Month: June 2025

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I reckon folks out on the Chisholm Trail can have feelin’s the same as when they’re home safe an’ sound. Mebbe stronger an’ deeper an’ better feelin’s.”
                    –Zane Grey  (The Trail Driver)

       “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
                    –1 John 3:2 (NASB)
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Charles H. Spurgeon said that, “Praise is the rehearsal of our eternal song.”  Praise is an act of the will and because of that it is something that we choose to do.  We should be praising and thanking and as Lawson says, “practicing the greatness of God” throughout the day.  Lawson continues to say, “The chief purpose of the believers, both now and throughout the ages, is the pursuit of the glory of God.”  Psalm 145 is the last of the psalms attributed to David and he ends his writing with praise.

          1 — I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
          2 — Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
          3 — Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.
          4 — One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.
          5 — I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works.
          6 — Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness.
          7 — They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.  (NKJV)

     In praising God we actually do nothing to make Him bigger; there is nothing we can do to increase His size, His majesty, or His glory.  What happens is as George Wood says, “When you praise and extol the Lord, you are changing the size of God in you.”  Adoring the Lord, extolling His attributes and recognizing them, magnifying His glorious name “should be the constant delight of our souls, the endless theme of our hearts.” (Lawson)
     “How big is God?” the words of the song render forth.  The real question is how big is He within your heart and soul.  How much do you and I limit Him, and by praising Him we open His greatness to our souls.  What is our view of God?  This comes forth in our praise–limit our praise, we limit our perspective and expectation of God.  We praise God’s name, meaning His holy character.  When we think of who God is, it is overwhelming and it should bring us to praise in awe.  I hesitate to use the term “awesome” when I speak about someone or with someone.  To me, there is little in this world that is awesome.  Some become flippant with this term, I think it is worthy of only the extraordinary event, performance, or person.  God is awesome!
     How often and when do we praise Him?  Everyday, all day long.  We start now, at this point in our lives and it will continue throughout eternity.  Praise Him in His attributes, both natural and moral.  Praise Him for His love, devotion, and faithfulness.  Praise Him for His mighty deeds in history, and then do not forget Him for what He has done in your life both great and small.  See, praise helps us become grateful people.
     David writes that we should meditate on His splendor, “meaning the sum total of His divine attributes and actions.” (Lawson)  Henry Cowles states, “These qualities of God’s character and deeds should not merely be talked about and extolled in song but be deeply pondered and laid close upon our heart, so that the impression may be wrought into our very soul and may mold our whole spirit and character into God’s own image.”  Remember when we praise we open our hearts to Him.  We begin to see Him as He really is, in splendor, majesty, and glory.  
     How is His image expressed from your soul?  How is His image impressed on your heart?  Has His splendor spilled over into your life?  When we begin to praise Him, we can truly pray the words of T.O. Chisholm’s hymn, “Stamp thine own image deep on my heart.”  We can render forth in praise–God is good!
   
               “Our souls, we know, when He appears,
               Shall bear His image bright;
               For all His glory full disclosed
               Shall open to our sight.”
                     –Isaac Watts

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He waved for his friend to have a seat at the table and got two cups from a shelf. With fresh, hot aromatic coffee in front of them, the two friends enjoyed a couple of sips.”

                    –C. Wayne Winkle  (Judd’s Journey)
 
