crumbling around us and perhaps we have wondered if God was there with us.  We can praise God today for His presence in all of our lives even from the days of conception.

Soul Value

         I had a chemistry class in high school probably in 1956 or thereabouts.  The teacher, Mr. Wells came in and was telling us some facts about various elements and then made the statement that the human body, if it could be reduced to its basic elements, its  value would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.87.  The value in today’s world might be up to around five bucks due to inflation or even a tad more.  Wow!  That’s not very much money for such a complex organism.  The value however, is not based on what that compound of elements can do but what it would take to make it up.  No one can take the same amount of elements and make them into a human being that can function as we do today.  Obviously, there is a great difference on what God can do and does do and what man thinks that he can do.  Mark 8:36 says, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

     The Lord Jesus Christ points out that the value of a human being is not in what it takes to make one, but the value of the soul.  In this discussion, Jesus compares the wealth of the world to that of one soul.  The idea is that if you were able to accumulate all the wealth of the world and yet lose you own soul in the end, you would lose everything.  We are living in an age when we can create robots to do certain tasks around the home such as the “Roomba” which vacuums your floor as it slowly travels around the house gobbling up pieces of cereal, old macaroni, a few pet hairs and maybe a few of your own.  You can take your computer and actually print a 3D object and you can paint it and look at it and you can make parts with your printer that actually come together to make another object.  None of them have a soul.  Our creations fall way short of that but they are cute to look at and occupy some of our time to make them.  Man’s desire to accumulate things in his lifetime is quite evident in the amount of “estate sales” that you can find in any location.  People die and they leave behind all that they have accumulated.  Valuable coins, shotguns, furniture, antiques, old gas pumps, glass eggs, buttons, tools and the list goes on and on.  What happened to the former owner's soul?  That is the question that should be addressed.  Just sit in your chair and look around you at the possessions that surround you right where you are at this present moment.  I can look at five book cases, racks of software CD’s, music CD’s and components, chairs, a desk and a lot of pens and pencils and of course the electronic devices just in this one room alone.  When God calls you home and sooner or later, He will do just that.  When that takes place, the things of this world will mean nothing.  The possibility of losing one's soul should be the greatest concern ever.  Our 70 odd years are but a drop in the bucket when compared to eternity and the decision that you make in this life will affect your eternal state.  Easy words to say, but they have a lot of impact.  One doesn’t like to think about that possibility and often put it off to a more convenient time or say that they will make that decision when the time comes.  Quite often, when God calls, there is but a split second and you don’t even have time to say, “oops.”  It’s not about the $1.87 cents worth of chemicals that make up your body, but your soul which is going to be around forever in one of two places, heaven or hell.  It’s as simple as that.  Where will you be?  Praise God that He has provided for the eternal state of the soul.

Pills and Prescriptions

            I once had a rubber pill about the size of a softball, but pill shaped, red and white.  It was a hand squeezer to strengthen your muscles.  I take about ten pills in the morning, two pills at noon and three pills in the evening plus Tylenol should I need it for pain.  Do you ever wish you could find a gigantic pill that would fix everything? Wouldn't it be nice if there were pills for loneliness, frustration, sadness or discouragement? Well, God has given us, not a pill, but His own Son as payment for our sin. This should be the same thing as a pill for us, because it has the remedy for all of our problems.   He has not only given us the pill, He has also given us His personal prescription on how to administer the pill in our own lives.  The prescription is the Bible.  It is amazing how much brighter the light is the closer you get close to God. It is like when Isaiah was so close to God that he realized how sinful that he really was (Isaiah 6). I went to the eye doctor just a few days ago,  and had to have my eyes dilated. Boy, was the light ever bright after that. The doctor gave me some special plastic to put around my eyes under my glasses. The truth was, without the plastic, I was not able to behold the light that was outside. The same thing is true about God's holiness. The closer you get to it, the more blinding it is.  When you turn on a really bright light, it exposes a lot of things that you may not know exists.  Things that we thought were white turn out to appear almost dirty in comparison. It has been rumored that Martin Luther called John 3:16 the "Golden Text of the Bible." "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In some sense, that is the pill that cures everything. But, for some, it is a hard pill to take. Some feel that they have to do something in order to inherit salvation. They feel that they have to do some penance in order to earn their way into heaven. Yet, as Isaiah 64:6 says, "All our righteousness is as filthy rags..." So, with nothing else to do to earn salvation, we must depend solely upon the finished work of Christ on the cross for our sins. If you are frustrated, lonely, sad or discouraged, turn to Him who has done it all for you. Your spiritual eyes will behold the brightness of God's holiness and you may say as Paul did, "...for I am the chief of sinners."  Praise God for His Holiness.  God has given us the pill and He has given us the prescription.  Now all we have to do is take the medicine that He has prescribed.

