On his brain had been etched by words of steel the fact that no power to fight was so great an unquenchable as that of man’s.”–Zane Grey (Wanderer of the Wasteland)
“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.”
–Colossians 3:5 (NLT)
——————————————-
How To Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World
Key Verse: “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” –1 John 5:19 (NASB)
In our last study I discussed how we are to purify ourselves in the midst of the filth of this world. Today I would like to look at a different aspect. Far too often we get frustrated when we try to purify ourselves. We fail, then we fail again, and sometimes despondency appears and we wonder “what’s the use of trying.” We are told to be holy as the Lord is holy (1 Peter 1:16) and we get a puzzled look, not only on our face, but in our mind. We can never be holy as God is holy. He is undefiled, pure–but hold on, we are told to purify ourselves. Remember,
“And who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
–1 John 3:3 (NASB)
First of all, there is a difference between cleansing and purification. Cleansing is to deliver on the surface, from evil and pollution. It’s like when you wash your car. Purification is something that happens within; to get ride of the tarnishing effect of sin upon me and to avoid sin. This is a deep cleaning. This is changing the oil, making sure it is clean and not driving to places that will cause a need to cleanse the outside.
“It means that with the whole of my being I shun sin, I avoid it. I have a desire within me to be like Christ; I am striving to be like the Lord Himself.”
–D. Martyn Lloyd Jones
The person does not submit to purification; he purifies himself. Consider the following Scriptures:
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
–2 Corinthians 7:1 (NASB)
“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
–Hebrews 6:11-12 (NASB)
“Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality….”
–Colossians 3:5 (NASB)
I just have to quote Colossians 3:5 again from the King James. It seems to ring with not only authority but boldness. “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth….”
Are you still frustrated? How am I to do about this? You see the dilemma that Paul writes about and explains in Romans 5-8. Listen, purifying ourselves, being holy, is not an instantaneous act. It is not a gift–it takes work, training, and effort. I purify myself by considering Him, by looking at Him and His perfect life; that is the pattern I am to follow. I am to be conformed to God’s image (Romans 8:29).. I am to set my affections on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2) — and how much could be said about this.
How are we to do this?
1) Read, meditate, reflect upon God’s Word.
2) Crucify the flesh — daily (and even hourly)
3) Common sense — it is illogical and unreasonable to go living in opposition to that which I am called.
“That is the spirit of the New Testament–people pressing on towards the mark, straining at the leash, looking forward, going forward with all their might. And because they are looking at the vision of glory for which they are destined, they are pressing on towards it and toward Him, forgetting the things that are behind, redeeming the time, buying up the opportunity, using every second because of the certainty that they will see Him as He is and that they will be like Him.”
–D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Author: Ira Paine
The Saga of Miles Forrest
I pressed myself hard to the side of the adobe wall. “Lucas! It’s Marshal Forrest. Don’t shoot!” I hollered. “Lucas!”
“Si, I hear you, Senor Marshal. Eets all right, come in,” came his reply.”
Before I entered I noticed drops of blood at the threshold of the door. I didn’t rush in, but hesitated and peeked inside the entrance. I saw Lucas, standing along the frame of the doorway to the inner office holding the left side of his face. Blood was dripping. There was a rifle in his other hand.
There were some now gathering outside the jail. I grabbed a man. “Go get Doc Jones!” I ordered then pushed him toward the street.
Upon entering I saw the chair that was normally behind the front desk was knocked over and from what I could tell standing there, a bullet had smashed into it. Lucas, started toward me. “Go back inside the office and sit down!” I commanded. He turned and I followed him. Passing the frame I saw where a bullet had hit it and splinters were sticking from it.
“Sit on the desk and take your hand away and let me see how bad you’re bleeding.”
“No, don’t touch it,” he whined.
“I’m not goin’ to touch it. I just want to have a looksee,” I assured him. When he removed his hand, I told him to look at me. “Can you see me?” I saw that he had some splinters from the door frame embedded in the side of his face, and I was concerned about his eyes.
“Si, Senor Miles, the bullet hit the frame where I was standing. I think it throw my aim off as I fired the at same time the bullet splattered on the frame. It knocked me to the side.”
“You didn’t miss him, but he was able to drag himself out of here and get away. As soon as Doc Jones gets here, I’ll be on my way to catch him.”
Doc Jones and Marta arrived at the same time. They both started hollering at the same time, and I couldn’t make sense of either. My ears did catch the words of Marta. “Lucas, you’re bleeding! I knew I shouldn’t have let you work here.” The main reason I paid attention to her was the glare I received after she looked at Lucas.
He tried to shrug her away, but she wouldn’t let go until Doc pulled her from him. “Here, the two of you let me look at,” he hesitated, for he almost said boy, “this young man.”
Doc took a piece of white cloth from his bag and handed it to Marta. “Could you wet this please?”
“Water in the basin in the outer office,” I interjected.
She returned in a few seconds giving the cloth to Doc. “Just going to wipe the blood from your face so I can get a better look. You just hold still.”
