Author: Ira Paine

The Saga of Miles Forrest

by Ira Paine, Posted on
Don’t be quick-tempered, for anger is the friend of fools.”  –Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NLT)
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     What is that arguing?  Well, it’s not really an argument, just a whiny, shrieking voice simmering over a command given to him.  I’m lost, I don’t understand.  Then I heard a scream, and I recognized the sound of that voice.  It had, thankfully, been a couple of years since I had heard it.  The smell came to me, causing me to retch.  It was the enemy trying to take my soul one more time.  Then a calmness came over me as He walked over to me.  Smiling, I felt His hand on my brow, and my restlessness and ftifulness stopped.
     “Papa, he’s coming to.  Look, his eyelids are fluttering.”
     When I opened my eyes I saw a young girl touching my forehead with a cool, soft hand.  She smiled down at me.  I started to sit up, but she put her other hand on my shoulder, “Shhh, rest easy.  My Papa is here to take care of you.”
     I tried to lick my lips, I was so thirsty, but couldn’t.  Slowly I lifted my hand to touch my lips with my fingers, hoping she could see the pleading in my eyes.
     “Britta,” I heard a husky voice speak to her.  “He is thirsty, fetch him some water.  I will watch over him.”
     The hand left my brow, which I disliked, then I looked upward to see a stout man with a light-colored yet full beard, and intense blue eyes looking down at me.  “Ja, good, you are awake.  Hurry, child, he is thirsty, I’m a-betting.”
     I tried to lift my head and the pain hit me in a swirl.  I had to grit my teeth trying hard not to pass out.  I wanted that water.  “Easy, easy, you have a nasty wound on your huvud.”  He moved behind me then to lift me from my shoulders while the young girl brought a cup to my lips.  I slobbered at it trying to get it all in my mouth at one time.  
     “No!” she ordered.  “Drink slowly or I will give it to you in a spoon.”
     I smiled and winked, causing her to smile.  She brought the cup back to my lips.  This time I did what she told me.  I didn’t want her to remove that refreshing liquid from my mouth.
     A sigh came from me when I emptied the cup.  “I will get you some more in a minute,” she said in a tender manner, the smile never leaving her face.  It was then I saw the same deep blue eyes that were on the man.
     “Where am I?” I asked in a low sounding voice.  
     The man had put a rolled up blanket behind my shoulders to keep me sitting up.  He then moved the girl aside.  “I am Anders Jorgensen.  My son, Axel, and I were returning from town when we heard a shot.  Coming over the rise we saw a body lying on the ground next to a horse,” he stopped to smile, then continued.  “That body was you.  There was a man on horseback aiming a rifle at you.  Axel shot in the air, the man looked our direction then turned his horse in a gallop to the west.”
     “Did you see what he looked like?”
     “No, there was only a glimpse of his face, and he was in a heavy coat.  Only thing was that he was riding a fine palomino,” came his reply.  “You rest, my hustra, uh, my wife is preparing some soup.  You will eat soon, then we talk some more.  Britta, some more water.”
     After drinking another cup, I was feeling much better but I had a severe headache.  “Mor cleaned your wound, it was bleeding quite badly.”  She chuckled, “Mor said you must have a hard huvud–head.”
     I smiled, “That and the good Lord was lookin’ after me.”
     Her eyes widened…

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

It is his first reaction, to build a fire, to give himself the security and comfort that a fire symbolizes.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (How the West Was Won)

       “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.”
                    –2 Corinthians 1:3 (NLT)
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          “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted].”  –Matthew 5:4 (Amplified)

