TODAY'S PROMISE

 

SO YOU ARE SMART

I just gave up on reading another book by

a smart professor.  It was going to tell me

how to brake the code to the book of 

Revelation.  Now the book of Revelation,

the last book in the Bible, is about my

favorite book.   I have been studying it

for years.

BUT,  like so many more smarties that

I have read over the years they spiritualize

everything to the point where it becomes

completely meaningless.  You become far

more confused than you were before.

You were further ahead to have just read

the Bible the way it was written and take

it for what it says.

After laying the book aside I picked up

my Bible to continue reading where I had

left off.  After reading a few chapters I 

came across this;

"At that time Jesus prayed this

prayer: 'O Father, Lord of heaven

and earth, thank you for hiding

these thing from those who think

themselves wise and clever, and for

revealing them to the childlike."

(Matthew 11:25 NLT)

I think the girl below is named "Ebba".

If I understand Jesus correctly I would

be better off to ask her rather than the

smart professor up on the top.

TODAY'S QUOTE

“God is the God of the humble, the

miserable, the oppressed, and the

desperate and of those that are brought

even to nothing; and His nature is to give

sight to the blind, to comfort the broken -

hearted, to justify the sinner, to save the

very desperate and damned.”

- Martin Luther -

 

MY HIDING PLACE

 

I have lived through a large portion of the

last century, including world war 2, and a

good start into this one.  But I have never

seen life so chaotic as its is today.

Even during the world war we as a nation

were unified.  We were fighting a common

enemy.  But there was at least one difference.

We had not attempted to eliminate God out 

of everything.

The Scriptures teach us that these times were

coming.  And it is going to be getting much

worse.  What to do?

I personally have one comfort or place of

refuge.  A hiding place.  GOD.

"The LORD is a shelter for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of trouble.

Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, O LORD, do not abandon those

who search for you."

(Psalms 9:9,10 NLT)

God always has been, still is, and always

will be.  I am holding on to God for dear

life.  The world is falling apart all around

me, but I am going through it with God

himself.

"I trust in the LORD for protection.

So why do you say to me,

'Fly like a bird to the mountains

for safety!"

(Psalms 11:1 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

 

“The LORD is good,

a strong refuge when 

trouble comes.

He is close to those 

who trust in him.”

(Nahum 1:7 NLT)

DEATH OF WICKED PEOPLE

 

We  often take delight in the death of an evil person,

tyrant, dictator, killer etc.  We think they deserve it.

The world is better of without them, and it is.

But God doesn't.

"As surely as I live, says the Sovereign

LORD, I take no pleasure in the death

of wicked people.  I only want them to turn

from their wicked ways so they can live.

Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O

people of Israel!.  Why should you die."

(Ezekiel 33:11 NLT)

It is difficult for me to understand the love

that God has even for the wicked people.

But He died for all of us.  He wants even 

them to simply turn from their wicked ways

to him so He can forgive them.

There is a false doctrine called limited Atonement.

It would teach us that Christ only died for the 

people who are being saved.  But what do the 

Scriptures say about it?

"For this is how God loved the world:

He gave his one and only Son, so that

every who believes in him will not 

parish but have eternal life."

(John 3:16 NLT)

"He died for everyone ..."

(2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT)

"He gave his life to purchase freedom

for everyone."

(1 Timothy 2:6 NLT)

"Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted

death for everyone."

(Hebrews 2:9 NLT)

"The Lord isn't really being slow about his

promise, as some people think.  No, he is 

being patient for your sake.  He does not 

want anyone to be destroyed, but wants

everyone to repent."

(2 Peter 3:9 NLT)

"He himself is the sacrifice that atones

for our sins - and not only our sins but

the sins of all the world."

(1 John 2:2 NLT)

God's every effort is to get EVERY ONE 

to turn from their evil ways to Him.  So,

is it any wonder that if they continue to 

ignore God and His love for them He has

to send them to the Devil's hell when they

die?

TODAY'S QUOTE

 

HOW TO BE REVIVED

 

Those of you who follow the social media

like Facebook etc. know that the trend is to 

try encouraging each other.  You know,

"Try harder", "Hang on a little longer",

"You can do it" and so on.

