Eternal Hope

 

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

First Timothy 1:1-2 says, “  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope; Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Have you ever had plans to do something and then it not take place as you had hoped? I recall some instances in my life where I had been promised something and then it didn't take place and I wasdisappointed for awhile but got over it eventually. Everyone liked to go to the county fair and it ws running for about a week and this one friend said that I could go with them. I was excited about the idea and it was okay with my parents so thought I was going. No one came to pick me up and so after waiting for a period of time, realized that it wasn't going to happen. Sometimes our “hopes” don't materialize.

Adam Clarke says of this verse, “ Without Jesus, the world was hopeless; the expectation of being saved can only come to mankind by his Gospel. He is called our hope, as he is called our life, our peace, our righteousness, etc., because from him hope, life, peace, righteousness, and all other blessings proceed.” Hopes are backed by the person or thing that is necessary to fulfill the requirement. When we place our hope in programs or people other than God, there is the strongest percentage of failure. Again, it depends on the Object of our hope. The Apostle Paul begins with the statement that the Lord Jesus Christ is our hope and therefore we are guaranteed to have whatever He promises. The guarantee for this hope is found in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. If that event did not take place, then we would have virtually no hope at all. The resurrection however, did take place and as a result, our hope is in Christ for our eternal destination as well as how to live out our lives while we are still on this side of glory. As you may know, I have been put on hospice as my blood readings indicated that my kidneys were not functioning as they should and when I refused to go on dialysis, I was urged to be put on hospice by my doctors and nurses. One doctor made the comment, “Well, I like your spirit.” My spirit was completely due to my hope in connection with death. Most unbelievers in the Lord Jesus Christ, assume that death is the end of everything and the extinction of the human being in all areas and that there is no life after death. The Bible however gives us a different definition and even with passages like Ecclesiastes 12:7 which says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” The Spirit of every human being is what we all know. We might recognize a person by their “looks” but that is not to whom we speak and know, but the spirit is. You can look at a person in a coffin but you cannot have fellowship with them, nor even talk to them. I have people say to me, “Have you thought about what death is like?” I reply, “Yes, I have read the last chapter.” Death for the believer is a guaranteed hope of being with God for all eternity. Now, that's hope! Praise God today for being the guarantee for our eternal hope.

River Banks

 

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

Philippians 1:9 says, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;”

I have a tendency to go ahead and do things based upon just enough information to see the need but not all of the consequences. In the past, I would see a lot of people making a request for backing in one way or another and my instant response would be in the affirmative but then as time went on, the need would not be the same in my own heart. There should be times when the item in question is examined. A true story was about a missionary who wanted to raise money for a “nail making machine” in order to construct a boat in order to reach a tribe on a nearby island. What was not known nor expressed by the same missionary, was that a ferry boat would go to that same island twice a day, thus making the need for a nail machine for boat construction not necessary.

1. We advocate love a lot in the Christian faith and it is certainly important as I have mentioned so many times. It truly is “righteous acts to meet the needs of another.” Paul makes an interesting point in the above passage. “Love” is mentioned in connection with two other characteristics, knowledge and judgment. It compares love to a river with two banks, one named judgment and the other named knowledge. Both are needed but we often overlook the banks of this “river” and let it go on its merry way without examining the banks of the river. To be aware of something does not make it necessarily something we should be taking part in, and so judgment is necessary also. The narrative about the nail machine was good and gave the listener the knowledge about the need, but did not disclose that there might be another way to bring the gospel to the tribe on the nearby island. I once made aware of a person who could not pay their rent and so was moved to assist that person only to find out later that the person's rent was paid for by the government. I did not have all of the knowledge about the situation, only a part of it, which was true but not necessary. The use of the ferryboat would be cheaper and more effective and instantly available than raising money to purchase a machine to make nails. The Philippians had given much to Paul's ministry. They even gave so much that at one point, they might be lacking themselves and Paul reminded them that God would supply their needs even in that situation. We often say that we will pray about a situation and that is good advice. In most cases, a true need will still be there. We unfortunately live in a culture that is plagued with “scammers” who are out to get money from unsuspecting people any way that they can. Praise God today for both knowledge and judgment.

Teaching the Scriptures

 

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

Second Timothy 3:16:17 says, “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.“

My first Bible Verse was probably John 3:16 but I didn't become aware of it until I was an adult. No one in my family ever mentioned the Bible or anything else about God. I once knew a Jewish man who became a Christian and said that his first introduction to anything spiritual was through the movie, “The Robe.” As a young adult, I began memorizing some Bible verses through the Navigators but do remember seeing “The Robe” before I learned anything else as a teenager.

