Author: Ira Paine

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on
All my life there’s been trouble, and where man is there will be trouble to the end of time, if not of one kind, then another. But I take my trouble as it comes.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Showdown at Yellow Butte)

       “How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!”
                    –Job 14:1 (NLT)
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Good Monday morning to you.  I am reminded of Joseph Alleine’s words as we start this week.  “Let us live this one day well.”  That should be the maxim for all of us, for every day.  I was reading this past weekend and saw this from Steven Lawson.  He mentioned a cathedral in Europe that is known for its three arched doorways that lead into the sanctuary.  Over the right entrance:  “All that pleases is but for a moment.”  Over the left entrance:  “All that troubles is but for a moment.”  Etched over the central arch:  “All that is important is eternal.”  
       This is so true of life.  We get involved with things that are or have passed away.  Technology changes things so fast, yet we get so involved with it.  Then there is the other spectrum, we get so concerned over the troubles of life, many of which don’t mean anything, but they create fear.  We lose sight of the eternal, yet what we should be doing is living in light of the eternal.  “All that truly matters is eternal.” (Lawson)
       Psalm 90 was written by Moses.  As we read it, contemplate on the life of Moses.  He is telling the people to number their days “in light of God’s eternality, sovereignty, and mercy.” (Lawson)  

          1 — LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
          2 — Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
          3 — You turn man to destruction, and say, “Return, O children of men.”
          4 — For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.
          5 — You carry them away like a flood; they are like a sleep.  In the morning they are like grass which grows up:
          6 — In the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers.
          7 — For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified.
          8 — You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
          9 — For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh.  (NKJV)

God is the one constant.  We turn our gaze upon Him and we see the Rock, standing tall and firm.  He is the One who brought forth the mountains; who are we to think highly of ourselves?  Verse 3, in the NIV and NLT, states, “You turn men back to dust.”  That is a sobering thought.  We have grand plans, great aspirations, and grandiose dreams, but in the end we are back to dust.  Our days are numbered; “they are preordained and divinely determined.” (Lawson)  George O. Wood gives a good illustration of how long we live according to God’s clock.  “The Psalmist says your life is so short that a thousand of your years are but a day with God.  That means that seventy years of your time totals 9 1/2 seconds on His clock.  It gets worse.  On further reflection, you are less than a day–only a ‘watch,’ that is, a four-hour span in the evening, or 1 1//2 seconds in God’s eternal day.”
       Man, you and I, are here but for a moment.  James tells us, “For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14, NKJV)  Man lives under the constant sentence of death.  It will come. That is one thing that we all have in common, the believer and the unbeliever.  Unless we are raptured away we will see death.  God alone knows the minute that will happen; He sees all our thoughts, our sins, and the secrets of our heart.  Our life is fleeting, but the question is, under which arch do you find yourself as your time passes?  If the Lord is not our home, our resting place, then what kind of security do we have?  Look at verse 9 from the NLT, “We live our lives beneath your wrath.  We end our lives with a groan.”  It seems there is no hope.  It is therefore imperative that we live our short lives in the light of eternity, serving Him and giving our lives over to Him, for He is in control anyway.

                    “Before the hills in order stood,
                    Or earth received her frame,
                    From everlasting thou art God,
                    To endless years the same.”
                             –Isaac Watts

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

If this is coffee, then please bring me some tea. But if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.”

