–Louis L’Amour  (The Proving Trail)

       “‘But the word of the LORD endures forever.’  Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.”

                    –1 Peter 1:25 (NKJV)
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Have you ever seen a map of modern day Israel and the countries around it?  A small piece of land surrounded by enemies.  Even within those enemy countries there are other foes such as Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS, and others that vow to destroy Israel.  However, as we see in Psalm 108, God is in control and has parceled out the land.

          6 — That Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and hear me.
          7 — God has spoken in His holiness:  “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth.
          8 — Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.
          9 — Moab is My washpot; over Edom I will cast My shoe; over Philistia I will triumph.”
        10 — Who will bring me into the strong city?  Who will lead me to Edom?
        11 — Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?  And You, O God, who did not go out with our armies?
        12 — Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless.
        13 — Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.  (NKJV)

     We see this now as past deeds which the Lord has performed, but with that in mind we know…we know that it “also constitutes promises of present and future aid.”  (George Wood)  David knows the heart of God, he knows the character of God and that God can be relied upon.
     Edom, Moab, Philistia, where are they today?  God in His providence took care of them.  However, Israel is still surrounded by a host of foes.  They must always be prepared for an attack for their enemies desire to annihilate them.  There will come a day, not far off in the future, when it will seem that Israel will be downtrodden, but then the the Lord of Hosts will appear in the skies with the armies of heaven to deliver.
     This psalm, as with others, may also be taken personally.  What foes are you facing?  Is it habits, or finances?  Perhaps you are facing a terrific battle against foes at work, or persistent physical weakness.  It may be that great enemy–self.  “The very God who refuses to assist you when you are stubborn, rebellious, and self-willed turns toward you when you are vulnerable, humble, and penitent.” (Wood)  
     Our faith must be rightly placed; our heart must be humble and yearning to serve Him and Him alone.  When we repent we call upon God to act.  When we remember the promises of God, we gain strength.  We must have the courage to stand upon the Word of God no matter how trying the circumstances, no matter how impossible the task may seem, no matter what or how many enemies we may be facing.  Life comes at us, seasons come and go, battles ebb and flow, but the promises of God will never fail.  The words of Isaiah proclaim, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8, NKJV)

               “Conquering now and still to conquer, Jesus thou ruler of all,
               Thrones and their scepters all shall perish; crowns and their splendor shall fall.
               Not to the strong is the battle, not to the swift is the race,
               But to the true and the faithful, victory is promised through grace.”
                         –Sallie Martin

                    –J.V. James  (Oldest Trick in the Book)

       “When they got there, they saw that a charcoal fire was burning and fish were frying over it, and there was bread.  ‘Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,’ Jesus said.”

