God's Presence

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

     Second Corinthians 11:25-28 says, “Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;   In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.  Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” 

     There have been times when I was outside that a rain storm would come up unexpectedly and guess what?  I got wet.  There were also times when i couldn’t find anything to eat so my Aunt Edna told me about bread, mustard and sugar.  My meatless sandwich was good when i was hungry.  I would look for empty pop bottles and take them to the gas station for two cents.  If I found enough, I could get a R. C. Cola and a Moonpie.  

     When i came to know the LORD in a personal way, that is, became born again, born from above, born of God, things changed but when it rained, i still got wet and when there wasn’t any food around, I got hungry.  Being a believer doesn’t remove my problems but God is with me in the midst of my problems.  My  feeble sufferings don’t even come close to that of the Apostle Paul .  The above list shows just some of the things that he went through and in the end, he could still say that he was content.  I have become used to the things of my country and my lifestyle.  I have adequate shelter and a phone that tells me when it is going to rain and so I don’t tempt  the weather and go out in it when a storm is approaching.  The american way is to stock up on the things you might need, “just in case” something terrible will happen.  I am getting to use that phrase often as our culture demands that we take steps to protect ourselves, just in case…”  I often say that “God has never failed me yet.”  That is a true statement that since the early seventies, God has taken care of all of us in the family even when we thought there was no way of getting things accomplished.  I ran out of money for my college education, but God saw to it that the money would come from where I didn’t expect it to come and I have the degree to prove it.  I was candidating for my first position  in a church and for several months, didn’t have any prospects but I was filling in at our home church since the pastor had a terrible carbuncle on his neck and couldn’t wear a necktie and he wouldn’t preach without one.  As events went on, my last day in the pulpit at that church was my pastor’s first day back in the pulpit.  God had it all under control as we left and headed South to our first position.  We all probably have the same testimony on how God always met our needs because He said He wouled never leave us nor forsake us.  Praise God for His promises.

The Battle is On!

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

     Galatians 5:16-17 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

     We had a lot of snow in Indiana when I was young and in school.  I don’t think school was ever closed even when the snow drifts were higher than the car.  It made it difficult to walk and when I went out with my Dad, I would walk behind him and try to get my feet in the same impression that he had made in the snow.  Sometimes, it was a longer stride but kept my boots from getting snow over the tops of them.  

     Our spiritual walk is often described in the scripture as it is here in the above passage.  Paul admonished the Galatians to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  In the spiritual sense, our walk is often used to describe our manner of living and how we respond to the things around us.  The Book of Ephesians mentions five different walks in the last three chapters and we have here, of course, the walk in the Spirit.  Paul here reminds us that we are in a spiritual war and that we should walk a certain way and to avoid another way.  We are to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  Unfortunately, the battle is severe and people often lean more to following the flesh than they do the spiritual side of things.  In case one has forgotten the characteristics of both walks, they are mentioned further down in the passage with the walk or the fruit of the flesh coming first.  After it, comes the fruit of the spirit which should be familiar to all of us. The thing to remember is that it is a constant battle and that there is a continual battle going on between the flesh and the Spirit.  Paul here mentions the “lust of the flesh” and we should recall from Genesis 3 that Satan used it in the Garden and with Christ and John also mentions it as one of the three avenues in which Satan is working today.  The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are the three avenues of almost every sin and every temptation that comes to men and women today, so the battle is continual and we are in it whether we like it or not.  It is interesting to notice that some of the traits of the flesh are envy and jealousy.  How often do these raise their ugly heads in our lives?  One of my uncles would always purchase a new Pontiac right after Dad purchased one and he would get the next year’s model.  If we bought a 52 Pontiac, he would go out and buy a 53 pontiac.  The battle between the flesh and the Spirit consists of real severe sins, as we would think, and also such small ones as envy and jealousy.  Of course the contrast is in the fruit of the Spirit.  Praise God that He gives us the armor in which to clothe our spiritual body.

Construction Site

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

     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:”

     As a kid, I started a lot of things that never got finished, especially in the area of building something.  I wanted to have the finished product but couldn’t wait for all of the steps to get there, so I would leave a few steps out, glue it together and paint it.  It resembled the picture but was far from being complete.  We did have the opportunity to view sme tapestries while in Spain that actually took years to complete and when viewed from the underside were rather ugly until you turned around and looked at the intricate work on the top side.

     God knows what the finished product is supposed to look like in the case of each and every person.  He knows what it is going to take in order to get the finished product ready.  What we don’t know is how long it is going to take.  For us, the process will last our entire lifetime and we won’t be finished until He is done making us what we ought to be.  Sometimes, His tools are hard on us as His hammer and chisel form us into the end product.  Paul here reminds the Philippians that God has started the work and that He will finish it.  We would love to be formed instantly into the most loving, patient, joyful person on earth but it doesn’t take place overnight.  God is the architect and the builder and He knows what He is doing.  There have been times when I have questioned His methods but they are few indeed as in the end, I know there is no use questioning God and His methods.  As it says, the pot doesn’t question the potter.  As my friend says, “It is what it is.”  We can be assured that we will definitely be pleased with His creation in us.  We won’t complain about our noses or our ears or the amount of joy in our life pr the comfort level of this or that.  It will all be perfect because God is perfect.  One example I often refer to is that of patience.  Many people have expressed to me that they are not patient.  I can say the same thing.  I am not a patient person.  When I would go to a fast food place and get in the shortest line only to find that the person in front of me is getting sixty sausage biscuits and thirty cups of coffee.  The shorter line then becomes the one that doesn’t move.  So, I move to another line and eventually get to place my order only to find that the line I was in is complete and I would have been better off staying in the first line.   I had prayed to God to help me be patient and so He gives me a lesson to t ry my patience.  Then I remember, Tribulation works patience.  Eventually, God will finish His work and I will be with Him in glory.  Praise God that He is not finished with us yet.

