Nothing stays the same.  A man has to go with the times.  No man can put a rope on the past and hope to snub it down.  The best thing is to learn to ride the new trails.”
              –Louis L’Amour

    “You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.”
              –Isaiah 48:6 (NKJV)
————————
“Woe is me,” she was probably crying.  “The Lord has forsaken me; He has left me and I am undone.”  The problem was not that the Lord had forsaken her, but that she couldn’t see.  Mary was standing outside the empty tomb, not remembering the words of Jesus, and she was weeping when the “Gardener” accosted her.  Her tears had blurred her vision; she had not come to realize the words of Christ and that nothing stays the same.  Time and eternity had changed for her and she had not yet realized it.

         “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,…  And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?’ She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, ‘Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.’
         Jesus saith unto her, ‘Mary….'”
                             –John 20:11, 14-16 (KJV)

Was it unbelief or was it simply that her tears got in the way of her vision and she didn’t recognize the Lord?  Sometimes our emotions run amuck and they can cause us to lose sight of the Lord.  It can cause our vision to be blurred.  
    There may be weeping in life and it may cause us pain, and blur our vision of what the Lord is doing in our lives.  Tears may be there for one reason or another, but do not forget the promises of God.

         “For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
                              –Psalm 30:5 (AMPC)

Look at the morning.  Every day the Lord’s mercies are renewed.  Every day is a day given to us by the Lord to use for His glory and to enjoy His mercies and blessings.  Don’t let tears or other emotions blur your life.  Wipe them away and see the risen Savior as He stands in front of you.
    However, there are other reasons for blurred vision, in fact, it is actually blindness.  It may be caused by bitterness, hatred, superstition, heathen and pagan practices, and/or the foolishness of the atheist.  The Pawnee worshipped the god Tirawa by sacrificing a healthy, good-looking male captive.  Also, Mars, the Morning Star, in their belief was worshipped by shooting a sacred arrow through the heart of a young captive girl.  After her captor shot her through the heart, the rest of the warriors would then fill her body with arrows.  (Win Run: Trail Rider Devotion)
    Talk about blurred vision, yet there are those who say that Christianity should not have been brought to the heathen.  In other words, they are saying those people should have been left alone and lost in their sins.  But Jesus wants us to wipe away whatever is causing the tears–whether it be hatred or joy, bitterness or sorrow.  
    Friends, wipe your eyes and look up–for your redemption is drawing nigh.  Not only is He coming soon, He is standing right before you.

Wherever a man is, there is work to do.  That’s the best part of it.  My friend, there is a Hell.  It’s when a man has a family to support, has his health, and is ready to work, and there is no work to do.  When he stands with empty hands and sees his children going hungry, his wife without the things to do with.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Bendigo Shafter)