                    –John 21:9-10 (NLT)
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I want to start out today with a note from Vine.  “The worship of God is nowhere defined in Scripture.  A consideration of the verbs shows that it is not confined to praise; broadly it may be regarded as the direct acknowledgement to God, of His nature, attributes, ways and claims, whether by the outgoing of the heart in praise and thanksgiving or by deed done in such acknowledgement… To serve or to do service is rendered ‘worship.'”
     Pet Peeve #11:  When we have “worship service” in church.  Or sometimes we hear, “our time of worship is over.”  NO!!  That form of worship is over.  As Vine puts it, worship is not “confined to praise.”  
     When Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” (5:18, NKJV) he is speaking of worship.  Back to vine, it comes from the heart in thanksgiving.  Jesus told His disciples, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, NKJV)  We worship from our heart, and we allow the Holy Spirit to worship through us.  But we must also worship in “truth.”  Truth means reality.  We worship in reality, in the reality of everyday life.  This is in service to God and to others in the name of the Lord.  Paul tells us what it is, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17, NKJV) and he continues, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3:23, NKJV)  Notice that thanksgiving is mentioned again, but all the emphasis on the phrase, “whatever you do.”  If we keep that in mind we will not wander from the path.  We will not get into things that are not godly for whatever we do it is unto the Lord–it is worship.
     I want to bring one more verse to your attention, Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (NKJV)  The NIV translates the verse this way, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–which is your spiritual worship.”  Are you beginning to get the picture?
     Now I want to bring us to Martha.  Poor Martha, often maligned, but let’s look at a verse more closely.  “Martha was cumbered about with much serving.” (Luke 10:40, KJV).  The NKJV puts it this way, “But Martha was distracted with much serving…”.  It is important to remember that a Christian is a servant, and therefore, they must serve.  It was not her fault that there was much serving.  Think of Jesus, her family, and His disciples.  “Much serving” was to be done.  Listen, we cannot do too much.  We must do all that we possibly can for the Kingdom.  Our hearts, our minds, our hands and our feet should be involved and engaged in the service of the Lord.  Martha was busy preparing for her Lord.  Spurgeon said it this way, “Happy Martha, to have an opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest; and happy, too, to have the spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the engagement.”
     What happened to Martha happens so often to those in the ministry for the Lord no matter the level they serve on.  Too many often get caught up in their service.  Many ministers, and I hate the term, “burn out” in the ministry.  They either do not recognize it as a calling or they become “cumbered” with the ministry.  They get distracted in their service.  They forget that the focus should be on Jesus and not on the service.  “We ought to be Martha and Mary in one:  we should do much service, and have much communion at the same time.” (Spurgeon)  An example, Joshua never grew weary in fighting, but Moses needed two helpers to hold up his hands.  Communion with the Lord and service for the Lord should neither be neglected.  
     Our life is to be one of worship.  My Pastor, Mike Minter, said, “True worship is a life to be lived; a lifestyle.”  Don’t get caught saying that our time of worship is over, or that worship is for the church or other Christian activities.  No, “True spiritual worship is not a matter of special times and special places because it is of all times and all places.” (D.L. Moody)  It would do us well to remember that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore know, “You are always in a temple. Always worship.” (John Piper)  Don’t get caught up in saying that only the singing is the worship service, A.W. Tozer said, “If your life does not worship God, your lips do not worship God either.”  
     Enough of the writing and reading (oh, I will throw this in, my first unit when I taught apologetics was “Reading as Worship”) let’s get on with our lives and worship with them.  No matter the situation, no matter the issue, no matter the troubles at hand–worship “in spirit and in reality.”

                    –Isaiah 58:12 (NIV)
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I came across a wonderful piece of reading the other day and I want to share much of it with you.  I would say this is a “life lesson,” one we have all gone through and most likely will again.

          “He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother…mending their nets; and he called them.”  –Matthew 4:21
          “The God of all grace…make you perfect.”  –1 Peter 5:10

Many times in the New Testament the word “perfect” is used for becoming “mature” but here there is a different notation.  This is the same word that is used in Matthew for the mending of the nets.  The God of grace will mend your nets for you.  The NIV renders the verse in Peter, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”  Mend the nets–restore.
     “The God of grace will make you perfect.  The God of grace will mend your nets for you.”  (George Morrison)  In the boat with us is the “Net-mender.”  I used to be a fisherman and at the beginning of every year I made sure to change the line in my reel.  Use over the past year might have weakened it in spots, it was easily twisted and I didn’t want to be out fishing and lose a fish or get a bird’s nest of line.  Those who fish commercially use nets, and they are constantly involved with repair.
     How does a net get broken?  The first reason is through normal, ordinary use.  They get worn because they are well-used.  The sea works on them, rough hands work on them, they are rubbed along the side of the boat, and there is the catch that might be in them.  The handling of tackle can not be gentle, it is rough, hard work.  Therefore, there is the constant need of mending the nets.  Think on that!  Through normal life we sometimes get to the breaking point and have to be repaired.  The stress of life works on us and a mending is required, a restoring.
     Nets can also be broken through contact of some obstacle.  An obstruction in the waters may tear the net.  It could be a hidden rock, a reef, or even a wreckage that snags the net.  The net drags over it and is torn while being freed.  Life is like that.  There are circumstances that tear at the soul.  Loss of a loved one, wreckage of love, a broken friendship, or a lost dream or career.  Faith can be faltered and weakened, but there is a Net-mender in the boat.
     Perhaps you have had the disappointment of losing a fish due to the strain on the line or the fight in the fish.  The very thing you are trying to catch will break the line.  We remember the story of Jesus telling Peter to lower his net on the other side.  The strain of the fish in the nets began to break the net.  Morrison writes, “Life has been so easy that all that is best and noblest has decayed.  Prosperity has had a hardening influence, and luxury has diminished every sympathy.  Endowed with everything that makes life rich–surrounded with all imaginable comforts, how many there are who have never done a hand’s turn to leave the world better than they found it!”  Luxury, good times, has weakened the net, plus the fact that perhaps the net had not be cleaned from the previous catch or outing.  This can weaken the net, improper cleaning or attention.
     Watch the Master net-mender at His task.  Notice with deft hands how He puts the net, put the life back together.  If I tried to mend a net I would be a complete failure, ah, but that is the job of the Holy Spirit–to mend us.  The Lord’s hands are nimble and will mend the net of your soul, of your heart, of your mind.  With His tender touch He mends the net.  The work of mending the net may take time, but the Master has the patience to deal with the rip in the net.  He never hurries in His mending for it must be done right.  He is deliberate in His workings, and so deliberate that you and I may become irritated at His slowness.  We want it fixed now.  We have things to do.  Yet we cannot depart without the net being mended.  “If you and I are ever to be perfect, it will take infinite patience to achieve it.” (Morrison)
(Note:  much of the thoughts are taken from George H. Morrison (1866-1928), “The Net Mender”)

