A Wolf in Sheep;s Clothing

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

     Perhaps you have heard the expression, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."  The obvious point of such a saying is that you can't make something nice out of something that isn't nice.  The quality of a pig's ear is such that it would never be good enough to be used to make a fine silk purse.  No matter what you did to it, the purse would still resemble the quality of a pig's ear.  There are religious groups around us today that are still trying to do the same thing.  While their beliefs are extreme and contrary to what the Bible says, they still try to gain respectability and thereby fool the people into believing that they are something that they are not.  In a sense, they are trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.   First John 4:13-15 says, "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."   In the early church, this was a very important confession.  It was perhaps, broader in scope than we perceive in this present age.  To confess that Jesus is the Son of God is to confess that everything about Jesus Christ is true and that you have put your faith in Him to be your Savior.  No matter how you dress up a false doctrine or what works you do in order to make it seem good, it is still what it is.  All of the good advertising and promotion stunts won't change the fact of what it is.  False doctrine is exactly that, false doctrine.  You can try to candy-coat it but it still comes out to be the same in the end.  But, the truth is, many are being deceived as it seems to be respectable.  First John 4:1 reminds us, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."  So, no matter how good something seems on the outside, remember that it is necessary to hold up the doctrine to the supreme standard, The Word of God.  Then you will know if it is a genuine silk purse or nothing but a sow's ear.

It Won''t disappear by Itself!

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

  There were those days when I did some vacuuming of the rugs and noticed something.  When I would approach something that was dangling on the floor, such as a curtain cord or an electric cord, I would squint my eyes so that they were almost closed.  I came to the realization that I was doing this each time that I came close to something that could get sucked up into the vacuum.  In essence, I was hoping it wouldn't happen and if I closed my eyes, that would prevent it from happening.  Obviously, that was all wishful thinking.  More than once a shoe lace or curtain cord has gotten wrapped around the vacuum.  Ignoring something doesn't make it go away or to not exist.  However, some people feel that if they completely ignore the area of sin, that it doesn't exist and that they are not under the penalty of it. 

            Romans 3:10-12 says, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."   These verses, quoted from the Old Testament, plainly point out that everyone is a sinner and that the penalty of sin has been pronounced upon them.  There is no way of avoiding that fact.  Squinting your eyes or even closing them when you get close to the Bible or to sound preaching doesn't negate the fact of sin.  It is still there and it needs to be dealt with.  As a quick review will point out, God has set a standard for entrance into heaven.  Unfortunately for us, that standard is a perfect sacrifice in order to make payment for entrance into heaven.  Without that payment or that perfection, we cannot enter heaven.  For some they say, "Well, that won't be so bad."  However, the second destination for a soul  not going to heaven, is the Lake of Fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels.  So, to ignore God's requirements won't make them go away nor will they guarantee instead a safe passage to heaven.  There is only one way and that was is the Lord Jesus Christ.  This means that we must accept His payment for our sins, since He was and is, the only perfect sacrifice that could have been offered for sin.  So, don't think that sin doesn't exist or just because a person doesn't believe in it that it is not real.  It is very real and so are the results.  Your final destination can only be determined by whether or not you accept God's plan of salvation through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross.  Don't close your eyes to God's gift.  Praise God today for His steadfastness even in  judgment,  

Peace With God

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

     Romans 5:1-2 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

     Let me take a moment to thank those of you who rescinded and then prayed for my condition, whatever it was.  Still a lot of pain in the left leg but the fever is gone and no more chills that seem to rattle my bones.  Got  my brains tickled with a Q-Tip and that was a negative report for covid which was thankful for that.  If there is a “normal” then maybe I am getting close to it  now.  Our group of seniors are reading through the Book of Romans which is interesting in itself as we all have something in our lives that is weak such as eyes, voice, memory and such things.  I get excited with the Book of Romans as there is so much there in doctrine for every believer.  I chose the first two verses of Chapter 5 because of the phrase, “peace with God.”

     Prepositions are really important as you can have peace with jGod and you can have the peace of God.  In this passage it deals with the soul having peace with God.  Actually you can’t have the peace of God, until you peace with God.  Those souls that are unbelievers are at enmity with God and heading for a terrible judgment.  The only thing that will keep them from that judgment is to have peace with God.  God is omnipotent, that is powerful and as such, the Most Powerful Being in the universes.  He created the universe and he created the ants. God has all of the universe at His disposal and can use anything He desires to move nations in and out of existence.  Nothing surprises Him nor is He ever caught off guard.  His plan cannot be stopped.  Pal reminds us that us believers are  justified by faith and so we have this wonderful peace with God and notice where it comes from.  It goes on to say, through our Lord Jesus Christ.There are many false preachers around in the world today that say that there are many ways to heaven and that Jesus Christ is only one way.   The mass of people want to believe that error as it gives them more choices for salvation, but they all lead to an eternal separation from God adn to put it bluntly, Hell.  When Jesus said that He is the way to the Father and that no  one can get  to the Father except through Him, then that is what it means.   Believers then have the peace with God and certainly then they will have the peace of God many times in their lives in the midst of death, grief, sickness, sorrow, depression and so on.    Praise God today for the blessing of having Peace with Him.

Problems Everywhere

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

     Our lives seemed to be filled with more and more problems every day.  Many people, including believers, find themselves with a long list of concerns.  The problems never seem to go away, but they become just one more on a growing list.  People talk about being at "wits end."  This usually means that they are totally frustrated and don't know what else to do.  God has an answer to such a condition.  

