Purpose

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

     There used to be several questions that supposedly most of the people of the world would ask. One of them was,"Why am I here?" It is basically a question of purpose. Everyone needs to know that they are needed and that they have a purpose in life. We would say that the chief end of man is "to know God and to enjoy His presence forever." That pretty well sums up the reason that we are here. Everything is centered on God and not the world and its system, nor ourselves. If that is our chief purpose, then we sometimes look for a more specific purpose that would be a part of our chief end. Paul got such a message from the Lord and when you look at it, the basic elements are quite similar to ours. Acts 26:18 says, "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." While Paul was giving his testimony, he made it very clear that he had been called to bring the gospel message to the Gentiles. When a person is without Christ, their are in darkness. Now, if you ask them, they won't admit that they are in darkness, but nonetheless, they are. Paul's mission was to have them open their eyes and to turn from darkness to light. When we look at the Gospels, we soon learn that the only Light of the world is the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's message was to give light to those who were stumbling around in the darkness. The ultimate purpose of all of that was that they might receive forgiveness of sins and their future inheritance. Paul knew what was his mission in life. People are often asked when they are young, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Very few people would come up with a purpose statement such as the one of the Apostle Paul. We have all been programmed to think that the most important things in life are those things that the world can provide in power, prestige, money and happiness. It is amazing to find that the people who achieve most of these things still have a great void in their lives. That void can only be filled by the person who is in the center of God's will for their lives. I have seen many Christian organizations with this theme: "To know Christ and to make Him known" It includes your personal relationship with Christ and then sharing with others what that means to you. Are you fulfilling God's purpose for your life?  Praise God today for giving you purpose in your life.

 

condensed books

 Greetings to you all in the name of our savior 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;” 

     Years ago Reader's Digest came out With what they called Cadets books it was a shortened version of the real thing.  Hey can this book is much like Cadets soup just add water and stir. I often thought that you can summarize the Bible into four words man's problem got solution. perhaps that is old and oversimplification but nevertheless it does relate the basic problem that man has and how God has solved that problem so all away from Genesis 3:15 to the book end of the book of Revelation we have a Promises of God as seated his word and we can stand fast on those promises. 

Our passage for today comes from the book of Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. it is hard to come up with a favorite scripture as I seem to have many different passages that would fit the bill. I think of Acts 1631 where it speaks about the Philippian Jailer asking the most important question ever to fall and Silas what must I do to be safe Paul's answer was simply to believe or the Lord Jesus Christ. I could also think a first John chapter 5 verses 11 12 and 13 which speak about how a person is to have eternal life he that has the son has life and he that has nothing Son of God had not life. of course other scriptures come to mind such as John chapter 14 we're talking about the future dwelling place that we have in heaven where Christ is making a place for us that where he is there we shall be also. or one could go back into the Book of Ecclesiastes I have often mentioned the fact that Ecclesiastes was in my 10th grade literature book in the state of Indiana. at that time I did not know what Ecclesiastes was but I had to memorize it. now it all becomes more real as a describes the end of life or when you look at the other parts of the scriptures whether it be the pentateuch will there be the Psalms and one of my favorite Psalms of course is Psalm 119. all of the verses except for five and that's deal with the word of God in one way or another. so from Genesis 3:15 on we can see God's solution to our problem we were separated because of sin in our lives and it needs to be restored. we have reconciliation through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary. there seems to be a reluctance to follow the scriptures in regard to Salvation. somebody has taken the time to calculate that there are 4,200 different religions of the world well only one of them is correct. that means that 4,199 of them are wrong. we also find that in John 1460 says Jesus said I am the way the truth of the life So praise God today for his word the promises of the scripture always stand for. may the Lord bless you all and keep you today 

Needs and Wants

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

     I remember as a young boy, my family moving to the country.  The doctors had told my Father and Mother that the country air would be better for my sister.  So, my parents bought a little house with an acre and a half of land on in the country in northern Indiana.  Shortly after we moved there, my mother got up in the morning and looked out into the yard to see about 25 cows.  They had broken through the fence and all of them were eating the grass in our yard.  My Mom, at that point, was more of a city person and the sight of these large animals just about caused her to faint.  Soon, the owner of the cows arrived and was able to get them all back into their right field.  Twenty five cows in your back yard was quite a sight to see.  Psalm 50:10-12 says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.  I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.  If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof."   We often think that we own this or that.  Ranchers especially are proud of the number of cattle that they own, take care of, and ship to market every year.  But, as we have read in the above Scripture, we are not the owners of the cattle nor any other beast.  God owns them all.  He has created them and they are His.  We are but stewards of what God has given us.  Some of us, myself included, physically don't own a cow, nor a goat, nor a pig.  All we have is a cat.  But, God has said that He owns them all.  There are a couple of lessons for us here.  First, since God owns them all, He can shift some of them around now and then to help provide for the needs that you might have in your life.  Second, if God owns all of the cattle and is responsible for them, then surely He also is your owner.  He owns you.  He has made you and He has made you in His image.  Therefore, He will take care of you.  Sometimes, it is just great to look out at all of the things in this world and realize that they are all part of God's riches.  Praise God today for the supplying of your needs.

