Echoes from the Campfire

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

If you learn to really see things and to really listen, half your troubles are over.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Brionne)

       “Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
                    –Psalm 46:10 (Amplified)
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Yesterday morning, I was sitting in my chair getting ready to do my devotions.  Instead of beginning to write some thoughts I just sat there, looking at the graylight trying to overcome the darkness.  It was slow, but sure and eventually the dawn drove away the night, and soon I could get a glimmer of sunlight in the tops of the trees.  I thought about what I recently wrote about Martha being “cumbered.”  Was I that way?  I was reading my Bible and other good books.  I was studying, but was I letting them get in the way of just being quiet and listening?
       Luke Dysinger said, “Give to God what you have found in your heart.”  Then Bernard Brady added to this, “Then pause for a moment.”  That is where the issues lie.  First, do I/we take time to really look deep into our heart?  We get busy with “things” and we don’t contemplate deeply the Word of God.  The second problem is–pausing.  Oh my, how can a person possibly pause in this frantic world?  Annie and I are both retired, yet it seems hard to take time to pause, and perhaps that is the problem–taking time.
       People want peace and tranquility in their lives.  But where is it?  Many, and I believe a majority of people cannot even lie down at night and fall quickly to sleep.  They are still caught up in the motions of the day or are already so vexed by what will be facing them tomorrow that they cannot even rest at night.  Tomorrow‘s schedule is on our mind:  do this, then this, and if I have time, do this.  I look at the words of Isaiah 30:15, “…In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength…” (NKJV)  That is what the Lord says, but what do the people do?  Go on to verse 16, “And you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses’—Therefore you shall flee!  And, ‘We will ride on swift horses’—Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!” (NKJV)  Rushing to and fro and for naught.  Where is the quiet time before the Lord?
       “When one finally arrives at the point where schedules are forgotten, and becomes immersed in ancient rhythms, one begins to live…” so wrote Sigurd Olson.  Man then begins to plan, (get the picture) and then as Olson continues, “In the process, however, the man will still be so imbued with the sense of hurry and the thrill of travel that they actually lose what they came to find.”  Trying to make things happen instead of living the life that God has intended for us.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  We have to have schedules, some jobs more than others.  I realize that family, career, friends, and even church puts demands on our lives that must be met, but the key is to find somewhere, some time to get alone and quiet before the Lord.  
       When you’re quiet and alone you begin to see things that you might not have seen before.  “All people look, but few really see,” said Louis L’Amour.  Sit quietly and maybe a fox will wander near you.  Listen and you may hear that still small voice of the Lord speaking to you.  Mother Teresa said, “We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of silence…  The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.  We need silence.”  Yet, even in the church noise seems to abound.  An example of this happened to us just a few weeks back.  The music was so loud and bombastic that we couldn’t even begin to think much less pray and concentrate on the Lord.  However, “when you’re quiet and still things come to you.” (Greg Lane)
       So I would encourage you to find that spot where you can avoid the noise and take time to be quiet to listen to the Lord.  You must also find, not only the place, but the time.  It doesn’t have to be long, but I would say start with ten minutes.  Ten minutes of thinking about the Lord.  Ten minutes contemplating, perhaps your favorite verses.  Ten minutes of solitude where you can be refreshed.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

There is a weariness that goes beyond exhaustion. This kind of weariness weighs down the very soul of a man.”
                    –Dan Arnold  (The Fourth Horseman)