God is not Silent

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

     Hebrews 1:1-3 says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

     Do you talk to God?  Most believers would say “yes” to that question and we do quite often through our prayer life where we can approach the throne of grace to find help in time of need.  I always add, and who is not needy?  We all have needs and so we speak to God  and He has already spoken to us through His Word.  If one were to drop in on my conversations with God, you would find me speaking to Him in regard to some circumstance, or disease, or direction that is needed by Him for someone.  Sometimes you may also hear the answer from God as verses are brought to mind in regard to those very requests that have just been made.  Certainly we can say, “God is not silent.”

     The above passage reveals to us how God spoke in the days of the Old Testament through the prophets.  How often have you read the words, “Thus saith the LORD…”  That phrase occurs 415 times in the Old Testament.  God was not silent in the days of the prophets.  Then it goes on to remark about the Lord Jesus Christ and how He has spoken to us by His Son.  We are reminded about the fact that it was the Son Who was doing the creating and what was created was for Him and by Him as we also see in Colossians one.  Then, we have the mighty  act that was accomplished on Calvary where He purged our sins and after that He sat  down on the right hand of The Father, the Majesty on high.  For years, people have had the privilege of owning a “red letter” Bible, where the words of Christ were printed in red type.  There are a lot of religious books in the world today, but the Bible is the complete word of God and needs to nother revelation even though the world comes up with extra revelation.  The cults are always to come up with their own so-called revelation and try to pass it on as coming from God.  One writer in the United States has written books claiming that they are the words of Christ to her and she is to pass them on as extra revelation and are to be regarded as being God breathed but that does not make it so.  God was never silent but always had his Word going forth.  His Word was always present, even when men and women forgot it, it was still there.  There was that day when Ezra stood and read from the scriptures which they had not heard for seventy years, but the Word was still there.  Praise God today that He has indeed spoken to us.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

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

     Matthew 6:31-34 says, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” 

     Most people have goals in their life. There seems to always be something for which they work towards.  In Spain, most of the people worked for a vacation and everyone got to take off a whole month no matter how long they had worked for any given store or company.  It was their tradition.  Here, in our country, people tend to do the same thing and work and work in order that they might achieve a certain lifestyle.  People in general, myself included, often think about a place to stay, clothes to put on and food to eat.  I recently received about a dozen handkerchiefs from one of the staff member.  I was happy to receive this little gift, well it was a gift to me, and I could tell that they had been in storage for awhile.  .  

     The above passage from the Sermon on the Mount of Olives, reminds us of the basic needs of people, shelter, clothing and food.  Our rescue missions provide that for many homeless people even in the city of Roanoke, Virginia.  It is a typical need and evidence to that effect was seen in the Old Testament when people tried to gather enough manna on a weekday to last the next day also.  The  amount for the next day would rot and have worms in it, except on the day before the Sabbath.  God made that  amount last for the next day also.  It shows how God can supply that which we need and yet when we try to take advantage of God and get more than we need, it rots and has worms in it.  Well, it might be stored in the basement for such a long time that we don’t need it eventually and give it away or throw it in the trash.  Some people, well, a lot of people, are hoarders in that they will store up an item “just in case” they might need it.  The LORD here reminds us to not think about tomorrow.  He supplied our needs today and He will supply them also tomorrow.  As I think about it, God has never failed to supply all of my needs sometimes through you or others of various ministries in which we have been involved.  If God takes care of the birds and the lilies of the field, He certainly will take care of us.  Praise God today for the  abundant supply of those things that we need.

Just In Case

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

     John 3:3 says, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

     There are many people who want to cover all their bases so to speak when it comes to salvation, “just in case…”  While serving as a chaplain in a hospice program, I had a call to make a visit  to a person who was probably going to die soon.  When I got there, I found the man had in his hand, a rosary and a “Book of common Prayer.  There was already a Methodist pastor there and I was the Baptist pastor.  The Rosary was for the Catholics, the “Common Book of Prayer” for the Episcopalians, and of course the Protestants were represented by a Methodist and a Baptist.  The children wanted to have all their bases covered, Just in case one of the different ones were correct.  The man himself, who was on his death bead was a Lutheran.  The only thing missing was perhaps the one true item, a new life in Christ because he had been born again.  There was no evidence of that, just the symbols of different faiths in hope that one of them would usher his soul into paradise. 

     The above passage, a familiar one, states the most basic and primary statement.  One needs to be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God.   Sometimes, simplicity baffles the minds of people into thinking that it just can’t be that easy.  There is no catechism, there are no requirements, there are no classes to attend, thee are no  pennances to perform. It seems that men and women have come to the conclusion that there is nothing in this world that is free.  We have been bombarded with junk m ail and promises form the Publisher’s Clearinghouse that we have been listed as a possible recipient of a great financial reward, if we just do one thing.  The concept of God’s grace is something that they cannot understand nor accept.  After all, who would give away something as precious as eternal life when you can’t even get a free meal at McDonalds?  As some would say, “You need to jump through so many hoops before you can ge the prize.  With this type of mentality, then, mankind has set forth their own list of methods in order to make it to heaven.  In the back of our minds, we sometimes think, “What if this other group is correct?”  So, we add something to our life “just in case.”  As we have mentioned so many times, the word “believe” is one of the major words that occurs in the Gospel of John.  There is the root.  We must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that He paid for all of our sin  and even though we are unworthy, Jesus paid it all, while we were yet sinners.  And, we are still sinners yet saved by grace.  This wonderful grace has been given to us by God.  Praise God today for the simple plan of salvation.  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  Acts 16:31

Almost Persuaded

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

     Acts 26:28 says, “Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”

     The words “never” and “always” are used rarely in our little house.  There is one word, however, that gets used a lot and it is the word, “almost.”  You may have also heard the words, “I’m almost ready” or “I am almost finished.”  I have come to the conclusion that this word has no time limits on it whatsoever.  The word can mean a minute to an hour to a day, and so on.  In many areas of life, it has absolutely no meaning  other than to say, “I recognize that someone is waiting for me,” or that something was not quite completed but could be finished at a later time if conditions were to allow it.