       First  Peter 5:6-7 says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."  Our cares, no matter how large or how small, how great or seemingly insignificant can be cast upon the Lord in times of prayer.  The verb that is used for the word "cast" is a verb that indicates a one time act.  You don't have to keep on casting them at the feet of the Lord, but you just need to cast them there that one time and then you can forget about them.  God will take care of the situation.  You don't even have to keep reminding Him of the care for He has it already.  With some people, casting away a care upon the Lord is like trying to throw away a piece of rolled up scotch tape.  It sticks to your fingers and no matter how hard you shake your hand, it's still there.  You try to pick it off with your other hand and now it is stuck on that hand.  The verb that is used in this verse is not like that.  You just have to cast it that one time and it is gone.  The reason that it is gone is given at the end of the verse.  It is gone because He, God, cares for you.  You can have confidence that God will take care of the concern because He genuinely cares for each and every one of us.  We also notice that the preceding verse indicates that we should "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt us in due time."    Then, our verse for today quickly follows.  It would indicate that there is a connection between the two acts.  A person who has humbled themselves before God are also totally dependent upon Him for everything.  This is why some, who seemingly cast their cares upon the Lord, are not satisfied.  If you think that this is just a magic formula to be satisfied in the midst of all of your concerns, then it will not meet your needs.  Your cares will still be there.  However, if you have truly humbled yourself before God, then, He will be faithful to His Word and take care of your concerns.  So, get the order right and humble yourself before God.  Then, give Him all of your concerns.  He will meet all of them according to His will.

Hope

 Greeting to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus cChrsit,

     There are two kinds of hope in the world.  Webster defines them in his 1825 dictionary as, 1.  "A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. Hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired, or the possibility of possessing it. Hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety."  The second definition is, "Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God's gracious promises; a scriptural sense."  As you can see, one of them is just a desire of some good whereas the second is confidence.  To the believer, there is a great hope.  

        Colossians 1:23 says, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;"  Our hope is in the gospel, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We live in an age where we always are under the desire to have hope in something.  We hope that our children do well in this life.  We hope that we will have a job tomorrow or next year.  We hope that we will have good health and not have some major illness.  All of these and the host of other things in which we hope are things in this life that may or may not come to pass.  While we have these desires, we also have confidence.  This is a much different type of hope.  When you have confidence in something to come to pass, it is a hope that is guaranteed because our hope is placed in Him who is able to grant us such confidence.  Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross for us.  Our hope is based on the promises of God and not on temporary things.  The gospel itself can be summed up in the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 where the "gospel" was defined.  Paul said there, For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"  Because Jesus died for our sins, was buried and raised from the dead, our hope is guaranteed.  It is in the gospel that we have this confidence.  So, while things today may change your desires, your confidence will always be there because it is based in God's promises.  If you are having a day when things seem to be going in ways you didn't plan, remember the hope that you have in God and praise Him for it.

Guilty!

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

      Romans 3:9-10 says, “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”

     The new activity lady decided that it would be good for the group to read through the Book of Romans.  It is an excellent book and filled with doctrine.  Of course, right at the beginning kind of puts us all down.  Can a Senior age person change their manner of living?  At this point in our lives, we seem to be set in our ways and if dementia has set in at all, it makes it worse.  I recall a man and his wife who were in their seventies  and began to ride our bus to church.  They never wanted to go to church when they were young and now that they were old, the wanted to come to a church but couldn’t get there. That same man was born again at one of the church services and was later baptized.  While it may be a rare circumstance, it does happen.

     The above passage points out one clear fact and that is that every person, Jew or Gentile, are under sin.  There is no way of getting around it.  No matter how righteous we try to be in and of ourselves, it will fall short for salvation.  James points out that to be guilty of one sin, makes ou guilty of the whole law.  The first three chapters of Romans points out our situation clearly and we can praise God that it doesn’t stop there.   Our sinful condition is in vital need of a Savior and it comes along in chapters four and five.  There was only one option and it was through the perfect sacrifice on the cross.  The Lord Jesus Christ became the propitiation, or the satisfaction, for our sins.  He alone could do that as He was perfect and without sin.  We can praise God today for the salvation that He has provided for old and young alike.

Without Excuse

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

     Romans 1:20 says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”  

     We like excuses.  When i was a kid and missed school, my mother would write out an “excuse” for me, which I took to school to give to the teacher.  My missed day was then marked down as an “excused absence.”  On of our biggest ways of excusing something is to blame it on someone else.  Maybe we all have been in similar situations where you are proclaimed as one who blames others for our situation.  It was evident in the Garden of Eden when God approached the man and woman and spoke with them about their failure to do what God had said.  The man passes the buck to the woman by saying, “the woman that you gave me is responsible.”  The woman then passes the buck to the serpent by saying, “The serpent deceived me.”  I would then usually say, “And the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on.”  We also sometimes see the statement on a desk of a CEO, “The buck stops here.”

     The opening three chapters of Romans sums up the situation of mankind with the statement, “All have sinned.”  Every person is going to have to deal with the fact that they are sinners and as stated here, “...they are without excuse.”  The following couple of chapters says that every class of people is without excuse.  The Jews who had the  oracles of God were without excuse and even the gentiles were without excuse as the very creation cries out that there is a Creator.  We, as a people, need to come to the conclusion that we are sinners.  It is not easy for some to do that as they figure t hey are just as good as the next person and don’t do anything out of the ordinary and so feel that somehow, God will let them into heaven.  We like to compare ourselves to the worst sinners in the world and then conclude that  we are so much better than they are that God will overlook our personal sins.  Matthew points out that many will proclaim at the final judgment that did this or that for God, and Jesus will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”  That excuse won’t work at the Great White Throne Judgment.  The human race seems to be bent on ignoring God’s Word and His way of salvation and in the end, they will all be without excuse.   The new motto that is out for sale in stores is a portrayal of the repentant thief on the cross, who arrives in Paradise and someone asks, “Who said you could come?”  the thief replies, “The man on the middle cross said I could come.”  Jesus had just died on the cross and the thief then had his legs broken by a Roman Spear so that he could no longer stand to get a  breath and then he died only  to be ushered into Paradise.  The Philippian Jailer asked the question concerning salvation and Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ .”  His payment had been paid by Christ Himself on the cross at Calvary.  Praise God that He gave us the Way of salvation.

