–Psalm 25:12 (NKJV)
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               “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me…”
                         –2 Timothy 4:10 (ESV)

This sad commentary I mentioned last week when we looked at the stony ground, but I wanted to bring it up again.  Notice the reason that Demas left Paul, he was “in love with this present world.”  Is this not the problem today?  Busyness, shallow thinking, deceit, material gain are all out there and seek our attention.  It is up to us, our choice, whether we continue on the way with Christ or choose, as Demas did to fall back into the world.

               “Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.”  –Matthew 13:22(NKJV)
               “Now the one that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”  –Luke 8:14 (NKJV)

     This person has accepted the Word, and it has taken root and has started to grow, but then….  Then something happens.  They get busy.  Oh, it might be legitimate, at least for a while, in fact, they may be busy with the Lord’s work.  Work, work, work, have to make a dollar–but at what expense!  Barclay writes, “We must ever remember that the things which crowd out the highest need not necessarily be bad.  The worst enemy of the best is the second best.”  This person wants it all, God, material success, a wonderful social life; “he wants the fruitfulness that comes with the gospel, but with he also wants everything else.” (Stedman)  He will run his credit card(s) to the max trying for the finer things of life.  He does not necessarily want to work for it, but wants it now.  But if he has to work for it that work may get in the way of the gospel.  Miss one Sunday a month, then another, then after they make their money they want to take a Sunday off to enjoy their hard labor.  The Sunday School class they were part of has been put aside.  The fellowship that is needed is replaced by those in the world.  What a dreadful sight.
     Notice, this person does not hear the word “with joy”.  He simple allows the message to grow, but “life has too many other commitments that slowly choke the struggling plant, which never matures and bear fruit.” (D.A. Carson)  We see that there are two types of thorns presented in this passage:  the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches.  It could be rendered “the cares of the age,” indicating that the person has not thought nor does he have his eye on the age to come.  Carson continues to say, “The idea is clear:  worries about worldly things or devotion to wealth snuff out spiritual life.”  Note also, the idea of “deceit.”  That implies that the thorns are “so subtle that one may not be aware of the choking that is going on.” (Carson)  Eventually we see that there is no fruitfulness; “all the seeming good effect [of the word] is gone, leaving the soul a very thicket of thorns.” (Broadus)
     The stony ground the seed was snatched away, adversity could not be handled, but now the plant grows, it looks good, but then distractions come and it does not mature.  There is no fruit and the fruitless branches will be cut off and thrown into the fire.  In other words, they are fruitless, no good, dead, only good for the fire.  Walter Liefeld suggests, “that this matter of being fruitful is not simply a matter of the quality of one’s Christian life but of whether one has life at all…”  
     Friend, contrary to some, there can be a falling away.  Jude warns us that, “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.  They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees WITHOUT FRUIT, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.” (12, NKJV, emphasis mine)  John says that “they went out from us, but they were not of us…” (1 John 2:19, NKJV)  There will be a falling away–“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, NKJV)  Forsaking the truth, there will be those who fall into deceit.
     Make sure you count the cost.  Take inventory of your Christian walk which should be done on a regular basis.  Concentrate on the kingdom–“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33, NKJV)  Do not be deceived, do not let the world choke out what God has for you.  Don’t let the pleasures of this world beguile you.  “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  (Matthew 16:26, NKJV)   In short — don’t become like Demas.  Keep your eyes focused on the Lord.

