12/31 Quips from Hosea

“Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart”. (Hosea 4:11)

Our hearts, as Christians, belong to the Lord. Our attention, and allegiance belong to Him, and we must be careful to guard these precious things, and never allow ourselves to be given over to lusts and wine. Once we have developed a “taste” for wine, and began to “play the whore” against our God, our hearts turn to other things. Anything that removes us from our natural state is evil; it is controlling and wicked, and will eventually destroy us. A helpful anagram is taught to our children, but it is also important to adults:

We need to be alert, and watch for the subtle ruses of Satan; Some things we need to watch or guard:
Words;
Actions;
Thoughts;
Companions;
Hearts.

Guard your heart against the fiery darts of the devil.

Quips from Hosea

“And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope:” (Hosea 2: 15)

The “Valley of Achor” was a place of weeping. The Lord will sometimes give us weeping for hope. There is hope in trials, while mirth and gaiety is folly; the happiness this world offers is a fake happiness, founded on worldly principles, and worthless in the realm of the righteous; it is stubble instead of straw. Yes, our hope lies in the strength of adversity; in the “crying times” we see the Lord work best in our lives. Our prayers are best rendered when we are “hurting” and they seem to gain in intensity as we speak them to the Lord. These are the prayers that stir the heart of God; these are those which move Him, in His great compassion to intercede on our behalf. The earnest prayer of a broken and contrite heart gain the ear of our Mighty God, and things begin to happen—good things, things of truth and honor. So…though it could be a reproach to some, the Valley of Achor becomes a blessing to others, because they call upon the Lord in their distress. Solomon, the “wise one”, also spoke of this in the Ecclesiastes; he knew of the power of sorrow, and the worth of mirth.

Quips From Hosea

For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. (Hosea 2:8)

How many of us spent much of our lives in the same state as these? I know I did. I didn’t know that all the blessings around me, and that were given me were from the Lord; I was “my own man” and made things happen MY way, or so I thought. I had given my life to the false gods of this world, lust; materialism; humanism, oh, I had many gods, but like so many others, I did not recognize THE God, the Most High, Almighty God. I thank Him with all my heart that He reached out to me in spite of myself, and saved me. His love reached through the stone wall of resistance that I had built; it scaled the wall of self satisfaction and pride, and chased me with an easy and blessed gait. Thank God that it ran me down until I became weary with running, and succumbed to the greatest thing that man could ever imagine, the grace of God.
One wonders how many others out there in that big old world have the same dilemma? How many don’t know that God is their Provider, their benefactor? We need to let them know how gracious our Lord really is.

The Wickedness around Us

The Wickedness around Us

Often, as I am dwelling on, and praying about the wickedness of this world, a fit of mild depression comes over me. We hear the daily news; read the newspapers, and it seems that all hope for sanity has been swept away by conniving minds, and workers of iniquity. We are surrounded on every side by humanism, and immorality, and flagrant idolatry and it seems as though we are thrown into the pot with them, and all is coming to a boil, but praise God that he is in control. As I dwell on these things, I am also reminded of my part in them!
Yes, I have a part in the wickedness of the world too, and so do all of us. Let us not be too quick to condemn, lest we fall into our own judgment, and wallow in a wretched pool of filth. You see, I have to be reminded that I am as wicked as they, except that I have put certain restraints on that wickedness, or rather, the Lord has, and now I am guided by His Blessed Spirit.

Yes, we seem to be living in a cesspool of evil, and there is not much that we can do about it on our own, but thank the Lord, he can do something; He can change lives and hearts. Let this be our prayer; that God would stir the hearts of His people to pray, and that He would change the hearts of others and turn them around, and change the entire world by doing so. Though we dwell amidst evil, we need not be companions with it; seek the wonderful life-changing grace of God, and “draw nigh” unto Him.

The Truth About Christmas

More about Christmas

Christmas is not about Hanukkah;
Christmas is not about quazon (SP?);
It is not about “Xmas“,
It is not about Santa Claus--
Christmas is about Christ!

We are squeezing Christ out of Christmas!

It is not “Happy Holidays”,
But “Merry Christmas” is what it’s all about.
How can Christmas be merry without Christ?
How can “Happy Holidays” be happy without Christ?
Let’s give Christmas back to Whom it was for;

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

What is life?

A cessation in eternity,
Limited by beginning and end;
Compassed of blessings and afflictions,
Of great joy, and multiplied sorrows;
Of sunshine and shadows,
And moments of love;
Of hate, and envy and strife and pride.