Great Passages

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

 Acts chapter 1 verses 9 through 11 says  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.   And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. “

     During my last couple of stays at the hospital I was asked frequently what my favorite section of scripture was.  One of the passages that stands up in my life is the above Passage. I really would like to have been there that day on the top of Mount of Olives and to have witnessed first hand the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ back into heaven. it is no wonder that the Angels described it and why do you keep looking up at the heaven he's going to come in the same way that he left. so this has to be one of my favorite sections of scriptures that along with the book of Zachariah which describes the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and glory and honor. another one would have of course been first John chapter 5 verses 11 12 and 13. there was that time so many years ago when I was searching or seemingly searching for god. I enjoyed the music of the church and I enjoyed the traditions of the church but then it boiled down to one thing and one thing only. he that has the son has life and he that has not the Son of God have not life. A lot of events took place during the 40 days after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the tomb the tomb was empty is empty and shall remain empty Because He Lives. I have often quoted how the Lord has never failed me in all of my 84 years of life. God has protected me even when I did not know he was present in my life so I stand firm on the word of God no matter what and I realized that none of my writings are going to be very profound but to be at the sure thing.

I was asked a question yesterday if I had thought about the process of death all of course I have. the world wants to think that death is the annihilation of everything. but that is not the case the soul and the spirit go to me with God and we have that assurance from the scriptures another one of my favorite passages has been the Book of Ecclesiastes especially the latter chapters. I have written and made reference to Ecclesiastes a number of times. we have in the Old Testament the fact even of the man job who said that by Redeemer Lives he knew that his Redeemer lived. job is a book that predates even Moses but he still knew that one day he would stand before God and see him in his flesh even though the bugs would eat up his body he would still worship God and stand before him. I am also reminded of to me the most important question ever asked when the Philippian Jailer came before all and Silas and asked the question what must I do to be saved? Paul gave the most profound answer to Life's greatest question and that answer was to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and I'll shall be safe. my Bible does not change over the years but the words are still there believe believe believe. I will endeavor to praise God even today tomorrow and the days to come because I know he lives. if you do not have that personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ I would implore you to do that even now today before it is too late. we have the opportunity to come to Christ now and the decision that we make on this side and Glory will be that which is the most important of all. 

To God Be the Glory

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

Ecclesiastes 12:13 says Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

     Who would have thought that by 10th grade literature book would have in it a sense of Prophecy back in 1955? back in 1955 I had no idea what Ecclesiastes was I had to memorize this section of scripture even though it was a portion in my literature book. I have found something interesting in my life in that when I visited people who had heart surgeries I had heart surgery. what I visited people who had heart attacks I also had a heart attack. I had counseled many people in the past in regard to hospice and guess what it's coming around again.The only thing different in this case is that I am the recipient of the advice that I gave to others now is coming back to me.I will try to be as good as I can get in proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ even up to the last.In all of this I seek to give praise honor and glory to God no matter what happens. I realize that it will not be a instruction course on how to go through hospitals and God is certainly not out of the picture yet never has been never will be.

This passage from Ecclesiastes reminds us of our goal so to speak to fear God and to keep his Commandments that's what I would want to do today and in the days to come.I believe that God wants people to be saved. I believe that mankind men and women boys and girls have cured their back on God they may say that they are idiots and maybe they are. maybe some people are just mad at God I also realize that there are approximately 4,200 religions in the world today one of them is right and 4,199 of them are wrong John 14:6 says I am the way the truth of the life no man cometh to the father but by me. I choose this way. so there are prayers to be said there are words to be proclaimed to others about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ the good news of his death of his burial and his resurrection and every time we write the date 2023 we realize that it is Anno Domini the year of Our Lord whether people like that or not it is the truth.I think of the words of Joshua that says as for me and my house we will serve the Lord no matter what.I have met new people who have become very dear friends even out here in Christiansburg Virginia I thank God that he has not put me on the Shelf yet a song Here a prayer here there a concern and may God be glorified in each and everything. so praise God today for his goodness for his Mercy for his grace for the wonderful plan of salvation. may you all have a good day a blessed day in Christ in the days ahead keep on keeping on.

The Ring

 Greeting to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,’

     Hebrews 13:8-10 says,Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and “to day, and for ever. 