       “So take a fresh grip on life and brace your trembling limbs. Don’t wander away from the path but forge steadily onward.”
                    –Hebrews 12:12-13(Phillips)
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I want to take a few moments this morning to glean some thoughts from Matthew 10:25.  Jesus has been accused of being under the power of the devil, and He is instructing His disciples.  In verse 24, He states, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.” (NKJV)  He has been teaching His disciples with some quick, hard-hitting truths in this chapter.  
     Now, look carefully at the first part of verse 25.  “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master…”  Underline or emphasize the word “enough.”  Henry Harbuck translates it this way, “A student should be satisfied to imitate his teacher and attain to his level and share in his fate, and the servant (slave) should be like his master/owner…”  Friends, it is enough that we be like the Master.  George Morrison says that “the highest praise that can be given to any man is that others, knowing him, should call him Christlike.  That is the noblest ideal in the world.”
     Oh my, now how does that happen?  Can any of us really say that we are “Christlike?”  Listen, it only comes about with years of close communion with Him.  Life is tough and we often get so involved with life that we don’t take the time or bother to be Christlike.   Because of the sternness and the ordeals of life we often become despondent and wonder how we can ever get through it.  Here I think of the “weeping Prophet” Jeremiah.  But friend, look again–His life, Jesus the Christ–is to be our ideal.  “Spirituality is not a vague abstraction; it is growing conformity to Him.  And if He was burdened, misunderstood, and sometimes sorrowful even unto death, we must not quarrel with such dark experiences.  It is enough that we should be like Him.” (Morrison)
     God’s true servants always try to do their best.  However, they become exhausted in the work, they become weary in well-doing.  But remember, Jesus at one time was so weary that He fell fast asleep, using the deck of a fishing boat for a pillow.  On His way to Calvary He fell and could no longer bear the burden of the cross and another one, Simon was called upon to help Him.  Jesus became exhausted at times.
     “Enough” means as much or as many as required.  It is adequate for the want or need; sufficient for the purpose.  We are to be satisfied that we are doing “enough.”  No, we are not slackers or sluggards as depicted in the Proverbs.  We are not lazy, but we seek to be hardy, complete workers for the Lord.  We seek to do “all in the name of the Lord,” and with all our might.  We stand when we can no longer stand; we toil on when we don’t have the strength to do so; we labor until the hands and legs are weary and then continue in the midst of fatigue to labor more.  That is enough.
     Morrison has said that giving a cup of water is enough.  “Enough is as good as a feast.  Enough is satisfaction.”  We cannot do more than enough, we are to be satisfied with just doing “enough.”  “He who knows us and what is best for us, just as He knows what is in store for us, says it is “enough” that the servant be as his Lord.”
     One person whom I greatly admire is Bill Wilson.  He said that “the need is the calling.”  With that he has given his life to meet the needs of children around the world.  Before I heard Bill speak those few words I had the same idea.  Being in church all my life, it used to wear on me why we were losing so many of our youth to the world.  Through many various circumstances, the Lord brought me to become involved in Christian education.  I took that to mean, not only academics, but also discipleship.  It became my life to try to disciple kids in the church so that they do not go out into the world.  Was I successful?  Let me use the words of George Morrison again, “Spiritual work, above all other work, is dogged and haunted by the sense of failure.”  He uses the illustrations of men who work getting the job done, of finishing the task, but it is not so with the work of a Christian.  There are people lost and dying, there are many who are not heeding discipleship and going out into the world.  Failure, I see it when I look at faces of former students on Facebook, not living for the Lord, but for themselves and in the world.  Failure!  But then I recall what the Master said,  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34, NKJV)  Jesus was not a failure!  It is here that I must, and you must realize that “He was there before us–and it is ‘enough’, for the most ardent heart, that the servant be as his Lord.” (Morrison)

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

They were gentle hands, strong hands, capable hands; they were the hands of a woman, a mother, a woman to walk beside a man, not behind him.”

                    –Louis L’Amour  (Taggart)

       “A man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.”
                    –Proverbs 18:22(HCSB)
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I used a quotation yesterday on Facebook for my “Echo” and I want to share it with you on this devotion today.  

               “They were two people who had little use for words for they had a perfect understanding; they had the simplicity of faith.”
                         –Ernest Haycox