     For the last few weeks we have looked at what it means to mourn.  We all can relate to that, if not in the real sense, certainly in the spiritual.  If we have been born again, we have recognized the sorrow over our sins and the need of a Savior.  Cleansing of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ is the first step to spiritual comfort.  That comfort comes from the free forgiveness of God when we confess our sins and our need for Him.  Then in turn, we feel the consolation and encouragement that makes our spirit smile.  The guilt and burden that we once carried, that heavy and convicted conscience that we had are now free and lifted.  We have the assurance that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin.  We read in 1 John, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1:7, NKJV)  Get that!  “ALL sin” is removed, we are spotless in the sight of God.
     Yes, we have partaken of the justice and the holiness of God by accepting the death of Christ, and then we have received His mercy and grace as we come to Him asking for forgiveness of our sins.  But know this, that we should “Thank the Lord for His patient pursuit of you and for undeserved comfort of forgiveness.” (John Stott)  We didn’t deserve His forgiveness or His grace or His mercy, but He loved us so much that He accepted us because of the blood of Christ.  That should bring great comfort to our soul.
     Have you noticed the paradox?  Weeping brings comfort; forgiveness brings comfort, repentance brings comfort because the burden of guilt and our sin is lifted.  Paul writes, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2 Corinthians 6:10, NKJV)  We read in the Psalms, “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” (30:5, NKJV)  Get it?  “Sorrow for sin ushers in joy.” (Thomas Watson)  I don’t understand, but I fully accept the plan of God and the work of Christ.  William Barclay said paraphrasing this verse, “O the bliss of the man whose heart is broken for the world’s suffering and for his own sin, for out of his sorrow he will find the joy of God!”
     There is great comfort in the knowledge of sins forgiven.  There is great comfort in knowing that He has a place reserved for us at the table and a home in heaven.  Let your soul be comforted, grasp the words from Isaiah 40:1, “‘Comfort, yes, comfort My people!’  Says your God.” (NKJV)  Charles Wesley, the great writer of hymns put it this way:

               “He speaks and listening to His voice
               New life the dead receive,
               The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
               The humble poor believe.”

      In our rejoicing we must not forget the purpose of the Holy Spirit after we repent.  He is the “Parakletos” — the Comforter.  We read in John, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” (14:16, KJV)  Other versions use “Helper,” “Advocate,” “Counselor”, but I like the concept that when we mourn, when we groan those prayers that we don’t know what to utter and say, that we have the Spirit of God to intercede and to comfort us in those moments.

               “O spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found,
               Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
               Let ev’ry Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
               The Comforter has come!”
                         –Francis Bottoms

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He laid his revolver down within reach, and proceeded to light a fire in the stove, from which rose presently the pleasant odors of aromatic coffee and fried ham and eggs.” 

                    –William MacLeod Raine  (A Texas Ranger)
 
     Take heed to what ol’ Bill Raine said, keep yur gun within reach as there’s too many crazies runnin’ ’round out there.  My mercy, the way them supposed sophisticated bureaucrats acted durin’ the President’s speech, one has to be wonderin’ ’bout the common person any more.  Pard, things are gettin’ out of hand.  Where’s the common courtesy that is to be afforded?  It’s not black and white no more, it’s not racism that is the issue; it’s the sane versus the crazies.  
     But enough of that, don’t want to rilin’ yur gizzard with all that foolishness.  But one other thing, an’ then I’ll poured yur coffee as I see yuh reachin’ out yur paw.  There’s a payday comin’.  Sooner for some, eventually for all.  Don’t yuh be forgettin’ that.
     Hyar yuh go.  Take a sip an’ that’ll perk yuh right up.  Picks me up, why whenever I need a fixer-up, I’ll pour me a cup, sit down in my chair an’ do a little contemplatin’.  Went to the doc the other day, and found out–guess what, I’m gettin a mite older.  Yep, as my Aunt and Grandma used to call it, progressive agin’.  Listen, Pard, it happens to all of us if’n we fortunate to live that long.  But let me tell yuh the goodness truth of the matter.  I look at those folk in the doc’s office an’ they’re bad off.  Besides the aches and pain they must have they let it affect their face and demeanor.  Not, all, some roll with the punches.  Some know that the ol’ body wears down an’ they keep a right good attitude with it.  Why Pard, I thank the Lord for another day, and always for a good night’s sleep.  Don’t want to get sour and grumblin’.
     Ol’ Paul, wrote somethin’ like this.  “We do not lose heart!”  Get that in yur noggin’.  Most of those folks I saw have lost heart.  They depend on the doc for help an’ they get their pills to swaller, but it don’t do much good, jist helps them linger on a little longer.  See, we should never be losin’ heart.  Yep, for shor, this ol’ body is wearin’ or as Paul said, “wastin’ away.”  But the good Lord don’t leave us that way ’cause our innards, no not yur gizzard and liver, but that inner man is bein’ renewed day by day.  Get this Pard, when yuh feel the aches and pain, an’ yuh let out a moan–spiritually we never grow old.  Now, that’s something to clog in the kitchen about.
     Hold on, Pard, I jist can’t hold it in.  Beller out with me if’n yuh want to.  “Never grow old, never grow old, In a land where we’ll never grow old…”  Whoopi-yi, don’t that get down in yur soul?  Add that to yur coffee an’ yuh can surely have a good day.  Live the life that the good Lord would have yuh live an’ don’t be worryin’ for yuh ain’t never gonna grow old.
     Keep that thought through the week, but wait, that don’t mean to go through life foolishly–yuh still need to check yur cinch.  
     Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on
The desert had crucified him and had left him to die or survive, according to his spirit and his strength.”
                    –Zane Grey  (Wanderer of the Wasteland)
 
