The devotional - 077 - Addendum

A Thought for the Day – 077 – Addendum

Mercy… God holding back from giving to us what we deserve. Grace… God giving to us what we do not deserve. To the unbelieving this may sound absurd, but to the believing it is Ephesians 2:4-5. This is where a personal relationship begins when His Mercy and Grace takes our outstretched hand of faith, as small as the mustard seed and leads us to His free gift of salvation. Ephesians 2:1-10

Comments and challenges

Feeling the need to clarify positional truth I would like to spend some time looking at the Ephesian passage above. A long time ago; in the summer months of growing up I used to caddy at a golf course in Louisville, Kentucky. I believe the name of that course at the time was called Seneca Golf Course. This would have been in the early nineteen fifties. This was more than a summer job for me, my parents had very little money and most of all the income I gained was given to them in order help the family during those years.

I had regular people who I caddied for and one foursome of professional men played every Thursday morning, I carried doubles (two bags) in those days and one of the men owned a shoe store in downtown Louisville. One day he said to me, “son I see you’ve been wearing those shoes all season, you are about ready to walk out of them and you need to buy another pair”. “We can’t afford that” was my response and I am sure there was more conversation about meeting that need.

The following week before we teed off, the man handed me a brand new pair of shoes, nice sneakers also a pair of dress shoes. (I had a need for new shoes, but this of itself was not justification to have new shoes) This was a gift, a free gift a gift that sits in mind as one of those events in my past that shines like a shining light, one of those unforgettable moments. I know that you have those moments too and these times should be looked at from time to time since these do more than help us see that humans do good things. These events in life also parallel the work of God when the free gift of justification is presented to the unjustified.

We do not deserve Justification, we are sinners (don’t make light of being a sinner) God is not a sinner! For Him to have a relationship with you or me, He must do for us things that we cannot do on our own. Earlier in Ephesians One; the apostle Paul lists fifteen or more Spiritual attributes that is given to each believer in Jesus Christ. So this is what I see from Ephesians 1:13. What did we do? We did as the apostles and believers before us did. We believed, we trusted the gospel message, in believing, God provides the final complement. He seals us with the Holy Spirit.

This for me is more than I can stand and causes tears of joy causing me to say; like I said to the man with the shoes. “Oh thank you sir” in place of “sir” my heart cries “Oh thank You Father” and here is why. Being sealed with God the Holy Spirit means that God has given me a part of eternity, like an installment of the fullness to come, even knowing that I am now adopted into the family of God. Romans 8:12-17.

So do not sit on your laurels in some religion thinking that all is well, Solomon has a lot to say about the slug who desires but has nothing; Proverbs 13:4. To be justified by God, the only one thing a person must do is believe and God will do the rest; Acts 16:28-31.

http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 076 - Part Four

A Thought for the Day – 076 – Part Four

The thought for today is that I have no thoughts for the day! So here is a verse of scripture to hold on to. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage”. Galatians 5:1

Comments and challenges

I have yet to talk clearly about the Holy Spirit and His work of Regeneration. The subject: Jesus Christ who fulfills the Law, Matthew 5:17-20, completes the Will and Plan of God to reconcile all of the lost souls from the grip of Satan. Satan; a supernatural being holds the world in the bondage of “Sin and Death”. Now I have described what I believe to be a logical explanation of the fall of mankind and the restoration of mankind. I know my explanation is not complete and there are certainly better approaches to this subject.

What I have sought to explain in WORDS will not biblically save your soul or mine from SIN and DEATH. There are no WORDS or WORKS by man that is sufficient for this and because of that; I praise God the Creator of the heavens and the earth, who alone has a plan to redeem you and me. And just let me say that if His plan isn’t working then we should all just pack a small lunch and go to the beach and drown ourselves in the sorrows of the ocean. The Risen Christ Jesus, He is our only HOPE. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.

It took the supernatural act of a fallen angel of God to SUBVERT and DESTROY the SOULS of God into believing in SIN and DEATH. Now whether you believe in Satan or not, as I know some of you folks out there do not believe he exists, you need to think about this since I know that you are conscious of God as we have talked and being conscious of God is the first step in the right direction. Since, if you believe that God exists, then you believe in a Spirit controlled world. John 4:24 (a simple verse, but very convincing here).

Most New Testament churches preach and teach that God is triune (three in One), God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Speaking of Jesus Christ the apostle Paul explains that in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, Colossians 2:9 and Romans chapter One explains that the world does not retain God in this truth, thus denying the power of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, therefore the world suppresses this truth and worships idolatry.

So in order for you and me to be saved biblically it is God’s responsibility to provide Power that overrides the power of Satan. God does this with the Resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 a long read, but well worth the time. As we read or hear the Good News message of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is God the Holy Spirit who challenges you and me to be equipped with faith, to believe in the Truth. This is not the same faith that we use to sit with in a chair, this faith is human faith and has no place in eternity with God.

