I didn’t have to look, I could smell it. The devil’s emissary was sitting there. I wondered if anyone else could smell his stench in the car, or was I the only privileged one.
“Friend Miles,” came the snickering voice. “Are you having a bad day?”
I wanted to close my eyes and just ignore it, but Merker was there–somewhere. “I can tell you where he is,” came the voice.
Looking in his direction, I received a cackle. “Not that easy,” it informed me. “Remember, a life for a life. Hmmm, who will I take?”
Death is a mocker! Death has always mocked man and it mocked the Lord Jesus, but because of His victory death no longer has any sting. I hadn’t said anything, but when those thoughts went through my mind I saw the Pale Rider recoil. I wasn’t about to make any deals with the devil or any of his minions. I wanted to thump him good with the Greener, but knew it wouldn’t do any good; a man can’t fight spirit with flesh and blood.
Turning my face I focused on the passengers in the car and began to quietly whisper a prayer. With that the Pale Rider started in again. “You can’t get rid of me that easy. I’m on your trail.”
Without turning I said, “I don’t have to get rid of you to know that you’re defeated. The cross of Calvary took away your power over me,” then I slowly turned my head. “In fact, death is really the beginnin’.”
That brought a snarl, and a revelation. Death was gone, riding away on his pale horse, but I also knew where Merker was. Something inside me said that Merker was up on the tender car.
I opened the door quietly and found the noise of the train on the track deafening. Slowly I ascended the ladder up the back of the tender car. I peered over and hunkered down on the coal was Merker. He saw me and quickly fired a shot. I jerked, one foot fell off the ladder and I was holding with one hand and handing on to the Greener with the other. Finally, I was able to bring my foot back to the rung. Descending I went quickly back inside the passenger car and thrust my shotgun at the person in the seats.
She was an old, white-haired bespectacled lady and her eyes widened as I placed the Greener in her hands. “Don’t let anyone have it!” I ordered, then went back outside and up the tender car.
As I reached the top I saw Merker now moving up over the coal. He looked back and fired at me. I took a shot at him; the bullet found his hip and he fell. He was half crawling, half trying to stand to make it over the coal and into the locomotive. All I could see was his foot; I took aim and the bullet found its target. Even with the sound of the train, I could hear him moan.
He was twisting around to where he could get a shot at me. I was moving up on the coal trying to balance myself with one hand while the train swayed back and forth along the rails. There came a curse, another shot; I felt the tug on my sleeve. He was pushing himself down into the cab; I shot at his knee, it was the only thing that was exposed, then he disappeared. He must be in the cab with the engineer and fireman.
Crawling along the top I found it wet with blood; lots of it. I peaked over the edge. Merker had the fireman in his grasp, barely able to stand with his gun pointed at his head.
“This is it, Forrest! Climb down or I’ll blow his head off!” he screamed.
I don’t know how he was standing. There were two bullets in one leg and another in his other hip; he had to be weakening. Looking down I saw his foot exposed. “Why not?” I thought to myself.
“Buddy, hang on!” I yelled, fired and my bullet shattered the bones in his foot. Merker jumped, just enough that the fireman was able to pull away and grab hold of something. The train was swaying and it was it finishing rounding a curve. Merker was falling to the floor when there was a jerk. Merker screamed as he off the side. The engineer began immediately to put on the brakes while I climbed down into the cab.
It takes a while to slow down a locomotive, especially without the brakemen given notice, but I had to be sure this time. It was near a half mile from where Merker fell off when the train came to a stop. I jumped off and started running back almost colliding with the conductor near the caboose. I noticed that the brakemen were on top; they must have jumped up there as soon as the engine began to put on brakes.
Running down the tracks I came across a severed leg lying by the rail. In a few minutes I saw a crushed, mangled body of Merker lying partially on the tracks. I slowed to a walk. When I came to him, he was a bloody mess; his clothes half torn off. He was twisted and when I turned to confirm his face I saw something that made me jump back. That grin was there; the one I had first encountered during the War–the Devil’s Grin.
By that time the conductor reached me, followed closely behind by the two brakemen. “Lewis Merker,” I told him.
“Who’s Lewis Merker? he questioned, looking down at the deceased.
“The man who has been tryin’ to kill me, my friends and family for several years,” I replied, then turned. “Get his body wrapped up and placed next to the man in the baggage car. Walk up after we’ve started again and I’ll fill you in.”
I almost grinned, but it was not the one that Merker was carrying. It was a grin of relief, I uttered a prayer of thanks to the Lord and thought, “a life for a life.”
Month: June 2019
Echoes From the Campfire
Lots of people talk about what the Lord wants. Wonder how many has ever asked Him?”
–Elmer Kelton (The Good Old Boys)
“And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
–Philippians 4:19(AMPC)
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There is probably not a more recognizable chapter in the Bible than Psalm 23 and next to John 3:16 the most memorized verses. There is so much that has been said about these six verses, and yet there is so much more to be said. They are verses of comfort, exhortation, encouragement, and inspiration. They give hope when there seems to be no hope left. G. Campbell Morgan said, “When this is said all is said. Whatever may be added is only to help us understand the fullness of this great truth… If we wander, we are not abandoned. In the darkest hours he is still with us. In our conflicts he upholds us.”
1 – The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
2 – He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 – He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
4 – Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.
5 – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 – Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in[d] the house of the Lord
as long as I live. (HCSB)
It is hard for me to say this without referring back to the King James. But whatever version you read this from the great truths just seem to flow. Look how concise Henry W. Baker puts this Psalm.
