Echoes From the Campfire

Too bad there ain’t a law against stupidity…  If there was these morons would get life.”
               –Lou Bradshaw  (Texas War Lord)

     “He will die because there is no discipline, and be lost because of his great stupidity.”
               –Proverbs 5:23 (HCSB)
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          “I’m in the gloryland way; I’m in the gloryland way;
           Heaven is nearer, and the way groweth clearer,
           For I’m in the gloryland way.”
                  –J.S. Torbett

Oh, God, why are you doing this to me?  Why are you allowing evil to surround me and disease run rampant around me?  Why aren’t you doing anything about my dilemma?  Why?  Why?  Why?  Are these your words?  I would think that they may perhaps be the words of believers throughout the centuries.  They could be the words of Joseph or the thoughts of Job.  They could be relating the experiences of David, or the weariness of Jeremiah.  Why, Lord, why?
     Let’s finish looking at Psalm 44 today.

     20 – If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god,
     21 – wouldn’t God have found this out, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
     22 – Because of You we are slain all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
     23 – Wake up, Lord! Why are You sleeping?  Get up! Don’t reject us forever!
     24 – Why do You hide Yourself and forget our affliction and oppression?
     25 – For we have sunk down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
     26 – Rise up! Help us!  Redeem us because of Your faithful love. (HCSB)

Truly, in some things we cannot know or understand the ways of Providence.  We can do personal inventory to see if perhaps we have gone astray, but sometimes the reasons and the answers are beyond us.
     Take for example this “pandemic.”  Is it punishment upon nations that have turned against God?  Perhaps it is just something that happened, nature taking its course so to speak (which I really doubt).  Is it part of the plan of God to bring about the end of the age?  Is it a call to repentance?  Is it to get His Church ready for His return?  I really think that it could be a combination of all these.  For sure, God is sovereign and He has everything under control whether we like what is happening or not.
     You may ask why the song at the beginning, especially that particular song.  It has been on my mind, for despite all we should be in the way.  Again, look at Joseph; he was in the Lord’s will and faced all kinds of problems.  Job had no insight to the supernatural where God was allowing Satan to have his way with him.  In these, and other situations we can see God at work, and with that He is at work in us. 
     Remember the words that the Holy Spirit gave to Paul, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, HCSB)  Nothing can happen to us that will take away God’s love for us.  He is there working things out to His purpose.  As you continue in this world, through the good and bad, no matter the evil that you see, keep singing and staying in the gloryland way.  Heaven is definitely growing nearer.

              “God His own doth tend and nourish;
               In His holy courts they flourish.
               From all evil things He spares them;
               In His mighty arms He bears them.”
                       –Carolina Sandell Berg

Coffee Percs

Some people say I take my coffee a little too seriously.”
              –Steven James (The Pawn)

    “Coffee in the mornin’, coffee at noontime, coffee at suppertime…” sorry, Pard, I didn’t hear yuh come up.  I was just singin’ a little ditty that I made up.  Yuh could tell?  Hmmm, but let me tell yuh, I went nigh onto twenty-eight hours without a cup.  It shore wasn’t none of my own doin’s I can tell yuh that.
    While all the world was goin’ haywire, my own personal life was somewhat topsy-turvy as well.  No coffee!  Am I too serious about my coffee, well, let me tell yuh for a fact.  NO!  I’m not one of those coffee snobs that will only drink a certain brew with a certain method.  If’n I’m at yur house and yuh offer me a cup, I’ll accept.  Well, that is unless it’s one of those cinos.  I’ve had some poor coffee in my lifetime, but I’ve found out one thing–poor coffee is better than no coffee.
    I see yuh smilin’ an’ shakin’ yur head.  Ha, that’s good.  Takes yur mind off all the insane stupidity that’s happenin’ in this country.  I’ll swan, folks have sure become unhinged in their thinkin’.  Oh, thinkin’ is puttin’ it lightly, ’cause they ain’t thinkin’ at all.  Now I could get myself started here, but don’t want to be gettin’ my gizzard all riled up at the people who are beyond stupid.  The good Lord will take care of them when the time comes.
    Listen, lest we forget Who is in charge.  Some folk out there, bureaucrats and others, think they’re high and mighty.  Some of them laugh, scorn, and scoff at the Lord.  Now, I know the Lord has an infinite amount of patience, but there is a time when His judgment and wrath will come into play.  Right now, my trust and hope is in Him.  
    I don’t want to take things lightly either, that’s another thing for shore.  I’m alert, the guns are oiled and loaded and ready for any kind of varmint, my Bible is for sure dusted off.  I’m tellin’ my kids and grandkids to be ready for the sound of that trumpet, but there’s only so much a feller can do.
    One more thing–Yeehaw!  Yippi-ki-yo-ki-yay, don’t forget that today is the National Day of the Cowboy.  It was established by President Bush in 2005 to recognize the hardworking symbol of the American West.
    So, I’ll take my cup of that elixir that I’m fond of, strap on my pistol, take my Bible and go sit on the porch.  There might even come a nice rain to cool things off.  “Oh, coffee in the mornin’, coffee in the afternoon, coffee…”
yuh git my drift, Pard?
    Ha, I see yur mountin’ up and plumb forgot to check yur cinch.  My, my yur headin’ for a fall.