The faith that the Holy Spirit provides, is supernatural faith, or God’s faith, I like calling it God’s faith simply because it is the same faith that Jesus has, the faith that sent Him to His sacrificial Death and His Supernatural Resurrection. Ephesians 2:1-10, also I like to add Galatians 2:20. This believing faith is the work of God, not of man. God’s desire for your soul in expressed in John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9 and other passages throughout the Holy Bible. If you do not have a Holy Bible… shame on you, or better yet; let me know and I will get you one.

You should now be singing that song: “I’m goin to his city because they got some great little Bibles there and I’m gonna get me one”. No; I don’t think that this is the title of that song… it was about Kansas City! Stay away from there; I hear the women are crazy. Hmm!

http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 075 - Part Three

A Thought for the Day – 075 – Part Three

I would imagine that Solomon is one of my favorite writers; I seem to spend a lot of time searching out things in his books. I do not have any specific reasons although you might dream up a few of your own which is okay by me. But as I read the last verse in Ecclesiastes 5, I am reminded once again of two issues on Solomon’s mind. One: He is conscious of God’s involvement in the personal life of people, and Two: God loves to keep us busy with… joy of heart. So what is in your heart today?

Comments and challenges

Yesterday I wrote that mankind (you and me) have a sentence of death on our created physical being and over the last two days I have used scripture to back that up. In other words there is no way to get off of planet earth without the experience of dying; it is the penalty of SIN and whether we like this or not, it is Satan who has placed this barrier between physical life and spiritual life. This flesh and blood body of ours cannot inherit the kingdom of God, the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50 makes this clear.

Notice with me if you will 1 Corinthians 15:56 – The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Now it is your turn to say; (Oh no, I keep the law; I do not steal, lie or commit adultery!) Good for you, but tell God that you love Him with your whole heart, mind and soul, do you not see that the selfish pride of saying that you do not steal, lie, or commit adultery omits the first five commandments which need to be in place before the other five can be fulfilled. Deuteronomy 5:5-22; note also Matthew 22:36-40. In the Matthew passage the Pharisee lawyer was seeking to trip Jesus up with words, only to find out that Jesus did not trip over this challenge, but the Pharisee did, as do we when we seek to keep a part of the law and ignore the rest. (You and I cannot fulfill this love of God this way; not without the Spirit of God living in us).

God, knowing the fallen condition of mankind, placed His own Son (Jesus Christ) as the ONE sacrifice that is ALL sufficient for ALL sin; THIS ACTION of God cannot be explained in natural terms, it is a supernatural event, a ONE time event in the history of the God’s created world. His one-time sacrifice is sufficient for the everyday occurrence for the sins of all of the yesterdays the world has ever experienced. His onetime sacrifice is all sufficient for all of the sin which will be committed today and His onetime sacrifice is sufficient for all of the sins that will be experienced in all of the future of life on earth.

Now in my little mind… this is POWER! The life of God’s SON who takes away the STING of DEATH also rose from the dead on the third day after dying this sacrificial death, HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 is a very good read on this. Are you not glad that your soul belongs to God and longs to be restored to the LIVING GOD, Psalm 42:1-11 and Ecclesiastes 3:11.

Now I know that many of you who read this are saved and this is sort of like preaching to the choir (whatever we have meant that to be), but there are many of folks out there who get this devotional who are religious, trapped in some religion that is doom to go into hell, some of these folks believe that this is okay because they will be prayed out of this darkness by the remaining parishioners.

Now; for that verse in 1 Corinthians 15, the one that these folks cling to (1 Corinthians 15:29) the apostle is not affirming or confirming that we can pray people out of the abyss, purgatory or any other “holding tank” that God is said to have set aside for people who partially keep His Commandments. The apostle is saying; that these people who do such a thing know that there is going to be a resurrection in the final day and that they are seeking to circumvent the power of God in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, seeking to override God’s standard of Righteousness by their own standard of righteousness. In other words these folks deny the power of God by rejecting the Risen Savior.

There will be a Part Four; I have yet to talk clearly about the Holy Spirit and His work of Regeneration. This is like teaching the epistle of Galatians… (a personal pun) it seems to never end, then again why should it? Since this is an everlasting or eternal subject. The subject: Jesus Christ who fulfills the Law, Matthew 5:17-20.

http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 074 - Part Two

A Thought for the Day – 074 – Part Two

I just cannot help myself… I like the way Solomon writes. He says here in Ecclesiastes 5:18 “here is what I have seen” this is a first person singular statement, like “I saw this in my life’s journey and here is my understanding of what I saw.” Most of us today quiver in our boots to make such a dogmatic comment, so when I write I challenge myself to use what I know to bring light into the darkness of my little corner of the world. Tying what I know to the Living Word of God helps me feel that I am fulfilling 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

Comments and challenges

Now back to the epistle of James, James writes about works that are produced by faith in God; Solomon writes about works without faith (yet this is not to say that Solomon had no faith in God, he is simply excluding faith in God to show that what man does under the sun without God is pure “VANITY”). Thus there is an ongoing temptation for every human being to live life unconscious of God and produce works that are an expression of glorifying his or her self-image. God identifies these works as “good and evil” the works of man are not pleasing to God simply because these works are mixed with evil, the production of all good and evil works is SIN.