“It sorta hurts, Senor Doc,” came the response from Lucas.
He gave a grunt, placing the cloth on the table and pulled out some tweezers from his bag. “Well, Lucas, it’s going to hurt just a little bit longer. You grab hold of the edge of that desk while I pull these splinters out. There’s a couple of big ones, and a few smaller ones.”
Doc jerked, and Lucas let out a yelp. “That’s one of the big ones, now for the other,” Doc said to no one in particular. Then I saw him touch the largest of the splinters with his tweezers and looking Lucas in the eyes which were wide in anticipation. Doc jerked again, pulling the splinter, but this time there was not a sound from Lucas.
Picking up the wet cloth he dabbed at the blood on the cheek cleaning it again. “The rest won’t be so bad. It’ll take me only a minute or so.”
Marta was standing close to Lucas, in fact it seemed that she kept moving closer. Doc stopped his work, then turned to her. “Marta, please! Give me some room. Your brother’s all right.”
“Hmmm, hmmm,” came the sound from Doc then he scratched the side of his face next to his ear. “Lucas, there’s one deeply embedded and I’m going to have to cut it out. I can’t grab it to pull it out. It’ll only take a second.”
He reached inside his bag bringing out a razor. “Grab the desk,” and then he used the blade to slightly cut the face of Lucas, bringing forth more blood. Quickly Doc placed the razor down, picked up the tweezer and pulled out the last splinter. He used the wet cloth to wipe his face again then told Lucas to hold the cloth tightly against his face. Doc then reached inside his bag bringing out two bottles and after looking at both of them, he chose a small, brown bottle.
“Let me have the cloth,” he ordered. He poured a small amount of brown liquid, iodine, on the rag and then rubbed the wounds on Lucas’ face.
“Yeoww, that burns!”
Another grunt from Doc, “Quit being a baby, you’re embarrassing me.” Then he chuckled. “You’re good to go, Just keep that cloth on your face until the bleeding stops,” he instructed then slapped Lucas on the leg.
Purposely, I think, Doc got in the way of Marta who wanted to hug the boy giving me time to step in. “Lucas, tell me what happened.”
“I was standing by the wall, over there where we keep the posters and this man came in. Senor Miles, it was the man from the trail. He said something, like, ‘you’re the reason my nephew is dead, now it’s your turn’. He drew his gun and I kicked the chair. It gave me the chance to get in the office for he shot at the chair, then fired at me, hitting the door frame. By that time, I had my rifle, I had laid it on the desk, and fired back at him,” he paused and waited a moment before continuing. “I was stunned, I prayed that he wouldn’t come inside the room, then I heard you holler.”
I didn’t look at Marta. “You did a good job Lucas. He won’t get far.”
Nodding at Doc, I moved out of the room to allow Marta to smother Lucas. I headed on up to saddle Star…
Echoes From the Campfire
It takes extreme measures, sometimes, to fit an extreme situation.”
–Elmer Kelton (Captain’s Rangers)
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
–2 Timothy 2:3 (NKJV)
————————————————–
Just because things are going well doesn’t mean that God isn’t smiling down upon you. “Good fortune doesn’t always mean that you’re living well, nor does bad fortune automatically mean you’re sinning.” (William Peterson) No matter what, we have to face whatever life brings. It doesn’t mean it’s from God or from the devil, sometimes it is just life. David knew he was the anointed king, yet Saul was chasing him to kill him. There was a reprieve, when Saul’s armies went to fight the Philistines, a battle in which Saul eventually died. David still had to face the nation’s enemies. One thing for sure–when a nation pleases God, things go well; but when a nation turns away from God, things fall apart.
1 — O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again!
2 — You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; heal its breaches, for it is shaking.
3 — You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.
4 — You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 — That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.
6 — God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth.
7 — Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.
8 — Moab is My washpot; over Edom I will cast My shoe; Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.”
9 — Who will bring me to the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 — Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
11 — Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.
12 — Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies. (Psalm 60, NKJV)
“The danger in success is dishonesty with self, others, or God. You will substitute eternal accomplishments for internal peace. What happens to you becomes more important than what happens in you.” (George O. Wood) That is so true. David alerts us in this Psalm to keep our eyes upon God. We should continue to take inventory of ourselves. Is God pleased with me? Is God pleased with what I am doing? Do not expect Him to smile down on you and pour out His blessings if we get caught up in our own security and in our own pleasure. William Struther said, “So long as sight and reason find footing in matters, there is not place for faith and hope; the abundance of human help puts not grace to proof, but the strength of faith is in the absence of them all.”
Even though God gives us talents, we should never get to the point of saying, “I did it all myself.” What happens if the talent disappears? Then there is also the inner man, the one kept hidden. What are you doing to win those inward battles? People may see you every day and you may do a good job hiding the inward struggles from them, but do you dare give them to the Lord and let Him fight for you, or will you still go on trying to do it in your own power–failing time and time again?