                         –Abraham Lincoln
 
Whoopee, Pard, there was a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on last week.  No, I don’t mean that thar rock ‘n’ roll song, but what took place over yonder in the Middle East–the land of Turkey and Syria.  Last I heard, there were over 22,000 dead from the quake.  Many of them were sleepin’ an’ didn’t even know what hit them.  My land, the devastation and loss of life was tremendous.  That just shows to go yuh that this ol’ world is a tremor, groanin’, and moanin’ from the curse of sin.  It’ll stay than way an’ get worse until the Lord sets up His kingdom here on earth.
       Shame though, so many dead.  That number would make up a good size town.  A person never knows when it’s their time to go to meet the Lord either as Judge or as Savior.  Best we are ready just in case.  Why, go ahead Pard, yuh can drink whilst I talk, I remember when Granny and Pappy were a-drivin’ along the highway when a tree jumped right out of the forest smashin’ down on the hood of their car.  Why, if’n they were two feet further on down the road they would have been on their way to the Pearly Gates, but the Lord weren’t quite ready for them then.  One always wonders…
       One thing for sure, Pard.  What’s that?  Coffee’s good this mornin’.  Sure it is!  It’s always good if’n a person makes it strong enough and don’t put no cino mixin’ in it.  Back to what I was a-sayin’, time sure goes swiftly by.  Goodness gracious, my middle granddaughter has right now, this past week, turned sixteen.  Yep, that means this ol’ fence post is gettin’ older as well.  Pard, yuh know how it is, some days is good, some is bad.  Some days the ol’ starter gets harder to start.  But I get up, get the ol’ pot to brewin’ and go do my mornin’ writin’ and readin’.  Hmm, I’m believin’ if ol Abe was takin’ a sip of my coffee, he wouldn’t be thinkin’ it was tea.
       Pard, I see it’s time for yuh to be leavin’–the pot’s empty.  Yuh be prayin’ for those folks who survived, and be checkin’ yur cinch.  Yuh never know when one of them thar trees will jump out in front of yur hoss scarin’ him silly and with him a-rearin’ up yuh might find yurself on yur backside.  Hmpf, maybe that’d knock some sense into yuh.
         Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

There is no dishonor in being uninformed, but a fool chooses to be ignorant all his life.”

                    –Cliff Hudgins  (The Weathervane Ranch)

       “For the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity:  to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the LORD, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.”
                   –Isaiah 32:6 (NKJV)
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I find myself going often to the Book of Proverbs for one reason or another.  A wonderful study in Proverbs is to find out what the book says about the four main types of individuals:  the mocker/scorner, the simple, the wise, and the fool.  This is a tremendous study.  Another way to look at Proverbs is to read a chapter every day.  You’ll have read through the book twelve times in a year, and will have gained insight into the Word of God.  It will also help you gain understanding of why this world is in such sad shape.  This morning I am going to borrow heavily from Bob Beasley’s book, “The Wisdom of Proverbs.”

               “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!’  As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed.  The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.  The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer discreetly.”
                         –Proverbs 26:13-16 (NIV)

       “Sluggard”, I like that term.  It is a word that the very sound of it suggests its meaning.  Your mind can immediately conjure up the idea of a sluggard.  Most likely in your life you have met a few.
               
               “Derek Kidner says the sluggard of Proverbs is faithless (13), feckless (14), foodless (15), and foolish (16).  He neglects his responsibilities to his family, work, and friends, and you can be certain he will neglect his larger spiritual duty to God.  Let’s see how these verses describes the spiritual sluggard.
               First, in verse 13, he is spiritually faithless.  He won’t step out in faith to do anything.  He always has an excuse.  There may not really be a “lion in the road” but something is always standing between the sluggard and his duty.
               Second, in verse 14, he is spiritually feckless, or irresponsible.  A door never leaves its door jamb.  In the same way, the sluggard’s life is going nowhere.  He is without goals or the strategies for attaining those goals.  He likes his soft bed, but can doze just as easily in a pew on Sunday morning.
               Third, in verse 15, the sluggard is spiritually foodless.  While he may know some Christian jargon, the deep things of Christ are avoided.  He’s a spiritual baby, feeding on baby food and milk, not able to chew on the real meat of the Word. (Heb 5:13-14).  Why?  Because a deeper knowledge of God may convict him of his sloth and awaken him from his slumber.
               Finally, in verse 16, the spiritual sluggard is foolish.  He is puffed up with pride.  He bluffs his way through life, not understanding that his superficiality is as plain to others as the nose on his face.  Don’t join the spiritual sloth.  Rather, flee from the sloth and join with those who, in humility and diligence, work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).”