The result of sin is total separation from God eternally, God’s Will is to have the soul of man return to Him, there are many examples in the Bible of God’s desire for the souls He has created. In Ezekiel God makes a few statements regarding the soul, I like this one. Ezekiel 18:3 “As I live,” says the LORD God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. “Behold, all souls are Mine, the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die”… you can go on and read the rest of this through the end of the chapter; it is an interesting read. (The Lord God is referring to the proverb used by Israel found in verse 2 of Ezekiel 18; an explanation of this proverb is found in an earlier devotional.

In order to produce works that are pleasing to God, mankind needs to hear “Good News” from God and as I am writing I see the need to have a “Part Three” to this devotional. So I will be concluding this soon since it is after 9a.m. The good news is that God in His love for you and me and all of the rest of the world too provides the way to do good works that glorify Him. The only way for Him to do this is to eliminate SIN, sin is the wall that separate all of mankind from Him.

And now I hear your wheels turning in thought, eliminate sin? If you are not a believer under the Biblical definition of believing in God, then you have no problem with this since you can say that you do not sin, you just do good while you live out the evils in your heart which you cannot control because you do not want to. And if you are a believer in accordance with the Biblical definition you will be saying; I still sin so how is sin eliminated? These are not all of the examples of questions that stir up the thoughts in us of how God deals with sin and if you practice a religion you will have other views of error too. More tomorrow.

http://www.biblestudytools.com

 

The Devotional - 074 - Part One

A Thought for the Day – 074 – Part One

I just cannot help myself… I like the way Solomon writes. He says here in Ecclesiastes 5:18 “here is what I have seen” this is a first person singular statement, like “I saw this in my life’s journey and here is my understanding of what I saw.” Most of us today quiver in our boots to make such a dogmatic comment, so when I write I challenge myself to use what I know to bring light into the darkness of my little corner of the world. Tying what I know to the Living Word of God helps me feel that I am fulfilling 2 Timothy 4:1-4.

Comments and challenges

“God has given to every one of us a portion in life”, or as translated in Ecclesiastes 5:18 “God has given us a heritage”. Now let me ask us a simple question. But first let me answer it for us from James 1:17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Now the question: Solomon says that God has given you and me a portion of human life to live; does this life He gives come with an unhealthy dose of SIN? My answer is no, I am not sure what yours is?

Solomon says; “it is good and fitting to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his (mankind’s) labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God has given him” so I see here that the problem is not with the gift of God which is good, the problem is what we do with that gift once we determine that we can PESONALLY and selfishly destroy it. Now there is much too much scripture to prove this out and yes we are much too much a private hearted people to admit that we have TRASHED the gift of God with personal SIN! So God readily reminds us that we are full of lies and do not do the truth 1 John 1:5-10.

Ecclesiastes 5:20 provides ample information that mankind does not dwell on his or her sin with respect to the consequence since God keeps his or her life busy with the joy of the heart. This helps me understand that after a few days a person can forget how his or her root of bitterness has affected those around them, including themself and return to living and rejoicing in their daily labors. Too much of this activity though will produce hardness heart. Ecclesiastes 6:1 says this is an evil and common among men. (In this thought, there should not be a chapter break as I believe that Solomon’s thought continues here).

So here in Part One; of these thoughts today I see that there are many days of the past where I have selfishly lived my life (God’s physical gift to me) without recognizing that the gift is not mind to control or selfishly manipulate, the gift is given to my SOUL which belongs to God to whom my soul is accountable, but if I have used the gift of God to selfishly abuse me and those around me, then my soul has NOTHING to show to God of the labors of life. God’s gift then is expended in the selfishness of sin and is USELESS for eternity.

Now there is a problem or two: One is the problem of sin and for YOU AND ME (there are no exceptions), if you do not know it already, notice Romans 3:23 or Galatians 3:22 which conclude that every person has been imprisoned in SIN. This is a physical life sentence without parole under the SUN and what is meant by the statement of Solomon “under the sun” simply… whatever happens on earth is confined to earth. Satan caused mankind to reject the testimony of God on the one condition of physical living; “in the day you shall eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil, you shall surely die” Genesis 2:17. Man’s disobedience resulted in God’s curse on that which He created; the curse is death to our physical gift of life. Genesis 3:1-24. More tomorrow, scripture references: http://www.biblestudytools.com

The Devotional - 073 - A splinter of Hope

A Thought for the Day – 073 – A sliver of Hope!