Face it.  We are frail human beings.  We have

our limitations.  We can only do so much.  God

made us that way so we would have to turn to

him.

God told us how to get revived.

"The high and lofty one who lives

in eternity,

the Holy One, says this:

I live in the high and holy place

with those whose spirits are

contrite and humble.

I restore the crushed spirit of the

humble and revive the courage

of those with repentant hearts."

(Isaiah 57:15 NLT)

TODAY'S PROMISE

 

"The LORD is good to those who depend

 on him, to those who search for him.

So it is good to wait quietly 

for salvation from the LORD."

(Lamentations 3:25,26 NLT)

BIG WORDS

BIG WORDS

No,

I am not talking about you.  I do not know you.

I do not even know where you live.

But I watch what goes on around me.  And

it just happens that I know a person who just

a short time back received a diploma from some

school or other.  Now this diploma is in the area

I have been involved in for about sixty years.

No, I am not an expert in this area, but certainly

not ignorant about it.

After this person received their diploma a 

complete change came over their vocabulary. 

The multitude of big words and new concepts

that are now the norm for this person even

leave me looking them up.

Perhaps the thing that particularly disturbs me

is that the very people this person is trying to 

reach out to have no concept of what all this

jargon means.

O.K. lets admit it.  

I see pride as the destructive element in this.

My guess is that the pride here will actually 

drive people away from the message.  Yes,

there are people who like the verbiage, but they

are not the people this person is trying to reach.

My daughter suggested this Scripture 

regarding knowledge:

"Now concerning things offered to idols:

We know that we all have knowledge.

Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."

(1 Corinthians 8:1 NKJV)

Here is just a couple of quotes that I ran across

this after noon while relaxing.

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

“Most of us were working class people - …

- not intellectuals with a vast fund of  human

learning that had to be unlearned before we

Could become co-workers with God.”

- A.C. Valdez -

 

 

SHAMED BY A CAT

Many, many years ago my wife came home 

with a cat one time.  She was an animal lover.

She has lived out her life and is gone.  But,

that poor old cat is still here.

The cat above is not it.  The poor old, old, old

cat that is here is so old and straggly I would

be ashamed to show it's picture.  It would look

like the cat that belonged to Adam and Eve.

But the point is this.  That poor old thing

wants to be with me.  I have to watch every

time I go through a door that I do not trip

over it.  I have to be careful how I sit or

it will jump up in my lap.  If I move it thinks

it has to mover with me.

If I wanted to be with God the way that cat

wants to be with me, God would probably

send a fiery chariot to get me like he did for

Elijah.

If I wanted to be with God the way that cat

wants to be with me I would be a man after

God's own heart like David was.  Perhaps 

then God could use me as he did David.

David said it best;

"As a deer longs for streams of water,

so I long for you, O God.

I thirst for God, the living God.

When can I go and stand

before him?"

(Psalms 42:1,2 NLT)

GOD, GIVE ME A HEART FOR YOU.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"Always be joyful.  Never stop

praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you who belong

to Christ Jesus."

(1 Thessalonians 5:16 - 18 NLT)

 

WHY GOD?

 

We all have known of good outstanding Godly

people who have died prematurely.  Then we 

wonder why it was them instead of some good

for nothing person.

My own son was living in another state when

he was killed in an auto accident.  He was just

into the prime of life.  Why God?

It was not until I went up to his funeral that I 

had any concept of his influence on his community.

People constantly where showing me what he had

been doing round the Church.  The Sunday school

class he taught.  The help he had been to them in 

their homes etc. etc.  In fact, his neighbors wanted

to change the name of their street in honor of him.

[It did not work out that way.]

Why Lord?

Then the Lord showed me why.

"Good people pass away;

the godly often die

before their time.

But no one seems to care or

wonder why.

No one seems to understand

that God is protecting them

from the evil to come.

For those who follow godly paths

will rest in peace when they die.

(Isaiah 57:1,2 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

“Piety and prosperity seldom go

hand in hand, and in many a case

the prosperity that piety and power

have brought has been the ruin of

the man to whom it has come.”

- R.A Torrey -

THE PIT

THE PIT

Two people fell in a pit and cannot get out.