     In the above passage, King Agrippa used the word in his sentence in regard to the statement of the Apostle Paul.  The only problem with Agrippa’s statement, is that it has far more results than just a minute or a day.  To almost be a Christian is to not be a Christian at all.  No matter how close one comes to being a Christian, in the end, when the judgment occurs, the result will be the same in that the person who is almost a believer, will be cast into hell for all eternity.  I was there  for thirteen years.  I had already been baptized three times, I knew the vocabulary of the believer, I could sing the songs, I attended church Sunday morning, Sunday Evening and Wednesday evening and attended all of the special meetings such as mission conferences but was still not a Christian.  I could take a person through the Romans Road of salvation, but I still was lost myself.  You are either a believer or a nonbeliever.  You are either saved or lost .  You will have either one birth and two deaths, or two births and one death.  There is no almost .  Ivory soap is 99.44 percent pure, but that is n ot pure enough for salvation.  It has to be one hundred percent.  Unfortunately, Agrippa’s statement is like many people who sit in the church pews today.  They may be at the door but they have not yet entered in.  We may need to ask people in what they are depending on in order to get to heaven.  We might  be surprised by the answer.  One person t old me recently, “It’s because of my job.  Who else would do it?”  I said, “Well, I haven’t heard that one too much.”  Praise God that He has made the way simple and clear that  even a child can understand it.  How about you?  Do you understand it or would you be like King Agrippa and say, “Well, almost….”

Skin of the Hippo

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

     First Peter 2:24 says, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

     When i decided to go into the ministry full time, my pastor at the time would give me advice every now and then.  One of the things he mentioned was that a pastor needs to have skin like a hippopotamus.  In other words, it needs to be thin because you are going to get stuck by all kinds of people one time or another.  He was right.  Your feelings get hurt a lot if you are “thin” skinned.  There has always been someone in every church ministry that didn’t like me or some one thing that I would teach. 

     The verse above is our prime example of One who was completely innocent and never did nor said anything wrong.  He is our perfect example and yet , the people hated Him on that Friday so many years ago that the mob cried out for Him to be crucified.  As one of the thieves said, “We deserve to die but He did not.”  It is good for us to watch what we say to others and that we do not intentionally insult people by our manners.  I am finding that common courtesy and manners and ethics are vanishing from our society at a rapid pace.  Young people especially are quick to leave a good job because they have been offended by someone else.  Every job has its bad moments, even when you are in the ministry.  While at one church I had the responsibility of going to one of our “Christian workers in the education department and inform them that their behavior in a certain area was  not proper.  I hated doing it but it had to be done and I prayed a lot about it and finally met with them and delivered my message as kind as I could.  It  turned out well later on so I was pleased about that .  For many people, it would have resulted in them leaving the church because they were “offended” by being called on the spiritual carpet.  Every one of the apostles died a martyr's death so you can assume that people hated them and their message that much to burn them at the stake, cut off their heads, crucify them even upside down, boiled in oil and any other extreme method of death.  Peter says that if we are doing right  and suffer for it, that is good, but  if we are doing wrong and suffer for it, it is our own fault.  When you think you have it tough or no one likes you nor do they appreciate you, think of the Lord Jesus Christ.  By His stripes we are healed.  He died for us.  He paid the price for all of our sins. He bore our sins in His body.  Talk about not being appreciated.  He is the Prime Example.  Praise God today for the sending of His Son to die for the sins of the world.

Outward Appearances

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

     First  Samuel 16:7 says, “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

     I have been labeled by some of my nurses as a person who is gullible.  That is, I tend to believe what people say to me.  I have learned a new phrase recently, called “catfishing” where a person  tells you that you are the best  thing since CornFlakes.  The end result of these comments is to get money from you.  I didn’t fall prey to some unknown figure, but rather one that I saw.  The lesson is, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

     In the world today, I and many others probably look at the appearance of an individual and determine what they are.  We seem to have developed a set of characteristics on how people look, how they talk and how they smell as to whether they are accepted in our own circle of friends.  We are often quick to pass judgment on someone based on our own set of standards.  A man came into our facility for a two week therapy stay and sat at our table for one of the meals.  He wore glasses and had a long beard.  I introduced myself to him and found out his name was Steven and was from a town not far from here.  Later on, I was talking and he said, “If you stand before God and He asks you why he should let  you into heaven, what would you say?”  I said, “The Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  to which he replied, “Good answer.”  He was a retired pharmaceutical worker, an accomplished organist and born again.  To me, he didn’t look that way and it was a surprise as he related many things f rom his life such as he had a four wheeler accident and hurt his back which was why he was at our place.  In all of life, we can evaluate what we see by the outward appearance but as the passage says above, God looks on the heart.  Of all the things that I am able to observe in a person, one thing I cannot see is their heart.  By this, I mean, I cannot see their real motives, their real intentions, their real feelings or their spiritual condition.  Only God knows that.   A person can tell you one thing and have an impure motive  and I cannot tell the difference, until later when their actions reveal their true motive.  Sooner or later, it will surface in most cases.  For some, however, it may not surface until the Great White Throne Judgment.  Then, of course, it will be too late for them and the only one they really fooled was themselves and had believed their own lie.  We will know when we are lying as the Holy Spirit will convict you of sin.  Praise God today that He looks at the heart and not t he outward appearance of anyone.

The Last Days

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

     Matthew 24:6 says, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

     My parents had an old RCA Victor Radio that stood on the floor and was about 4 feet high.  I could look the dial straight in the “face.”  It was in the early 40’s and the war was going on, that is, the big one, World War 2.  Dad was an air raid warden and every now and then the siren would blow in La Porte, Indiana adn all the lights had to be put out and Dad would  go our to try to find a house that didn’t turn off their lights and reprimand them for not doing so.  I recall that it interfered with my listening to that old radio which had a large dial across the front that was lit up like a Christmas tree.  Mom finally hung a newspaper over it so we wouldn’t get caught by our own air raid warden.