Have you noticed the DOW lately, in the midst of the erratic rise and fall of this economic yardstick people are watching their retirement kindle and dwindle on the same day; also their mortgages slide low one minute and fly high the next. Then if you listen to those in the know they say; but listen to the final bell; all is well! Solomon says: “he who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 5:9

Comments and challenges

I was recently talking with my oldest son about life, raising a family and the issues we run into along the way. One of his comments went like this, “well no one gave us a rule book to raise a family”. There is right and wrong in this statement, it is the same statement that I made around his age years ago. But first let me say that raising a family is the hardest task given to man by man.

Did you get that; first what man passes on to man from one generation to another is ALL VANITY and chasing after the wind. From the man’s heart (that would be his central intelligence center) as his children are growing up he knows that he is failing them. From this same center, he realizes that he has failed as a husband too. The only area of success, which also comes out of his heart is the ability to agree with the other men that they are doing the best they can with no rule book.

Then to add fuel to this way of existing, there are those who write books on the subject of family and the responsibilities within; some of these people do not have a wife or husband and some do not have children too, yet by ungodly reasoning we believe their nonsense and family raising is substituted for the village and community based efforts.

There is a rule book, or better said; there is a Book to love and raise children, a Book to love your wife, a Book to love your country and a Book to love God. It is called the Holy Bible; just listen to Psalm 127.

Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city; the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He (God) gives to His beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is His reward. Like arrows in the hand of the warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Now there is a deeper study to be done in this Psalm but everything pertaining to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness (which is; every man’s goal in life) is written out clearly in this Psalm. We as fathers of children and husband to our wives have failed because as a nation we are not the watchman of God, we are the watchman of vanity. We do not have a quiver full of children, thus our national heritage is being given to another nation right under our nose.

Some may think this is a sad commentary; but not so. Gideon’s Army was reduced from 32,000 people to 300, Judges 7:1-25 God does not need an army to defeat Satan’s destructive forces of men and women who are bent to do evil, (Romans 1:18-32 and Ecclesiastes 5:11-20). Those of us who will acknowledge God’s gift to mankind, (a small remnant) can charge our national free fall and return to God as He directs. Ecclesiastes 5:6-20. http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 072 - Respect for Authority

A Thought for the Day – 072 – Respect for Authority!

What is the definition of “blameless” in Psalm 119:1? We have all been defiled by the output of our sinful natures. So do not seek to say that you are, apart from the LORD Jesus Christ the rest of mankind are sinful. Also verse one answers the question… those who walk in the law of the LORD are blameless. For those of us who live and understand the grace of God, the lawful command that God provides is a blameless character through abiding in Christ. Romans 13:14

Comments and challenges

Do you get as many “political surveys” as I do? Every political party, every Politian and every para-political watch dog sends me a survey, all of whom seek for me to answer the SAME questions. It is not my intention to answer any of these questions since all of the questions insult the average person with a nickels worth of common sense (everything has go up in cost these days, I remember when common sense was the price of an empty soda bottle).

The questions lead me to believe that if these folks do not have the answers or if they are not sure that Americans are worthy enough to know the answers; we the people are in deep trouble. For example here is the latest one, it came in today. It is called the Nationwide Policy Survey. What is the American policy? First let me say a little about the directions.

1.      Please complete your survey using a BLACK or BLUE pen. What? Maybe I could do my neighbors in red as long as I do MINE in black or blue!

2.      Read and sign the Survey Certification of the following page. This page is the donation page; if you cannot give the amounts suggest, at least give us $11.00 the cost of doing the survey. It the wording says “my survey” good, I am not doing it so I will be saving me $11.00.

The questions are exactly like all of the other surveys…jobs and economy, government spending, taxes, health care, social security, immigration and border security, energy, the constitution, national security and other issues. Then if that were not enough the last questions are related to President Obama and the Congress.

Finally the political party asks for your credit card information, your occupation, your employer, your telephone number and your email address. I am sure that most of this info they already have, if not they are poor record keepers.

What does all of this have to do with the daily devotional? We should not be giving a dime to any political program or para-political organization; we should be bathing our nation in prayer by confession of our national sins to God.

He alone is capable of mending and repairing the problems presented in this survey as questions. Romans 13:1-14 applies. We need to have respect for authority, you see Romans 13:6 says to owe no one anything except to love one another. If I pray I am expressing love, if I pay I am expecting fulfillment of the law that no one can fulfill except through the grace provided by God who loves.

Respect for authority pays our lawful taxes, while completing a survey and paying for that simply increases the vanity in the land. Ecclesiastes 5:8-15. For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 071 - One loose brick too many

A Thought for the Day – 071 – One loose brick too many

Religion does not produce Faith in God, notice: Your Hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. Those who fear You will be glad when they see me, because I have hope in Your Word. Psalm 109:73-74 Faith in God is produced by a personal relationship with HIM Psalm 119:75-80.

