Seems to me a man can most usually take time to contemplate, and if he does it will save him a lot of riding and a lot of headaches.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Sky-Liners)
“The wicked hope to destroy me, but I contemplate Your decrees.”
–Psalm 119:95 (HCSB)
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Welcome to 2020! The Lord has great things for each of us this year as we draw closer to Him. That is the key–we must draw to Him. What a great portion of Scripture to get us back to our study of the Psalms. These first five verses of Psalm 32 give us something to meditate upon as we start the journey through 2020. Take time this week to really look at and contemplate these verses. Dwell on them!
1 – How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!
2 – How joyful is the man the Lord does not charge with sin and in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 – When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
4 – For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah
5 – Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You took away the guilt of my sin. Selah
(HCSB)
Oh the wondrous thought of our sins being forgiven. Sin is gone! It is put out of sight! Once our sins are forgiven, all of them, we are to live in complete honesty. Become a person of integrity and let there be no deceit within you. Just think! Your sins are forgiven! I am reminded of the words so marvelously penned by Horatio G. Spafford. Let them roll through your mind; let them come forth through the day so that they are well entrenched within your heart and soul.
“My sin–oh, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin–not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
WOW! (old Greek term for “whooeee”) that just sends shivers up and down my back. All my sins, all your sins–all of them, not just a few, not just the bad ones, not just the secret ones, but ALL of them.
Sin is draining. The guilt and shame make a person feel miserable. Look at verse 3, bones begin to ache, they become brittle. Have you ever felt an ache deep into your bones? Sometimes that cannot be medicated. That’s the way sin is. It wears on you. It makes you a sour, despondent person. But, with forgiveness you bear it no more! Even the guilt is removed along with the sin.
My, my, my, what else can be said? “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
Month: January 2020
Coffee Percs
He pulled on his gloves, wrapped them around the mug of piping-hot java and tipped a mouthful down. The black liquid felt good on his innards and went a long way in warming him. He finished the drink with a further two long gulps.”
–Mike Strotter (McKinney’s Revenge)
How long, Pard? Just how long do we put up with nonsense and stupidity comin’ from some quarters in Washington? Sorry, Pard, sometimes things just jerk my jaws. Why, I haven’t even poured yur coffee yet, and here I am a-rantin’. Those ignoramuses, Tlaib and Omar, they don’t have the sense God gave a goat and they are jowlin’ about a terrorist bein’ killed. Said the President don’t have the power to declare war. Well, they’re right about that, but he didn’t declare war, just took out a very evil man who wants to harm our country.
Slow me down, Pard. Ahhh, breath deeply and take a long sip. My ol’ gizzard has been riled for a few days, an’ it wasn’t even over this. I read from time to time on that tabloid–Facebook–of people sayin’ how hard it is to be an adult. My mercy, if there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s a whiner. I read of someone postin’ that it was hard to be an adult, they’re in the young twenties. But to make it worse, a middle-age, Christian teacher replied that, Yes adulthood is so hard.” Where is the Lord in their lives?
But it was comin’ and we let it. Givin’ everyone trophies. Sayin’ “good job”, or “good play” on everything. We’ve done away with manhood. In fact, a man’s man is to be scorned or mocked today. Yur right, Pard, I need to simmer myself down. Another cup, then I’ll get the pot a perkin’ again.
One other thing, you stay ready! I’m not just talkin’ ’bout checkin’ yur cinch ‘fore yuh mount up, I’m talkin’ about the fact that the Lord is soon comin’.
Echoes From the Campfire
The Good Book has some thoughts on judgment, but a lawman can have a pretty short life if he doesn’t at least do a little of it.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Along the Way)
“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
–Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)
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I see so many in this Christian walk singing “Tra-la-la-la-la-la” and paying no attention to the life they’re living; seeing if it matches up with God’s Word or not. They don’t pay much heed to their surroundings. They could walk into a nightclub and it wouldn’t be much different from going to a ballgame, or maybe even going to church. Now, that’s not hard to do these days either, for many churches keep it as dark as a nightclub with only light on the performers on the stage.
How many days do you have left in your life? You don’t know. So are you making each day count, living it to the fullest–for the Lord and not for self? We hear that clamor, “Live for your self; make each day count.” But it doesn’t mean a thing if it is not lived for the Lord. There is no true satisfaction for the soul except in the God of the Bible. Is all your hope centered on Jesus Christ?
“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Luke 16:13, NKJV) What gets in the way most of the time is self. We set ourselves up as if we are God, “I believe the Scriptures mean this,” or “in my opinion.” People bow continually at altars of other gods and then try to excuse their actions. You cannot mix the worship of the true God with the worship of the things of the world. It cannot be done. D.L. Moody, said, “If worldliness should come in, godliness would go out.”
The road to heaven and hell leads in different directions. Which master do you choose to follow? Are you numbering your days right? Don’t be a self-deceiver! The time is shorter than we think. Remember how fast last year went by? Your life is speeding by as well, make good use of the time on this earth that the Lord has given you.
Echoes From the Campfire
You cannot submit to evil without allowing evil to grow. Each time the good are defeated, or each time they yield, they only cause the forces of evil to grow stronger. Greed feeds greed, and crime grows with success. Our giving up what is ours merely to escape trouble would only create the greater trouble for someone else.”
–Louis L’Amour (A Man Called Noon)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
–2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
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Welcome back! I know that an echo is a sound that is reverberated after the original sound. I have never thought of a campfire giving off an “echo”, but if one looks at the analogy of the campfire being their life then it is continually giving off an echo. Look in the mirror, if you dare, there is a semblance to the person of the past, but there is also a “new look.” Hmmm, maybe that’s the way we are in our Christian walk. There are some appearances of who we were in the past, maybe we are still paying consequences–an “echo” if you will–but there is a new person.
What is in store for you in 2020? What are you going to do for the Lord? Maybe more importantly, what is He going to do for you/in you? I would say the most important thing for you to do in this coming year is found in the last two words of Matthew 17:5. The heavenly Father is speaking, “Hear Him!” Listen to what Jesus is telling you this year. How can you do that? You must be in the Word of God. The more you have of the Word down in your heart, the more the Holy Spirit can speak. I might mention that the Greek for the word, “hear” in this verse means “to yield to.” The phrase “hear and obey” would convey this thought. Will your yield this year–2020–to the authority of Christ?
“All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His service daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasure all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame;
O the joy of full salvation, Glory, glory to His name.”
–Judson W. Van de Venter
The attacks from the devil and his minions are not going to stop in 2020. Evil is prodding ever so heavily across this land and throughout the whole world. To survive, we must surrender. To the enemy? NEVER! But to survive we must surrender completely to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Guide, our Comfort, our Protector. This year–2020–walk in His presence.