     There always seems to be wars going on somewhere in the world at any given time.  Most  recently, the number of wars going on is around forty.  They divide them up by how many people are getting killed in each war, and put them in one of three categories.  The Lord Jesus Christ mentioned the fact that thee will seem to always be wars and rumors of wars in the world but the end is not yet.  Other signs will be occurring and adding to the death and destruction  such as famines, earthquakes, storms and such that will seem almost unbelievable.  Couple this with the statements of the Apostle Paul to Timothy in Second Timothy 3:1-5 and you will get a rather obvious conclusion.  We are fast approaching the end days.  Morals have switched from that which is right, now becomes bad, and that which is bad now becomes right, in order to be politically correct.  It has been expressed that it is okay to kill an unborn child but you could go to jail for  breaking an eagle’s egg.  Certain things are now protected by law while the evil things are judged as being okay.  Why, even I am a protected person because of my age.  Anyone over sixty is watched like a hawk by the Adult Protection Services to be sure they are not being abused in any way.  Now, I may do some stupid thins at times, but so far, I am in right mind.  Of course, that is my own evaluation even though I got caught up in a little deal where I lost some money by giving it to a “friend.”  It  certainly seems as if the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is close at hand.  God’s final call could take place at any time.  Therefore, may we all be about the business of the LORD each and every day.  Praise God for His divine plan.

The Night is Coming

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

     Acts 16:30-32 says, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.  And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.”

     The assisted living facility where we now reside is small, with around fifty residents at present.  I understand that they need sixty residents to show any profit, so the company is losing money each month.  To compound matters, it is difficult to find a staff that will work for any length of time, even in the six or so management positions.  Recently, the activity director quit which was surprise as she was doing well and was a good “corporate” person.  I had a lot of conversations with her.  Our backgrounds were quite different, but I asked her one day if she accepted the fact of the above passage of Scripture on how to be saved and she said “yes” that was sufficient for her.  While our different church backgrounds do not agree on many issues, I still found that she might be saved and it was comforting to know that perhaps one person was saved in the group of corporate staff that we have here.  The list of former employees grows longer each week as the new generation doesn’t last too long and is easily tempted to move on.

     The above passage is vitally important to me and is the bottom line you might say, as to how to be saved.  At my age, I don’t have a lot of time left to lay a stable groundwork in their life in order to come to this question.  The question asked by the jailor was and is one of the most import ant questions that anyone can ask.  “What mus tI do to be saved?”   The answer is equal important.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”  The people that cross my path each day may be gone, one way or another, by tomorrow.  The turnover of staff of the facility and the age of the residents and my own age, leaves me to conclude that the time is short in which we have to share the gospel message.  I am just as sure t hat it is the same in your own lives also.  We have a song we sing, “Standing on the Promises” and some have remarked about this song, “it  doesn’t say, ‘sitting on the premises.’”  When we are young, we seem to think we have all the time in the world to establish a friendship with someone in order to share the message with them.  When, however, we get older, we see that we don’t have a lot of time and that if you are going to say something spiritual to someone, you better say it today as you may not have a chance tomorrow.  Praise God for the simplicity of the Gospel.  Share it with someone today.  As another song says,”Work for the night is coming.”

Pass It On!

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

     Second Timothy 2:1-2 says, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

     I preached yesterday at the facility to fourteen people, the oldest being 103 years old.  I am 84 and most of the people here are about that same age, some more and some less.  Three of them were asleep the whole time but they were asleep when they came in so it wasn’t my preaching that put them into a slumber.  What do y ou say to a group of people who are a step away from death?  I say the same thing to them that I would say to a young group of people.  It’s not over until God says it’s over.

     The apostle Paul was giving young  Timothy some exhortation in regard to his teaching other people.  When you begin looking at the number of people involved, there was Paul to Timothy, to faithful men to others.  That makes a total of four “generations” so to speak.  If any one of those in the chain of command do not have the excitement nor the desire to pass it on, the chain stops.  Paul had to have the initial zeal to proclaim the Gospel message to Timothy to stir him up with the necessity to pass it on with the same zeal that Paul had.  Each one of the four in the chain had to have their own four as we do today.  Christianity has been propagated by faithful men and women, sharing with others wit h a zeal that cannot be quenched.   While those in places of leadership play an important role, the job is not left to them alone but becomes the responsibility of every believer.  What I shared yesterday to my  group of seniors is that they need to incorporate at least one thing from the last three chapters of Ephesians.  Then, they needed to walk the “light” walk, reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ to others.  When you get to our age, the upper eighties and older, you sometimes have stored up anger, or not as patient with others, or we need to work on our responses to people who aggravate us, being kind one to another and forgiving one another even as Christ forgave  us.  We are all still growing and  hopefully, we are affecting the lives of the next generation so that they will be inspired enough to share it with someone else.  We need to all be found faithful in our daily lives in the sharing of our faith, mostly by example to others.  Praise God today for His using us to promote the Lord Jesus Christ to others right we are at.

Clean Reflectors

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

     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.”

     I have noticed that there are many devices that have reflectors on them.  Even my power chair has a couple of reflectors. Well, it has one left as the other one got knocked off trying to get through a doorway.  Of course, I often wonder why there are reflectors on walkers and power chairs as they probably shouldn’t be out in the dark in the first place.  We find that people use reflectors on vehicles and driveways to mark the entrance or even reflective tape for joggers who like to run in the dark.

    The above passage is one that speaks of spiritual reflection.  It goes on to say that we have this treasure in earthen vessels.  It doesn’t seem appropriate for such a treasure, but that is the way it is.  The Light of the world is Jesus and we know that to be true.  What the world needs right now is the Lord Jesus Christ to solve all of the problems that exist in our current culture.  We, as believers, have become “reflectors” of the Lord Jesus Christ as the “Light” is shining in our hearts and therefore, reflected outwardly to others.  The main purpose of a reflector is to reflect light and in itself, it has no power to give off any light until a light is shined on it.  Then it  will reflect the light.  Another obvious statement about reflectors is that they need to be clean in order to reflect any light at all.  There can be no scum, or dirt, or mud on the reflector as it would impede the ability to reflect light  to anyone.  Now, we come to Christian growth , which is a polishing of the reflector.  Day by day, being in the Word of God and incorporating it in our lives makes the reflector shine and in the spiritual realm, that means to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ to all those around us.. When I joined the Navy, I learned the art of “spit shining” shoes.  We were given a couple of pairs of dress shoes that were as dull as could be and they just seemed to be plain black leather.  With polish, a lot of spit, and a lot of fingers going around in circles over the leather for a long period of time, would produce a shine where  you could see your face reflected from the top of the shoe.  In effect, our hearts need to be “shined” with the Lord Jesus Christ   each and every day as it is necessary to improve the relectability of the heart.  This is done through the application, not of polish, nor of spit, but of the Word of God into our lives.  Praise God today for His shining in our hearts to others.