Vapors

      I read a book some years back which opened with a prayer meeting in a remote village.  The participants came one by one, slowly, being very careful not to draw any attention as to where they were going or why they were going to this remote place.  It was quiet and it was in the dark.  Soon the group gathered into a circle and prayers began to be made.  At the close of the little circle meeting in that remote spot, it was noticed that there was a ring around the floor where the participants had been.  It was a ring of tears as each one had been weeping for the needs of the people.  It is quite a different scene from the warm climate controlled rooms that we utilize in our own prayer meetings.  Usually, but not always, just a few tears are shed and certainly not a sufficient amount to indicate the previous presence of a group of believers.  Adversity sometimes forces change upon people and how they function in a society that no longer allows them religious freedom.  James 4:13-15 says, “ Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”  We have grown custom to our way of doing things and quite often think that they will always be that way.  After all, we live in America, the land of opportunity and freedom guaranteed by our constitution.  The most recent disease forced us to devise new ways to worship and in some cases placed us six feet apart and wearing a mask.  Temporary laws were used to limit the amount of people that could be in one place at one time and for the most part was obeyed by the local assemblies of worship.  Only a handful of worship centers defied the government mandate.  We know from the Scriptures that nothing on this earth will stop the church from being established and growing according to the dictates of the Lord Jesus Christ and certainly not the government or any other group of people, political or religious. The Lord Jesus Christ is growing His church and He has given us ample instructions in His Word as to how to do this.  We may have snickered at the idea of “drive-in” churches but now hear the honking of horns when an “amen” is warranted coming from a parking lot of cars filled with families that decided to worship that way as the pastor speakers from the rooftop of his local church.  The passage for today reminds us that the things of this life are temporary and not guaranteed for any age.  It is all up to God Who is in control.  We may say, Sunday we will go to our usual place of worship and do our ritual as usual as we have done for the past thirty years.  Adversity is coming as the Scriptures have adequately reminded us of that fact.  How long will it take to continue our practice of freely worshiping God?  Most recently, the local churches found ways to continue their worship by utilizing technology that had been developed for other purposes.  That too may be short lived and we may be back at the point of walking one by one, in the dark, to a remote designated spot, in order to pray, and that we will do because nothing will ever stop the church and the Head of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God that He still is on the Throne!

Commands

      I mentioned recently about the Apostle Paul using imperatives in a scripture passage.  Imperatives are not just for formal speech nor are they only Biblical.  My Mother would use them all the time especially when I was getting ready to leave the house for some activity usually involving music but she knew I would be picking up my girlfriend to go along with me.  I played in the Michigan City municipal band at an open air bandshell in one of the parks in Michigan City, Indiana.   It was about a 30 minute drive to the spot on now famous U.S. Route 20 which runs from New York to Chicago, Illinois.  As I was leaving the house, Mom would always give me the list of imperative commands.  They were not long lectures, but short instructions that were not options.  They included my driving skills, my manners, my looks and my expected time of arrival back at home.  As I mentioned, they were not suggestions, or reminders, they were commands.  These were the last minute instructions that would cover everything that had not been already mentioned.   Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  Neither give place to the devil.” 

It has always been interesting to me that the first three chapters of Ephesians do not have a single imperative command in them while the last three chapters contain about thirty-nine imperatives. Two of them are mentioned in the passage for today.  We have been exhorted to be angry and sin not and not to give place to the devil.  Hal Lindsey wrote a book in the seventies entitled, “Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth.”  Nothing has changed much since that book was written.  Satan, or the devil if you will, is certainly active today even in the lives of believers.  One might say, “especially in the lives of believers.”  Satan wants to keep every believer from doing anything that would ever promulgate the kingdom of God.  When you leave a campsite, one of the things you do is to separate the coals in the firepit or grill or pile of rocks on the ground.  Coals that are separated will soon die out while coals that remain next to each other will fuel each other until they are both gone.  Ten pieces of charcoal, once in a fire pit, will soon die out when separated and will return to a black remnant of a piece of charcoal.  If the same group of pieces of charcoal remain next to each other, they will continue to glow until they are either consumed or extinguished.  Satan wants to extinguish the believer from doing anything profitable for the promotion of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the easiest among believers seems to be anger.  If Satan can keep you angry, you will accomplish very little for God.  In contrast to the anger that quite often exists with the believers, is the list of the “one another” commands that appear here and there in the New Testament.  Such passages as “Pray for one another,” or “love one another,” or “exhort one another,” or “bear one another’s burdens.”  You get the idea.  This should be the norm for the believer rather than the anger that quite often exists in the hearts of people.  We soon find that we can keep from giving place to the devil when we are fully exercising the “one another” commands of the Scripture.  Praise God today for His instructions to us in His Word.

