High country agreed with me. I seem to breath a lot easier where the air ain’t cluttered up with a lot of people and their ways.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Cain…Just Cain)
“For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
–Isaiah 55:12 (NKJV)
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“Who is the King of glory? The Lord God Almighty in battle is He!” Thus is the answer given in the last verse of Psalm 24. But before that question can be answered we must look to the previous verses. They are essential if we are to learn to worship properly. Serving the Lord is not as you please, but as He commands. It is not the way you want and if others do not like it tough. No, worship must follow His guidelines. Notice that there are two places where the term “Selah” is mentioned. Do what it says, “Think on this!”
1 – The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord;
2 – for He laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers.
3 – Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?
4 – The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not set his mind on what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully.
5 – He will receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 – Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 – Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in.
8 – Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.
9 – Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in.
10 – Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah (HCSB)
First of all there is a clamor in the world about the condition of it. Global warming, environmental issues, toxic gases and on we hear. Remember, there will be a day of reckoning for man was to have dominion over the earth. It belongs to God and man was given the responsibility of being a steward. The earth is groaning due to the curse; there will be a day of reckoning.
Second, there is a prescription for proper worship. Who can stand in His holy place? It’s a short list, but all-encompassing.
1) He must have clean hands.
2) He must have a pure heart.
3) He must not think of falsehoods and false practices.
4) He cannot have sworn deceitfully.
There are the qualifications and they haven’t changed. This is not legalism but true worship. This is worship of the will for the qualifications to enter the Holy Place have to do with the will. The Scriptures continually point out that the outward will reflect the inward. Take heed.
George A.F. Knight makes this comment concerning entering the Holy Place of the Lord. It is NOT: Have you kept the Law? or have you performed the required sacrifices? Instead you MUST HAVE: clean hands, which mark outwardly the cleanness of the heart within and carefully avoid overt evil ways.
Finally, there is a grand finale. Who is the Lord of glory? Look! Contemplate! Take heed to Whom you worship and owe allegiance! Remember, the Lord of Host is the commander of the armies of heaven. There is so much about the Lord being a commander and fighting battles in Scripture, yet, perhaps we have, as Dorothy Sayers said, allowed our modern and enlightened society to successfully declawed the Lion of Judah. Don’t be mistaken, He is soon to roar!
“The king of glory! Who can tell
The wonders of his might?
He rules the nations; but to dwell
With saints is his delight.”
–Isaac Watts
Month: July 2019
Coffee Percs
She came with coffee and he sat down with his back to the wall and cupped it in his hands. Never had coffee tasted so good.”
–Louis L’Amour (Kilrone)
I know, I know, I’m late and burnin’ daylight. Pard, reckon I’m just becomin’ a lazy bum. But wait’ll yuh taste the coffee and it’ll make yuh forget that I was slow in movin’ round this mornin’. Ahhh, now tell me that ain’t good coffee. If’n yuh do, yur a-lyin’.
I’m still a little achy from that tumble I took the other day. No, it wasn’t ’cause I didn’t check my cinch, or that the wife was flirtin’ with me. I’d been doin’ some work, cuttin’ wood and had sat down to get the fire started so I could grill. Stomach was gettin’ upset so I figured it was somethin’ I et for lunch. I stood up, took a step, and then started my downward fall. Yuh know, I used to dive for ground balls, but now that ground seems harder and it comes up to greet yuh. Reckon I had a touch of heat exhaustion.
Beginnin’ to figure out I’m not as spry as I used to be.
Say Pard, did yuh hear that Starbucks, I think in Tempe, AZ, asked some police officers to leave because their presence was scarin’ a customer? Just throw it in the pile with the rest of the absurd things. Hmmm, I didn’t think yuh could refuse a customer. Let’s see bakers have been sued for not doin’ gay or transgender cakes. Listen, there’s just somethin’ wrong with this picture. More and more that scripture has been comin’ to mind. “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20, NKJV). Look at that first word, “Woe”. Now, that’s a frightful word when the Lord uses it! Folks should be fallin’ on their knees to thank the good Lord for His patience.
My, yuh shore did guzzle that coffee down. Oh, ’cause I was late, yuh had to drink fast so yuh could get yur errands done. Okay, Pard, next week I’ll hopefully be back on track. Yuh be havin’ a good weekend. Be shore to visit the Lord’s house this Sunday, and don’t be takin’ a tumble like I did–check yur cinch.
