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