The Good Shepherd

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

      John 10:9-11 says, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

     My recent foot problems have shown me some of the values of the use of animals in medicine.  At one point, ground up shrimp, made into a powder, was used to stop the profuse bleeding in my ankle more than once.  It seems that the shrimp can be used as a successful anticoagulant and is n ow incorporated into battlefield medicine.  Also, at one point, a ground up pig bladder was used as a healing agent to one of the deep sores.  I have also heard of pig heart valves being used in valve replacement for humans.  It  should be no wonder then, that God refers to us as an animal and are often referred to a “sheep.”

     In the case if our association to the sheep, it is not the physical comparison as much as it is the mind of the sheep that makes us so much like a lamb.  For the most part, sheep are not an aggressive animal, but one that is more subject to other animals.  Psalm 23 goes through the needs of the sheep and how the shepherd takes care of the sheep in any situation.  In the above passage, the outstanding thought is Who is our Shepherd.  In this case, we see that it is the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself.  We have the protection of the Shepherd against the wildest of animals, Satan himself, and we have the provision of a satisfying pasture always as He leads us from one spot to another through the Word of God.  We have the guidance of the Shepherd from one pasture to another and we have the assurance that it will be a “green” pasture with plenty of food.  The ultimate gift from the Shepherd is the fact that He gives His life for the sheep.  The Lord Jesus Christ did just that.  He gave His life on the cross at Calvary for the lives of the sheep.  He paid the price for all of the sins and thereby assured the sheep of eternal life, in effect a life filled with all the blessings one could ever imagine.  We also find in this Great Shepherd, that He will never leave the sheepfold.  His presence is a guarantee of safety and that the sheep will get to the proper destination, into heaven itself.  The analogy of the sheep with human beings is proper and not coincidental. Our characteristics are quite similar.  Praise God today for providing  the Chief Shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

The Roaring Lion

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

     First  Peter 5:8-9 says, “ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” 

     “Take two chocolate chip cookies and call me in the morning.”  That was the advice of a child dressed in a doctor’s costume advertising cookies.  It was a mock advertisement that was similar to the advice of taking two aspirin and call me in the morning.  Both are  probably equally examples of poor advice for most comments about an ailment.  

     Sometimes, final words are empty in their advice.  We often say, “Have a good day.” as if that is going to guarantee having a pleasant day after departing a conversation with a friend.  Quite often, the epistles end with a list of things that the writer wishes to say that are extremely important.  Verses five through eleven have at least nine different things that we are told to do at the end of Peter’s first epistle.  The above passage is just one of those instructions where we are to be sober and vigilant due to the fact that Satan is indeed alive and well and roaming the earth looking for easy prey.  His description is that of a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  That is not a pretty picture, but is a good description of the adversary that we face.  Satan is not omnipresent, so can’t be everywhere at the same time, but he does have thousands of demons at his command that are going about doing his nasty work and they are appearing, not as ugly creatures, but as something more beautiful, but their plans are evil.  Indeed, we are to resist these creatures by being stedfast  in the faith.  Our faith has the guarantee of the empty tomb as Christ was victorious over death and the grave.   Even at my age, temptations still arise and that old statement, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t” still applies.  In order to combat this enemy, we need to have on the armor of God as we see in Ephesians six.  We need to know the basis of our faith  and we need to stay in the Word of God and it must govern our lives in every matter, not just one or two things.  The Word of God is good for our lives in showing us the will of God in regard to  our family life, our personal life, our business life, our educational life and most of all, our church life.  Our acceptance of sin as now a proper way to live is leading us down a path of destruction and person after person, soul after soul is being consumed by the “roaring lion,” the prince of darkness himself.  The average view of the American in regard to the Scripture is that it might “contain” the word of God instead of declaring “It IS the Word of God.  Praise God today that our faith is based on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the tomb!

Special Blessings

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

     Revelation 1:3 says, “ Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”  

     There are times when I wonder just how many recipients of the email version of the devotional gets read by someone.  I do know that several primary names of the mailing list  have passed away but family members still use their email and so it gets read by more people than some of the others.  It  probably gets more coverage on Facebook than any other media form which is okay just  so it does get  read by someone.  Some things are important enough that you do need to read them such as recipes for complex meals and those instructions for little cabinets that come in a flat box.

     Harriet Grafton, the owner of Christian Book and Bible Store at Bailey’s Crossroads, VA was in the store one day and a customer came in and wanted a Bible that was “Red.”  Harriet replied, “Every Bible should be read.”  Yes, indeed, the Bible needs to be read by every person on earth which is one of the reasons that some mission groups are working diligently to bring the Bible to every tribe and nation upon the earth so that everyone can have a copy of God’s Word in their own language.  It is also interesting to notice that the Book of Revelation opens up with a special blessing for those that read it. The above verse has a three pronged message.  The blessing if for those that read it, those that hear it and those that keep it.  It goes on to give the reason, “For the time is at hand.”  Many people shy away from the Book of Revelation just saying that it is too difficult to understand and they are afraid of messing it up.  We should read it not once or twice but probably every month, or even every week.  It is the only prophetic book in the New Testament and has a much needed message for the people of the world today.  If you want to know what is going to take place, just look at the Book of Revelation as it gives you the details about the last days of planet earth.  I like the whole book, but especially chapters 2 and 3 and then chapters 4 and 5 which Handel used to write the “Messiah.”  I call those chapters the “Celestial Symphony”.  It begins with a theme, has several variations of the theme and finally a “coda” ending.  Then, of course, the description of the New City and heaven itself in the latter chapters.  I guess the whole book is really interesting and as with the Books of the Bible, is tied in with all of the teachings of both Old and New Testaments.  Don’t neglect the reading of this wonderful prophetic book.  Praise God for the fact that we know the ending of the story.

