Month: November 2021

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

No home except the camp fire.”
               –Zane Grey  (Fighting Caravans)

       “If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.”

               –Exodus 18:23 (HCSB)
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How To Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NLT)

If you have noticed all the problems that the school systems are having then you will certainly understand the purpose of these lessons.  CRT, abuse, molestations in restrooms, bullying–this is a world in which we better teach our children how to survive.  I recently saw a picture with the following caption:  “In a world ruled by Satan; you better arm your kids.”  Don’t teach them the way of the world–teach them the way of God and how to survive in this evil world.

               “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
               By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”
                              –1 John 4:16-17(NASB)

       John doesn’t expound on these verses, he doesn’t explain them, he just states it and takes it for granted that we know we are to abide in love–in Christ.  It is the opposite of the world; it is the attitude of Cain.  Remember the words that Paul wrote to Titus,

               “For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”
                              –Titus 3:3 (NASB)

Our attitude toward others, toward circumstances, was that of the world?  We were controlled by that, but now we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.  Our attitude toward others is not determined and controlled by what they are, but by the love of Christ that is in us.  We must see others as souls, and this at times is very hard to do.  Aren’t you glad God’s love is not controlled by us?  My mercy, what troubles there would be.  Jesus said, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?  Do not even the publicans the same?” (Matthew 5:46)
       Love is abiding, it is not spasmodic or spontaneous, it is constant, steady.  We need to look at love, perhaps from a different perspective.  Love says, clean the wound first, then apply the oil that will soothe it.  Realize what God has done for you, then proceed to do to others.  And I will say, sometimes it is downright hard to love the unlovely in whatever form they may come.  To do that we need the Holy Spirit to operate in us and through us.  We need to know the Lord more and better and to do that we must meditate upon Him and His Word.  Face each situation in light of the cross.
       Instead of automatically reacting in the flesh, that’s the world, we must discipline ourselves.  We must deal actively with ourselves and mortify those things that are contrary to love within us.  One of those things that seem to get us in trouble is the tongue.  If you do not say something you will find that you stop thinking it.  “Put a watch upon your lips and upon your tongue–that is one of the first things in this life of love.” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He watched one man prove that stupidity can’t be cured, and it can often be fatal.”
                    –Lou Bradshaw  (Spirit Valley)

       “So teach us to number our days, That we may cultivate and bring to You a heart of wisdom.”
                    –Psalm 90:12 (Amplified)
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“Woe is me,” come the voices of humanity.  “Woe, I am lost and undone,” is the cry of those without direction, without Christ.  Man tries in vain to find his own way in life and it is impossible for he cannot find his true purpose without Jesus Christ.  Some of the saddest things of a human life–the errors which divert men from their true aim, and plunge them into various and growing misery.  Anyone on the threshold of death will look back at their accumulations and wonder…
       The “Preacher,” the writer of Ecclesiastes puts forth this question:

                    “What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” –Ecclesiastes 1:3 (NKJV)

                    “What profit has man left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun?  [Is life worth living?]”  –Ecclesiastes 1:3 (Amplified)

At the end of your life will you be able to thank God for all He has done for you?  Or has life been wasted in selfish ambition and self-indulgence?  The man who believes that he has a wasted life is to be pitied.  He has had the wrong perspective all the days of his life.  G. Campbell Morgan said, “This man has been living through all these experiences under the sun, concerned with nothing above the sun…until there came a moment in which he had seen the whole of life.  And there was something over the sun.  It is only as man takes account of that which is over the sun as well as that which is under the sun that things under the sun are seen in their true light.”
       People lose their eternal soul–living for the wrong things.  It is only when we do things for the kingdom of God, when we look at life with eternity in view do you truly accomplish something.  Buildings, fame, power, lustful living, seeking the “good life” all of these things are naught for they are pleasures under the sun.  We seek a home that is beyond the sky, a home whose building and maker is the Lord God.  Hmmm, are the nails you hear being driven in gloryland belonging to your mansion?
       Charles Swindoll said, “We who worship our work and play at our worship have gotten things all fouled up.”  Man will be at a ballgame, or a concert, or, at the hunting camp or fishing lodge rather than in church.  Then they will say that he can worship outside the walls of a church.  Bah, in that context it is nothing but an excuse.  True, one should be able to worship wherever they are but when they use that as an excuse they are living under the sun.
       What works of your hands are priceless?  Stop, take inventory.  Contemplate the following:

                    “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  
                                      –Matthew 16:26 (NKJV)

                    “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
                                      –John 10:10(NKJV)

                    “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
                                      –1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV)

Do you have difficulty discovering answers to the questions of life?  If so, then check your heart.  What profit is there if you do things for self or for the world?  What is there that you will take to the grave with you?  Certainly nothing tangible.  Only what has been done for the kingdom of God will last.  It is deposited in the bank of heaven.  Perhaps this is a time in your life that you need to stop…stop and think of eternity rather than the ballgame.

                    “So teach us to number our days,
                     That we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
                                    –Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
I had just come out of the sheriff’s office from helping Lucas set up a room.  There was a shed attached to the jail where the door opened up to the cells.  It was large enough to place a cot.  Lucas brought his things from Marta’s house, much to her chagrin and moved into the jail.   Charlie told her that he was old enough to make his own decision about that, but then again he ought not to be going home expecting free meals either.  Marta finally agreed to a sort of compromise.
       Mateo had put a couple of drunks in cells last night and had given Lucas instructions to let them out just before the noon meal.  If they wanted to drink up their money, they could waken for breakfast or forgo eating until evening.  As I stepped out in the snow that was lightly falling I thought about going into the army when I was about the same age as Lucas.  Marta should be thanking the Lord that he wasn’t going off to fight a war.
       Looking up the street I saw Darnelle out sweeping off the boardwalk.  The saloon not far from her store had snow covering the walk and it was partly snow partly slush.  Newsome’s store was open, for which I was glad.  I hadn’t been over to talk with him since he sequestered himself after losing the election.
       I started walking down the boardwalk toward Darnelle who had finished sweeping.  She looked up toward the road that went on down to New Mexico and seeing her look up my gaze followed.  There were five riders coming our way.  From the looks of them they weren’t cowboys and for sure not miners.  They rode loose in the saddle, their hats pulled down low.  The ones to the back were looking around at the stores and one stopped to leer at Darnelle.  By that time I had reached Darnelle.  I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.  
       “Better get on down the road, or you might get lost,” I said then pointed with my head.
       He winced when I spoke, then smiled, tipping his hat to Darnelle and trotted off to catch up with his companions.
       “There’s trouble,” stated Darnelle.  She shivered, “It’s cold, I’m going back inside.”
       I touched her arm as she passed, stopping her.  “Have you talked with Mr. Newsome?”
       “No, neither he or Jewelene have said anything.  I’ve noticed they haven’t  had customers.  Miles, what’s wrong with them?  It’s not like it’s the end of the world, losing a city election,” she said shivering.
       “Go on in, Darnelle.  You’ll catch cold standin’ out here.  I’ll tell if I hear anything of importance,” I offered then started off across the street to Newsome’s Ladies’ Wear.
       Upon entering the store I saw immediately that it was void of customers.  At first I didn’t see John sitting in a darkened corner in the back of the room.  “John!” I hollered, “You got a customer.”
       I heard the chair scratch against the wooden floor as he got up.  Walking toward me I saw a disparaging smile on his face.  “Come to gloat, Forrest?”
       “John, is that really what you think?  True, we’ve had some differences of opinion in the past, but that doesn’t stop our bein’ cordial or even friendly.”
       “Bah!” he growled.  “Do you intend to purchase something, or are you just wanting to waste my time?”
       I walked up to him and pointed my finger in his face.  “Do you enjoy havin’ a pity-party for yourself, is that it?  Why not think of all the things you and Wilson did to help this town get established?  Recognize that changes come, some for the better, others, well, others might not be so good, but they’re here just the same.”
       His face was red and I saw that he had his hands clenched down by his sides.  “Go ahead, John.  Hit me if’n yuh think that’ll make you feel better.  But it won’t for you’ve let a seed of bitterness begin to grow inside you,” I wasn’t angry or mad, but I felt a real pity for him.  
       Looking around I said, “I came to purchase a scarf for Molly.  Care to show me one?”
       We both stared at each other for several seconds, then he went off toward one counter.  I really wasn’t planning on buying one, but figured I needed to do something to diffuse the situation.  
       “Do you want it for dress or for warmth?” he asked, a little more friendly.
       “Warmth,” I replied, then pointed.  “How ’bout that red and black tartan?”
       As he picked it up to stretch it out, I inquired, “Have you been up to see Wilson?  He gets lonely, I’m sure he’d like to see you.”
       I could see him swallow.  He turned away for a second as there were tears in his eyes.  “Go see him,” I continued.  “It’ll do him, and you a world of good.”
       He wiped across his face with his arm, then turned toward me, the gruffness returning.  “Thirty cents, anything else?”
       Shaking my head, I answered, “That’ll do it.”  I unbuttoned my coat, reached in my vest pocket for my pouch of change.  I placed it on the counter, “Give my best to Jewelene,” I said then started for the door.
       I heard a cough, then he stuttered, “Miles, thanks.”
       I nodded then walked back out into the cold.  A ways down the street I saw the horses of the hardcases in front of Duffy’s Saloon.  Perhaps I should introduce myself…