       “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.”
                    –Psalm 115:3 (NKJV)
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Children often ask, “Who made God?” or “Where did God come from?”  It is hard to understand and even harder to explain, He always was!  He was just there!  That’s one reason I like that phrase by Francis Schaeffer, “The God Who Is There!”  He was before the beginning–grasp that; and He will be continual throughout the eons when time is no more–He is there.  I was criticized once when I taught this class saying that God does not need us.  He is all sufficient within Himself.  Since He is perfect, actually more than perfect, nothing can be added to Him and nothing can be taken away.  He is the I AM, He exists, He is there!  He cannot go out of existence and He never had a beginning.  As Packer writes, “God necessarily continues forever unchanged, because it is His eternal nature to do that.”
     The psalm of Moses declares, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2, ESV)  God is solitary in His excellency.  Man does not like this thought and shuns it.  He likes to think that He adds to God and if that could be remotely possible it would be creating an idol.  When God created it did nothing to God essentially for He changes not.  God’s glory can neither be augmented or diminished.  “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?  Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11, NKJV)  
     “God was under no constraint, no obligation, no necessity to create.” (Arthur Pink)  He determines nothing but His own mere good pleasure.  No, that is not ego.  You have to remember that “ego” is a man-made term, something that is not related to God.  He has nothing to prove to Himself (or to anyone else).  Paul writes that He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” (Ephesians 1:11, NKJV)  God does not gain anything from His creation; it does not make Him bigger or better.  Our obedience profits God nothing, for He is all within Himself.  
     He is referred to as the Father, which means “one who brings into existence.” (E.S. Williams)  Why do you think there is such an attack on the image of the father, the role of the father, and the responsibility of the father as well as the role of man in general?  Man does not like the thought that there is a Father in heaven who has the universe under His control.  All of heaven and all of earth are under His control.  All dominions, powers, spirits, angels, principalities, and earthly thrones are under His control and He does not need them.
     God is both honored and dishonored by men.  God would be God whether He created man or not.  Job relates, “Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!” (26:14, NKJV)  He does not need us…yet He loves us.  He is no better if we worship Him, yet He delights in the worship of His children.  Ponder the words of Isaiah, lest we begin to get too big for our britches, “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing.  And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering.  All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.  To whom then will you like God?  Or what likeness will you compare to Him?” (Isaiah 40:15-18, NKJV)
     “God’s self-existence is a basic truth.” (Packer)  Man in his worship, in his development, in his ideologies does not keep God going.  He needs no support system.  “The word ‘aseity,’ meaning that He has life in Himself and draws His unending energy from Him…was coined by theologians to express this truth.” (Packer)  Because of the limits of our finiteness this doctrine of aseity stands as a bulwark against mistakes of making something out of God that is not there.  Pink writes, “Such an One is to be revered, worshipped, adored.  His is solitary in His majesty, unique in His excellency, peerless in His perfections.  He sustains all, but He Himself independent of all.  He gives to all, but is enriched by none.”  Paul wrote to Timothy, “…He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.  Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15-16, NKJV)

          “He does not have to call for help, and you can’t confuse Him.
          He doesn’t need you, and He doesn’t need me.
          He stands alone in the solitude of Himself;
          He’s august, and He’s unique;
          He’s unparalleled, He’s unprecedented, He’s supreme…”
                    –Rev. S. M. Lockeredge

                    –Proverbs 3:5 (RSV)
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               “Thanksgiving is good, but thanks-living is better.”
                         –Matthew Henry

Wouldn’t it be grand if all Christians would practice that?  Most would agree that we should be thankful, but might hesitate with Paul’s words to give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  However, to live a life of thanksgiving is something else.  That is true worship.  Our lives are to be filled with gratitude for the things the Lord has done and just in recognition of who He is.  Psalm 118 is a psalm of thanksgiving and more than that a psalm of triumph.

          1 — Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.
          2 — Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
          3 — Let the house of Aaron now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
          4 — Let those who fear the LORD now say, “His mercy endures forever.”
          5 — I called on the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
          6 — The LORD is on my side; I will not fear, what can man do to me?
          7 — The LORD is for me among those who help me; therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
          8 — It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
          9 — It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.  (NKJV)

Mercy can be rendered in the first four verses as “His faithful love” (NLT).  Because of His faithful love we have mercy that is abundant and never failing.  
     I was researching this Psalm and found that it is the single most referenced psalm in the New Testament.  It is the only psalm quoted by all four Gospel writers–three times by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and once by John.  When Jesus wept over Israel He quoted this psalm (Lk 13:35).  When He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday this psalm was shouted by the people (Mt 21:9).  Jesus quoted this psalm in His parables and it is also referenced by other New Testament writers. (Lawson)
     The main thrust of the psalm is to thank the Lord for His goodness, especially in deliverance.  We are to give our deepest gratitude to Him for His many blessings, but note, especially that of His mercy.  “There is no end to the boundless mercy He lavished upon His people.” (Lawson)  Notice, His people.  His mercy is there for everyone, but it must be appropriated by becoming one of His own.
     This is a psalm of trust!  Luther claimed this psalm as his when he rode to stand before the hierarchy, civil and religious, in Worms.  He stated on his journey, “The Lord is with me, so I will not be afraid.  I am determined to go though as many devils should oppose me as there are tiles upon all the houses.”  It is recorded that as Luther entered the hall of his sentencing an old soldier put his arm on Luther’s shoulder and said, “Little monk, you need more courage for your battle today than any soldier I know.  But if God is for you, go ahead and do not be afraid.” (Petersen)
     The writer of this psalm was in “distress” or other versions “anguish.”  It means literally a “tight place, a confining place, lack of room,” a place from which there is no escape.  But look what the Lord did for him–He answered “and set me in a broad place.”  Whoooeee, that makes you want to give a shout and maybe a do a little jig.  No hope–yet there was hope.  In our lives we may face severe trials of various sorts and it seems that there is no hope–but look again, look upward towards the face of our Lord and see–there is hope, the least of not which is our heavenly hope.
     As we walk through this journey called life we are never to forget that there is always hope when we trust in the Lord.  “The author knew that God was with him in all circumstances of life, even in distress [anguish] and mounting difficulty.”  (Lawson)  We have no choice!  We must look to God, for our alternative is the feebleness of man.  We can choose God or we can choose man.  How much better is it to take refuge in the Lord!