In the above passage, we learn an importan t fact about the Word of God. It is inspired or “God Breathed.” Every letter of the original “autographs” was inspired or God breathed. We do not have the original “autographs” but we do have over 3,000 copies or fragments of the new Testament. The above passage is in the conclusion of a passage that remarked how young Timothy had been taught the Word of God as a child. Mom and Dad were good to me and provided the necessities of life and I never needed anything that they could not provide. They never did, however, say anything about the Bible and neither did my grandparents. In the past, many adults seem to think that any religious teaching ought to be done by a formally trained pastor or “religious teacher” of some sort or maybe even to attend some “religious education” classes. It was left up to the professionals so to speak. The adults seem to think that they might mess it up so refrained from saying anything about it. In many cases, this might have an element of truth as many parents are not saved in the first place and so don't know what to say regarding something they know nothing about. Many of the so called main line denominations had such religious classes for children that were about twelve years old. After completing the class, they were “confirmed” as a member of that particular church. It would usually revolve around that particular denomination and so not have too much about the plan of salvation as stated in the Bible. Timothy's mother and granmother taught him the Scriptures and would probably refer to the Old Testament as the New Testament was still not complete. The lesson in all of this is the responsibility of parents and grandparents to teach the children the Word of God. Of course, t hey will need to know the Word of God themselves in order to do so. Also, it is never too late to teach the next generation about the Word of God. Remember that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and praise Him that we have our own copy today.

God's Promises

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

      I know that some of you are on the web site known as "Facebook."  It has been classified as a social web site.  That is, you have opportunity to interact with various "friends" to let them know what you are doing and they can do the same.  There is one little feature that relays a person's status to the rest of one's social group.  It simply says, "so-and-so is..." and then you fill in the blank.  You let them know what you are doing.  I got to thinking about that little phrase.  For me, it would say, "Dan Freeland is."  I could fill in the blank or even let it remain as it is.  Yes, Dan Freeland is and so therefore is a human being and is susceptible to the laws of nature and is also the beneficiary of the promises of God as outlined in His Word.  Ephesians 4:30 says, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."   This verse of Scripture reminds us of the fact that we have been sealed unto the day of redemption.  In other Scriptures, even here in Ephesians, God reminds us that we have been redeemed.  We have not been left to exist for some 84 odd years and then to vanish off of the face of the earth, never again to be seen or heard of.  We will not be removed from existence.  Our soul will live somewhere for ever and ever and ever, in other words, for all eternity.  The religions of the world try to figure out where mankind will be and how they are going to get there.  For all of the other religions of the world, they are man made and come up with even those things that sound completely ridiculous.  Only Christianity has a resurrected Savior and where all of the pieces of the puzzle come together in the end.  Many of you have sung a song that offers praise to God about their redemption.  It proclaims the thought, "I am redeemed."   This is the promise that makes it all worth everything.  As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are redeemed.  We have been bought with a price, the price of the Savior's blood, and we have been guaranteed a very special place in heaven, with God, for all eternity.  What could ever be better than that.  Praise God today that you "are" and therefore can have redemption by God for all eternity. Praise God for His promises.

Wisdom

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

     Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

     My Father would often have short little sayings that were really packed with wisdom, like, “Be sure to put your mind in gear before you put your mouth in motion.”  In some ways, they were little “proverbs” that  would help you in life.  There were also some that are not printable but just  as true.  The world has its own set of proverbs also such as “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

     The Bible contains the Book of Proverbs and much of it is from King Solomon, but not all of it.  Solomon wrote about three thousand proverbs but only eight hundred or so, are found in the Book of Proverbs.  Other authors make up the rest of the book.  The book is made up of proverbs that will help every believer have a life that  is uplifting in its dealing with other believer.    It  has been said by others that Psalms represents our relationship with God while Proverbs reflects our relationship with mankind.  They are also considered to be “Wisdom” literature.  If followed, they will help you be a wise person.  As you read the proverbs, you can say that all of th em are applicable to all of us and should be implemented in our lives.  Just pick one and do it.  That leads me to the above quote from Proverbs 21:23.  This one stands out for me as it is an area that often leads to trouble with others when I say something that shouldn’t have been said.  Take for instance the time I mentioned to my 33 year old nurse that soon she would be able to get a discount at McDonalds.  I don’t know why I said it, but the reaction was intense to say the least and I was definitely in trouble.  I was indicating that  I t thought she was close to 55 years old which was not a good thing to say.  The words just rolled out of my mouth  for no unknown reason and I can say that I had not been keeping my mouth and my tongue under control and as my Dad would say, “I had not thought  ahead before speaking.”  You also come to realize that once you say something, you cannot recall the words no matter how hard you try to do so.    It ‘s like putting toothpaste back into a tube after it has been squeezed out.  This was not the first time  I had freely said something that got me into trouble and so trying to implement this into my life is needed and does not easily takes place.  If you have come to that point where you would like to improve your wisdom status, work on a proverb a day or a proverb a week or whatever you need to implement wisdom into your life.  James says that wisdom comes from God and so the Book of Proverbs is certainly a good place to find it.  Praise God today for His instruction.  May we implement it into our lives.