One is a child, the other a theologian.

Throw a rope in to help.  The child will

grab ahold and let you pull him out.  But 

The theologian will ask:  What is the rope 

made out of?  Is it woven or wound design?  

Is it OSHA approved?  What is it’s tensile 

strength?  Who are you? Do you have strength 

enough to pull me up?  Are you certified?

Throw the whole rope in to him and let

him examine it while you go your way.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"The LORD is good,

a strong refuge when trouble comes.

He is close to those who trust in him."

(Nahum 1:7 NLT)

 

TRUE FOOD

"But those who won't care for 

their relatives, especially those in

their own household, have denied

the true faith.  Such people are

worse than unbelievers."

(1 Timothy 5:8 NLT)

This was just to show the preparations my

daughter made to be sure her old Daddy

had something to eat while she was gone

a few days.

But even more importantly she was the

one who reminded me:

"People do not live by bread alone,

but by every word that comes from

the mouth of God."

(Matthew 4:4 NLT)

If we were as concerned about our spiritual

lives and feeding on the Word of God as

we are about our physical well being, we

would be Spiritual Giants.

Our physical lives are only going to last

a few days.  So, we feed them well.  But,

our spirits are going to exist forever some

where.  Why do we ignore them?

If we would truly seek the Kingdom of

God and his righteousness first, then we

could:

"Give all your worries and 

cares to God, for he cares

about you."

(1 Peter 5:7 NLT) 

TODAY'S QUOTE

“That brings out this point: If your eye

is simple, if you’re sincere, if you are not

too profound, if you don’t know too many

arguments, if you can’t quote all the

theologians, then you have a much better

chance to reach God.  I am sorry to say it,

but experience over many years has

convinced me of that.  Theology normally

does not help people’s faith.”

- Derek Prince -

Jesus said;

"I tell you the truth, unless you

turn from your sins and become

like little children, you will never

get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

So anyone who becomes as humble

as this little child is the greatest

in the Kingdom of Heaven."

(Matthew 18:3,4 NLT)

 

GOD'S PEACE

"Then you will experience God's peace,

which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds

as you live in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:7 NLT)

I have what is a new experience to me.

I have believed the above verse "all my 

life."  But the last few days has driven it

home to me in a new way.

On the internet I met a man that in all

appearances is likely a Christian brother.

I do not particularly question that.  As you

can imagine he has a problem and wants 

help.  NO, not money.  But for me to write

and lend my help or influence to change his

circumstances.

As a Christian I want to help people.  So,

I began to write [email] for him.  But I noticed

that I was not real comfortable with the situation.

And even worse I was loosing my peace 

[relationship] to the Lord.

So I told him I would have to quit.  When I

did the peace returned.

Then he began to bag and plead with me to 

help.  I was the only one he trusted and was

able to help him etc.

Again I went to the Lord in prayer.  [A lot of prayer.]

Was I miss understanding.  The man needed help. 

So, I begin to prepare to help him.

And, again I lost the peace of God that passes

understanding.

That of course took a final NO.

I do not know if the Lord was protecting 

me and keeping me out of trouble.  Or

perhaps even wanting the man's problem

solved in a another manner or by some 

one else.

Either way, I thank God for Guiding me

with the presence and/or the absence of 

his peace.

THANK GOD.

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

"So prepare your minds for action

and exercise self-control.  Put all

your hope in the gracious salvation

that will come to you when Jesus

Christ is revealed to the world."

(1 Peter 1:13 NLT)

 

LEARNING.

 

"Such things were written in the

Scriptures long ago to teach us.

And the Scriptures give us hope

and encouragement as we wait

patiently for God's promised to

be fulfilled."

(Romans 15:4 NLT)

Reading in the Old Testament books of

Chronicles can be, well, real boring.

However for my self the book of 

2 Chronicles is exciting.  It has plenty

of boring stuff in it as it gives all the

genealogies. 

But,  there is something that stands out,

over and over and over again that is 

instructive to me.

Every time a King trusted God,

God performed outstanding miracles

for them. Also he prospered them.

For example;

"Hezekiah sought his God 

wholeheartedly.  As a result,

he was very successful."

(2 Chronicles 31:21 NLT)

Another word of warning though.

