Month: May 2016

The Daily Paine

by Ira Paine, Posted on

“No human creature ever entered a desert oasis without joy, nor left it without regret.”   –Zane Grey

“He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land;
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand.
And covers me there with His hand.”
–Fanny J.Crosby

How many bones lie just a hillside away from the oasis, the spring of life? How many, with just a little more effort, would have made it over the rise to see the refreshing water below? How many, if they would have just endured a little longer, and not given in to the struggle of life would have made it to the reviving water? How many, how many, if they would not have parted from the way, gotten disoriented, would have made it from one water tank to another? Their stories will never be told, and if one would have to come across their bleached bones in the wilderness can only surmise what happened.
If we really grasp the lessons that the wilderness will teach we find it is not for our destruction, but for our growth and salvation. All self-sufficiency is stripped away. As Zeb Long points out, “In the wilderness the veneer of meaning is stripped away. Here we fall into the abyss of chaos and beyond, into a deeper abyss of God’s mysterious love. In the wilderness we meet the devil in a thousand forms who tempts and torments us. We meet ourselves as enemy and friend. We encounter God in a combat of opposing wills.”
With effort, with trust in God, with the development of your character your will not be among those fallen along the wayside. The dangers of the wilderness are real, be sure of it. It is in the wilderness, however, that we will find true knowledge of ourselves. We will come to know who we really are. We will also find that our knowledge of God grows and our relationship deepens. It is in the wilderness that we come to realize the grace of God. So as you gaze on those high rugged peaks and feel the wind swoop down through the canyons, understand the height of the wilderness. Gaze out on the desert, look into the canyons and the heated valleys of the desert and understand the depth of the wilderness. Let these fill your soul and then look into the face of God from whose love nothing can separate us.
The wilderness, a dangerous place. Life can be lost; a person can die and never be found. Life can also be gain; a person can die to self, and find real life in Christ. That is the main challenge of walking in the wilderness; it is the challenge to stand alone and then walk with God. The pity is when man is in the wilderness and never finds God, they only see despair.

Ira Paine

“Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”      –Isaiah 43:19 (NASB)

The Daily Paine

by Ira Paine, Posted on

“Friendships don’t have to be proven in conversation.”
–Elmer Kelton

“They rode because of loyalty to one another…. They also rode because in each of them there was a sense of what was right and what was justice, although none of them would have admitted to it or would have known how to phrase it. They had never learned how to rationalize, and their world was a simple one where right and wrong were quite obvious.”
–Louis L’Amour

Last Saturday we had a fine time. We met up with some old, hmmm that’s not right, some friends of the past. One of them is getting married and the friends of the past were getting together. That’s the thing about friends. You may not have seen them for years, but when you do, if they were friends you just take up from where you left off. The Bill Gaither song comes to mind:

“Loving God, Loving each other,
Making music with my friends.”

Now, I have made some music with my friends though none of it was very melodious. It was the music of dust, grim, grit, and scraps of the ballfield. The sound of an axe making music in the camp. Then there is the music that comes from the sound of battle, When facing the onslaught of the enemy there is that music that rings with the sounds of the guns, whether it be actual battle or fighting in the spiritual realm. There is also that music of just sitting on the shores of a lake or the rushing waters of a high mountain stream. There is that music that can be heard only when there is silence and you know you can count of your friend being there by your side.
A friend is one who will face the music with you; stand by your side in the heat of battle. A friend is one who may not understand your pain, but will go through the pain with you. A friend is one who will take care of your home when you are not there to do so yourself, or not able. I understand that in one manner each of us has to travel this life alone, that is undeniable. Yet there are friends who will walk along side. Each person must stand before his Creator–alone; yet there were friends along the way that helped him when he fell down or was weary with the load.
Friends can be as close as family, and in some cases even closer. There is that Friend who is always there in the midst of gunfire that will never leave or forsake you. There is that Friend who walks along side each step that is taken, through each valley, each desolate place, and over the hills and mountains of life. Ah, “friendship with Jesus, fellowship divine.”

Ira Paine

“The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
–Proverbs 12:26 (NIV)

Echoes from the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

“Nothing is so disheartening as to rake over dead ashes, to realize that what is past is gone and can be recalled, especially youth and all the freedom and the reckless, heady luxury of life that goes with it.”
–Ernest Haycox (Return of a Fighter)

“Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all of these things God will bring you to judgment.”
–Ecclesiastes 11:9 (HCSB)