On Loving Others

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

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

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

     A number of Baptist  churches have a Sunday School class named, B.Y.K.O.T.A.  It is an acronym for Be ye kind one to another.  It is a good reminder of how one should behave themselves in regard to other believers in the church.  I have been in churches where just the opposite occurred and it was the actions of the class that bore the above name.  I have this problem in my own life where I am fearful that people don’t love me or even like me and much of that feeling is the result of business meetings that take place in the local church.  I have experienced more antagonism in the local church business meeting than anywhere else.  Oh, it might still be there, but it is jus not manifested as it is in the business meeting.

     Most people that I know are more prone to be happy when people around them show more love than hatred towards them.  The above passage is so important and probably one of the most neglected passages in the Bible.  It may be due to our own definition of love and how it affects our actions in the local church.  Pastor Randy Kochersperger once gave a definition of love that has stuck with me all these years.  It is, “Righteous acts to meet the needs of another.”  It is a definition of “agape” love which is used so often in the Scriptures and is  different from the “Phileo” love which is also mentioned frequently in the Bible.  The definition that is missing is the one that people assume is Biblical and is the definition of the “warm fuzzies” that a person gets with a person of the opposite sex.  How important is agape love?  The above passage?  It  goes on to say that “all men” will  know we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the most honorable things to do and is often neglected by the people of the church.  How lovable were we when Christ died for us on the cross at Calvary?  The truth is according to Romans 5:8 that we were still “sinners” when Christ died for us. We were unlovable in our condition at that  time because of the sin, but Christ paid for it all while we were sinners.  That was the example of the supreme righteous act  to meet our own personal need and shows us just how much God loves us and so we ought to love others in that same way.   Praise God for His love towards us.  May we love others in that way.

Revival Needed!

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

     Second Timothy 3:1-5 says, “ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are go  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

     When has the above passage not been true?  It was true in the time of the early church and has progressed even more from day to day.  It  certainly is true for today’s culture.  We can find more and more examples of each and every trait.  The sinful nature of man is running freely and increasing in levels of depravity that  seem to be worse than ever before. Even video cameras capture the atrocities that are going on and the public knows it and still they go ahead and do them. 

     What is the answer to such a state of affairs as we see in our society and indeed the society of the world?  The believer instantly replies, “The answer is the Lord Jesus Christ in the lives of the lost.  More severe legislation in assorted areas will not correct the problem.  Mankind will continue to be perverted due sin nature and the events in the news will just keep increasing. What seems to be the difference between the church of today and the church of the first century?  It  shouldn’t take long to come to the conclusion that the  main difference between the two extreme ages, is the conviction of the believers at the time.  The Christians of the first century believed the word of God.  The Christian of today does not believe the Word of God.  The church of today has often become so much like the world and its plan that you can’t tell the difference between the two.  This is when the church usually says, “We need a revival in our church and in our world.”   The believer goes on to day, “...and it should start with me.”  We know it but we still ignore it until we might have a more convenient time.  A chapel service began about five to ten days ago, I am not sure when, at Asbury University in Kentucky.  It has not stopped since it began.    People are coming in from many different areas to witness what is going on.  Pastors are coming from churches, even from our area in Virginia to see what is happening and lives are being changed as a younger generation is being changed by  the Word of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Repentance is taking place in the lives of people as they are being converted and many “revived in their faith.”  Men and women are coming out changed and  some can’t figure out what happened, or what is happening.  Answers in Genesis staff sent one of their people there to find out what is going on as the service started days ago continues.  I have to ask the question, “How is my heart and how is your heart?  Do we believe God’s Word?  Do we fear God and do we fear the result of a life not turned to God that will spend eternity separated from god?  Revival does need to take place and God is working in the lives of people today.  Praise God for His working and His plan and His salvation.

Obeying the Lord

 

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

John 14:21 says, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”

“Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” These are words from a familiar hymn which is sung quite often in many churches. Obeying someone's wishes, or commands, however you want to put it, takes longer at times than it does at others. When my mother would give me a command, it started out as a request and my shortened name would be used. As my name grew in lengt h, I could judge that the time for instant obedience had arrived The tone of her voice and the name, Daniel Charles Freeland indicated that obedience was now and had better not be avoided.

God has given mankind a number of commandment that have to be obeyed and there are many examples in the Old Testament of what takes place when obedience is lacking. In many instances, justice was immediate and thousands could die while people evaluate whether obedience is necessary or not. The above passage is, of course from the New Testament and the speaker is the Lord Jesus Christ. The son of God explained the Ten Commandments in two commandment s by saying , Love the Lord your God wit h all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength and your neighbor as your self. In John 13: 34-35, Christ exhorted us to “Love one another as He has loved us.” If we find that we are making progress in this area, then there are the “imperative commands” found throughout the Word of God, thirty-nine of which are found just in the Book of Ephesians. The question still hangs out there which says, “When are we going to obey what has already been given t o us. The title for my autobiography is, “Life is Made of Memories while Supplies Last.” The final phrase is what is important here as the supply of memories does not always last as we begin to forget more and more as the years go by. Ecclesiastes 12 begins with the exhortation to remember our Creator while we are young and not wait until we become old and our senses are dulled by age itself. Then, as we recently mentioned, our life on this earth is short when compared to eternity. Then, we should not delay but begin early in our life to implement obedience to God's Word. Finally, there is the thought that God is not going to wait forever but there will be that Final Moment when the last person will be saved and the next phase begins. The rapture of the church, the tribulation period and the millennium, judgment and new heaven and new earth. Praise God today that we have the opportunity to “Trust and Obey.”