  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.”

     I finished up working on the farm in 1957 and one of my last jobs was to put the ring back in the nose of a 600 lb Pig. we would call that big a cell she had just had 12 piglets and she was not a happy pig. the owner of the farm got on the back of the pig with a pipe with a wire through it around the pig's nose .  The owner was holding the pig still so I did not get bit. the closer I got to the pig's nose the more it squealed Friday it came to the point of where I had to apply pressure and pinch the ring into the cartilage between the two nostrils of the pig. the first ring Mis completely and the owner said I had to get closer that was not to my liking at all. I loaded up the second ring got close to the biggest nose and clamped it shut. it was in but just barely in. what is interesting to me now is the fact that people voluntarily go out and have rings put in their doses. some things don't change and other things do change quite often. that which was detectable in the past has now become an ornament of jewelry to both men and women.

 we noticed from the above scripture that there are a few things that do not change in life. one of those of course is God's law and his standards his statutes his ways his precepts Etc the little verse that says Jesus Christ the same yesterday today and forever reminds us of the fact of the eternality of the godhead threw up all of life. this amazingly points up the fact that In what type of book will you put your trust today? will you put your trust in William Shakespeare? will you put your trust in mark twain? we can answer the question of course not. Just take a look at Psalm 119 with its 100 and 76 versus and all but five of those verses speak about God's word. it would be good for you to go through Psalm 119 and find those five verses that do not.  You will find that the majority of the verses in Psalm 119 will speak about the way the testimony the Commandments or other synonyms that speak about the scriptures. we can have confidence in the fact that these do not change. I also look around and see many young people with tattoos and metal objects in their faces, or parts of their bodies that I don't see and don't want to. I often think of that 600 lb with little piggies as unhappy as she was and she detested the little ring in her nose and now people want to have one put in for ornaments. Society changes things . praise God today that we have a word that does not change God's letter from his hand to our hearts.

Giving Thanks

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

     Philippians 4:6-7 says, :

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

     First ,let me offer thanks o  you all for your prayers and Understanding. I received a call from my friend in Northern Virginia and he said dad must be in the hospital since the devotions have stopped. it is becoming increasingly more difficult to type and at least my speech at the present time is doing better than it was. I went into the hospital because of my speech was slurred and I could not talk adequately. it seems that the medications I was taking conflicted with each other causing a confusion in the brain that's just what I need. and so I voluntarily got tested for covid and found out that I was positive. that put me in a special wing in the hospital. during that time of almost two weeks of isolation and warm food I grew increasingly aware of your prayers and your concern for me. I learned a lot of lessons in regards to Medicine that only did they cause confusion in my speech There was a bad reaction to two of the antibiotics that gave me pneumonia so things got worse as usual the scriptures came to bear on me and I realized how important it is to give thanks to God in everything.

 God has reminded Us in Philippians for six and seven that we are to give thanks to him in everything; it does not say just the good things but also in the bad things. it came to the point that I had to make some decisions in regard to the Future and so I talked about hospice and everything because the kidney doctor was pressing me in regard to dialysis. I did not want to take the course of dialysis I know that many people did. my mother was on dialysis for 7 years and she would have just a few days of the week where she felt good and the rest of the time she felt bad. and I guess I could live with that. I chose however to not take that route should that come into my future. so I'm thinking about that I come to the conclusion that I want to be at peace with God do what I can minister to whoever I can and to still be his witness even in this place and now what is called Spring Oak I praise God for the opportunity that he has given me here in this place and so I can thank God for that.I remember in the worship of ice calibias The Snakes on a pole that one was to crawl through a tunnel with snakes and the prophets would be yelled through the hole in the top of the tunnel be cured be cured and if they made it to the end I guess they were curious by the way you can see those surface on a pole usually on the side of a rescue white and now. but in everything we are to give thanks. and of course I want to thank God for all of you who have prayed for me and I want to thank God for all of the people that he has put in my path for the opportunities to have prayer with them for the nurses of whom many are struggling with their own difficulties. so I do not know how long things will last as far as the devotions are concerned. I will endeavor to do what I can with a dictation now. I have also learned that technology is even in the hospitals as I could not find my cord for my phone but they had a charging station at the nurses desk and I could put my phone to bed at night and it would be charged and ready to go in the morning. I praise God for all that he is doing in my life and those in my path for all their work and concern I meant one nurse's aide who is working as a nursing student and who is so happy with his job. may the Lord bless them in their Endeavors also God bless you all as we close out today praise him and give thanks always in all things.