       The sluggard is a person who will avoid responsibilities.  If they have a job, they will not have it long, and they will jump from one job to another.  Or if they have the energy they will jump from one church to another to avoid hearing the truth from the Word of God.  They are satisfied with their condition.  Is there any wonder why we have so many “snowflakes” and “twinkies” among us?  No, there may not be a lion in the road, but that is a good excuse to roll over in bed, or sit in the easy-chair.  A sluggard’s mind also may entertain a world of imaginations.  Why, if they were to go out and face the real world surely a lion would be there to tear them apart.  
       These people talk a good talk.  But let me tell you, it’s all braggadocio.  It goes back to the song of a fool.  This people may try to hide their true character, but it only takes a few minutes or a few times of meeting with them to break through their façade.  Stay away from the sluggard, don’t listen to the song of the fool.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

A feller gets good at waiting—at least he does, if he hopes to survive.”

                    –J.V. James  (Old As Old Boots)

       “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!”
                    –Psalm 27: 14 (NKJV)
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I want to take a little more time with Ecclesiastes 7.  I mentioned yesterday that I noticed several things in these verses and went over a couple of them.  Now, let’s look at a little more.  I want to remind you of a couple of things regarding Ecclesiastes.  First, read the whole book before beginning to look at specific verses or you might get lost and forget the overall context.  Second, see Ecclesiastes as a whole.  Upon reading selected verses be sure and look at how it fits within the whole spectrum of the book.
       
               “It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools.  For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is that laughter of the fool.  This also is vanity.”    –Ecclesiastes 7:5-6 (NKJV)

       Here we see the mention of the song of the fools.   What could that song be?  Most likely it is not one particular song, but the general attitude of the fool.  A song with no merit, a song of mirth, a song that may mock the wise, or a song that has no value to it.  Ever wonder why there is such a glut of bad music?  Because it comes from the lips of a fool.  Listen–whenever the wise are rebuked, we hear the melody of the fool.  Rehobam comes to mind.  He was given wise counsel, but chose rather to heed the song of the fools.  He could have continued Solomon’s legacy, but chose to listen to the wrong voices.
       
               “Surely oppression destroys a wise man’s reason, and a bribe debases the heart.
               The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
               Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
               Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’  For you do not inquire wisely concerning this.”
                         –Ecclesiastes 7:7-10 (NKJV)

       “I sure wish I could do that over again.”  Have those words ever come from your mouth?  Why?  Is it because you did a haphazard job?  Maybe you didn’t take the work seriously.  This is important, that is why Paul admonishes us to work as unto the Lord.  Whatever we do, it should be done for the Lord.  There is much talk in Christian circles about second chances, but that must be kept in perspective.   There are some things that are concluded one time.  For instance, a project on a job with a due date.  It must come in, yet somehow and for some reason, it did not come in on time.  The company lost thousands of dollars, and guess what, the individual most likely lost their job.  “Oh, give me a second chance,” they cry, but they were singing the song of the fool–procrastinating, doing sloppy work…
       Look at those words, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning.”  It is one thing to start a project, another to finish.  When life comes to an end, hopefully you can say like Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7, NKJV)  Eternity is waiting for those who have kept the faith.  A fool’s perdition is for those who throughout their life sang the song of fools.  Look at what you accomplished.  A job well done.  Someone has said “At the end there is no idealism, no unrealistic expectations, no lack of awareness–all has happened, all has developed.”
       “Have patience, have patience, don’t be in such a hurry…”  Think of all the time you spent at red lights–futile.  Think of the minutes lost at checkout lanes–futile.  There is no reason to be angry over your situation, learn to be patient.  Luke writes, “By your patience possess your souls.” (21:19, NKJV)  Hold on!  Stand firm!  Be patient, endure the situation.  Take advantage of seemingly futile situations and make use of them.  Don’t gripe or become angry.  Don’t start singing the song of fools.  “Our haughty spirit pushes wisdom aside, and when it does we play the fool.” (Charles Swindoll)
       Why would you say the former days were better?  What has happened to make you think that?  Yes, there may have been some things better, but remember this–today, in this present life and society, is where God has placed you.