The End of the Story

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

     Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

     ‘What is it going to cost me?”  “What is the bottom line?”  I have used these expression when I am getting an estimate for something and they keep going on and on about the details, but what I am interested in is the bottom line or what I am going to have to pay for this new thing or service.  To me, it is like reading a book and you really want to know the conclusion and are tempted to read the last chapter first.  That would destroy the joy of reading the book, certainly, but you would at least know who did it.

     The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes isn’t named except he is called the preacher.  Some think it was Solommon, but it doesn’t say and so we leave it alone.  The writer does come to the final words of the book and gives his conclusion.  The conclusion of the whole matter of the book then is basically two things.  First, we are to fear God.  it is obvious in today’s society that the world doesn’t fear God and many believers don’t fear Him either.  In one example during the time of Jesus upon this earth, we notice a little boat trip across the sea of Galilee.  The sea gets rather rough and the disciples wake up Jesus who simply calms the sea and the wind.    I would ask, “How did He do that?”  The did marvel at the scene that had just taken place and wondered about the fact that even the wind and the sea would obey Him.  When God spoke, the universe was formed.  When God spoke, fire and brimstone fell upon Sodom and Gomorra and destroyed it.  When God spoke at the tower of Babel, languages came about.  When God speaks, the dead rise from the tombs.  When God speaks the final words, you will either hear, “Depart from me I never knew you,” or “Well done my faithful servant.”  There will come that day when every knee shall bow.  Yes, the world ought to fear God and to give Him the proper reverence due to Who He is.  God is not the “man upstairs” as He is God of the universe and deserves to be worshiped.  Secondly, we are exhorted to keep His commandments.  The writer of Ecclesiastes found no pleasure in all of the things he created.  He was wealthy and prospered and built many things, but his summation was, “All is vanity.”  What was he to then do? The simple conclusion was stated in the above passage.  Keeping God’s commandments should be a simple thing to do as they are listed in both Testaments but humanity tries to make their own interpretation of them or they ignore them completely as much of the world does today.  Praise God today for the conclusion of the matter, the bottom line.

This Place is not my Home

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

     Second Corinthians 5:20-21 says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 

     Soon after arriving in Spain and expecting to be there for some  time, we went to the American Embassy in Madrid to let them know we were there.  Upon arriving, I went to the appropriate window and began speaking in my very elementary Spanish.  The  man looked at me and said, “You know, you can speak English here.”  I had forgotten that I was in the embassy of the United States of America and as such, the employees at the window were all Americans.  

     We have ambassadors in most of the countries of the world and they are representatives of the United States government.  They represent the USA in a foreign country and it is like a doorway back to the states should something require us  to leave quickly.  The Apostle Paul mentions to the Corinthians that we are ambassadors also but not of the country of our birth, but of the kingdom of God.  We are His representatives in a foreign land.  It may be hard for you to imagine the USA as a foreign land, but to the believer it is just that.  We sing the song, “This place is n ot my home, I’m just a passin through.”  Paul also wrote to the Philippians that our citizenship was in heaven which gives further emphasis on the fact that we are ambassadors as mentioned in the passage above.  Most ambassadors adhere to the laws of the land in which they are living, yet they are under the laws of their home country also.  The believer is responsible to be under the authority of local governments but at the same time, we have a higher obedience and that is to God.  Since our citizenship  is in heaven, then we try to adhere to the laws of the Bible.  We  seek to follow God first especially when it comes to the Word of God which at times may conflict with the laws of the land.  It is getting more and more difficult to accept some standards that are in violation of God’s simple and plain laws.  I am referring to abortion and the gay agenda.  What was sin before in the world’s eyes, is now becoming acceptable but it is in violation of the Word of God.  We talk of the holocast which killed over nine million Jewish people and that we should never forget it.  Well, we have killed millions of children  through abortion and do not regard it as anything wrong.  Our  values are twisted as we have more respect for an eagle’s egg than a human being.  As an ambassador for Christ, we need to stick to the laws of our kingdom which is in heaven and not of this earth. Praise God for the fact that He is our KING!

Chastisement

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

     Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”

     My parents were not displayers of natural affection.  I don’t ever recall getting hugged by either of them.  That being said, I still can positively say that they loved both me and my sister.  When and if correction was  needed, I would get it.  With Mom, it was the “look.”  You know you have done something wrong when you get the “look.”   Dad was full of proverbs, some not appropriate to say here, but you got the idea.  Chastening would come with a switch when necessary which was not too often but usually could be guaranteed if I talked back to him., which I did only once.  If a person doesn’t care about chastening a child, perhaps the child is not theirs to begin with.  

     The above passage reminds us of the love of God the Father for His children.  John 1:12 reminds us that we can become children of God by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Then, when we do something wrong or that which is contrary to God’s commandments, we get  chastened in one way or another.  We may not see the “look” from God, but we know it when we do wrong as the Holy Spirit within us convicts us of our sin.  I have purchased a third cross as the other two became missing.  Well, someone stole them. I knew about the first one and we caug ht the person taking it and reprimanded her but withing thirty minutes, I took the cross to her and said, “Do you really want this?”  She replied, “Oh, yes.” and I gave it to her.  As I sat there thinking about the saga of the crosses I became convicted about it and figured that if she wanted it that bad, then give it to her.    I purchased the second one and  had velcro on it and fastened to the door only to have it taken as well.  The third cross is hanging on the inside of the room and so is safe, I think.  Romans chapter eight deals with walking in the Spirit and to be obeying His leading in our lives and not to follow after the flesh.  It is a constant battle and you know when you do wrong by that  conviction that occurs after doing it.  If, however , you do wrong and do not have any conviction about it, you may need to reevaluate your relationship with God.  If you fail to change in the area of displeasing to God, you will find that you keep getting chastised until you learn the lesson. Jonah tried to run the opposite direction but God made sure that Jonah went to Nineveh, one way or another.  Like E. F. Hutton.  When God speaks, everybody ought to listen.  Praise God for His correction of His children of whom, you are one.