Thoughts

 

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

Matthew 6:33-34 says, “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

A new word that is used a lot these days is the word, “downsizing.” As companies are forced to reduce their staff in order to make payroll and a profit at the same time, the number of employees gets reduced. You can downsize a lot of things in your life including cars, houses, computers, appliances and so forth. My wife and I have dowsnsized our accomodations from a two bedroom house to a one room in a n assisted living facility. Everything that could not be put into the one room has been disposed of in one way or another. I have discovered that I didn't need most of the things that are no longer in my possession. That brings up the point, “What do I need in order to live in this world?”

I need a place to sleep, clothes to put on and food to eat. Beginning at verse 25, we see the comparison of human life to that of the birds of the air and flowers. In the narrative, God Matthew points out that God provides all that is needed for the both of these items. The birds of the air do not plant seeds and harvest a crop and then put it into barns as we do, yet God provides for them in such a way that they do not have to do anything but to rely on Him. Flowers are an excellent display of God's handiwork and they are present for only a short time before being destroyed or just plain falling off the stem. Human life is far more important and so it stands to reason that God will take care of that which is more important but uses the insignificant to point out His work even for birds and flowers. There is, however, one qualification and it is that the human being needs to seek first the things of God. God will then take care of the rest. The culture of the age, however, seeks more downsize the “seeking” for the kingdom of God than his or her collection of material things. People would work on Sunday in order to make more money to buy more shoes, clothes, recreation items than they are in regards to the kingdom of God. The average price of a superbowl ticket was between $4,000 and $5,000. It only lasted one evening for about three hours plus all of the hype to get there, food and beverages and gettijng back home. Seeking the Kingdom of God is basically free and has eternal consequences which means that it lasts forever. Some people would gladly accept a ticket to a football game but refuse an invitation to church or to a “gospel” event. They would also not think for very long about the game offer before they accept it. On the other hand, some people will tempt God by delaying their decision for a more convenient time before they willing submit to seeking after the kingdom of God. Praise God for His offer for eternal salvation.

Wearing Old Shoes

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

     John 6:30 says, “ They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?”

     For the past 3 years, I have worn just one shoe.  At first, it was only on the left foot and for the past 2 years, it has been on the right foot.  You can’t buy just one shoe.  You have to buy a pair of them, one for each foot.  When they cleaned out the house to get it ready for sale, I had perhaps ten pairs of shoes of different styles and for different purposes from boots to slippers.  I recall hearing of some rather wealthy women who actually had 6,000 pairs of shoes.  

     We live in a “throw away” society where instead of reusing something, we just throw it away and get another one either like it or a new model with more features.  I once tried to get a refill for a ball point pen that  I liked, but they were not available in the office supply store and the pen itself was so cheap that  it was just as convenient to purchase a new one and throw away the old one.

     The israelites in the wilderness were in a rather precarious situation.  Due to their sin, they were destined to walk around for forty years until the complete generation died off with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.  They believed God but the majority of the people didn’t.  The above passage reminds us that God still took care of the entire group of people which could have been about a million and a half with women and children counted.   Manna was supplied by God every morning except on the Sabbath.  The word “manna” means basically, “What is this stuff.”  It must have had a sweet taste as they said it was like honey and coriander seed and in the form of a wafer.  God supplied the manna until they arrived in the promised land and then they ate of the produce of the land.  There were other miraculous events such as getting enough water out of a rock to feet both the group and the livestock.  They also had shoes that did not wear out for the entire forty years.  Imagine that!.  No Sears and Roebuck or J.C. Penneys to get a couple of extra pairs of shoes.  No rubber tires to make sandals from.  God took care of them throughout their journey and the examples that took place for the entire forty years have become lessons for us today.  God does miraculous things when they are needed such as vessels of oil and flour that don’t run out, oil in lamps that keep burning for days on end, water from rocks, parting the Red Sea and the Jordan River and bread from heaven that if you get too much, it will spoil, except on Friday when you can get a double portion to cover the Sabbath but does not spoil.  We often say, “With God, all things are possible.”  It  is a quote and therefore a true statement that God is able and often performs the miraculous and we don’t see it  Praise God today for even the unseen things that He is doing in your life.