In Christ,

pastor dan

Treasures

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

        Everyone seems to like finding treasures.  Oh, there are all kinds of treasures.  When we think of buried treasure, we think of old sailing vessels, pirates and large chests that have gone to the bottom of the sea or are buried on some deserted island.  There are, however, other kinds of treasures.  I remember one time going into our attic and going through my dad's old trunk.  There were all kinds of seemingly insignificant items.   There was a number from a theater seat from a theater in Bakers Field, California from the days when Dad was in the Civilian Conservation Corps.  There were other things that included a stick with many states carved into it denoting the states that he was in as he traveled to California during the depression.  These things were part of my find of "treasures" in the attic of our old house.  There are still other different kinds of treasure as noted in the following verses.  

       Second Corinthians 4:5-7 says, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.  For God, who comman

ded 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.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."   In this section, we see that Paul is speaking about a special treasure that every believer possesses.  Now, who would think that we have a treasure in these old bodies?  Well, it's true.  Paul was reminding the Corinthians that he and his team had come to Corinth to preach the Lord Jesus Christ and not themselves.  They were not trying to promote anything on their own but were preaching about Christ.  He went on to further say that they had the light of the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ as it was reflecting from their own hearts.  The light was shining into their hearts and reflecting outward to others.  Paul said, "Hey!  This is a special treasure."  The power is of God and is not of us.  It is like being a reflector.  The light that is reflected comes from another source and not from the source of the reflector.  The reflector has not power.  Praise God today that He has made you a reflector of the Light that is shining in your hear

In Chrjist,

pastor dan

Ownership

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

     Psalm 50:10 says, “ For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”  

     I recently mentioned how I have downsized a lot of things that I had accumulated over the past  50 years such as ties, suits , musical instrumental, music, books and even a lot of Bibles .  We might think often of the ownership of those things and think that we have accumulated a lot  of things.

     In reality God owns it all.  In t he passage, we find that God has the ownership of everything that  exists upon the earth.   He not only  claims ownership to the catt le but everything that flies upon the earth.  The are all His and our mere small amount of possessions pails in comparison to that of all of creation.  We are g iven possessions for a season of time but in the end, we leave them all behind  and only what we have done with them remains.  I can recall seeing various photos of possessions of what a person did with t heir possessions but they are doing nothing with me at the present time..  We often find that we have nothing but memories of the songs or the writings or the photos what they accomplished during the previous years.  God, However, is eternal and His works remain for eternity.  Some tf the works will remain where and when we have been involved in thighs that will bear eternal fruit..  Such will be the case where you have been involved in sharing the gospel with others throughout your lifetime such as the times you taught  a Sunday School class or shared the gospel in a restaurant or on a st reet corner with someone passing by.  You may find that the sharing of a song will result in eternal blessings to someone who heard it and whose life was changed as a result of your music because it was done for the Lord.  I recall one time I was sitting in chapel at Washing Bible College and they always had someone playing the piano before the surface.  As I was sitting there wit h my head down, the piano began to play  and as I listened, it sounded different than all of the days before.    I looked up to find a different person playing the piano than before.  The difference was how it was being done.  It was performed for an audience of one rathdf for the whole group sitting in front of the speaker. You will not be remembered for the things you accumulated but what you have done for the LORD.  Praise God today for the fact that He owns all that there is in the universes.

    

Life Assurance

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

     First John 5:11-12 says, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

     As the new year begins, I pause to think of the things I don’t need anymore.  I donn’t need life insurance anymore as I am now in the era of “over time” as far as life is concerned.  I don’t need car insurance since I don’t own a car, nor do I need insurance on a house or an apartment as I don’t have eit her one of those.  Pastor Bob Alderman once told me, since the Bible says that we may get threescore and ten years and for some four score, which comes to a total of eighty years then if you are over eighty eighty then you are in overtime.  Well, I have been in overtime for the past four  years.  

     I traded in my insurance program forf a life assurance program.  First John reminds me of the assurance of salvation as the word “know” appears some 27 times and the word “love” appears some 33 times.  We may be asked if we know if we are going to heaven or not and how we can know for sure.  We dind that there are number of tests, about sixteen in total, that are mentioned in First John  First John 5:19-13 is the greatest of all of the tests.  “If you have the Son, you have life.  If you don’t have the Son, you don’t have life.”  That  is the simplicit y of the matter. Verse thirteen goes on to say that by this you can know whether or not  you have eternal life.  So, I call it the life assurance program.  As my life begins to go closer to the end of the overtime, there are a lot of things that have been taken to Goodwill or the Salvation Army that I don’t use anymore like the number of suits, sports coats and over 100 next ties.  The large quantity of books have been donated to a church and to some individuals in our area as most of my literature collection is now on my computer such as over 255 books with numerous translations of the Bible.  What do you need in order to live out your final years?  Praise God that He has provided all that you need in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ who died for all of our sins.