Faithful Witnesses

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

     First Thessalonians 1:7-8 says, “So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.  For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.”

     These email devotions go out to about 44 addresses on email and t hen goes out on Facebook and Mewe and my blog.  I have gone through some of  the addresses that were on there before as some of them are dead.  I kept those addresses where the one person was dead but the address is still used by family members.  For some, there was no family to keep using the address.  Others, of you, have been a great blessing to me as comments come back on how the devotions are being used in some of your lives.  Others may have other reasons in their lives that prohibits them from saying something now and then or the address may no longer be valid.   Those that do respond occasionally are certainly welcomed and become blessings to me and encouragement that someone is out there, so to speak.

     The Apostle Paul didn’t have email in his day but what he had was the testimonies of the various churches that the Lord had founded through his ministry.  Paul was encouraged to find out that the testimony of those in Macedonia and Achaia was spreading to the point that Paul and his evangelistic team did not have to say any thing.  That was a blessing to Paul and it is also to anyone who is sounding forth the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the lost wherever they might be.  We can find the lost on Main Street, USA, or on Maple Avenue or Switzerland, or Mali. Well, you can find the lost anywhere and as the Lord has said, the field is white unto harvest but the laborers are few.  None of us will know this side of heaven, how many have been influenced by our words from the Lord to them.  I have had several this past week who have sent blessings about how God is working in their lives.  I used to pray that God would get me out of this place until I realized that this is where God wants me to be as a witness and an encourager to those in my daily path.  Some  are old and feeble and can’t remember what they had for breakfast, but the hymns are still in their memory bank and they are encouraged to sing them.  Others are simply lost and many are on the verge of death as five have passed away in my hallway alone.  The same is true for each and everyone of you.  Your mission field, if you want to call it taht, is right  next door or down the block or across the street.  It will be great that someone will say someday, “Oh, I heard the gospel from a friend who heard it from another friend who heard it from you.  Praise God for the blessings of faithful witnesses.

Texting vs. Prayer

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

     Psalm 119:164 says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.”

     I have learned how to text.  Once I got a smart phone,I discovered another way of communicating with people.  I can text them.  Of course, you never know when they are going to read the text and answer or if they will answer at all.  There is a list of texting acronyms, such as lol, laugh out loud, that one needs to know in order to convey some different thoughts along the way that  you can do with your voice but not with typed words.  I can only text with one finger so it takes me a long time to get anything said so I tried using the4 microphone to dictate text to my phone.  It must not like my accent as I get words that are not intended and if I say, two, I might get  to, too, or two or the number “2.”  Texting to a person who is 84 years old apparently is not an enjoyable experience for most people, as who wants to talk to us old folks anyway?  I am happy that I don’t have to text God.

     Prayer is a unique form of having a discussion with God.  Unlike texting, God answers and hears all prayers and will respond in His timing to all requests.  The answers can be, “yes, no, and not yet. “  Like many persistent children in the line at Walmart, we keep on asking, thinking that maybe God didn’t hear it the first time and so repeat it over and over.  There are many scriptures on the topic of prayer and I chose the one above simply because it says, “seven times a day I praise thee…”   You can find that prayer exists in the morning, in the evening, seven times a day, and Paul exhorted us to pray without ceasing.  Prayer is one of the most necessary functions of the believer as it concerns contact with God and it should not be avoided.    We sometimes think that because our schedule is extra full on a certain day, that we should cut our prayer time short until we have more time to spend with God.  The opposite should be our course of action.  The more needs we have on a given day, the more time we should spend in prayer.  I have had people text me for a month or so and then just get tired of me and never say another word.  Fortunately, God doesn’t get tired of communicating with us.  We can and should learn about Him in His Word and then keep conversing with Him and the method is called,”prayer.”  Jeremiah wrote the words of the Lord which said, “Call unto me…”  Are we calling unto Him and enjoying the benefits of prayer?  We are never too young for prayer and we are certainly never too old for prayer.  How is your prayer life?  How much time do you and I spend in prayer?  May we say with the Psalmist, “Seven times a day…”  Or may we say with Paul, we pray without ceasing.  Praise God today when you pray to Him!

Ask, Seek and Knock

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

     Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

     Many people, including myself, live just over their budget.  It seems as if I always need another 20 percent in order to break even, but I still am able to live comfortably, for now, with what we have. I always joked about praying for a Cadillac Escalade and God gve me a Kia instead.  Then, one day, I got a used Pathfinder and discovered that it was better than the Escalade.  God does work in mysterious ways sometimes. 

     Many preachers today declare a health, wealth and prosperity gospel claiming that God will give you the best things in life.  The above passage opens up a whole new resource for people who are believers but it is not a fountain of wealth as some may think.  The Psalmist declares that God will give us the desires of our heart. Psalm 3 7:4 says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”  So, we may t hink that God is going to give me whatever I ask for.  What we need to understand is that God gives us the desires of our hearts.”  The emphasis is on the desires.  That is what God is giving us.  It is not our desires any more but His desires and so our prayer life changes emphasis from our desires of health, wealth and prosperity to His desires, of a people longing to know God and to love Him and to worship Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul.  When our desires become lined up with God, then, we can of course receive the blessings of God which are far greater than a fancy car, home, education, country club membership,or anything other tangible item.  Our prayers become God centered instead of self centered.  You can easily spot a person who is God centered rather than self centered.  Such was the man, Harold stevens.  He came to church to speak on the weekend for a mission conference and drove up in a Mercedes.  He was allowed to use the Mercedes as long as he wanted but the owner would not give him the title for the car as he knew that Harold would sell the car and give the money to missions as he had done before.  Harold always put God first  and himself second.  Once we realize that our desires have changed, then our prayer life has many more completions in it than it did before  because we are then lined up with God’s desires which He has given to us.  Do you desire to see men and women, boys and girls, saved, to come to Christ that they might go to heaven?  Are you bothered by what hell is like?  As I have mentioned before, I am 84 years old and God has never failed me once.  Praise God for His giving us new desires.