Echoes From the Campfire
He had always told him that a man owed it to his neighbors and to his country to serve when duty called, and he should never ask about reward.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Buckskin Line)
“That each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor [being available for God’s purpose and separated from things profane].”
–1 Thessalonians 4:4 (AMP)
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There was no “Echo” yesterday, I hope you noticed, as it was a day to celebrate the birthday of this great nation of ours. Despite the problems, and there are some, this has been the greatest nation on earth–end of argument.
In my last two decades of teaching I always prayed that the Lord would guide me to have three words for the students that I would emphasize during the year. No more than three, for I wanted to keep it simple, and give them something to remember throughout the year, and hopefully into the future. For example: dedication–honor–faith. One thing almost never changed, the second word–Honor. Honor is one of those words that has made America great. It was something the founding fathers understood as they attached it to their signature in the Declaration of Independence.
“We mutually pledge, to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
What then is “honor”? It is one of those words hard to define. Go to the dictionary and it would say, “something that is honorable.” It is easier to say what honor is or what it is not rather than to define it. Honor–one does not lie, cheat or steal. Honor–is a life of service and sacrifice. Honor–is courtesy, manners, and proper bearing. Honor–is a sense of humility as you understand that you are a part of a larger picture. Honor–is obedience, loyalty, and steadfastness. Honor–is being faithful.
When you see someone kneel during the National Anthem or when the flag passes by–that is not honor! That is someone with a chip on their shoulder; someone with arrogance and mockery in their heart. Someone who despises the sacrifice of others so that they can live in this great nation. Problems, and through the hardship and the years many have been solved. Are there still problems? The answer is yes, and if we continue to be a people of honor, through hardship, sacrifice, and time they will be worked on and solved, but not if we are people who are not men and women of honor.
I would like to close the Echo for this date with the words from General Douglas MacArthur.
“Duty–Honor–Country. Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points; to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn… The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and, I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule…
“They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success, not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion on those who fail; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life…”
As the world, and this country continues to move toward globalism and our basic foundational truths are being challenged, it is time for us to again regain honor. As our flag is being mocked so is the cross of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. It is time to regain honor and be steadfast in our resolve to stand, and after having done all to continue to stand–that is honor!
Echoes From the Campfire
Joy of life, radiance of creation, peace and solitude, wholesomeness and sweetness of nature, the exquisite beauty of woodland and wasteland at the break of day, and a marvelous, inscrutable, divine will pervaded that wilderness scene.”
–Zane Grey (Nevada)
“So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.”
–Hebrews 10:23(AMPC)
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How hard it is for us to get in a spot of quiet anticipation. The world is in so much turmoil, and our lives seem to be so busy, we cannot find time to rest properly. Even when there is that moment, we turn to social media. The mind is constantly being flooded with information. In the midst of all of this, Jesus is trying to talk to us; trying to remind us.
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”
–John 14:1 (NKJV)
Perhaps we should make it our prayer and then a priority to be given a quiet mind, a mind that trusts in God. We need to put the things that worry our mind aside, especially those things that have not happened and our worry for the future. Begin a practice of trusting in God, for He is on our side. There was a grand song in the church in ages past that should be revived. Seldom have I heard it played or sung, yet the truth of this magnificent song can put our souls to rest, “Be Still, My Soul.”
“Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side,
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain,
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thro’ thorny ways leads to a joyful end.”
–Katharina von Schlegel
“I don’t have patience,” you may cry, but if you are a Christian, there is patience within you. It is part of the Fruit of the Spirit. I believe one of the snares of the devil today is to keep us so busy, to constantly keep us moving and not waiting on the Lord. How many times do you get on your phone when there is an opportunity to get alone and quiet with God? It takes patience to help you to bear the evils of life.
“Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and wind still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.”
You try to push through the problem and obstacles. You seek to go this way and that way. The problem becomes larger and looms over you ready to crush you. “God do something!” you cry but you fail to realize that He already is, you just have not taken the time to be quiet and still before Him. Is God in charge or are you in charge, or maybe the circumstance is in charge?
“Patience demonstrates a sweet submission to the providential appointments of God, and shows fortitude in the presence of duties that drain strength and provide no quick reward. Patience is the outcome of faith working with grace.”
–Carlos Murphy
“Be still, my soul; the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.”
In this troublesome time there is a need for us to learn to rest in the Lord. The world, and even the church, seems to demand “hype”, keeping the soul in turmoil instead of just resting in the presence of the Lord. I would tell you to grasp hold of God’s Word and gain that calm assurance.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
–Hebrews 10:23(NKJV)