“The king of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I lack nothing if I am his
And he is mine forever.”
Spend just a few minutes looking just at verse one. “There is nothing I lack” if the Lord is truly my Shepherd. The NLT puts it this way, “…I have everything I need.” WOW! Just grasp ahold of that thought! Paul surely understood it when he wrote, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19, NKJV) Notice it is “need” singular for our only need is Christ, and if we have that we have everything I need.
Look at the first five words:
“The” — He is the only God; He isn’t a Lord; He is the Lord!
“LORD” — This name emphasizes His amazing grace, love, and faithfulness to us.
“Is” — Present tense verb shows that God lives. He is the same today as He was yesterday.
“My” — God is not an abstract power. He is personal.
“Shepherd” — He loves and cares for His sheep, even dying for them.
Listen, all we need for eternity is verse 1. This is to understand God and be at home with Him. It seems that we are always in the “asking mode” when in reality He has given us everything we need. Perhaps we wish for and want more than we really need. When it comes right down to it, when you are on death’s doorstep, what is it that you need? More money, more time, more energy, or more of Jesus Christ? A quick, simple glance at the remaining five verses and it is clear to see that we are not wandering in this life, but we are definitely being led.
Coffee Percs
When the rest of them get here, I figure to have coffee on. He sets store by fresh black coffee.”
–Louis L’Amour (Lando)
That’s sure enough the truth, Pard. Here we are again, Saturday mornin’, sittin’ at the table, drinkin’ some of that hot, black elixir. Ahhh, if that doesn’t make the gizzard shout for joy, I don’t know what will.
I’ve been doin’ some ponderin’; yeah, I know that’s dangerous for this ol’ fence post, but after what Ira wrote yesterday ’bout them pesky chiggers I was wonderin’ if some folk out there aren’t chiggers in human form. They’re the kind that really drive you crazy; makes yuh itch all over, and sometimes yuh get to wonderin’ if yur insides ain’t itchin’ as well. Here’s what I’m talkin’ about. There’s a sanctuary city where the mayor is suing the President because too many illegals are comin’ to find sanctuary in their city. Now if that don’t cause yuh to be scratchin’ at yur head, I don’t know what will. Why to look, must less hear some of those folk (that mouth from California especially) make me itch all over–yep, shore ‘nough, they must be human chiggers. The difference is that you can see these folk.
The ol’ steel mount is packed an’ ready to go. We’ve got to hit the trail for a couple of days. Granddaughter has a job over in the Hill Country an’ we’re takin’ her. Don’t yuh be frettin’ none, gun’s oiled and ready, coffee and fixin’s are packed, Bible is in the pocket, and I have the missus ridin’ shotgun to help me along the way so the hostiles don’t gang up on us. What’s that? Did I check my cinch? Pard, what kind of question is that?
Echoes From the Campfire
Living is something that should be real. We should take it as best we can, as deep and wide and full as we can. We shouldn’t ever be small or ever be afraid.”
–Ernest Haycox (The Border Legion)
“Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines, For our vines have tender grapes.”
–Song of Solomon 2:15(NKJV)
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Irritation!–those small, pesky things that drive you crazy. Ever had a speck of dust in your eye, or an eyelash? Something so small, but it irritates you until you get it removed. Maybe you’ve had to wait in line at a fast-food restaurant just a little longer than you wanted–didn’t it irritate you, or someone in front of you at a light doesn’t take off as fast as you wanted them to–it just makes you irritated.
Annie and Kimberly took Julee on a walk through the woods. They didn’t know it at the time, but there were pesky little critters out there waiting for them. Both of them are now covered and itching “like crazy” with chigger bites. Scratch, scratch, scratch–oh, the irritation! Something invisible and yet it is causing you misery. Then there are people; certain individuals who are not bad, but their personality just doesn’t mesh with yours. The kind of people that when they hang around you it makes you irritated; they say something and you just have to roll your eyes.
Life is full of irritations! I guess we get irritated because things do not go the way we want them. Hurry, hurry, get out of my way, you’re irritating me. Scratch some more–these things itch. Then we search for answers, how can I stop this itch? How can I avoid these people? How can I…?
Somethings in life are going to irritate us–like those little critters. Mosquitoes buzzing their high-pitched sound in your ear. Chiggers biting, devouring a piece of flesh. Even something as small as a pimple can bring a little pain, enough to irritate us, and it always is on the nose or middle of the forehead. A cut shows from a nick from the razor while shaving–irritation.
Then there are things we do in life when we stop and say–dummy! We spill something; invariably when I get a new shirt right off the bat I’ll spill something on it–irritates me. We knock a glass off the table, we rush and don’t take time and bump something causing it to break–dummy!
For some, life itself is an irritation. Everything, everyone, is an irritation to some people. It shouldn’t be that way. Some tend to go through life cynical and pessimistic. They look for things that will irritate them. That should not be. We should be living the day to the fullest. This is the day the Lord has made, we should be rejoicing not irritated that the alarm went off in the morning.
Learn to live life to the fullest, and by that I don’t mean to party-hardy, but to live in obedience to God’s word and will. Only then will not irritations not bother us so much. Impatience is one of the chief causes of irritation, but why are we impatient? What would a few more seconds matter, or why didn’t we plan better? Learn to be patient. Hmmm, aren’t you glad our heavenly Father is patient with us? I sure don’t want to irritate the Lord. As far as mosquito and chigger bites, well–keep on scratching.