And That's the Truth

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

     Psalm 119:151 says, “Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.”

     One of the things that irritates me the most is a deliberate lie.  It irritates me because I told a lie not too long ago and I thought  it was going to  kill me before I confessed and straightened matters out.  I mentioned it before so won’t bother with the details again.  Recently, i was lied to again and this time the person came clean about the whole matter and resulted in a good ending for once.  Sometimes, people don’t intentionally lie but they speak on a subject that they don’t know anything about and so their facts are already tainted.  What is a tad strange is that a person who detests lying, seems to be prone to lie.  That which they hate, has overtaken them.

     The focus then needs to be on that which is truth and not that which is false.  The word “truth” is mentioned over 200 times in the Bible and quite often in the poetical books.  Obviously, one chapter, Psalm 119, the word is mentioned four times.  It is also worthy to note that in the Psalms, the word is used 40 times.  God is interested in that which is true.  I had a video call yesterday from a person who had set up a fake identity for a person supposedly living in Oakland, California.   I wasn’t surprised when the call came through and the number was based in Nigeria.  Truth won out and the person begged for forgiveness for what they had done.  I could dwell on the lie and judge the person who had done it, or I could change my own thought pattern.  Paul exhorts us to change our thinking and instead focus on some different characteristics.  Philippians 4:8 says, “ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”  It may be true that it is difficult to find some positive characteristics to think about with some people especially after you were a victim of someone’s false statements.  Of course there is one souce of “truth” in which we can safely rely and that is the Word of God.  The Navigators had or may still have a motto, “To know Christ and to make Him known.”  In order for us to fulfill that, we have to go to the only reliable source, which is the Bible.  The historian, Josephus, may support the historical facts, but  ijn order to know Christ in a personal relationship is going to require the Word of God.  To me, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God are the only things that you can trust today.  The end of the matter is for us to put our faith in the Word of God and nothing else.  Praise god that He has given us His Word.

Groundhog Day?

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

     Matthew 5:43-44 says, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” 

     There is a film called “GroundHog Day” where a man keeps living the same twenty-four hour day, over and over  and over.  Sometimes I feel that I am caught up in the same situation, only, I am not living over the same day but some things keep happening that are so similar that it almost feels like it.  It seems to be a complex lesson that God is teaching me through a series of circumstances.  The other day, i made a comment to one of the staff and one other staff member said, “Mr. Freeland, Haven’t you learned your lesson?”  I guess not.  I hope it doesn’t keep on happening, but it may until I learn a couple of lessons involved in this particular temptation.

      The above passage was one that I just used rather recently and for the same reason I am using it today.  The same temptation came up and I fell for it again and then became mad at the individual that caused it so my lesson is going to be twofold in that I need to recognize the temptation before it blossoms and second, I need to have a forgiving heart to the person who instigated the temptation.  Crooks are crooks and liars are liars, but it is up to God to do the vengeance, not me.  My natural desire is to have them hang by their toes but that is just my flesh speaking.    I have made some progress in that I saw the warning signs and began to question the person that was speaking with me via texting.  A picture was sent to me which was appropriate in every way but I did a reverse facial recognition on the photo and found it to be of an actress and not the individual.  While my problems in this area are not the issue, but that of forgiveness for the people that are deliberately taking advantage of others.  My attitude should be to pray for them “who despitefully use me…”  Again, my initial thought is to pray for fire to come down and burn them up like toast, but that is not what God means by the above statement.  My prayer should be for their salvation and for a lasting relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and that God would then bless them in their new walk in Christ..Maybe then, I will hear God saying, “Dan, have you learned your lesson yet?”  Then I will be able to move on to the next test.  Probably, until I learn this one, I will be stuck in how to pray for my enemies.  Praise God today for His continual chipping away of everything that does not look like the Lord Jesus Christ,

Worldly Wisdom

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

     First Corinthians 1:15-25 says, “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

     I was recently speaking with a person who felt it necessary to point out to me the modern philosophy in regard to the Bible.  He emphasized that higher thought is that each writer wrote from the other’s  that were before him and that one of the gospels was not even written by the supposed writer, but someone else and how that a man from Harvard University decided to not get a degree in religion but went and got one in history instead.  It is obvious that a person of the world, educated or not, can’t understand the Scriptures.  Many tell spiritual lies because they cannot look through spiritual eyes.

     Paul attacked the beliefs that were going around in Corinth and elsewhere where the Greek influence existed.  His statement that the Greeks sought after wisdom tells much and is probably one of the reasons that gnosticism existed in that time period.  Paul then hits the nail on the head when he begins the verse with “But…”  We preach Christ crucified.  The world at that time felt that it was foolishness and to the Jews, a stumblingblock.  It is no different today.  How often do men and women scoff at the presentation of the gospel message?  It does not only exist in the world but the people also that sit in many of the church pews in America today.  The christian of today seem to go through the Bible like they do at a cafeteria, picking and choosing what they sem to like and just putting the rest aside.    Paul taught the whole counsel of God and left nothing out.  The Scriptures remind us when things are signs, or wonders or even one of the eleven mysteries and the “types” t hat are mentioned.  For myself, i take the scripture literally except when it is obvious that something else is clear such as the time the Lord Jesus Christ called Herod a “fox.”  We know that Herod did not have a long red tail and a pointed nose and ears and furf all over him, but he did have the cunningness of a fox and needed to be regarded that way and not trusted.  There should be portions of scripture that you nor I understand because we do not know everything there is to know about God even when we have read it time and time again.  I may understand it later on in my life or when I get to heaven.  Praise God for His Word.  It is the only thing that is true and solid.

