You cannot submit to evil without allowing evil to grow. Each time the good are defeated, or each time they yield, they only cause the forces of evil to grow stronger. Greed feeds greed, and crime grows with success. Our giving up what is ours merely to escape trouble would only create the greater trouble for someone else.”
–Louis L’Amour (A Man Called Noon)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
–2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
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Welcome back! I know that an echo is a sound that is reverberated after the original sound. I have never thought of a campfire giving off an “echo”, but if one looks at the analogy of the campfire being their life then it is continually giving off an echo. Look in the mirror, if you dare, there is a semblance to the person of the past, but there is also a “new look.” Hmmm, maybe that’s the way we are in our Christian walk. There are some appearances of who we were in the past, maybe we are still paying consequences–an “echo” if you will–but there is a new person.
What is in store for you in 2020? What are you going to do for the Lord? Maybe more importantly, what is He going to do for you/in you? I would say the most important thing for you to do in this coming year is found in the last two words of Matthew 17:5. The heavenly Father is speaking, “Hear Him!” Listen to what Jesus is telling you this year. How can you do that? You must be in the Word of God. The more you have of the Word down in your heart, the more the Holy Spirit can speak. I might mention that the Greek for the word, “hear” in this verse means “to yield to.” The phrase “hear and obey” would convey this thought. Will your yield this year–2020–to the authority of Christ?
“All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His service daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasure all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame;
O the joy of full salvation, Glory, glory to His name.”
–Judson W. Van de Venter
The attacks from the devil and his minions are not going to stop in 2020. Evil is prodding ever so heavily across this land and throughout the whole world. To survive, we must surrender. To the enemy? NEVER! But to survive we must surrender completely to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Guide, our Comfort, our Protector. This year–2020–walk in His presence.
Author: Ira Paine
The Saga of Miles Forrest
Brrr, that snow we received the other night sure brought in a cold spell. Must be down near zero this morning. I’d been helping Charlie do his rounds and took up some slack when he had to be out of town. He wanted to hit the major towns before the end of the year; sort of take inventory. He was supposed to be back from Silverton today, but with the snow the train might be delayed.
I was warmly bundled as I walked the streets this morning. The shops were just beginning to open. Up the street I could see Darnelle out in front of her uncle’s store shoveling snow out into the street. I decided to walk on up past the sheriff’s office and greet her.
She looked up just as I got to her. Tucking some strands of hair that had come out from under her scarf she gave me a warm smile for such a cold morning. “You showed up just in time, Mr. Forrest, I just finished,” she said with a little laugh. “Come on in, I have coffee warming on the stove all ready for this particular moment. Join me.”
I wasn’t about to turn down a cup of coffee. In fact, weather like this makes a man hanker for it. We stomped the snow off our boots on the little rug just inside the store. I helped Darnelle with her coat and she proceeded down the main aisle toward the back. I could feel the large room getting warmer as we neared the stove.
She handed me a cup, I didn’t bother to look in it for I knew it would be clean. Pouring the coffee she asked, “How was your Christmas?”
Fine, fine,” I responded, then took a sip. Whew, it was hot! Some women just have the knack of getting coffee, soup, and such hotter than others. I wonder what it was? “Glad you decided to come over to the diner for dinner.”
Motioning to a chair I sat down and she took the one next to me scooting closer to the stove to warm her feet. “Well, mother and father are out of town. They went down to Santa Fe for Christmas. They’ll be back this weekend if the weather holds. I came to the diner to keep me from fixing a Christmas dinner.”
“Wasn’t it lonely, here at Christmas?” I asked.
She turned my way, looking at me solemnly and didn’t speak for a few seconds. “In some ways you could say it was,” then a smile broke out on her face. “In other ways, I’m never alone for the Lord is always with me.”
I nodded at her; I could understand for I had spent many an hour on the trail by myself. There were a few winters, that one up near Chugwater came quickly to mind when it was me, the wolves and the snowmen.
Finishing my coffee I stood handing her the cup. “Thanks,” then thought a minute. “You have plenty of wood?”
“I’m good. Father had a couple of cords cut for us. The upstairs doesn’t take much heat, except when that cold winds starts to howl,” she responded with a smile.