    “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
              –1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)
———————–
Friends, I’m sure glad I can still do a few things.  Now, I’m not as young and limber as I used to be, and sure can’t hump the boonies like I used to do.  The legs have aches and pains, and the ol’ ticker has its problems, but I reckon I can be of use in some ways.  Just not like I used to be.
    One thing for sure, the heart needs to be in the right place.  It definitely can be more attentive to God.  That’s a blessing of my life right now.  I can definitely be more contemplative than in years past.  I have more ability to do so as I’m not trying to do this or that anymore.  When a man can’t do something is one thing, but when he has the ability and is too busy to care for his family or is traipsing about doing his own thing and not caring about the things of the Lord then there is a problem.
    I’m thankful that we have not had to deal with the things my parents did–the Great Depression.  There are the “snowflakes” out there who are moaning and whining about not being able to get by.  And, by the way, “snowflakes” are not just confined to Millennials.  They want their school bill done away with, but a debt should be paid.  Scripture tells us that we should count the cost before undertaking a major endeavor, hmmm, such as a large debt.
    Remember, some of you, others do not have the slightest idea of the following analogy and I guess that may be a blessing (or a gap in their experience), the televisions of yore.  You would sit down to watch your favorite show and all of a sudden the picture would turn to “snow.”  You would get up and play with the “rabbit ears” to try to get a clear picture.  Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t.  But you would twist them this way, and then twist them that way.  Finally, maybe, hopefully, the picture would be clear and you would sit back down and then the picture would start moving up and down or back and forth.  You would get back up and find the little dials:  vertical hold, horizontal hold, and would move them depending on the problem.  You would move them and the movement would slow down and finally, as you held your breath, you would release the dial hoping that the picture would stay steady.
    Compare that to your life in Christ.  The television is on, your life.  You are connected to Him.  However, often because of interference there is “snow”.  You can’t see or make out the picture.  Your life is a mess because there is something interfering with the connection.  Or the picture is rolling and is out of whack, just like your life might be and you need some adjustment.  There are many things that may be causing the problem and the answer to that would be to get rid of that particular thing in your life.  Sometimes the picture is there, but not steady and you may not be sure what the problem is.  Then you need to get in the Word more, pray more, hmmm, and it is so popular in many circles at this time of year, fast more.
    A couple of thoughts about fasting to fix the problem.  First, do not try to manipulate God.  He sees the heart and your motives.  Second, fasting should show we are serious about God and wanting Him in our lives.  If we fast to lose weight, well, that may be good for the physical man, but it does nothing for the spiritual man.  Fasting should be accompanied by prayer and study of God’s Word.
    (Thanks to Pastor Pool, for the idea of the television and his sermon last Sunday on fasting.  See, I do listen!)

    Each day must be approached as a unit; each day must be lived with care; and if this was done, the procession of days would turn out all right.  Tomorrow must be a shadow at the back of his thinking, something of which he must think while living out today.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Last of the Breed)

“That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
              –Ephesians 5:27 (NASB)
——————–
    A new year is upon us, now what do we do with it?  A time of resolutions, and no, these are not suggestions if they are truly resolutions.  A resolution is not something that is to be broken.  By the very name it is something that you “resolve” to do.  And that is as much as I’ll say about that–at least for now.
    I have pondered what would be some good verses to start out the New Year.  Verses that can lay a foundation for the year–for life.  In doing some reading the past few days I came to the conclusion that John 15 would be good.

         “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
                    –John 15:4-6 (NKJV)

As believers, we know that we are the branch and that Jesus Christ is the vine.  With that in mind what is the branch supposed to do?  Not hard, so don’t try to think too much.  Simply, we are to live an abiding life.  We are supposed to abide in Him, so that our purpose may be fulfilled and that is to bear much fruit.  It is a sobering thought that when the Lord looks at us and we are not connected, not abiding in Him we will wither and He will cut us off and throw us into the fire.
    If you look at the first three verses, it is clear that to bear fruit and to maintain proper nourishment from the vine that pruning must take place.  Ouch!  Oh me, oh my!  Yes, it can hurt, but only for our betterment.  Jesus tells us that “by our fruit we shall be known.”  What did you produce in 2018?  Hmmm…in other words, what kind of character do you have and are you developing it in Christ?  Look at a person, their actions, their habits, their entertainment, and you can pretty much tell what type of fruit they are producing.  If they declare, “I can’t do this,” “Don’t be so legalistic,” or “That’s only your opinion, I don’t agree with it,” you pretty much know if they are hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
    One of the most important aspects of this–does His Word abide in you?  Do you simply do your duty and read a verse once a day?  Maybe you get a little vaccine or booster shot once in a while at church and do a “spiritual jig” and come out feeling that you are righteous and holy.  Sorry, that won’t cut it.  “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:16)  When the Gardener comes He will find you withered.
    But you say, I can’t do this all day long.  I have to work, I have this or that to do.  “The “abiding” work is the work of the heart, not of the brain or the muscle, the work of the heart clinging to and resting in Jesus, a work in which the Holy Spirit links us to Christ Jesus.”  (Andrew Murray)  Don’t be led astray in this last days thinking that you can be partakers of the world, joining in with the earthly indulgences.  No, Christ will come back for those without spot or wrinkle and perhaps in 2019, we best be ironing out the wrinkles.