Meeting Someone's Needs

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

     First  John 3:16-17 says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

     Our  last couple of moves were not due to the ministries, but seeking a place to retire after having a heart bypass, heart attack, cancer and a few other things going on.  So, we then needed to find a place to worship.  I looked in the phone book and found that in 2005, there were 144 baptist churches in the Roanoke area.  I continued my search in the phone book and found one with an AWANA logo on it and so figured it was close to the same doctrine we had left in our former place of ministry.  I called up the church and asked a few questions about their programs and their missions emphasis and we ended up going to Grace Baptist Church.  At the time we went, they had no pastor but a man of God was filling the pulpit.  Upon arriving the first day, we were met by three ladies, Jewel, May and Virginia.  We have found that there are many churches that are not friendly, or at least not as friendly as the people that made up Grace Baptist Church.  So, we joined them and became involved in the ministry when our Sunday School teacher asked me to fill in for two weeks while he went on vacation.  The two weeks turned into nine years.

     What is it that makes a church friendly?  It seems to be that love for one another that is so often mentioned in the Scriptures.  Obviously, the finest example if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as He laid down His life for us.  As Romans 5:8 reminds us, even while we were yet sinners.  We didn’t look good, we probably didn’t smell good and we didn’t know what to say until that day that we met the Savior in a personal way.  John then goes on to say that there needs to be a special bond between believers or as he calls them, the “brethren.”  The New Testament is spotted with verses that remind us of the one another commands.  Loving one another is just one of those commands as is praying for one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to exhort one another and so on.  We all find that we are both on the receiving end and the sending end of these commands.  It’s not always the big things, although there might be plenty of them, but also the small things, like the hugs, the hand shakes, the glass of water and a few apples here and there.  We shouldn’t have to be reminded about the needs or concerns of others, but just look around you.  Why, we don’t even have to cross an ocean to find places to serve others, but maybe just across the hall, or across the street.  Praise God today for sending His Son to meet our needs by dying on the cross and paying for a sin debt that we coujld never pay.

The Chief Cornerstone

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

     First Corinthians 15:1=4 says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;  By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

     We were going to have a new house in Indiana when I was about 12 years old.  A bulldozer came and dug the hole and then my Dad began to prepare the foundation.  He accurately measured and used level to make sure everything was right and then poured the footer.  Every block and board would depend on the accuracy of the foundation.  One mistake and it would be detected in every thing placed upon it.  Every cement block was leveled with chalk lines going from one end of the house’s foundation to the other.

     Spiritually speaking, our foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Everything depends on Him and there can be no greater foundation than Christ Himself.  The above passage if from one of the greatest chapters in the Bible as it speaks of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and at the beginning gives us the definition of the Gospel.  Paul stated that He declared unto them the gospel and then goes on to define he gospel in verses three and four.  We notice that it is necessary for three evens to take place in this gospel message.  Thee had to be a death, there had to be a burial and there had to be a resurrection.  First, Paul established the number of witnesses to the resurrection and how Christ appeared to each and every one of them.  Paul then goes on to state that without the resurrection, we would still be in our sins and in a hopeless situation.  It is obvious that if either the Jews or the Romans could have done so, they would have tried to disprove the resurrection, but the number of people that were witness to it was far greater then the enemies of the resurrection and therefore it could not be disproved.  It is in the very fact of the empty tomb that we can have a guarantee of heaven and strength and purpose on this earth.  Christ is often referred to as the Chief Cornerstone on which the church is built.  As in the case of any cornerstone or footer or foundation, without it, you would have a building that would fall down in just a short matter of time.  Not so with the church as our Cornerstone is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself having been raised from the dead and who walked around for forty days afterwards appearing to many witnesses, one group being 500 people at one time.  He hs guaranteed our eternal life because of the resurrection and He has guaranteed His second coming which could be any day now.  Praise God today for the empty tomb.  He has risen indeed.

The New Jerusalem

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

     Revelation 21:10 says, “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,”

     I have recently been texting complete strangers who put up a picture and I am to assume that the picture is of them.  Actually anyone can do that.  There are millions of pictures on the internet and all you have to do is download a series of one person and assume their identity.  In other words, you have no idea to whom you are talking and unless it is a live video session, you never will know if what you are seeing is actually that person or someone quite the opposite.  The internet is probably one of the worst places to determine what someone looks like and much of the other information that is on it.  People can say they are from another country even and just be down the road a few miles.

     The above passage is a source of the description of the “holy Jerusalem” descending out of heaven.  Now, normally, I would doubt the validity of such a statement, as one can think, “How can a city descend from heaven?”  One could also say, “How can a human body ascend into heaven as the Lord Jesus Christ dis in Acts 1:9-11?”  There are many things that occur in the Bible that are unbelievable in many ways, from floating ax heads to water coming from a rock, the parting of the Red Sea, Elijah going up in a whirlwind and water being turned into wine and Lazarus coming forth out of the tomb, still bound in grave clothes.   What makes it believable is the fact that it is in the Bible and the Bible, is the Word of God, fully inspired by Him and every prophecy has been fulfilled exactly as it was stated years ago.  Extreme odds were obvious, yet the prophecies were fulfilled.  Then, we come to the book of Revelation and because it is inspired by God, we can have complete confidence in the description of things we do not understand.  Now, there is a lot from the Bible that I do not understand, but I accept it is being one hundred percent true,because it is in the Bible.  The prophecies that are left are few in number but they will be fulfilled as God’s Word says it will be fulfilled.  When I want to know what heaven is like, I go to the Bible and not to someone who had an out of body experience or who makes false claims about what they think they saw.  I may not understand how it is possible but I will believe it and the New Jerusalem is going to be something unbelievable to our minds but not with God.  Praise God for the trustworthiness of His Word.