It was about this time of year, fifty-four years ago that Annie and I started dating.  My mercy, that is a few years ago.  But we walked together, as Amos wrote, together, going in the same direction, agreeing on where we were going and how we were going to get there.  The journey is not over, and we’re still on our way.
     Listen, life is so much easier, better, and enjoyable when you walk with someone you love and agree with.  We’ve shared some steaks along the way, but I reckon most of our fare has been beans.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, we have not been poor or destitute and never had to eat feathers.  When we started out we knew that the Lord was going to take care of us, that we were going to trust Him in our life’s journey.  Even today, and I won’t go into details, we know that He will take care of our every need until that time we cross over Jordan to be with Him.  
     An old cowboy sage, Waddie Mitchell, wrote a poem, “There’s Nothin’ Like Nothin’.”  There is some real truth there for there surely is nothin’ like nothin’ when I’ve got her.  Through the years, we have had little and we’ve had abundance.  We’ve lived in run down trailers and we’ve owned three houses, well, actually the mortgage company owned two of them.  We’ve gone through several vehicles, a few gathered some bumps and scratches along the way–hmmm, just like us.  We’ve climbed up hills, some of them were mountains, and we’ve gone through the valleys.  But through it all–we had each other and we had the Lord.  He was and is always faithful.
     She stuck with me on all the trails we’ve taken and never questioned which fork in the road we should take.  However, that being said, I could never have made it by walking alone, I needed her by my side.  I don’t think we ever made a decision about which road to take, but I wonder about some of the obstacles that came our way on the road.  Each place we lived we learned, we grew with each other and in our faith, and found purpose in each place.
     Storms and battles are part of life.  We’ve gone through hurricanes, thunderstorms, and hailstorms.  We’ve traveled down foggy roads, up mountain passes when it was a mixture of rain, sleet, and snow.  Once we spent time in the cooler of a restaurant in Goodland, Kansas because of a tornado heading our way.  It makes me wonder what storms were in the spiritual realm that we could not see, and for that I am thankful.  For when we cannot even see, we knew that God would be faithful.
     Yes, fifty-four years ago I began a quest to get this girl from Pennsylvania to be mine.  She could cook and she could sew.  She can bake, and her hand felt so good in mine.  I was ready to pop the question, but she was hesitant.  We had to separate for the summer; she went to summer school, I had to go home to work so I could come back to school in the fall.  Perhaps that separation made her think more fondly of me, and we met at a wedding of good friends, Gary and Kathy Hines, in Ohio.  From there I took her home, in pouring rain, and along the Pennsylvania Turnpike, I pulled off to the side.  Not much romance in the pouring rain, on the turnpike with trucks roaring by, but there I asked the question, in trepidation, and she said a resounding, “YES!”
     “No man should have to walk the earth alone. A man should have a mate, to share his luck and his strength, but his sorrows as well.” (Louis L’Amour)  I never had to walk alone, I never had to suffer alone, I never had to worry or fret.  I had someone to walk with me, and she never faltered along the way.  I found a virtuous, a capable wife and found that indeed she is more precious than gold or rubies or other gems.  “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will not lack anything good.  She rewards him with good, not evil, all the days of her life.” (Proverbs 31:11-12, HCSB)

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Mostly I’d say a good man is one you can rely on, one who does his job and stands by what he believes.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Sackett)

       “You, our brothers, must look round and pick out from your number seven men of good reputation who are both practical and spiritually-minded and we will put them in charge of this matter.”

                    –Acts 6:3 (Phillips)
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John Calvin wrote, “No greater injury can be inflicted upon men than to wound their reputation.”  This seems to be the cause of so many pseudo-historians today.  They seek to find fault, to bring hideous and often untrue accusations against those of the past.  True, men and women of renown in the past were human just like everyone else, but the trend seems to be to find something wrong, something secretive instead of accenting the positive contributions of their lives.  The heading for Psalm 109 in the Bible I most often use is:  “Plea for Judgment of False Accusers.”  David doesn’t hesitate to ask God to act on his behalf.

          1 — Do not keep silent, O God of my praise!
          2 — For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
          3 — They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.
          4 — In return for my love they are my accusers, but I give myself to prayer.
          5 — Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
          6 — Set a wicked man over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand.
          7 — When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his prayer become sin.
          8 — Let his days be few, and let another take his office.  (NKJV)

     David begins his prayer with a “gush of anguish” (Wood).  He was undergoing a character assassination at the hands of men who were out to get him.  Men who wanted him brought down.   Whoever it was brought great pain to David for it wounded something deep within him–his reputation and character and he had no way to set the record straight.  
     Perhaps you have or are having these same things brought against you.  If so, turn to the Lord, as David did.  He gave himself to prayer.  He went to the Lord telling Him the situation and his feelings.  The literal translation of verse 5 is “I am all prayer.”  While David’s enemies were spewing false words and lies against him, he was speaking to God.  It must not be just one person who was attacking David for he refers to them as “they.”  
     The last two verses above speak of David’s desire.  He wants the words to be turned upon his attacker.  Lawson says that David wants the words of his accuser to come back to condemn him.  Then he prays that his enemy’s days be few.  Let no more harm be done to the Lord’s work.  Let another take his place of leadership (Lawson).
     When we want to strike out it would serve us to remember these words of David and take the situation and the person to the Lord.  Paul understood this when he wrote, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19, NKJV)  Here Paul is referring to the words in Deuteronomy 32.

               “Jesus, thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem,
               But with thine own lifeblood, for thy diadem.
               With thy blessing filling each who come to thee,
               Thou hast made us willing, thou hast made us free.
               By thy grand redemption, by thy grace divine,
               We are on the Lord’s side, Savior, we are thine.”
                         –Frances R. Havergal