The Throne of Grace

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

     Hebrews 4:16 says, “ Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

     While in the Navy, I was quite aware of the separation between enlisted personnel such as myself, and the officers.  Barracks were clearly marked for officers and no enlisted personnel were allowed.  On the ship, there was the “officers country” which meant  the area was for officers only.  On the base, there was the “officers club” and thee was the “gedunk” where the enlisted folks congregated.   We often find lines of separation between people for one reason or another.  One of the best spiritual examples is the Holy of Holies.

     The Holy of Holies was only to be visited by the High Priest and then, only once a year.  It  was indeed a very sacred place where the ark of the covenant was kept and the lid became the meeting place for God and the High Priest.  When the Lord Jesus Christ died that day at Calvary, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom.  The strength of the veil was such that two teams of oxen couldn’t have torn the veil even from bottom to top.  It was only God that tore the veil, thus giving access into the Holy of Holies.  While access to God was only once a year before that time, it was not changed.  Instead of the High Priest going to the Holy of Holies, now every believer has the potential of having access into the very throne of God, or as it is called here, the throne of grace.  In the Old Testament, you had to bring an animal to be killed and offered for your sins.  Now, in the New Testament, the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ became your sacrifice for all of your sins, past, present and future.  They were all paid for on the cross and because of that you can now go directly to the throne of grace and speak to God Himself.  You can now speak with Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai and so forth right in His very presence.  In so doing, we do not come flippantly, nor do we refer to Him as the “man upstairs’ but as God Himself in all of His glory.  We also notice that we come when we have a “time of need.”  I can’t think of a time when I didn't have a need!  Even the saying of grace before you eat places you into that special place, the throne of grace.  Prayers before you start the day, or prayers an night before you go to sleep and those often said prayers during the day for the needs of others or need to know the Gospel message of salvation, all place us in the throne room of Almighty God.    All you need to say is “O, Lord” or “Dear  Heavenly Father” and you are right there in His presence.  How great is that?  Praise God for giving us access to the throne of grace in time of need.

God's Instruction

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

     Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

     “I know the way.  It  is just down the road a little piece and we will be there.”  Yes, famous last  words before  you have to say, “I guess I will stop and ask for directions.”  It is especially true when traveling in a city that you lived in ten years ago and now they have added some new building, torn down some buildings that you knew in the past and then added a few traffic circles and an extra road or two.  I once had to do a funeral in a very small town in West Virginia and finally needed to stop and ask directions which seemed rather difficult to follow.  We had to go to a certain type of field, then past a barn with a quilt painted on the side of it, down a narrow road on a hill and then we would see the church off to our right.  We did find it even though it was not even on the gps system of the car.

     We can be thankful that God has the perfect GPS for life.  The above passage promises us that God will be our instructor and that as an instructor, He will teach us in the way that  we should go.  For many, they long to find out the will of God for their lives and just how they should go through life day by day, hour by hour.  There have been several times in my life when a change of direction was needed and it wasn’t just this way or that way, but  quite often, there was necessary to choose between three routes.  As you study God’s Word you become convicted by the Holy Spirit in regard to certain things that may be present in  your life and you know that they are contrary to the will of God.  Such things as language become clear when we read that we are not to take the Lord’s name in vain.  So, we use words that  say the same   thing, only a little softer than the actual cuss word.  Or we say immediately after it, “forgive my cussing.”  The word “Gosh” is just a softer word than the word, “God.”  It seems to not be saying the same thing as the phrase often used as an oath.  As soon as you are born again, God begins to teach you in the way that you should go, such as your prayer life, your choice of entertainment, the things that you desire, the amount of time you spend in the Bible and what you would rather be found doing should Christ suddenly return.  If you are prone to quickly dust  off your Bible when you see the preacher coming and place it on the coffee table after you found it, or to quickly hide certain magazines, then you may need to make some adjustments in your life.  Yes, God does indeed teach us plainly in His Word how to live.  Are we taking  heed to the instruction?  Praise God today for His t itching  us how we should live this earthly life.

Truth

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

     First John 1:8-9 says, “ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

     You can go to a clothing store that sells uniforms and purchase one, put it on and then go out and tell the world that you are an airline pilot, or even an officer in the armed forces, or a fireman or even a policeman.  We know how people dress in other professions and can therefore imitate them with just enough knowledge to get by and pass the buck to someone else when it comes to something you know absolutely nothing about.  The sad part is that if we tell a lie often enough, we begin to believe it ourselves.  I wear a hat that was created for the School of Music in the armed forces where I served for nine years.  The hat has on it, Army, Navy, Marine Corp.  A fellow veteran came up to me and said, “Semper Fi.”  I knew he thought I was a marine and I could have said, “Semper Fi” back to him, or given him a “hoorah” but I informed him that I was of the U. S. Navy.  He said that was okay as we were still brothers.

     The above passage reminds us about truth and how truth needs to be in us and to be a part of our character.  Telling the truth has to become a pattern in our lives and not just an occasional thing.  I guess some lies seem appropriate to some at some times, such as the person who has dementia and who is looking for the dead mother, dead father and dead husband.  I hear the nurses sometimes say, “She’s at the grocery store.”  The person quiets down and forgets what she heard anyway, so the lie seems justified.  It just seemed easier to lie than to tell the person that the person they were looking for was dead.  The same person who remarks about the life status of someone, will come to the conclusion that they have not done anything wrong and therefore have justified their lie thinking that it will calm a person down for  five minutes and so it is okay.  I heard one nurse say, “The best thing I can say is that he is sleeping.” She was right and told the truth.  Even the Lord Jesus Christ said the same of Lazareth, and the disciples did not understand until Jesus finally said, “He is dead.”  Of course, lying is just one of many sins that a person can have.  The point is that if we say we have no sin, and the liar will often say that very same thing, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  Of course we have sin in us.  That is the problem and the Lord Jesus Christ is the solution to the problem.  Verse nine goes on to say that, “If we confess our sin…”  That  is where every person needs to be. Firs of unbelievers and then when a believer sins.  It will haunt a believer when there is known sin, but the unbeliever will still think they are okay because there is no repentance for their sin.  PraiseGod that He still forgives us when we sin. The sins were covered under the blood of Christ on the cross.