Ohhh, “I care not today what the morrow may bring, If…” uh, sorry Pard, I didn’t hear yuh come in.  Well, since yur here, join in with me, “If shadow or sunshine or…”  What’dya mean I sound like a dyin’ coyote?  Pard, I’ll have yuh know that my singin’ is a pure delight–ha, at least in my own mind.  I’ll just hum some whilst I pour the coffee.  Don’t worry ’bout savin’ any since my daughter’s here, I’ll just make a fresh pot when she pulls out from under the sheets.
     Ohhh, “the Lord I know ruleth o’er everything…”  sorry, I forgot, but it’s the truth.  In fact, truer than that coffee yur about to slurp is delicious and will tickle yur gizzard.  Pard, take a sip an’ see if’n it don’t delight yur innards.  It don’t bring fear to me that Israel and Iran are goin’ at it.  God’s people are goin’ to be cared for in one way or another.  Why this fight has been goin’ on in one form or the other since ol’ Isaac and Ishamel parted ways.  Yuh just gotta be hangin’ on to the truth of God’s Word.  Don’t let all that hooraw in California be gettin’ to yuh.  You and I know it’s all a blusterin’ set up by the liberals.  Listen, that bard, James Wells, had it right, “the Master looks on at the strife.”  
     We never know what’s gonna be alongside our path.  Why I remember a few times when one of them snakes was there, just a-waitin’.  An’ that’s not to mention all the times the Serpent of all serpents was there lurkin’ to do me in.  Yuh know what I’m talkin’ about.  You’ve had it happen to you as well.  Once I was out walkin’ at night, one of those moonlight strolls, when Annie was just about to put her foot down.  Another couple was with us an’ he had a lantern.  He yelled, “Don’t put your foot down!”  Right there on the path was a copperhead.  If he hadn’t had that lantern, that light, well that ol’ serpent could have struck her.  Hmmm, Pard, don’t yuh see?  That’s the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives.  We walk along the trail on our journey to glory but there may be hidden snakes, but the light of the Holy Spirit warns us, “Don’t step down!”  
     Death, storms, battles, plus all the good times, the Lord is there, and if there may be something we can’t or don’t see, we can listen to the voice of our heavenly Guide.  Oh, by the way, I see yuh didn’t hesitate of swallerin’ all yur coffee an’ yur a-beggin’ for a refill.  Ha, go ‘head, let’s finish the pot.  Say, Pard, lest I forget, one of my ol’ pals crossed over the Great Divide a day ago.  I hadn’t seen him in several years, but ol’ Mike was one to ride the river with.  He just beat us to our heavenly home.
     Hmmm, pot’s empty, but for sure our soul ain’t.  Come on Pard, “Why should I then care, tho’ the tempest may blow, If Jesus walks close to my side.”  That’s it yuh don’t sound so bad, jump in here an’ keep it goin’ while yuh mount up an’ head out into the new week.  Ride straight, check yur cinch, and be a-listenin’ to the Master’s voice.  “Living by faith, in Jesus above, trusting, confiding in His great love…”  Oh, an’ Pard be rememberin’ that today is Flag Day–show the symbol of our great country some respect.
      Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I think the first step to know someone is to know what their name is.”
                    –Cliff Hudgins  (Viejo and the Lost Child)

       “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”
                    –Exodus 20:7 (NLT)
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I wasn’t going to write another devotion on prayer, but it so happened that several of my readings in the morning have dealt with prayer.  This from three different writers, therefore, out of the words of two or three, I thought I should heed what is being said (to me) and write this morning‘s devotion leaning heavily on Ray Stedman, again on prayer.  I learned many years ago that if a subject is continually repeated that I should listen.

          “So He said to them, ‘When you pray say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name…”  –Luke 11:2, NKJV

     What does hallowing God’s name mean?  I had not really thought about it much before, but just sort of accepted it and that we should do it, but what does it really mean?  The CEB puts it this way, “Father, uphold the holiness of your name,” as does the NLT.  The CEV and HCSB translate it this way, “Father, help us to honor your name,” and “Father, Your name be honored as holy.”  Hmm, do we really mean this?
     Praying in this manner, as we ought to do, means that we honor God’s name, but are there areas in our lives in which we do not honor His name?  Are we holy in our actions, thoughts, and words?  Stedman says, “When we say, ‘Hallowed be your name,’ we are praying, ‘May the whole of my life be a source of delight to you and may it be an honor to the name which I bear, which is your name.  Hallowed be your name.'”  Are there things in our lives that we “hallow” more than God?  Stedman continues, “There cannot be any contact with God, any real touching of his power, any genuine experiencing of the glorious fragrance and wonder of God at work in human life until we truly pray, ‘Hallowed be your name.'”
     This is how we are to pray.  Sincerely, reverently, not flippantly.  This name, this powerful, wonderful name means the whole character of God. (Barclay)  Think about that.  When we pray knowing who He is, it should bring us hope, add faith, and then we understand why we should obey.  It brings a different light to Psalm 9:10, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You…” (NKJV)  When we understand who He is, it should be easy to put our trust in Him.  William Barclay adds, “Only when we give God His place will other things take their proper place.”
     One of the reasons we begin our prayer recognizing the name of God and what it means is to put things in order and that we understand that He alone is austere and holy and that there are areas in our lives that He needs to bring in line with His character.  When we look at the holy God, the hallowed name of the Lord, we begin to understand that we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  There should be nothing in our lives that we cannot bring to God.  It is asking Him to “walk into the dark closets of our life where the odor is sometimes too much even for us to stand, and clean them out and straighten them up and make them fit for His dwelling.” (Stedman)
     This is one of the reasons why we do not take the name of God in vain.  We should not, we must not be flippant with His name or even “OMG.”  His name is holy!  His name is wonderful!  His name is powerful!  His name is to be hallowed, not only in our prayers, but in our thoughts.  Let me close this morning‘s thought with these words from William Barclay:  “Someone has said that the Lord’s Prayer has two great uses in our private prayers.  If we use it at the beginning of our devotions it awakens all kinds of holy desires which lead us on into the right pathways of prayer.  If we use it at the end of our devotions it sums up all we ought to pray for in the presence of God.”