Instructions

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

     Joshua 22:5 says, “But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

      Teachers are sovereign in their classes.  What they say in their instructions is what they expect from every student.  They can also be different even in the same school.  I had one professor that didn’t not give a midterm or final exam.  He would ask three questions at the beginning of each class.  When the roll call came around, you put the number right next to your name.  I was getting  2 out 3 so thought I was doing okay until I realized that 66 percent was a D minus grade.  I then had to be sure I got all questions correct unti the end of the course.

     The book of Joshua is wrapping things up as the Israelites get their allotment of territory in which to settle and they are given some final instructions in order to keep living peacefully in the land.  The above passage describes the characteristics needed for every Israelite.  If you were to look ahead into the book of Judges, you will see that it didn’t happen and even gets worse when both the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah eventually fall and go into captivity.  We also learn that the Old Testament has been preserved for us that we might learn.  We learn how we are to please God in all ages, not just in the founding of the nation of israel which also includes today.  The Lord Jesus Christ reminded us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our spirit and with all our strength.  Nothing has changed.  That  statement is especially true in reference to God and in reference to His Word.  Is this something that we naturally do from day to day?  In most cases it is not the way we live.  Our relationship with God is often pushed aside by the cares of the world and the world system itself.  There is that expression, “Out of sight, out of mind.”  Is God out of sight?  He may be to some but even Fanny Crosby wrote of “visions of rapture” and she was physically blind!  Everything in the universe is a testimony of God so He is not out of sight.  My Father could go to work on a snowy day and his footprints would remain there all day and I could stretch out my legs and walk in them.  All we need to do is to look around us and notice the footprints of God all around us.  The result will be more praise to Him for all that He has done.  In closing today, remember to love the Lord with all our heart, our soul, our strength and mind.

Passing the Baton

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

     Joshua 1:8-9 says, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

     I used to run races on the high school track team and one of the evens was the mile relay where four guys would run a quarter mile and then pass a baton over to the next runner.  The passing of the baton had to be a certain way and within a certain distance.  The new runner would not look back, but put his hand out and the previous runner would place the baton in the palm of the next runner.  Races could be won or lost in the passing of the baton.  We are often found passing the baton to someone else in other areas other than physical races.

     We have “inaugurations” after a presidential election and a new president is ushered into office in an official ceremony.  In the above passage, a new leader is becoming the head of the nation of Israel and to proceed into the land that had been promised to the Israelites under the leadership of Moses but is now being transferred over to Joshua.  We can recall that only Joshua and Caleb had positive reports about the land ont the first spy trip.  The passage has a direct application to Joshua and his leadership into the new land.  It also has an indirect application to us as believers due to the immutability of God.  The Lord Jesus Christ also spoke of the Word of God as being sure and stable and that not one jot or tittle would pass away.  The Word of God, and in the above passage, the law of God or the commandments given to Moses, was not to depart from Joshua's mouth but he was to meditate on it day and night.  By so doing, Joshua would be guaranteed success in the battles that would take place.  Of course, he and the people had to do exactly what God said.  Aachan decided to do his own thing and it cost him and his family their lives.  Knowing the Word of God is one thing, but doing it is quite another.  The world system wants us to measure our success by the number in our bank account or the number of people working for us, or the number of assets we might have in this life, but this is not the measure by which God says we should look but to that which is in line with the Word of God.  On what will you think or meditate today?  Will our minds be filled with the Word of God?  Will we seek to do the Word in all of our “battles” today?  Praise God today for the Bible. May we meditate on it and do it in our lives.

It's not Over Yet.

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

      Luke 12:19-20 says,  “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

     I like to make plans for tomorrow.  After my last stay in the hospital, I thought my planning days were coming to an end.  I came out worse than when I went in and figured that due to my age, I am 84 years old, that the time had come when I had better my final plans.  I chose to not go on dialysis but to enter the hospice program.  Apparently I look worse on paper than in person and so lab work was done on Thursday by the VA and the results were much better than when I left the hospital with a GFR of 39 compared to 10 before.

     In some ways, it is disappointing  when you consider the prospect of being in heaven and finding it home.  In other ways, there must still be something for me to do in God’s service.  The above passage along with some verses from James indicates that it is not our decision to make but God’s decision.  We can make plans but in the end, only He knows the second you or I will take our last  breath.  I have so many other issues medically speaking that any one of them could cause my departure physically speaking but again, it is up to God.  Computers have an indicator as to how much time is left fro a download to be completed.  I have thought  in times past that it would be unique if there was a little blue bar on your forehead that would indicate at what level your life was complete and then you could plan accordingly.  We, knowing our way of thinking, however, would probably procrastinate until the last minute to do something that we were supposed to do, such as share the gospel with a friend or to pray for a need that you have been made aware of.  Someone once said, You plan like you will live forever, but you live as if God is calling you home at this very hour.  Paul reminded the Ephesians that they should have a “wise” walk and that they should use their time wisely and to the best advantage.  Since we do not  know when our lives will be complete, savor every moment, every act , every prayer and every contact.  Praise God today for His plan and not our.

Still Growing?