Job Descriptions

    When you decide to go to work, that is, to get a job, you are handed an item that is called a “job description.”  It might be verbal and it might be written out on paper, but everyone has a job description if they are working anywhere at all.    On my first job, I was given a big shovel and told, “get the corn from the wagon into the corn crib.”  That was it.  On my second job, I was instructed to wipe off every part of the metal hanging on a conveying mechanism before it went into the paint shed to be painted Allis-Chalmers Orange.  Other jobs became more complex and were written down with detailed instructions.  The Apostle Paul instructed young Timothy with his job description and it is the same job description for every preacher today.  Second Timothy 4:1-5 says, “ I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;   Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;   And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.  But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 

         There are nine imperative verbs in this passage that instructs not only Timothy, but every preacher that stands in a pulpit today.  One of the excuses however for the church today is that they don’t have a “pulpit.”  they change the name to a “lectern” or a “podium”  We get hung up on the semantics and therefore say that we are not “preaching.”  Well, Paul’s first imperative to Timothy was, “Preach the Word….”  He didn’t instruct him to talk, or to teach, or to converse, or suggest or have dialogue with.  He exhorted him to preach the Word.  The rest of the nine imperatives tell him how to do it.  Neither Paul nor Timothy made people feel good by what they said. They preached the Word of God with power and conviction and people were being saved by their preaching.  In a recent seminar, great preachers were asked “What is one of the greatest dangers to the church today?”  the answer from all four of the preachers was, “The greatest fear for the church today is the watering down of the preaching of the Word of God.”  Some preachers are afraid to step on someone’s toes by naming the sins of the people.  We want to be more politically correct in how we address the problems of the world and fail to proclaim the Word of God.  Nothing has changed in the centuries between Paul and today.  The Word of God still needs to be preached from the pulpits of the world, America and here in my local city and neighborhood. The eighth imperative is to “do the work of an evangelist.”  Timothy didn’t have to hit the tent meeting circuit, but do the work of the evangelist in his own location.  In other words, there are many people sitting in the churches of the world, who are not saved.  For whatever reason, they are in a church but have had no personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.  I went for years knowing the phrases to say, the hymns to sing and was still as lost as can be.  Being in a church for your whole life doesn’t mean you are saved.  As one man put it,  “Just because you sit in a garage doesn’t make you a car so sitting in a church doesn’t make you a Christian.”  If you are not being exhorted by Biblical preaching, then go to some place where the Word of God is preached.  Praise God that He has given us the job description for those that are to proclaim the Word of God.

Great Things

      What do you think about on an average day?  I mostly thought about the radio shows that I used to listen to as a child.  My life in those early years was shaped by people like the Lone Ranger and Sky King.  I would save up the box tops required and tape a quarter to the address form and send it in and then wait for the arrival of the Lone Ranger secret decoding ring. If you have ever watched the modern version of “The Christmas Story, featuring a family in Indiana, that was me.  The ring was important and it soon came with the miniature six-gun on top of it and the sliding secret compartment with the code breaker information.  It came and it soon went as it lasted about a couple of weeks.  I soon turned my attention to the young girls after I had determined that they were not going to give me “cooties” as everyone had said.  Religion was not a big feature in my life.  My friend in Illinois said that as a child, his parents drug him to church.  I never had that experience.  Church was never mentioned and I could pretty much do whatever I wanted in regard to my spiritual activities.  I could do anything except when I reached the breaking point of my Father when I informed him that I wanted to be a priest.  When my first semester stopped at Indiana University, I found myself raising my right hand in Chicago as I was sworn in to the United States Navy.  My thoughts were still pretty much on “self” but I had a concern for spiritual things but couldn’t quite get it all together.   Ephesians 3:19-20 says, “ 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.” 

Wow!  What a statement.  Paul seems to be closing the book at this point, which is in the middle of what he had to say.  It makes sense now as Paul has just given us three chapters of the list of what we have just for being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. After having reviewed this list, Paul breaks out in a doxology, giving praise and glory to God for such a wealth of spiritual blessings.  Life is no longer shaped by the Lone Ranger, Sky King and the Little rascals, but by Someone far more important, God Himself.  My world has expanded from the acre and a half in Indiana to the universe and the magnificence that God has created.  God is visible in the magnitude of His creation and also in the miniscule from the design of the flower to the bombardier beetle, and microorganisms.  God is everywhere.  He reminds us of that fact in Psalm 139.  Yes, we can say as Paul did in Ephesians 3:19-20, how God can do that which is exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…”  The same God Who spoke the universe into existence has also said that “He loves you and me so much that He sent His Son to give us eternal life.”   Yes, How great is that?  Praise God for His greatness.  It is far greater than we can even imagine!