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

There was always time. One simply had to make time, and there was always a lot a man did that was trifling and altogether unimportant.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Fallon)

       “The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.”

                    –Psalm 116:6 (NKJV)
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This is the holiday season (holy day–season).  Don’t let anyone tell you different; this is a time to celebrate, to remember, to be thankful.  We started last week with Veterans Day, now we are onward toward Thanksgiving.  The next section of Psalm 66 is apropos to Thanksgiving.  Stop!  Take time!  Remember the things that God has done for you during your life.  Think of how He has taken care of you, the times He has protected you, the times He has seen you through troubles and trials.  Be a witness to yourself of what God has done and thank Him; be a witness to others telling them what He has done then be grateful.

          16 — Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
          17 — I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue.
          18 — If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
          19 — But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
          20 — Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me! (NKJV)

Remember the Psalm, the refining fire–the trials of life, the dark night of the soul?  Now, comes the testimony of what God has done in the midst of all the infirmary, the calamity, and the affliction.  “I will declare!”  Paul tells us that we are to be “living letters,” in other words as we walk through this world, people should be able to read our lives.  They should see the very words of the Holy Spirit written there–“I will declare.”  
       Verse 18 is a reminder to not keep sin in our hearts, to get it confessed.  The NIV states it this way, “If I had cherished sin in my heart,” the NLT, “If I had not confess the sin in my heart.”  When sin comes, take care of it immediately.  Get to the Lord and get it confessed.  Also, it is one thing to sin, another thing to “cherish sin,” to love it.  Some sin is hard to break away from, but that does not mean that it is cherished–that is part of the agony of the soul.  George O. Wood says, “If sin remains in your heart while passing through the dark canyons, then you will not emerge a whole person.  You must deal with your own wrong attitudes and actions.”
       But when that is taken care of you will find that God has been with you.  He heard your weakest cry, your deepest moan in the dark times, the wail of your heart when the storm came crashing, and I like this, “He has attended to voice of my prayer.”  Great is His faithfulness, His mercy is there for us continually.  Be thankful, be grateful, count your blessings.

               “To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
                So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
                Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
                And opened the lifegate that all may go in.”
                            –Fanny J. Crosby