Echoes From the Campfire

As long as we are in this world and among all the evil we’ll be touched by some of it.”
              –Cliff Hudgins  (Viejo and the Ranger)

    “Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the LORD your God when He led you in the way?”
              –Jeremiah 2:17 (NKJV)
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I sincerely apologize.  I have to run out early and hurried this morning.  Need to drive an hour for a special procedure.  The doc wants to make sure the heart is ticking all right.  So, I’m giving you a devotion by Lois A. Cheney from her book, GOD IS NO FOOL.

         Once,
         A long time ago
         God spoke to a man
         And the ground around the place where
         God was speaking was so holy that he made
         the man take off his shoes, just to stand
         there.

         Once,
         When God’s house was new,
         Only certain very special and very holy
         people were allowed into its center, where
         God himself lived for it was so holy.

         Once,
         When they were carrying God’s house
         From one place to another, one of the holiest
         parts, the part that held God’s very
         words, slipped, and a man
         (he only wanted to help)
         reached out to keep it from falling, and
         God struck him dead,
         for it was so very holy.

         And
         This holy God,
         From time to time,
         a long time ago,
         talked right out to certain holy men
         like Abraham,
               and Moses,
                  and David,
                      and others.

         Today,
         We have crosses for earrings
         And crosses for necklaces
         And wallet size pictures
         of Jesus
         in living color.

         We have little saints
         for our cars;
         And we sometimes
         start important
         football games
         and baseball games
         with
         little
         prayers.

         And the God
         the Holy God
         who spoke to a certain few,
         a long time ago,
         talks right out
         to no one…
         anymore,
         as far as I know.

         God have mercy on us.

Echoes From the Campfire

A man of bad character will test how far you’ll go to take care of yourself.” 
               –Cliff Hudgins (Viejo and the Ranger)

     “Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.”
               –2 Samuel 10:12 (NKJV)
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Ponder the following verse and see how it fits in today’s society…

          “Whoever rewards evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house.”
                   –Proverbs 17:13 (NKJV)

All those who call themselves Christians but want to serve a watered-down Gospel need to hearken to this verse.  It is dangerous to be playing around with the things that God calls evil.  It is dangerous to become a partner with them.  Your and your family are in danger if you do so.  There is no place for compromise or complacency in the Kingdom of God.
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In times of trials, troubles, and adversity we need to trust upon God’s Word.  Take a close look at Romans 8:28 and the words of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (taken from Walking With God)…

          “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
                   –Roman 8:28 (NKJV)

     “…The ways in which this promise works out are almost endless; but the principle that is common to them all is that there is but one ultimate good–the knowledge of God and the salvation of our souls.  Holding that in mind, we see that trials and tribulations work out in the following ways:
     They awaken us to the fact of our over-dependence on earthly and human things.  Quite unconsciously, oftentimes we become affected by our surroundings, and our lives become less and less dependent upon God, and our interests become more and more worldly.  The denial of earthly and human comforts and joys often awakens us to the realization of this in a way that nothing else can do.
     Our trials also remind us of the fleeting nature of our life here on earth.  How easy it is to ‘settle down’ in life in this world and to live on the assumption that we are here forever…  Anything that disturbs this sloth and reminds us that we are but pilgrims here therefore stimulates us to ‘set your affection on things above’ (Colossians 3:2).”
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David went through many and various kinds of storms in his life.  Contemplate the following by David J. Strand.

          “I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”
                   –Psalm 55:8 (NKJV)

     “…Storms will come into your life!  The storm may be the fire of battle, the frustration of financial reverse, the plague of illness or injury (i.e. Covid-19), the sorrow of death, the suffering of separation, the trial of temptation.
     You will seek shelter from the storm!  You may seek shelter in financial security, in feverish activity of one sort or another, in some physical overindulgence designed to hide one from the reality of the storm.  These shelters will fail and prove ineffective!  Worse than ineffective, they will prove in themselves to be destructive to your total person.
     ‘As for me, I will call upon God, and the LORD shall save me’ (Psalm 55:16, NKJV).  This is the conclusion of the psalmist David as he sees the storm of adversity around him.  God is the only Shelter that will stand against the inevitable storms of life.
          Prayer:  Eternal and unchangeable God, I call upon you to be my guide in every avenue of life, so that when storms come, I may know the location of your sheltering presence.  Amen.”