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

     Romans 7:17-22 says, “ Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.   I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”

     There are some things in my life that seem to come naturally. That is, I don’t have to be taught how to do them.  Such is the case of those things that are more prone to come as a result of the flesh rather than the Spirit.  I was never taught how to procrastinate or how to lose my temper, or how to be impatient.  I was never taught how to be selfish or filled with pride.  These are all things that come after the flesh, nor do I have to seek for an excuse to do them.  They are just there all the time.

     The Apostle Paul mentions such a life in the above passage.  He wanted to do that which was good, but ending up not doing it and the evil things that he didn’t want to do, that’s what he ended up doing.  It would be easy to just give up and say, “Well, I’m going to do the wrong thing anyway so I might as well just keep on doing it.”  To have that type of philosophy would be against sanctification or your daily spiritual growth.  There probably are those times when we “slip up” and do that which we were not planning to do and then have to confess it before God.  There have been times when I have made a remark to someone and later think, “I should not have said that “ and then find myself looking for the person in order to apologize.  Not long ago, I used my credit card to get a bottle of soda from the machine and it gave me three bottles instead of one.  I gathered up the bottles and took them to my room and put  two of them in the refrigerator.  The bottles were $1.50 each in the machine and had to look for a staff person to give the $3.00 to in order for the soda company to receive their just amount.  I would have been easy to say, “Well, it’s high priced anyway.  Their loss, my gain.”  I have been yelled at, criticized and rebuked for many things in my life and no doubt deserved most  of it.  My Fat her’s proverbs were always good for me to follow, such as, “But your mind in gear before you put your mouth in motion.”  If Paul had the same problem, then we are in good company , or so we may think.  Paul was growing also and he was still living in the body of flesh as he points out.  So are we but that doesn’t negate our attempting to grow from day to day.  You may not recognize the growth right away but in a couple of years, it may be more visible in  your life.  Praise God for His patience toward us.

God's Love

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

     First  John 4:7-8 says, “ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

     How far does love go in a person’s life?  How much will you tolerate abuse without saying, “Enough is enough?”   Some people are easy to love as they don’t do anything that is against  you in any way while others always seem to be aggravating you at every opportunity.  At the end of the day, we sometimes find those who are easy to love and th ose that are hard to love.

     With God, love seems to always be present and it has no boundaries.  That is, it doesn’t stop because I mess up here and there, and I do mess up.  As you read through the Old Testament, you find so often a very large number of people who fall by the sword.  Thousands are put to death and it sometimes seems gruesome just to read of those who messed up and were put to death.  They are there in the Old Testament to remind us and to teach us of God’s justice and to see the differences in our relationship with God Himself.  While we are here on this earth, living and breathing and going about our business as usual, God loves us in a way that we cannot comprehend.  His love is the personification of love.  As John said, “God is love.”  If you want to see just what love is, you just need to look at God. So, we have our lifetime to decide whether to accept God’s type of love or to refuse it.  Sad to say, many do and will refuse it and that is where God says, “Enough is enough….Depart from Me, I never knew you;”  God has many attributes and while love is one of them, so is justice and righteousness.  While we have ample opportunity to settle with God, many just don’t as their thought is, “God could never send anyone to eternal punishment, so all will end up in heaven.”    Not even John 3 :16 says that.   God does not want us to perish but to have everlasting life.  He is willing that all should be saved and present in heaven but the Great White Throne judgment says that many will not accept God’s type of love and in so refusing it, will be ushered in eternal separation from God and from heaven and all of its blessing.  God has already made the supreme sacrifice in the sending of His Son to die on the cross and thereby making a complete payment for all of our sin and then to make us ready for our home in heaven.  To refuse God’s terms is to say that He is not just and so we can come up with our own plan and say to the world, “I’ll see you heaven.” when there is no hope of them being there as they refused God’s plan and sought their own method.  Praise God today for His plan of salvation and especially for His love.  God’s final call is coming soon.

The Way

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

     John 14:5-6 says, “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

     Can you trust your GPS to get you to your destination?  I was so lost one day as we took a GPS suggestion coming home from a trip.  It  had always suggested that I make a turn on a road that had the word “hollow” on the end of it.  This one day, I did and for the next half hour, traveled on roads not fit for motorized vehicles passing small houses with a variety of animals in the front yard, a bridge over a creek that was just a concrete slab in the water.  I finally gave up on the GPS and headed south according to the sun.  Eventually, I found a highway and resumed my trip home.