Comments and challenges

I have never been much good around high places like mountains, tall building and the ladders leading up to them. So for the stories I hear from my friend the retired steel worker, I am not only intrigued by what he says but it does take long for him to remind me of things that no doubt caused all this fear of height in me. I would not say that I have a complete phobia over height; I was on the local fire department for a season of time and did travel various ladders to high places in those heated moments of time.

My friend told of a story about a building that they were putting up next to a mountain of bricks that had been part of a building a few yards from the new building sight. He observed the height of the bricks as these were well over his head, but as time pasted and within a few weeks the pile of bricks from his view began to dwarf as the new building took shape.

The thought of this reminded me of a pile of bricks in an alley where I grew up in Kentucky. I was about twelve, the pile of bricks was fifteen to twenty feet high, my cousins and I decided to climb to the top. Let me tell you up front if you are a young person reading this; do not try it. Lose bricks are dangerous to climb. I remember well the blood, bruises and embarrassment of being dug out over waist high. By the grace of God we were not completely buried in the rubble.

What again is the rub in this? The oppression of the poor in this great land of ours is severe, the leaders of the land, use to poor of other lands to oppress the poor of our land, thus we have a perversion of justice and righteousness in all the cities and towns of our land. The integrity of the land is becoming a pile of loose bricks, our borders now produce the crimes of these unlawful poor and give birth to more poverty and we are being buried alive.

Do not marvel at this by not being serious minded; our officials are corrupting our land with false promises to the nationals of other lands. Yes the profit of our land is for ALL, but not for all of the homeless helpless poor; who are tired, weary and worn out from the oppressions of other governments. LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD! It is not complicated to understand that if I am too weak minded to work and need assistance, that sooner than later I will need a hand out. I am not saying that a foreign national is not free to come to our land and prosper; but I am saying that people who come must be people who are prosperity minded; not weak minded.

We let people come into the land that are failures to prosperity. We have made it easy for people to stick their hand out. We are doing this by change: someone within the last decade said; it is time for a change America! That person meant to change the Constitution, change the law of the land, change our language, change our religion and change our freedom and step by step that person is leading us to the fiscal cliff. This is the vanity of false gain and false honor that Solomon speaks of in Ecclesiastes 5:8-9

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

The devotional - 070 - Splinters and Planks

A Thought for the Day – 070 – Splinters and Planks

Reasoning under the sun would add up to: “It is very costly to live on this earth!” like it cost you a birth and a death and all the rest in-between, so human reasoning is expensive and dull. However God provides faith in Him; where else could one live and travel around the sun once every year for free? Consciousness of God and His love will open the eyes of blind and reveal four beautiful seasons throughout all the seasons of life and death. Ecclesiastes 4:13-16

Comments and challenges

Isn’t this the way it is… we notice readily the faults in other people, but when it comes to our own faults we do not see these walls of darkness at all. Jesus reminds us of this sort of vision by saying that our brothers or sisters may have a splinter in their eye and we being a good and better person than they seek to help them by removing the splinter, yet our condition is worse since we have the whole plank of wood, minus the splinter in our eye. Matthew 7:1-6

Now this is important to notice that the splinter in one person’s eye is of the same plank of wood found in our eye. (the chip off the same block of wood) This is what I mean; only those who practice the same sinful fault, know the sin well enough to judge the other, in other words; it is impossible for us to wear the mask of a hypocrite if we do not know why we put on the mask in the first place.

Solomon says much the same in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7; he reminds us to be prudent in church, the spiritual antennas of the plank owners are all tuned and ready to pounce on the splinters. This is the sacrifice of the foolish in church and they do not even know the evil that is forming by their actions. Verse 2 explains that our rashness of mouth is rewarded by God who evaluates our earthly words from His heavenly view.

You say, well Solomon is talking about vows here in these passages and not running the mouth in judgment. Okay, but what we say has as much value to the hearers as the vow. Like; “brother let me help you out with your sin problem!” If you have not first removed the plank from your own eye then how can you vow to help anyone?

The promise of helping or vowing to help comes from your mouth so as Solomon says, be careful… do not let your mouth be the cause for your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger (Holy Spirit) of God that it was an error, why should God be angry at your voice when your flesh had no intention of following through with the work of your unwilling hands.

It is just a dream that we are better than the next person; think about it, if we were not dreaming or desiring about the thoughts of how much better we are than they, then our voice in the matter would be no voice at all. Ecclesiastes 5:5. It is then better to practice first what we preach. Then we will not be like the televangelist who does not practice, but loves to preach!