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Evil comes through the minds and hearts of men and the actions they decide to act upon.”

                    –Ken Pratt (The Gypsum Creek Massacre)

       “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
                    –Matthew 6:23(NKJV)
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               “Be careful little eyes what you see….
               Be careful little ears what you hear…
               For there’s a Father up above
               Looking down in tender love…”
                    –unknown

Perhaps you remember the little songs from your early Sunday School days.  Oh we may laugh and grin about it now, but there is strong biblical truth in it.  Let’s look at Proverbs 4:20-22 this morning.

          20 — My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
          21 — Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart;
          22 — For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.  (NKJV)
(ESV)
          21 — Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart.
          22 — For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.

I used to tell students that there are two easy ways to get me mad at them.  One was their friendships, the other was their music.  “Oh be careful little ears what you hear.”  Warren Wiersbe says that, “what enters my ears will ultimately influence my mind, my heart and my decisions, therefore we need to be careful what we listen to.”  This not only includes music, but also what teachers we come under the influence of and their ideologies, the conversations of those around us.  Remember the words of Paul, [let is not be named] “neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.” (Ephesians 5:3, NKJV)  Do you hear foolishness coming from your friends or even worse, filthiness coming from their mouths or talking the Lord’s name in vain?  Or do you hear words of thankfulness and gratefulness?  Hmmm, time for some inventory.  
     Notice that there is something we must do in these verses–we must keep them, and that implies work.  If we listen to all the voices around us how will we be able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit?  Keeping the eyes and the ears are ways to keep the heart.  They help protect the heart.  “If the heart is healthy, the benefit is felt to the extremities of the body; if it is diseased, the whole physical frame suffers.” (Flores)  Matthew tells us that “The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” (6:22, NKJV)  
     How can we follow the instructions of the Bible, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart”,(Deuteronomy 6:6, NKJV) if we do not give attention, hold onto, and keep the words of the Lord?  J. Vernon McGee tells us that “God’s words are the words of life.”  They are living words; words that will guide us through this life and into eternity.  We are to diligently keep them, or as Matthew Henry states, “study the methods of duty.”  
     Who do you listen to?  “Has God indeed said…?” (Genesis 3:1, NKJV) comes the words of Satan to try and deceive you as he did with Eve.  “Do you really believe this stuff?” he questions you.  “Your dad and mom are fuddy-duddies, this is a new progressive age.  They are just old-fashioned,” comes his snide, sly words.  Do you listen or do you have the Word of God in your heart?  The devil came to Jesus with the same words, “has God said…”  Listen, as the old preacher F.B. Meyer said, “If you think right, you will live right.”  Listen to the instruction, the true instruction of the word of God and be careful to what you listen to and what you see.  It is imperative to your life on this earth, but more importantly it will affect your eternal destination.
     Keep the Word in front of you continually.  Matthew Henry gives some good advice, “As the spiritual life was begun by the word as the instrument of it, so by the same word it is still nourished and maintained; we could not live without it, we may by faith live upon it.”  The Word in our heart brings faith, and by grace through faith are we saved.  Now we are continually nourished by this same Word; we become discipled by this Word.  As the heart pumps life into the body, so the Word hidden in our hearts pumps spiritual life into our souls.