Eternality of God's Word

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

     Matthew 5:18 says, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

     My Uncle Harry went off to fight the war and we kept the little star in our window until he returned home.  Normally, only the parents would get to have that star, but since the parents were already dead, my Mom and Dad got to have it in their window.  Harry was in bomb disposal which was a dangerous job, to diffuse old bombs that had fallen and not exploded.  When he did come  home, he brought all kinds of souvenirs from the war.  I remember I got a German army helmet that had blood in the liner where I suppose the former owner had died using the helmet.  I also got a bayonet and an ammunition box, which I used for a lunch box for years.  You could drive a truck over it and not put a dent in it.  All of the items have disappeared  now as time went on.  In fact, most of my previous belongings have gone by the wayside.  It is a repeat of what my Mother said one day, “Eighty-five year s of stuff and it’s all gone.”  That’s the way it goes as few things last forever.

     It is important to grasp just one fact from the passage above and that is the lasting of the Word of God.  All of life has a lot of things for many people,  but they don’t last.  The Word of God, however, will last and it is compared to the fact that heaven and earth may pass away but not one jot or one tittle of the Word of God shall pass.  The jot is the smallest of the Hebrew characters and the tittle is but a small mark that closes two points on a Hebrew letter.  They were the smallest of marks and they will remain even though heaven and earth will pass away.  There should come a point in the life of the believer when the importance of the Scripture is above everything else.  Your clothes will wear out, your cars will stop running, your home will fall apart eventually, but the Word of God will remain.  There have been many words written over the years but only one book will remain and it will be the Bible, the Word of God.  Holy men wrote  as they were moved by the Holy Spirit and wrote down the very words of God.  As Paul reminded young Timothy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”   Some of our possessions will serve a purpose for a small amount of time, but God’s Word will always be there.  So, Praise God today that we can know Him through the Word that He has given to us.

Ee Taow

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

     First John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

     I wasn’t one who had fanch sneakers when i was a kid.  I usually got what was the cheapest type of Keds around.  There wasn’t any consideration of purchasing a “fancy brand” name sneaker.  Summer time would find us running barefoot anyway.  Later on in life, we became missionaries and one of the requirements was to have a good reliable camera.  Money was a restriction o nce again, so I settled on a Minolta SLR camera.  I couldn’t afford a Canon or a Nikon.  Brand names sometimes have a special meaning to hem as in the case of Nikon and Nike.  Both of them refer to  being a conqueror or one who comes in first place or has the best shoe or camera.  

     The word is also used in the Scripture, especially in the Book of Revelation.  The word is translated as “overcometh.”  Each one of the letters to the seven churches has a mention of one that overcomes or who is the victor or who conquers.  Verse 5 goes on to say, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”  If a person desires to be an overcomer then they have to know the Lord Jesus christ.  It involves a personal relationship with Christ and not simply to know about Christ, but to know Him in a personal way.  One may ask, “How can we, living 2,000 years after Christ walked upon the earth in His ministry in Israel?  Again, we go to the passage involving either the Phhilippian jailor or the Ethiopian eunuch.  Both came to a point where they had to “believe” in Christ for their salvation.  No work is going to accomplish that act.  It is going to be the time when the “lights came on.”   Thee was a documentary video about a tribe in Papua, New Guinea whee the gospel was being preached to them chronologically and after they went through the crucifixion, one man stood up and shouted, “Ee Taow.”  The light had come on and he kept shouting the same words and then another and another would stand up and yell out the same words.  They got it!   They understood the message of salvation and how Christ had suffered and died on the cross for our sins and then was buried and then rose from the dead and walked out of the tomb.    The tribe then began to dance up and down, jumping and shouting “Ee Taow” and it lasted for over thirty minutes.  They were now “overcomers.:  They believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  This is the message that we take to a lost and dying world, that they too can have eternal life  and be a victor.  Praise God today for the victory that we have in Christ.

God's Way

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

     Judges 21:25 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.:     

     After leaving the U. S. Navy, I  began to work for American Telephone and Telegraph Company.  I was a former musician that was making a career change from music to electronics.  I had been advised to try to get in to a large company as they would have the time and effort to train you.  Well, it was a big company to say the least.  They had what called, BSP’s  Every office had a bookshelf loaded with volumes containing the Bell System Practices, the BSP’s for short.    They told you how to do everything in the telephone office except how to eat your lunch.  You had to have your company driver’s license rechecked every six  months and you had to follow the BSP’s in every way.  I often failed to check my rear view mirror every ten seconds.  Usually one person was responsible for filing new pages for the BSP’s as they came in almost  daily.  We used to say there is the wrong way to do something, the right way to do something and the Belly System way of doing something.  Nothing was left to the employees imagination on how to do anything on the job.

     The final verse of the Book of Judges is the one above.  It summarized the time as one when Israel had no king and was wishing they had one instead of the theocracy that they were in where od was doing the leading.  The Judges went for a period of time in a cycle of about twenty to forty years, up and down.  The final verse is sad in a way, as the words shout out, “...every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”  We find this true not only in governments such as our own, but also in how companies decide to do things.  What seemed right in one place is often not the case in another company.  There will come that time when we will be under a Theocracy again.  There will be no human government s.  Each one will be required to do things God’s way and no other way.  In business, certain rules need to be followed and in our spiritual lives, certain rules also need to be followed.  In the New Testament the Lord Jesus Christ reminded and exhorted us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, minds and strength and our neighbor as ourself.    Unfortunately, there are many who still adopt the statement of the book of Judges, of every man doing  things in his own way, in his own eyes.    Of course everyone has a different plan which is usually not the Biblical plan but all of the additions that would seem right in their eyes.  The result is that there are, according to some sources, 4200 different religions in the world, but 4,199 of them are wrong and according to John 14:1-6, there is only one way to God the Father and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ.  Praise God today that His way is the right and only way to heaven.

     

Pill or Liver

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

     Psalm 1:1-3 says, “ Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.   And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

     I take a lot of pills everyday.  I think there are about ten of them in the morning and about seven in the evening.  Of the ten, there is one little green pill that is an iron tablet.  I was once found to be a little short on the iron so have to take a pill for it as I was a tad anemic, so I was told.  Now there are other ways in which to get iron.  I could drink a solution that tastes terrible or I could eat liver.  Both of those are very disagreeable to me so I take the little pill amidst all of the other ones.  I figure that if it knows where to go and what to do, it is far better than eating a portion of liver everyday.