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 069 - High rise Camaraderie

A Thought for the Day – 069 – High rise Camaraderie

How are your inner thoughts doing this morning; come on now you know those thoughts; the ones that you share with no one else but YOU! Be at peace, I am not asking you to reveal those private details; we are all alike in this. These are TOP SECRET to everyone but God; and should be. The neighbor next door has his or her own set of secrets; companions, work associates, brothers, sisters and relatives; they too have theirs. Don’t meddle with that which is not yours for such is an evil task; also avoid those who meddle in this evil. Ecclesiastes 4:1-4 

Comments and challenges

I have a friend who is a retired steel worker, he tells me stories of some of the high rise buildings he helped put together in Hartford, Connecticut. Recently we played nine holes of golf at a nearby golf course and he told me of a recent event involving the Freedom Tower being built in New York, New York. The retired steel workers association had a reunion here in Connecticut recently and my friend along with his local buddies was invited by the New York brothers to tour the Freedom Tower being built, which is one hundred five levels. All but five in his group went to the top.

 

I asked my friend; “What is the highest building you helped to erect here in Connecticut?” His answer: “Thirty five levels”. Didn’t the difference in height make a difference to you?” I said. “No” was his reply. Myself, I cannot imagine riding an open elevator to the height over a mile high in a building with no walls as the air gets thinner. It just does not make a bit of sense to me. He further explained that even at his age of eighty something, he had waited for this opportunity like a child waiting for his or her first two wheeled bicycle.

 

He said also that the five men who did not go up were in some way physically unable to go to the top; one did not go at all and the other four went to the half-way mark. This really brings friendship home as my friend said that the support of the New York group for the Connecticut group was solid and even more solid was the friendship and camaraderie of each other. They did not laugh or make fun of those who could not go the distance.

 

The value of a friend is not only seen, but it is lived among those who put their lives on the line to defend a country and we KNOW THIS. What we seldom know is the task of men and women who daily fulfill the needs of the private sector, these are those civilian workers who travel dangers that you and I would not even attempt; walking on 10 to 12 inch wide beams of steel just to tighten a bolt or two so that another beam can safely be added. Even six feet off the ground is too high and dangerous for me.

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 has a lot to say about the value of friendship; friendship in all labors is better than money as a reward, a paycheck will not lift you out of a life threatening moment; but a friend will. If two are in danger of freezing or burning it is the safety of being together that will help each other to see tomorrow and not the hope of getting paid for a job well done. Even the thought of having to contend with the enemy a person at your side to help is better than reward.

 

What is even better than this? Two can get the job done; but the third one if called upon will be the strong cord will not be broken; there is strength in numbers. My friend explained that when they went to the evening banquette two of the men who did not go all the way up to the top of the tower felt as though they had let their companions down. But soon this thought was dismissed and they all shared a good outcome. We do not have to go it alone… yet many of us will not share with the other that they are drowning in a sea of loneliness.

 

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 067 - Faith and Valor

A Thought for the Day – 067 – Faith and Valor

Oppression is one of those conditions that are considered a threat to national freedom. Therefore we look at the leaders for signs of this selfish toil; will they or will they not be oppressive people. Does this nation suffer from oppressive people? We only need to look in the home. It is too sad; the oppressive self-will parent can be challenged; but we cannot ask the aborted baby. But praise God, these oppressed little ones… these have a Comforter. Ecclesiastes 4:1-4  

Comments and challenges

Each morning I seek to take the hour of writing and set it aside for a little rest and then I am reminded; “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep – so shall your poverty come on you like a robber, and your need like an armed man. Proverbs 6:10-11 now some would think that I am worried about money, that thought would be wrong. Like our nation I would suffer Spiritual poverty; such poverty like that found in Joel 1:1-20.

 

The fighting ships of the U.S. Navy are beautiful to my sight. I enjoy seeing the armament of surface power and the stealth power of the black submarine. Being a Navy career person, I understand what is inside those man-of-wars. I am not alone in this; ask any career minded Marine, Soldier, Air Man or Coast Guards Man, they know the power of their tanks, planes and vessels.

 

Here is the rub; are you a saint? Are you mindful of the Kingdom, the return of the King, the Reign of the King and the Hope we have in the King. Our submissive life in the LORD’s army began with that humbled moment in time when we looked to Jesus Christ as the suffering, resurrected Lamb of God who took upon Himself our sin.

 

One day soon we will look at Him again; why is that? Because our relationship to Jesus Christ the Son of God is more than a career, we are His committed Bride, Romans 12:1-2. We will be married; not to the suffering Lamb, but to the KING of kings and the LORD of lords, Revelation 19:16.

 

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Revelation 19:7 – how does a wife make herself ready to marry? Not with all the pomp and circumstance of a worldly wedding, but in knowing and loving the power, integrity, purpose and the plan of her husband.

 

Revelation 19:8 challenges each of the saints of God to be arrayed in fine linen, there is plenty of this linen available, but there is the responsibility for you and me to put it on, the donning of this linen is the righteous acts we are to do daily; like that of Galatians 6:1-5 or Philippians 2:1-4. Now is the time to be practicing righteousness, there will be no time to do so as we are being seated at the Supper Table. Matthew 25:1-13.