     In the above passage, Thomas is concerned about the place to which the Lord Jesus Christ indicated that He was going.  Thomas was concerned because he didn’t know the way.  Where was this strange new place?  He knew he wanted to be there with Christ, but he didn’t know how to get there.  Christ then gives not only Thomas, but the whole world, the way in which every soul can be with God in heaven.  He simply says, “I am the Way, the truth and the l ife…”  You will not be able to find directions from Herod, or from the Pharisees, or from the Roman guards.  You won’t be able to find me in the tomb, or in a castle or in a fort or in a market place.  You won’t be able to get there by doing good deeds or for completing a course of study or fulfilling a list of requirements.  You will find that it is a free gift according to Ephesians 2:8-10.  The plan is simple and profound at the same time.  It is simply, “believe.”  The world system thinks like Thomas.  We don't know the way.  How can we get there?  Some are just looking for a glass of iced tea on a cloud floating around in the sky.  Some are seeing themselves relaxing on a beach with the sound of the ocean in their ears.  Very few see themselves in a heavenly choir singing praise t o God in celestial music.  Very few see themselves casting crowns at the feet of the Lamb of God, Who is worthy.  We may not have the words to express our gratitude and perhaps our reply would be, “The man on the middle cross said I could come.”  Some people have a hard time reading an instruction manual but everyone had better read this one.  You should not miss one word of it as it shows each and everyone of us just how much God loves us.  Praise God today that He has shown us “The Way.”

Thus Saith the LORD

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

     Exodus 4:22 says, “ And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:”

     Part of my veteran’s care has a multitude of counselors of various types including nutrition, social workers and even a psychologist.  I get asked a lot of questions, most of them, similar as to if I want to hurt myself or others or “how does that make you feel?”  As they probe my brain and thinking process, they don’t offer too much advice but just ask more questions and then write short sentences down in a little notebook.  Little comments come now and then which seem to want to challenge my belief system by speaking of “higher criticism” and who wrote what and when as far as the Bible is concerned.  My thoughts are, “Been there.  Done that.”  

     The above quote is the first time that the phrase, “Thus saith the LORD:” appears in the Bible.  It is then found about four hundred and thirty times in the Scriptures in the King James Version.  In the above passage, God is giving Pharaoh a message and Moses and Aaron are quoting what God has promised.  As Paul said to the Corinthians, an unbeliever can’t understand spiritual things because they are not spiritual themselves and are looking at the same writings through unspiritual eyes.  It’s like trying to scratch an itch that a person can’t reach.  People today are not the first ones to try to discredit the Bible as it has been attempted for years but no one has succeeded.  The Word of God still stands as God’s letter to mankind.  If you want to know God, then look in the Bible.  If you want to know where you came from, look in the Bible.  If you want to know why you are here, look in the Bible.  If you want to know where you will spend eternity, look in the Bible.  If you want to know what God thinks about certain areas of our culture, just look and see what He says in the Bible after the words, “Thus saith the LORD.”  One of the difficulties for people is that there are few testimonies of what happens after death.  Those that do appear now and then are questionable so mankind is willing to take a chance that God will be letting everyone into heaven but that is not what “Thus saith the LORD” said in His Word.  Everlasting life, or eternal life as we might say it , is for believers and not for unbelievers.  You can see that in John 3:16.  There is a choice and I put my choice in the sixty six books of the Bible.  While many choose to gamble on eternity, I choose to go with the “sure thing;” the Word of God.  Praise God for the B I B L E!!

Due Credit

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

     Romans 1:24-25 says, “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

     After you hear the news on the local TV stations, you come to the conclusion, “Wow.  The world is really in a mess.”  We often think, or at least I do, “What will it take to get things turned around?”  The only obvious answer is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Those things that were illegal years ago, are now accepted as the normal thing in our culture.  Humanity has turned its back on God and have gone their own way.  Our inclination is that if it seems right and feels good, it must be okay and so we accept it as the way of thinking.  I was watching the “hallmark” channel on the TV recently and it had a wedding scene in it, only the couple that were getting married were two women.  We are supposed to accept that now because the government said so.  Well, I don’t think that is going to happen in my mind at all as it is contrary to the Bible says and it certainly is not anything new but has been around for many years.  The Apostle Paul  specifically shows us the problem in the above passage.  

     God has made some beautiful things in creation.  It is quite evident in the animal world and is in fact even in the plants that grow.  Some birds and fish are so colorful that we often remark that they are beautiful creations of God and only He could do such a wonderful work.  I like “Iris” flowers as they come in such a mixture of colors and to see them up close and to examine the delicate structure is amazing.  So, I enjoy God’s Flowers and His animals but I don’t make an idol out of them, carved in wood, stone or precious metal and then worship them.  Paul mentioned that our tendency is to worship the creation rather than the Creator.  Is that so hard to understand?  Since God seems to be so far from our presence, we ignore the fruit of His attributes almost entirely.  We focus on His Love, but ignore His justice and righteousness.  While God is being ignored by humanity, God is not ignoring humanity and judgment will be coming.  We often use a statement, “Give credit where credit is due.”  Mother Nature is fictitious and didn’t do a thing.  God did it all.  Evolution is man’s attempt to come up with worldly answers to how the animals came about including men and women, but God did it all.  Look around you today and notice the things that God has made and only He could have done it and then give Him the praise.  Give credit where credit is due.