     The above passage reminds and exhorts us that it is far better for us to walk in a special way than to follow the course that this world would plan out for us.  The emphasis is on the Word of God.  The passage refers to the “law of the LORD.”  When you begin looking at the scriptures, you find that the law of the lord is just another name for the Bible.  When you examine the ten commandments, you find that it is our obligation to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our strength, all of our mind and all of our soul.  That is a summation of the first four commandments and then we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, which is a summation of the following six commandments.  How we do that is the occupation of a lifetime.  The above passage mentions the fact that the person who loves God and that the person will meditate on the Word of God day and night.   For us, it comes down to what is important, or at least, what is the most important thing in our lives?  As I mentioned about iron, there are several ways to get  it into your body.  Well, there are several ways to get the Word of God into our spiritual lives.  The first is simply to read it, which some seem to have a problem doing as they think they don’t understand it and so stop after reading a few chapters and then wait for someone else to tell them what it says.  Then, we can hear the word of God which is quite easy these days with the various devices we have with which to listen as the Word of God is read to us.  Then, we can study it.  That’s when you get a pencil in your hand and mark various things in your Bible and ask yourself questions about various statements.  You may not understand them now, but you may in the future when you come across the answer to a previously asked question.  Then, there is memorizing it.  Yes, it takes time but it is a good practice as it is helpful when you are tempted.  Finally, there is meditation.  Think about t

Milk and Meat

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

     First Peter 2:2-3 says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

     What things do you long for the most in your life?  When I think back on my life, there have been certain things that stand out as so desirable that I would strive to get them no matter what was going on.  One of the first things was the Red Ryder BB gun that resembled a 30.06 lever action rifle where you could pour in a tube of 50 BB’s and head out to conquer the world.  Things then began to change as I entered my teenage years to certain clothes, girls and the list goes on.  I would long for the last day of school and welcome the chance to run in the fields, woods and ponds around the township in which I lived.

     Adult years would have the same pattern until a day came when I met the Lord Jesus Christ.  That was the day I was born again and suddenly, my desires changed.  Worldly things grew less important while the desire for spiritual things became more prominent.  In 1975, a big decision took place in which I had no more desire to pursue a career in the “professional” world but  sought to learn more about God and to train for His purpose for me in this new found relationship.  I found that the purpose statement for my life changed to “to know Christ and to make Him known.”  That was the purpose statement for the Navigators back in my younger days.  The new direction was caused by a new life, that is, I became born again and was then at the “infant” stage in my spiritual life.  I didn’t start out understanding the “meat “ of the Bible.  Quite the contrary, the more I studied the Scriptures, the less I knew as each day would bring out more things about God that I had never thought of before.  I became aware of the “milk” of the Bible first, as does a baby in the physical realm.  I knew that God loved me so much t hat He sent His Son to die for me.  That was the milk of John 3:16.  I thought that heaven existed and hell existed but that was all I knew about them.  That was more milk.  I knew about “Faith is just believing what God said was true.”  That was milk.  The meat come in such things as trying to understand the sovereignty of God, or the omnipotence of God, or the Trinity, or predestination and the adoption.  The list can go on and on and how are we going to answer these questions that keep coming up in our minds?  We answer them by fulfilling the new desire that we have and it it the spiritual food supply that is now present in our lives, the Bible.  If you claim to be a believer and yet have no desire for reading or listening, or meditating on, or memorizing the Word of God, then something is amiss.  I would reexamine your profession of faith as it sounds like you are just trying to please men and not God.  There has to be a love and a yearning to know more about Him and that is through His Word.  If there is no love for the word, you are starving your spiritual growth.  Praise God that He has given us a copy of His Word.  May we read it and put it into our lives.

The Race of a Lifetime

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

     Hebrews 12:1-2  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

     I was never involved in too many sports activities as I was in the “bank” and earmarked for music school and so my Mother did not want me to get a finger broken in sports activities.  I persuaded her to let me go out for the track team of Rolling Prairie High School.  All I had to do was run as fast as I could.  I ran the half mile, the quarter mile and the mile relay team.  The rack shoes were thin and had no heal on them as you were expected to run just on the toes of your feet.  They also had spikes in them and in those days we ran on tracks composed of fine cinders.  I once fell during practice and skidded on my hands and knees for about ten yards causing a lot of cinders to be in the palms of my hands.  Painted with antiseptic, my Dad picked me up and just said, “Mom is not going to l ike this.”

     The writer of Hebrews describes in the passage above the running of the Christian life and the weights that cause us to run slower and slower are the sins in our lives.  He goes on to say that these sins which compose those weights are easily stuck to us. Every believer is in this race from the time they are born again, or born from above, until the time that they are either dead or taken up in the rapture.  You can’t get out of the race and you can’t say, I have done my share, now leave it to the younger believers.  It is a marathon in itself and goes on and one through your whole life time.  We also see that we are to run this race with patience.  There is that word again describing that characteristic that is so elusive to believers.  Patience is hard to come by for the simple reason that it is not common for us.  It is not the normal thing that  we are born with.  As babies, we cried loudly fior food, being burped and having our diapers changed.  When we were uncomfortable, we let people know.  Unfortunately, this same thing takes place when we become adults and loud crying doesn’t bring any kind of peace to those around us.  Thus, we strive to keep this race going with patience in our lives.  Many have already completed their race and have gone on to heaven.  Chapter eleven is the chapter of “faith” which has a list of those great figures of the Old Testament from Abel to the prophets. The Lord Jesus Christ however, the the author and finisher of our faith, having completed the work on the cross at Calvary adn who is now seated at the right hand of God the Father.  Praise God for the fact that the race was won by the Son of God