The Mark of the Believer

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

     John 13:34-35 says, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”

     Francis Shaeffer wrote a book titled, “The Mark of the Christian.”  In the book, he used as a theme verse John 17:21 which says, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”  People during different ages have come to use certain symbols as a proof for their faith such as crosses around the neck or carrying a Bible, or the ever popular bumper sticker that says, “Honk if you love Jesus.”   I wanted to have a symbol on my door here at the assisted living facility and so purchased a cross only to have it taken off my door three times.  I gave it away to the one who took it off my door and she lost it to another lady and now it hangs on her door.  Then, I purchased a second cross and had it on my door with both the cord and velcro so they couldn’t get it off.  Well, now, it is gone also so whatever I put on my door is probably going to be taken by someone who takes a fancy to it.

     It isn’t the cross on the door that makes a notation of who I am but rather how I function with fellow believers in the world today.  When we left Christiansburg, Virginia in 1983, there were over 40 different churches in Montgomery County and  twenty of those churches were preaching the Gospel message but had split off from another one over some small issue that didn’t please a certain group so they went off to begin their own church where the temperature, pew color, length of sermon, style of music would be compatible to that group.  In John 17:21, Jesus emphasizes that it is important that believers be in unity. They needed to be seen as a single body, agreeing on major doctrines and tolerating the various moods of each other.  During one of the teaching sections of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples, the passage above was given as a new commandment that believers love one another as evidence that they were disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Believers sometimes miss the mark in this and need to be reminded how it is done.  When we forget just how to love one another, the Lord reminds us of the example of how to do it.  We do it as Christ loved us. He said, “as I have loved you.”  I am sure that I am hard to love by many as I also find it hard to love everyone as I should, but we keep on endeavoring to love one another just as the Lord Jesus Christ loved us.  Praise God today for His perfect example for us to follow.

Being an Imitator

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

     Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;”

     As a young boy, I had  the opportunity to ride wit h my Dad sometimes when he would stop a the house on his way from South Bend to Michigan City where the terminal was.  He wold let me ride along in the cab of the semi and watch him as he drove.  In those days, you had to  double clutch in order to change gears and then to push down on the accelerator.  I watched his feet moving and the hands , one on the steering wheel and the other on the gear shift.  Then, I wold home and get into the 1929 Oldsmobile, that didn’t run, but I made it run in my mind and was double clutching as I went through the gears.  I was imitating my Dad and tried to do everything that he did.

     The passage above uses the word “followers” of God and the word “followers” is one that means “imitate.”  Certain denominations will often have a special speaker in their midst whom will often be imitated by other preachers.  Even at Washington Bible College, students would imitate their favorite professor in mannerisms, speech, vocabulary and such.  We take those whom we admire and try to pattern our lives after their life.  The supreme example is the one given above.  We are to be imitators of God.  That’s what it would mean to “follow God.”   The lives that we live should be ones that are patterned after the life of the Lord Jesus Chrjist.  There is our example.  Most of you remember the time when we had the WWJD logo on bracelets, tee shirts and plaques.  It stood for “What Would Jesus Do?”  We were to ask that question in regard to any circumstance that would come up in our lives.  We must come to the realization of how Jesus would respond when cut off in traffic, or how He would respond to a critical tongue or insult, or how would He respond in regard to future plans.  This might mean that our priorities will need to be adjusted.  While in Spain, we found that many in the country only worked for the fact that they will be able to go on vacation for a month.  The average Spaniard in 1984 only worked eleven months of any given yea rand the twelfth month was for vacation. No matter how long you had worked for the company.  Many people in the world live and work only with the vacation in mind.  We need to ask ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do when He says that the fields are white unto harvest.  When the farmer looks at a ripened field, he doesn’t decide to take a month off but gets that which is ripe into the correct storage containers while conditions are right.  To wait might mean to lose the crop due to rain or other circumstances.  When someone cries out for help you should not say, “Sorry.  Can’t do it now, I am about to leave on vacation.  Maybe next month would be okay.”  Praise God for being the prime example for us all to imitate.

The End Times are Approaching

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

     Second Timothy 3:10-13 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.”  

     The place in which Diane and I are living is finding it increasingly difficult to find people who will work.  They seem to want a job, come to work for two weeks and then after they begin to sweat just a little, quit.  When we came here, the dietary staff was about six people.  After having about seven different ones, we are back down to just one person and the nurses have to fill in as cooks.  It seems that people just don’t want to work but they like to get  money for doing nothing.  Our society, culture, our way of living, or whatever you want to call it is going downhill fast.

     The above text comes right after the description in verses 1 through 5 which describes the culture in the last days.  Folks! We are in the last days now.  Every characteristic listed in the first five verses of this chapter is taking place right now.  We have been warned about the end times and how persecution is going to increase for each and every believer.  We are also warned about the fact that the deceivers will get  worse and worse in deceiving and then by being deceived themselves which will trickle down to the public.  The question may come up in people’s minds, “What are we to do when all around us is crumbling at an increasing rate?  The answer for the believer is to stay close to God in each and every moment of your life.  Stay in the Word of God and make sure that the Word of God stays in you.  Read it, hear it, study it, memorize it and meditate on it.  The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119, about the Word in 171 times in this Psalm.  Only five verses do not speak of the Word specifically.  If you want to know the love of the Psalmist in regard to the word, just memorize it as hebrew children did.We need to also keep giving out the message of salvation to those we meet each and every day.  Don’t be afraid.  Don’t be hesitant.  Don’t wait for a second chance.  Be ready always to give a reason for the hope that is in  you.  Share it with others.  When the final call goes out and the last soul comes to God in salvation, the church will be complete and the rapture will take place.  The Heavenly Father knows the time and He has known it from the beginning of time and when that “fullness of time” occurs, we will hear the sound of the trumpet and in an instant, we will be with the LORD.  During the tribulation times, the world will probably say all of the destruction and death and pestilence are due to climate change as the seals, trumpets and bowls are unleashed on the earth.  Praise God today for the fact of the rapture of the Bride of Christ, the Church.  What the world needs now, is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your First Love

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

     Revelation 2:4 says, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”

     There are many things in my life that I take for granted.  That is, I do them all the time and expect it to be the same the next time I do it.  I go to the sink, turn on the faucet, and get a drink of water.  I set  my thermostat for 72 degrees and the temperature is always at 72 degrees.  When I drove a car, I would turn on the ignition and the car would start.  Such normal things that occur often in  our lives can become complacent in that they are always there and it is a shock to us when they suddenly do not work or appear as they did before.  