At least three of these kings that God

helped in such outstanding ways

messed up bad.  They either began to

trust them selves thinking they could

handle it;  and they begin trusting in 

outside help rather than God.  Or,

they became proud because of the 

blessings God had given them.

Then they ended up in a "royal mess".

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek his will in all you do, and he will 

show you which path to take."

(Proverbs 3:5,6 NLT)

TODAY'S QUOTE

"We have no desire to build a single church

building anywhere!  This allows the gospel

to be spread rapidly, is harder for the authorities

to detect, and allows us to channel all our

resources directly into gospel ministry."

-Brother Run in 

The Heavenly Man.

 

HELP

I am confronted with a problem that is

to big for me.  There are things involved

that I have no control over.

I of course have been praying about it.

This morning in my devotional time just

as a matter of course the Lord brought 

these two kings to my attention.

King Abijah

A war broke out between King Abijah

with 400,000 soldiers and King Jeroboam

with 800,000 soldiers.  When King Abijah

and the soldiers of Judah realized that 

they were trapped;

"When Judah realized that they

were being attacked from the front

and rear, they cried out to the LORD

for help."

(2 Chronicles 13:14 NLT)

I don't even need to tell you, GOD

helped Abijah and Judah win.

Then there is King Asa when Judah

was confronted with a Ethiopian 

million man army .

"Then Asa cried out to the LORD

his God, 'O lord, no one but you 

can help the powerless against the

mighty!  Help us, O LORD our God,

for we trust in you alone.  It is in 

your name that we have com against

this vast horde." 

(2 Chronicles 14:11 NLT)

Yes, you guessed it again,

God helped King Asa and Judah win.

SAD, but somewhere along the line King

Asa began to look to mankind for help

instead of God.

Asa relied on King Benhadad by buying

his help rather than relying on God when

he had another war situation.

THAT WAS A MISTAKE.

Later;

"In the thirty-ninth year of his reign,

Asa developed a serious foot disease. 

Yet even with the severity of his disease,

he did not seek the LORD'S help but

turned only to his physicians."

(2 Chronicles 16:12 NLT)

Asa had a glorious reign when he relied

on God for help.

But,

we could almost say he died a fool's death

by turning to man for help.

"My help comes from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth!"

(Psalms 121:2 NLT)

 

TODAY'S PROMISE

 

"Then he said to the crowd, ' If

any of you wants to be my follower,

you must give up your own way,

take up your cross daily and follow

me.  If you try to hang on to your

life, you will lose it.  But if you give

up your life for my sake, you will

save it."   

(Luke 9:23,24 NLT)

WHAT IS YOUR TITLE.

Yes, I could legitimately hang a title on

my name.  The certificates or proof of 

it are in my office buried in an old

scrap book -WHERE THEY BELONG.

When you have lived as long as I have,

you get tired of seeing the pride of man-

kind in or out of the church.  See if a 

fancy title matches the thinking of Jesus.

"Everything they do is for show.

On their arms they wear extra wide

prayer boxes with Scripture verses

inside, and they wear robes with ex-

tra long tassels.  And they love to 

sit at the head table at banquets and

in the seats of honor in the syna-

rogues.  They love to receive re-

spectul greetings as they walk in

the marketplaces, and to be called

'Rabbi.'

"Don't let anyone call you 'Rab-

bi,' for you have only one teacher,

and all of you are equal as brothers

and sisters.  And don't address

anyone here on earth as 'Father,' for

only God in heaven is your Father.

And don't let anyone call you

'Teacher,' for you have only one

teacher, the Messiah.  The greatest

among you must be a servant.  But

those who exalt themselves will be

humbled, and those who humble

themselves will be exalted."

(Matthew 23:5 - 12 NLT)

That makes me want to avoid even the 

title of "Mr.".  I am happy just being 

called "Brother".  I confess, I am learning

to like the title "grandpa".  Forgive me

Lord.

 

TODAY'S QUOTE

"We have no desire to build a single

church building anywhere!  This

allows the gospel to spread rapidly,

is harder for the authorities to detect,

and allows us to channel all our resources

directly into gospel ministry."

-Brother Yun in

The Heavenly Man._