 

The day of this Supper is on the horizon, whether it is today, tomorrow or several years from now does not provide the visual of seeing the ship in the harbor, or the tank on the hilltop or even the plane in the sky. The visual and the truth of this is in seeing Jesus Christ the Son of God; patiently waiting for that day with His Father. Hebrews 12:1-2; those of us who have the testimony of Jesus; we are called to worship God; it is the spirit of prophesy that calls the unbelieving to come. Revelation 19:9-10 and Isaiah 55:1-13.

 

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 066 - Hoarders

A Thought for the Day – 066 – Hoarders

If you are a child of God by biblical definition, than it is not difficult to understand the thoughts of Solomon about the spirit of an animal that goes downward and the spirit of a man that goes upward. However; for the human who is not biblically a child of God, Solomon words of what happens to the beast also happens to man means little since both act the same. There is a difference; called judgment. God concludes that the animal does not need judgment so it’s spirit simply goes downward; while the man’s, faces the judgment of God. Ecclesiastes 3:18-22

Comments and challenges

On an ambulance call some years back we responded to a very sick elderly man. As we approached the house it became evident that the inside of the building might be very dirty as the outside was cluttered with old equipment, broken animal shelters, overgrown plants, weeds and grass and a host of other objects. The area outside the home prevented us from getting close to the door with the stretcher.

 

The front door was partially opened so we called in and the elderly man responded to come in. Inside there was a small pathway throughout the house. Eventually we found the man in the bedroom. The clutter in the house was intense and the contents of the house which, I will now call the man’s home were; one man and his reading material. Every magazine, newspaper, piece of mail, book or anything else that had words was stacked rather neatly in every room of the place.

 

The medical problem for the gent was pneumonia, so after we moved volumes of paper material so that we could get him on the stretcher and off to the hospital we began quizzing him on the reading material. He was very knowledgeable about his stuff, each stack and every room was categorized. He further explained that he believed that he had kept every newspaper or piece of literature that came into his home. We believed him!

 

Here is the rub! While I did not make a thorough search, nor did I ask; I saw no Bible, nor did I see anything of any religion except for a busted up statue outside the house. Life for this elderly person was a reminder me of mankind’s search for wisdom and understanding. For this poor soul it became an obvious bondage that crippled his ability to live a normal life. Solomon deals with these issues in Ecclesiastes and as we moved into Solomon’s house of wisdom, we will see the heart of the matter.

 

By the way, the elderly man never returned to his home, it was required of us to fill out a complaint against the house as a fire hazard, a health hazard and other objectionable barriers for elderly people to live in. He was moved to a nursing home, his house still stands (empty), in fact; it is only a couple of blocks down the road from our home. His relatives have since built a brand new house behind his old one.

 

I think I will grab an old magazine out of the closet; read, doze off or just sit a spell! “Don’t start! And yes I do have all of the “Israel My Glory” magazines ever sent to me”. More about Jesus would I know, more of His saving fullness see; more of His love who died for me! But wait! He is Risen. Alleluia, Christ the LORD is risen from the dead. I could go on and on, but I like what the apostle John has to say in John 20:30-31 and John 21:24-25. His words about Jesus thrill my soul and I hope yours too!

  

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

The Devotional - 065 - Pick me up at the Airport!

A Thought for the Day – 064 – Pick me up at the Airport!

Justice and injustice walk hand in hand in the courts, in the cathedrals, in the country and in the courtyards of our private dwellings. Why would that be says the curious observer? Because in one’s personal righteousness, wickedness is present and in one’s personal wickedness, righteousness in present; this is the evil under the sun, Ecclesiastes 3:16-17.

Comments and challenges

I once heard of a professor in California who went on a trip to Washington State to a small college for a conference. Upon returning home he called his wife to pick him up at the airport and she reported that she could not pick him up. Her reply was; “dear, you must fly back to Washington State and get the car! You drove there”! Now the story is funny and sounds untrue and it has been so long ago that I heard it, I cannot remember if it was true; but I am home and the truck is in the garage.

 

Isn’t memory nice? And forget it, don’t place your glasses on the top of your head, surely you will spend hours looking for those things. How can we ever find something we can’t see as we grope around in our blindness to find it? This is the way we look for answers to prayer too! We look to God to answer a prayer, than we go to all the physical and familiar spots expecting to find or see the provision of our request.

 

I am becoming convinced that when we pray specifically for something in The Righteousness of Jesus Christ and in the Power of the Holy Spirit; Romans 13:14 that God immediately answers the prayer. Jeremiah 33:3; but we look for His answer in all the common areas of our human realm. God is not obligated to answer us in in our way of thinking, if He was obligated to respond physically, there would be no Spiritual Growth. There is a simpler answer or application to this thought in John 4:23-24.