                    –Zane Grey  (Riders of the Purple Sage)

       “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved…  But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.”

                    –Acts 27:20,22 (NIV)
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One month is already gone!  I don’t know what kind of situation you may find yourself in right now.  It may be one of despair or trouble.  However the type of issue or circumstance, we have a choice we can make.  Perhaps you are feeling guilty because of sin–there is a choice, stay and wallow in your sin and guilt, or choose to lift your hand to the Savior.  He will forgive and bring you into His rest.

          “My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea,
          So burdened with sin and distress,
          Till I heard a sweet voice saying, ‘Make me your choice,’
          And I entered the haven of rest.”
                    –Henry L. Gilmour

One of the first things that we must do upon accepting the Lord after that initial response is to yield ourselves.  Yield ourselves to His embrace, ah, the sweetness of His arms wrapped around us.  When He takes hold of us the “fetters” do fall off.  When we reach out in faith, He responds in love and grace.

          “I yielded myself to His tender embrace,
          And, faith taking hold of the Word,
          My fetters fell off, and I anchored my soul:
          The Haven of Rest is my Lord.”

We are to “grow in grace,” that means we take hold of His Word.  No matter the circumstances we have His Word and the promises that lay within.  Life can be tough and filled with woe and suffering, but realize that the Lord is there with you.  Reach out to Him; don’t try to go the way alone for it is too troublesome, rough, and wearisome.

          “The song of my soul, since the Lord made me whole,
          Has been the old story so blest,
          Of Jesus, who’ll save whosoever will have
          A home in the Haven of Rest.”

This is not only true for eternity, but for the present.  In the midst of the raging storms of life we can have rest in Him.  When the fierceness of the battle is upon us, and we can no longer seem to stand, we can have rest in Him.  When the pain grips us, and we grit our teeth because of it, that is the time to go to Him and find rest.  There is rest in Jesus.

          “Oh, come to the Saviour, He patiently waits,
          To save by His power divine;
          Come, anchor your soul in the Haven of Rest,
          And say, ‘My Beloved is mine.’
 
                    I’ve anchored my soul in the Haven of Rest,
                    I’ll sail the wild seas no more;
                    The tempest may sweep o’er the wild stormy deep,
                    In Jesus I’m safe evermore.”

Tis so sweet to be able to trust in the Lord in the midst of the storm.  I can imagine the waves tossing us to and fro, the billows rising higher and higher.  However, our anchor will  hold firm in the Haven of Rest.  We’ll be safe in the midst of the storm; He’ll hold us and carry us through even if it is through the valley of the shadow of death.  No storm is too great for Him.  Trust in Him, no matter the situation, hold on to Him, for He will be holding on to you.