The first thing that must happen is to restore a right relationship with the Lord. Then turn to Him with your problems. Recognize that you are not an island in yourself, capable of solving all in your own wisdom, strength, and knowledge. Do not ever get to the point where you think that hardship means that God is no longer with you or no longer cares for you. The key is that we keep a right heart and right spirit in adversity or success.
“Give us now relief from pain
Human aid is all in vain;
We, through God, shall yet prevail.”
–Hatfield
————————————————–
Just because things are going well doesn’t mean that God isn’t smiling down upon you. “Good fortune doesn’t always mean that you’re living well, nor does bad fortune automatically mean you’re sinning.” (William Peterson) No matter what, we have to face whatever life brings. It doesn’t mean it’s from God or from the devil, sometimes it is just life. David knew he was the anointed king, yet Saul was chasing him to kill him. There was a reprieve, when Saul’s armies went to fight the Philistines, a battle in which Saul eventually died. David still had to face the nation’s enemies. One thing for sure–when a nation pleases God, things go well; but when a nation turns away from God, things fall apart.
1 — O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again!
2 — You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; heal its breaches, for it is shaking.
3 — You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.
4 — You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 — That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.
6 — God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth.
7 — Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.
8 — Moab is My washpot; over Edom I will cast My shoe; Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.”
9 — Who will bring me to the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom?
10 — Is it not You, O God, who cast us off? And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
11 — Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.
12 — Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies. (Psalm 60, NKJV)
“The danger in success is dishonesty with self, others, or God. You will substitute eternal accomplishments for internal peace. What happens to you becomes more important than what happens in you.” (George O. Wood) That is so true. David alerts us in this Psalm to keep our eyes upon God. We should continue to take inventory of ourselves. Is God pleased with me? Is God pleased with what I am doing? Do not expect Him to smile down on you and pour out His blessings if we get caught up in our own security and in our own pleasure. William Struther said, “So long as sight and reason find footing in matters, there is not place for faith and hope; the abundance of human help puts not grace to proof, but the strength of faith is in the absence of them all.”
Even though God gives us talents, we should never get to the point of saying, “I did it all myself.” What happens if the talent disappears? Then there is also the inner man, the one kept hidden. What are you doing to win those inward battles? People may see you every day and you may do a good job hiding the inward struggles from them, but do you dare give them to the Lord and let Him fight for you, or will you still go on trying to do it in your own power–failing time and time again?
The first thing that must happen is to restore a right relationship with the Lord. Then turn to Him with your problems. Recognize that you are not an island in yourself, capable of solving all in your own wisdom, strength, and knowledge. Do not ever get to the point where you think that hardship means that God is no longer with you or no longer cares for you. The key is that we keep a right heart and right spirit in adversity or success.
“Give us now relief from pain
Human aid is all in vain;
We, through God, shall yet prevail.”
–Hatfield
Coffee Percs
The morning cup of Café Nair is an integral part of the life of a Creole household. The Creoles hold as a physiological fact that this custom contributes to longevity, and point, day after day, to examples of old men and women of fourscore, and over, who attest to the powerful aid they have received through life from a good, fragrant cup of coffee in the early morning.”
–The Picayune Creole Cook Book (1901)
Mornin’ Pard, come on in and let’s have a cup of coffee. Ahhh, a pleasure of life, to be sure. Sorry that I seem serious this mornin’. I know Saturdays are supposed to be light-hearted, a day of fun activity. Hmmm, where did we come up with that idea? Six days shall thou labor and the seventh we rest. Ha, on the seventh most are out workin’ or partyin’ and not doin’ much thinkin’ of the Lord which we are supposed to be doin’ on the Lord’s Day.
Take another drink; if’n it’s not too hot, take a deep, long one. Times are serious; we need to be aware of what’s happenin’ around us. For sure, I know two things: the Lord is coming, and I believe soon; and with that, the ol’ devil is gettin’ ready to take over. Now, don’t be gettin’ in a fuss, nor takin’ me wrong. I don’t for a moment believe that this vaccine is the “mark of the Beast.” However, that bein’ said, I do believe that the foundation is now bein’ laid for it to come on the land.
Here, let me take a slurp before continuing. I want to pass on to yuh somethin’ I read, and it ought to get the attention of all of us. Prime Minister Johnson of the United Kingdom stated that people will not be able to buy or sell unless they have proof of takin’ the vaccine. President Macron of France said the same thing and added people will not be able to have access to shopping areas without a vaccine passport.
Whooeee, if that don’t get yur attention! What is it that is said in Revelation, people who do not have the “mark” will not be able to buy or sell? My mercy, if a foundation is not bein’ laid for the future, I don’t know what yuh’d call it. With all that bein’ said, I’m sure glad yuh stopped by this mornin’ to partake of a cup of coffee with me. Hope, despite what I’ve shared, it’ll put a smile on yur face and a whoop in yur gizzard.
Yuh, just be ready. I think the four riders of Death we see in Revelation are tightening their cinches and gettin’ ready to mount.
Vaya con Dios.