 

No doubt we have these verses memorized and no doubt if you are like me; after approaching the Throne of God in prayer for old Susie’s health; we expect to see young Susie recover; when we see her again and “there she is” still old… we grumble and say to the LORD, “well LORD, you will answer in your time. I say “Bah Humbug!” God has answered the prayer, old Susie’s soul is as fresh as the day God gave it to her and it is our soul that we have covered with physical blindness that needs the cleansing once again for looking in all the wrong places for the physical answer. James 4:1-10

 

Now what I am saying requires a deeper study, one of which I am not equipped at this point in time to focus on, but it is occurring to me and reassuring too that since I am in pain with this current event in my life and I am not alone in this so I am not trying say “Whoopee! Look at me!” my intention is to point out that we often look to the immediate release or answer to be something of what we want. When God in fact; has a different answer; one that is directly related to our soul’s encouragement and spiritual growth and we often reject it. It is our soul life that God is interested in; while our interest is in our physical life.

 

Sort of like the child who has a brother or sister and sees that the glass of milk given to the other sibling is fuller than the one he or she got and says to the parent. I don’t what that glass… “I want the one Susie has” and God says, “Ah”! Child, “you have it, you just don’t see it” open those spiritual eyes and close your physical ones. Here is another simple thought. When did God save you? Are you still waiting or did He immediately answer you? Yes, He immediately answered you; physically and experientially we live this out in the partial blessing of God the Holy Spirit and I believe that the same applies to our prayers.

 

The physical life and spiritual life of the believer walk hand in hand but remember the outward man is decaying while the inner man is growing; the apostle Paul puts it this way; see 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.

 

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com

Hebrews 9:28 - so Christ was offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time without sin unto salvation.  Jesse <><

The Devotional - 063 - Job's Condition

A Thought for the Day – 063 – Job’s Condition?

Have to backup as we travel through Ecclesiastes 3 to verse 11. I think that this verse of scripture is one of the best in Ecclesiastes. Let’s read it together: He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He (God) has put eternity in their (yours and mine) hearts, except that no one (man or woman) can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. (I see this as a point in time for every human being, but from God’s point in eternity, where time is not relevant the view is endless).

Comments and challenges

Over the years while reading Proverbs daily I stumble through Proverbs 30:2 which usually slaps me around. The verse says: “Surely I am more stupid than any man, and do not have the understanding of a man”. Now I know that wisdom and understanding is vast and that no one person can have an answer that satisfies all questions. “I mean even the “Answer Grape” – “back in the day” did very well, but today he is all wrinkles, next to the “I-pad”!

 

By now most of you know that I have “shingles” when I first began to notice the tingling around the waist I thought nothing of it, but as time moved forward and I began to be vocal about the disturbing and advancing irritation. People who had this before me would have this very concerned look on their face and say things like; “O Jesse” I hope it isn’t the shingles?” Like I always do; I just brushed it off and made light hearted remarks about the developing dilemma.

 

I have stopped being light hearted… woe to the person who has shingles. It is without a doubt extremely painful. Words do not describe it. I have been beaten in life by some of the best, but compared to shingles those beatings if all were to take place right at this moment would be less painful. Fortunately there is medication (which I said in my heart – I’m not taking that drug!) I’m taking it now and it is the only reason that I can write this morning.

 

The days leading up to this morning have led me to think a lot about Job, and if it were not for my wife who spoke about Job this morning before going to work; I would be searching around for something else to write about. I feel certain that Job did not have shingles, especially the type which we deal with these days; Job 2:7 clearly tells us that Satan stuck Job with boils from the bottom of his feet to the very top of his head.

 

The similarity that I wish to draw from this is that the area of shingles is a patch of small boils that are most painful to the skin, like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Now I am not bragging or complaining, nor am I seeking to compare myself with Job. I only want to say that this causes me to focus on the debilitating consequences of SIN, and DEATH. These are the only tools that Satan has, but these are more than adequate to destroy MANKIND.

 

There is VICTORY over all of what Satan does to man, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:20-58. You and I have been defeated in life with SIN and DEATH, sin wrecks everything we touch and death follows. There is an escape from this sin and death that God the Father has given as a gift to EVERYONE who will believe HIM. Verse 20… But now Christ is raised from the dead, the first of many who will follow. I will let you continue to read through to verse 58. Don’t stumble through verses 29-34, there are good answers that we can get to at some point in the future.

 

Since I did not sleep well last night I think I will let you finish this devotional as you see fit about what God has given to YOU and ME through the LORD Jesus Christ. He has given us eternity in our hearts, that when we see Jesus as our Savior we will know that there is nothing better in life to do then to rejoice and do good through the Holy Spirit as God has provided. So eat, drink and enjoy the good of your labor – it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:12-15.

For scripture references please CTRL+ click on the following website: http://www.biblos.com