Life—the mystery of the universe;
The prize of every mortal;
The laughter of an elated heart;
The tears of a bereaved soul;
It is highs, and lows,
Good and bad;
Health and sickness,
Wealth and poverty;

It’s remorse and gladness,
It’s goodness and evil;
It’s gentleness and harshness,
Anger and temperance.
A mixture of all these,
Wrapped in a shell of flesh;
Bursting into eternity,
Yet subject to time.

Life is boldness and fear,
It’s pride and humility;
It’s piety and extravagance,
Flamboyance and obscurity.
It is love and hate,
Passion and sedateness;

Ah, life—with all its intrinsic little secrets;
Its great hold on our eternal souls.
How does one fit in?
Simply by being all he can for the cause of Christ.
By trusting Him over all fears,
Anxieties, and every obstacle that might cause one to stumble;
And going forward,
Walking, working toward eternity.

Life is height and depth,
It’s soaring and falling;
It’s wickedness and poverty,
And riches and grace;
It’s a commitment to all these—and more;
It’s a rapid rush toward eternity,
And a slow, peaceful gait;

Oh, who can describe this mystery of life?
Who can tell of what it consists?
It is the “breath of God” given to man;
It’s natures’ hope, and animals’ joy.
It’s a mist, a vapor that is seen,
And soon passes;
Gone, dissipated into thin air of eternity;
Oh mortal, cling to life,
For what it’s worth; cherish it.

Life is merely the postponement of death!
Make the most of it with Jesus.

Principles for Giving:

1. Give cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7);
2. Give liberally (Prov. 11:25);
3. Give anonymously (Mt. 6:3);
4. Give to a need (Deut. 15:11);
~Much of our giving is for impression, or for gaining the favor of another.
~Don’t give to the rich in hope of gaining their favor.(Prov. 22:16)
5. Give as if giving alms to the poor.
~many times we give to those having a hard time in another area of their lives in hope of cheering them up. This is not true giving. Though the intent is good, we are not to think we can relieve sorrow with riches.

6. Giving must fulfill a definite need in the lives of others; (they may need cheering up, but that comes through the hand and instrumentality of the Lord.)
7. Giving must fit the need;
~True giving fulfills a need for others, and not necessarily for self gratification.
8. Give ungrudgingly (1 Peter 4:9, 10);
9. Give with no hope of return or reward (Exodus 22:25);
This is true giving--from the heart--it is genuine and productive.
10. Never give to oppress another; to make feel they “owe” us something, or are obligated to us.
~Some give to promote themselves over another; to belittle the poor. (Zech 7:10)

12/10 "The Early Bird..."

The Early Bird

I usually get up, and out of bed before the “crack” of dawn. I sit, and wait for that lazy old sun to rise, and for a new day to begin; sometimes it seems as if it will take forever, but then I see it wakening and stretching its arms across the sky. I can almost see that first yawn of brightness, as the sun peeks over the horizon, and I know then that soon he’ll be lighting my day. He will send some heat my way, along with the brightness of his glory. Yes, old sol, that great orb in the sky will shine for another day, and then slowly fizzle out and sink once again into a deep slumber below the western horizon, and the cycle begins anew after awhile. It is a “natural occurrence”; it is ordained to be so every day until the final day when the Lord decides that the time has been fulfilled, and He sets this earth at rest. Until that day, I hope to rise early and spend the early morning hours with Him; I hope to have some quiet time—some “quality time” with my Lord, and to finally rest in His bosom at the last day. I hope to use the daylight hours to glorify my God, and to uplift His glorious name. It’s what happens between sunrise and sunset that matters most though, because that’s when I am available for His service; that is when I function the best. Some mock my patterned life, but let them mock; some miss out on the joy of the morning and the fellowship of their God because they are as lazy as the sun itself, and rise just as slowly; they fizzle out quickly and seek the repose of the slothful, and dread the coming day ahead. Let them rest, and I will glory in the morning, in the presence of my King.

Fellowship

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

When we walk with the Lord, we walk in the light. Psalm 104:2 tells us that the Lord covers Himself with light: ‘Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain’. God is light; He is love; He is all, and in all. When we break fellowship with the Father, we walk in darkness, just as the heathen do; we are no longer in His light! We need to see the atrocious effects of sin in our lives, and realize that when we are not in fellowship with the Father, we are in fellowship with Satan, the prince of darkness.

This chapter deals with “fellowship” and not salvation. Many seem to think that if we die with unconfessed sin in our lives, we will not be forgiven for them! What about Calvary? The blood of Christ is sufficient to cleanse us from all sin, past, present, and future, and the promise is secure to all of us in Christ. (v.9). My friends, if you are “In Christ“, and He in you, your sins are gone! Forever gone! Let us be vigilant, and guard the precious gift of the Light that is bestowed us, and not break fellowship with the Father by walking with the devil, nor by walking in his darkness. Thank God for the Light.