       “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.  And he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
                    –Exodus 3:1 (NKJV)
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     You may have wandered into this wasteland that you have found yourself in.  The Spirit may have led you as He did the Lord Himself and as He did Moses.  You may have taken it on a dare, a lark of adventure, excitement, but now…  You are not accustomed to the wilderness, you are not familiar with it or its ways.  You have not honed your weapons and you have not trained with them properly and now you find yourself in a fix, a world of hurt.  You may have bragged that you could handle anything for a day, a week, but now you are experiencing something that is completely foreign to you, out of your comfort zone for sure, and out of your abilities.
     This is the situation in which Moses found himself.  First of all, we need to know that whatever we do in life can be used to develop our character (for good or bad) to add to our knowledge.  Sometimes we are thrust into situations, jobs, and other experiences that we do not like, but they are there to help us along the way, even if we do not know how, or how to enjoy the experience.  Moses understood, while as a prince of Egypt, that something was wrong deep inside his being.  He was part of the court of Pharaoh and a member of the royal family.  Was it that his spirit was lost, wandering about in some wasteland that he knew nothing about?  There was turmoil in his soul and it would not rest.  Circumstances then intervened (or was it the Holy Spirit?).  He committed a murder which forced him to retreat into the wilderness.  Trying to escape his deed, he fled.  Actually, not knowing, it was the calling that was deep in his soul that forced him there, and it would take the next forty years to surface.  Forty years of not knowing, and we often complain of a day or a season of our wandering.
     He had to learn the ways of the wilderness; he had to come to the place where he was no stranger to its ways.  He had used it as a means of escape from his past.  For years he learned of the wilderness while at the same time hiding his past in the robes of a shepherd.  He worked, moving the flock for which he was caring from place to place all the time learning and developing.  One day he found himself in the western portion of the wilderness.  It was there, while working doing his common duty that he noticed a strange phenomenon on the mountain of God.  What drew him to that place?  What has drawn you to the place that you now find yourself?
     It is very interesting that while simply doing his duties that come with the day’s work that he finds himself in this particular wilderness area.  He fled there once when escaping Egypt; and now, working as a shepherd, he finds himself there again.  It doesn’t necessarily make a difference why you entered the wilderness but that you develop; you do what is expected of you and you pay attention.  You become alert so that God can speak to you.
     Moses had left prosperity.  He had left the city, the glamour and bright lights, and his wealth and fame.  He had left his previous life and now he was simply a worker and a member of the family of Jethro.  He was learning many lessons, one of which stands out in importance–a person often has to leave the hustle and bustle of the city to find God.  We find ourselves simply too busy in a noise-polluted environment where we cannot hear the quiet voice that speaks softly to the ear of our soul.  Oh, it may not be a city such as New York or Chicago, it may be humdrum USA, but you are busy, stressed, running hither and thither so that you cannot hear, or care not to.
     God was waiting for Moses in the wilderness.  It is not that God is not in the city, in the hectic daily routine, or in the flux of the crowds, but that He wants us in the wilderness.  Why?  Because in the wilderness all of the fluff and bravado is stripped away.  It is you and the wasteland.  It is you and perhaps the bleating of sheep, or the grunt of the camel, or the rattle of the snake.  It is there that God can touch you and get your attention after the cares of this world have been crucified.