          “And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
          We will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.
          The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
          His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure;
          One little word shall fell him.”
                   –Martin Luther

                    –E. B Sledge  (With the Old Breed)

       “With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and stay alert in this, with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

                    –Ephesians 6:18(HCSB)
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I argued with myself regarding today’s Echo, especially since I wrote about Memorial Day last Friday.  I won the argument.  In today’s society I don’t think we can say too much regarding the sacrifices of those who have gone before.  Much, way too many, walk along today with their hands out and their noses pointed into their phones.  Sacrifice?  What is that?  Security?  Why is that something we need, I have all I want, well, maybe not…?
     I don’t know if there’s any rhyme to what I’m saying but there is reason.  George Washington said many years ago, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were Treated and Appreciated by their nation.”  If we do not appreciate and understand the sacrifice of previous generations and if it is not taught to the following generations what is left?  We have done a pretty good job, oh, until the war in Vietnam.  There is so much nonsense and verbariage spoken and written regarding that war, and yes, it was a war, but it was then that we ceased to honor our servicemen.  There was a reprisal with 9/11/01, but it has been short-lived, especially now with the attacks on our military by Wokeism, socialism, and progressivism.  Our military is being cut apart from within; dismantling itself.
     Remove the monument, and not only those that are statues, but those in the textbooks.  Tear down the men and women, put in their place weaklings, ne’er-do-wells, and a host of other ill-reputable ideologies.  Sacrifice may be required, the ultimate sacrifice may be among them.  How can the man or woman in the military respond to that without the concept of a higher moral base.  In fact, Stephen Mansfield wrote that the creed a soldier is to live by “asks for moral conduct and sacrifice that isn’t usually possible for human beings without some higher truth in their lives.”  Higher truth–certainly not man’s then, but God’s.  Washington said in his Farewell Address, “Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion.”  
     This Memorial Day, take time to reflect, but also to think about what is happening and what could happen if we should weaken our military, physically, mentally, and morally.  Yes, the standards have been lowered, of that I am convinced and have seen practical evidence of that.  But ponder the words I write below.  They may be regarding veterans, but if the standards are not maintained, if the veteran is not honored, what kind of sacrifice is to be made?  The sacrifice of our country as we know and love it.

     “It was life rather than death that faded into the distance, as I grew into a state of not thinking, not feeling, not seeing.  I moved past trees, past other things; men passed by me, carrying other men, some crying, some cursing, some silent.  They were all unreal.  Balanced uneasily on the knife-edge between utter oblivion and this temporary not-knowing, it seemed little matter whether I were…to go forward to death or to come back to life.”  –Captain Wyn Griffith (1916)

     I can remember, way back when I was in grade school being taught those famous words given by Nathan Hale, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”  Is this still being taught?  I doubt it.  The words can be googled, but the courage and tenacity behind those words cannot.  Stand firm in defense of our country, yet we see hundreds of college students crying in favor of fascism and socialism.  And let me say this, from my studies, fascism is not dead.  It was not eradicated with World War II.  It now has cloaked itself with new names, new lies, and the closest I can see that resembles fascism is the tyrannical governments proposed by Hamas, ISIS, Hezbollah and the like.  Radical Islam, study it, reeks of fascism.  Be ready, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” (1 Corinthians 14:8, NKJV)
     One of the core values of the Air Force states, “Integrity is a character trait.  It is the willingness to do what is right even when no one is looking.  It is the ‘moral compass’ the inner voice; the voice of self-control; the basis for the trust imperative in today’s military.”  With so many changes taking place in our military I wonder if this is still one of the core values.  The Marines are dropping Drill Instructor (D.I.) to Drill Sergeant–big deal you say–yes, a beginning.  The Air Force, formally T.I., technical instructors are now Military Training Instructors (MTI).  It is to soften the image of the old D.I.  The man who was in charge of taking snot-nosed kids and making them into men.
     I’ll close my ramblings today with the words from Shakespeare.  The Feast of Crispian and King Henry V made a speech.  It would do us well to reflect upon his words.  Few out there today can relate to it.  They see movies, i.e., Band of Brothers, but they cannot know the impact.  They may look up from their phones, but they do not understand nor do most of them want to.  Ponder the speech, and have a wonderful Memorial Day.

          “That he which hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart; his passport shall be made, and crowns for convoy put into his purse; we would not die in that man’s company that fears his fellowship to die with us.  This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.  He that outlives this day, and come safe home, will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d, and rouse him at the name of Crispian.  He that shall live this day, and see old age, will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, and say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’  Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, and say ‘These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.’  Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, but he’ll remember, with advantages what feats he did that day…  
          This story shall the good man teach his son; and Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered–we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition; and gentlemen in England now abed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here…”

“This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and have prepared everything, to take your stand.”  –Ephesians 6:13, HCSB