Letter Fly

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

     Revelation 5:11-12 says, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

I have been involved with music most of my life and enjoy making different sounds on different instruments, the louder the better.  The human voice is a natural producer of different sounds, some good and some bad.  I once had the opportunity to sing with 4,000 men at Moody Bible Institute, Pastor’s Conference.  I always say that pastors sing by “letter.”  They open their mouths and let her fly.  The sound resounded throughout the building as we sant “And Can It Be” at the top of our voices.

     Four thousand voices is a drop in the bucket compared to the description of the choir in the above passage.  We sometimes hear the word, “myriad” which is a number like then thousand times ten thousand.  Revelation 4 and 5 comprise a celestial symphony with a theme and variations.  It  begins with a single trumpet blast and ends with a “coda” ending with the four living creatures as they say, “Amen.”  The symphony is directed towards the Lord Jesus Christ who is worthy to receive the blessings of the music.  It  is worship in its highest form, directed to the Son of God Who is indeed Worthy to receive all of the blessings mentioned.  Now, just think of that sound and what it is going to be like when you are present to hear the wonderful blessings of heaven itself.  Revelation 5:13 goes on to say that every living creature will join in that celestial symphony, singing praise to the Son of God.  Understand that it will be every living creature, not just a few, not just the church, not just the religious, not just the dead, but every living creature and God does mean every living creature will be offering praise to God with the full sound of their voices.  The final verses of chapter five, go on with the ending when the four living creatures say, “Amen.”  you may now say, “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”  Well, when the time comes, you will have a perfect voice with perfect pitch with perfect hearing and you won’t believe the harmony that will be produced.  Your praise will be directed towards the Son of God Who is worthy to receive praise, honor, glory and blessing due His name!  Praise God today for His greatest piece of music ever.

Our Great Guide

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

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

     Yes, I am a veteran.  I served a number of years in the U. S. Navy and never really considered myself to be in “harms way.”  I even volunteered to go to sea for four months on a special cruise and was stationed on a “tin can” or a “destroyer.”  As a warship, Ihad a lot of faith in the structure of the ship;  At least, it floated, and I was confident it would get us to our destination and home again.  It was planned to take the shortcut around the tip of South Americas by traveling through the Straits of Magellan.  This would require a pilot from the Chilean Navy who knew where the channels were and the rocks also.  Many ships had tried unsuccessfully to navigate the treacherous passage without a pilot and their hulls could be seen rusting where they had hit a rock and sunk.  Sometimes, you just need a guide to get you through the passage unharmed.

     We soon realize that we are all in “harms way” so to speak everyday of our lives as we navigate treacherous passages in life.  There are all kinds of hidden rocks and other things that might hinder our progress would we fall prey to them.  The above passage reminds us of the fact that we do have a Guide in this life Who knows where the rocks are and Who knows the adversary  with whom we battle every day.  Without our Guide, Who is God Himself, we would find ourselves as a rusting hulk amid a sea of broken vessels.  God, however, is that God and in His omniscience, knows everything and there is nothing that is a surprise to Him.  He doesn’t have to say, “Now, turn right at the next corner and slow down as there are some rocks ahead.  He knows that and with His hand in ours, can guide us from one point to another and we don’t even notice the existing danger.   Our  ship moved slowly through the cold water, barely making a wake and we didn’t notice the rocks and dangers below the surface.  We, at the same time, are believers who don’t know the dangers from which God has protected us everyday of our  lives.  We should be constantly praising God ford the fact that He instructs us and guides us through the treacherous paths of life.

Vapors

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

      James 4:13-14 says, “  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”    

     I used to carry a “Day Timer” calendar that had all of my days planned out, or at least, I thought I had them planned out.  Every now and then a few things would get changed by unforeseen events, or as some might call it, “interruptions.”  I have attempted to do these devotions for the past  year or more, only to find them often interrupted by various stays in the hospital.  The last stay was more than I thought it was going to be and resulted in going on hospice thinking the end was near and it probably could still be near.  Only God knows that date.  So far, so good, and thought I would try to get a few more devotions out.  

     James reminds us that we can often make plans for one thing or another but it is really God that knows if we have a tomorrow or if we don’t have a tomorrow, or where tomorrow will be spent.  James also describes our days as similar to a vapor.    A vapor is probably one of the shortest lasting items around since it is seen for just a moment and then disappears into the atmosphere almost instantly.  In regard to eternity, our lives on earth are short to put it mildly.  Am I against planning ahead for things?  Certainly not as planning is good.  I had a doctor recently ask me what my goals were for the next couple of months.  I guess he was trying to see if I had any purposes to try to fulfill.  I replied, “I want to finish well.”  That must have caught him by surprise as he then asked, “What do you mean by that?”  I mentioned the passage where Paul told Timothy that he as ending his race, so to speak and that he wanted to do what God had wanted him to do.  He had finished the course.  “I would like to finish the course well and to do what God has wanted me to do.  In trying to finish well, we should also be ready for an interruption or a change in plans here and there as God moves you from one place to another.  There might be someone He wants you to meet today.  Praise God for His directions in our lives.