     Sometimes, the continual presence in our lives of one thing or another promotes a sense of unappreciation in one way or another.  We live in a society that has forgotten plain common sense and morals and manners.  Our lack of appreciation for the common things of life can also be traced into our spiritual lives.  The pattern is the same.  The old believers have always relied on the presence of the Holy Spirit i their lives and also to know that Christ is our Savior and someday, we will stand face to face with Him in glory.  The charge against the church at Ephesus was simple and very applicable today.  ‘...thou hast left thy first love.”  We may ask ourselves, “How could a church such as Ephesus leave their first love?”  Christ  had to be their first love but the left that behind in their search for sound doctrine, which they did accomplish.  They wee, perhaps, right  on target when it came tot h e doctrines of the church, yet they had left their first love.  Do you remember how it was when you first came to Christ?  Do you recall the joy that was in your heart and how your life was changed?  Some things changed right away and other things saw a gradual process as the Lord worked on your heart.  Oftentimes, our lives become such a habit that we can predict what comes next in the average church service because we have always done it the same way.  We have preludes and postludes.  We have an offering at a certain point.  We often sing the doxology at the same place in the service that we have done in the past.  Special music is often heard at the same spot and the sermons are the same length “most” of the time.  However, many cannot recall the scripture passage or the main points of the message thirty minutes after they were heard.  The sign over the inside of the main door reads, “You are now entering the mission field.” yet we have forgotten just what that means and how we are going to participate in it.  We numbly sing he chorus, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” with no expression, because we have left our first love.  Praise God that He will never leave us.

Eating with Publicans and Sinneers

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

     Matthew 9:11-12 says, “And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”

     It  seems that we like to see familiar faces when we go into a strange place.  Our son and aI were traveling in Indiana and decided to eat at some small restaurant rather than a typical fast food place, so we picked a small one in the town of Maryville, Indiana.  We went in the restaurant wich was full except for one table and we took our spot there. The place had been buzzing with talk but as we entered, they all stopped talking and looked at us wondering who we were.  After a brief pause, they realized that we were just travelers and continued on with their talking about the price of corn and beans in the market.  It was a good breakfast and worth the fact of eating in a strange place.

     In Roanoke, Virginia, a large group of us would go to Harbor’s Inn for fish and we would find many other people from various churches doing the same thing as groups of 20 or less would come in to eat.  We tend to often go where other believers go because it is comfortable and there is no “unbeliever” conversation to contend with.  The above passage is one that shows us with whom Christ associated with while He walked the earth some 2000 years ago.  He was often found in the homes of publicans and sinners.  Now, we would often think twice before doing that.  Why, what  would people say if we were caught doing that same thing?  We like to be more involved with the “activities” of the church and as a result, fail to take the message to those who are desperately in need to hear the plan of salvation.  We gather on Sunday to worship, and in some churches, we still meet a second time on the Lord’s Day.  Then, we meet on Wednesdays for prayer time, and then of course a Bible study at someone’s house or even at the church on a particular morning.  If we have a choir, well, thee is the time for choir practice and th en the meetings of the deacons and or elders where we plan how to reach the lost with the message.  If we are fortunate, we have a specific time for “visitation” possible on a Tuesday or Thursday evening for about 90 minutes.  Then we have the annual conferences such as a mission conference that takes a week and the prayer advances or special retreats to strengthen the believer and then maybe a small institute to study the Bible.  Then we retire at age 65 or so, wnd wonder whee the time went and wish we had done something more to reach the lost with the message only to find that we are too old now to drive, or to visit.  We look back and realize that we spent most of our lives around other believers while the lost who drove past the church, never heard the plan of salvation, or the Romans Road, or anything else spiritual.  All this is happening today in our very modern, well to do nation, of America.  Praise God He still calls the sinner to repentance.

Look on the Things of Others

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

     Philippians 2:4 says, “ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

     I have found that there are new words that are being inserted in dictionaries almost each year .  One of the new ones that recently was added was the word, “selfie.”  With the advent of cameras in almost  every phone, people can take all the pictures they want .  You don’t have to wait for them to be developed as we did in the old days with 35mm film for either slides or photographs with negatives.  Now, everything is measured by how many pixels you can get.  Cameras in phones make it easy to take a picture of yourself and you can keep on doing it until  you get the exact one you want.   As you look at social media, you soon realize who the people are that like to take a picture of themself and of course, it is called a “selfie.”

     The Apostle Paul remarks, or rather exhorts us, to be thinking just the opposite.  Our focus should not be on ourselves, as in a selfie, but on others.  This passage of Scripture speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ , not thinking about Himself, but thinking about others to the point of humbling Himself and walking towards the cross.  He humbled Himself and became obedient to death.  He knew what  to expect and He took on a human body t hat was going to experience all of the agony of the cross and everything that led up to it during the mock trials, the crown of th orns, the beatings, the plucking out of His beard.  He knew this was coming yet for our sakes He kept walking towards that time when He would pay for our sins on the cross.  This is the supreme example of thinking on the things of others as we see in the above verse.  We have little to compare to such an act, but still it occurs as our example.  Surely, we can at least think on the things of others and to help when we can, to pray when we can, t o encourage when we can, to love when we can and to bear one another’s burdens when we can.  While it is true that thee are believers today that are being killed for their faith, some by being beheaded, other being shot with guns, some burned alive, but for the most part, we in the United States, have not found ourselves to be persecuted in such a way.  That time may be coming to an end shortly as we see prophecies being fulfilled and the conditions of Second Timothy 3:1-5 being so prevalent  in our society today.  Use the time wisely that you and I have left that we may not be so concerned about ourselves, but in preparing souls to meet their Creator.  Most of you can make a good selfie because you all look good.  As for me, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  Praise God for the humbling of the Lord Jesus as He went to the cross for us.  May we be humbled ourselves and look to help others in our own circle of family and friends.