I walked to the door and stood at the entry way looking up and down the street. “You’re a cautious man,” I heard her say behind me.
Turning my head I nodded to her. “Pays to be cautious in my line of work.”
“Do you think James Lamb will try to take his vengeance on you?” she questioned.
I must have frowned for she continued. “Oh, it’s all over town. Some say you bring trouble to Durango,” she sighed and paused. “Mister Forrest, don’t let people bother you with their talk. Remember, you have been called to bring justice to this country wherever you are and right now you are in Durango.”
Tipping my hat, I gave a smile. “I’ll check back on you later. I’m headin’ now to the station to see when they expect the train to be in. Sheriff’s supposed to be on it.”
Stepping out the cold wind came up the street. That was one thing about going inside a warm room, a person had to come back out to the cold. John Lamb’s trial was set for next week. I reckoned that James and his cohorts would be here by then.
I breathed a little prayer and I could almost imagine the words handing out with my frosted breath, “Lord, help me in the New Year.”
Echoes From the Campfire
But just to breathe that untainted air, just to see once the boundless open of colored sand and rock—to realize what the freedom of eagles meant—would not that have helped anyone?”
–Zane Grey (The Call of the Canyon)
Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.”
–Psalm 71:3 (NASB)
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There’s still a few embers burning in the campfire of 2019. The year–the events, sorrows and pain, gladness and smiles–that it brought are now history. There’s nothing that can be done about them, but to store them away in our memory and learn, hoping that we can be a better person in 2020 because of them.
I almost didn’t get this sent out. One, I thought about not sending anything out until next week, but felt stirred that I should as someone out there needs this. Second, I almost forgot. Call it the length of the year, or if you must, progressive aging. The year being almost over we do take time to think of the past year, the good and the bad. But take a minute or two, and ponder the words I’m going to relate to you from Bruce Kiskaddon. This is not the complete poem, just a few verses for you to ponder as you sit, coffee in hand, in the evening shadows.
The Creak of the Leather
It’s likely that you can remember
A corral at the foot of a hill
Some mornin’ along in December
When the air was so cold and so still.
When the frost lay as light as a feather
And the stars had jest blinked out and gone.
Remember the creak of the leather
As you saddled your hoss in the dawn.
When the glow of the sunset had faded
And you reached the corral after night
On a hoss that was weary and jaded
And so hungry yore belt wasn’t tight.
You felt about ready to weaken
You knowed you had been a long way
But the old saddle still kep a creakin’
Like it did at the start of the day.
. . . .
When yore old and yore eyes have grown hollow
And your hair has a tinge of the snow
But there’s always the memories that follow
From the trails of the dim long ago.
There are things that will haunt you forever
You noticed that strange as it seems
One sound, the soft creak of the leather,
Weaves into your memories and dreams.
There are some things that make us sigh about the past years, including 2019. True, there are probably some things from the past that haunt us. But we must never forget, that means always remember that the Lord makes all things new. The year is almost over, a new one to begin so what is it that will be in store for you in 2020?
Perhaps for many that read this, it will be the year that they take their purpose in life seriously. They quit playing games with the Lord and seek to follow Him completely. And, you want to know something else? Look up! This may be the year of the Lord’s return.
Coffee Percs
To have companionship, supper cooked to perfection, and coffee on the stove. Now that was something a man could look forward to.”
–Lynette Sowell
Sure was a grand Christmas ’round this homestead. Hopin’ yurs was fine as well. To have friends and family around was delightful, and this ol’ fencepost was surely blessed with some nice gifts. We even celebrated high on the hog with some Kona coffee and Jamaica Blue Mountain. Whooeee, they’re supposed to be top of the line (and we had some of that hog-meat as well).
In a few days we can put the nonsense of 2019 behind us. Well, for the most part–the bureaucrats will still be around. Sometimes yuh wish someone would just come by and slap them silly, but that wouldn’t do for they are already nonsensical. Hmmm, maybe to slap some of the silliness out of them would be better.
One thing yuh can be sure of, without question–the Lord is in control. He sees the big picture and the culmination of the whole thing. Trust in Him as you enter this New Year.
So here’ hopin’ yuh have plenty of coffee, that yur hips don’t squeak and give way, and that you’ll always remember to check yur cinch as yuh begin the journey into 2020.