Echoes from the Campfire

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He could not give up to bitterness and hatred, whatever his misfortunes and his fate.”
                         –Zane Grey  (The Desert of Wheat)

       “The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.”

                         –Proverbs 14:10(NKJV)
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I have done minimal hiking in the desert but the little I’ve done has made me realize the need for water.  The desert for sure is intriguing, but it can be dangerous.  Whenever I’ve been in a desert region my mind always goes back to the pioneers who first crossed the barren wasteland.  One thing they must have had besides a strong constitution and endurance is water.  Many died by not having enough water.  They searched to find water in the wilderness and often did not find it, or when they did it was too alkali to drink.  It is easy to see why the following was true:  “No human creature ever entered a desert oasis without joy, nor left it without regret.”  (Zane Grey)
       I also recall the time when the Hebrews, shortly after crossing the Red Sea found themselves in the desert and thirsty.

               “Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter.  Therefore the name of it was called Marah.  And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’  So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree.  When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.”
                          –Exodus 15:22-25 (NKJV)
 
       Someone has said that bitterness is a hard pill to swallow.  It can destroy a life.  It can destroy a relationship.  It can bring hopes down to despair.  Bill Gothard says that one of the three root causes of sin is bitterness.  Bitterness is hard to remove, and I’m sure the people trying to drink the water wanted it removed.  What did the Lord tell Moses to do?  Cast a tree into the water, and it will no longer be bitter.  Add something to it.
       But a bitter life.  What can be added to make it sweet?  
       I think of another tree; a tree that brings pleasure.  David wrote, “He [the righteous] shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3, NKJV).  The tree of the righteous is firm, stable.  It brings delight to those around and sweetens the region around it.  The righteous are productive, they bring pleasure not only to God but to those in whom they come in contact with.
       Jesus said,  “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14, NKJV)  The water that flows from Him is not bitter, but it took a bitter tree for it to be sweet for you and me.  Krissy Nordhoff wrote, “On a hill called Calvary there stands an endless mercy tree.”
       If you have bitterness in your life for one reason or another, who can go to the tree that sweetens the water. The waters of life may be bitter but there was a tree that was cut and hewn, shaped into a cross where our Saviour bled and died to not only die for our sins, but to sweeten the waters of bitterness.  Life can be a “bitter pill,” but with Jesus the walk can be sweet.  When we recognize that Jesus is beside us, “Then shall there be no bitterness in the taste of the brine; the waters will be sweet if they are shared by Thee.” (George Matheson)

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Daughter, wish you’d come pull off my boots.”
                    –Ernest Haycox  (The Border Legion)

       “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”

                    –1 Timothy 6:17 (NKJV)
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What are you doing with the life that God has given you?  Are you restless or are you satisfied?  Are you depressed or are you hopeful?  Solomon says that to live a satisfied life it must be filled with goodness.  So then, are you good, or are you wicked?  Contemplate with me, the verses from Ecclesiastes.

               “If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he–for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.  Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, even if he lives a thousand years twice–but has not seen goodness.  Do not all go to one place?”
                         –Ecclesiastes 6:3-6 (NKJV)

Think on those words!  A stillborn child is better off than the man who has lived his life poorly.  “If life is nothing more than a meaningless journey to death, then a stillborn is better off, for that child reaches the end of the worthless journey with less pain.”  (NKJV Study Bible)
       We need to come to reality as we walk through this life.  We need to seek to help others along the way, if in no other way than a smile.  As a Christian we need to start living like a child of God now, today.  It is not enough to start to plan to live–start living.  Paul writes, “…for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” (Philippians 4:11).  Content in this verse means “self-contained, adequate, needing nothing from the outside.”  We worry and fret far too often over nothing simply because we are not content with our lives.  We have, and we want more…  We travel this journey but we don’t see anything along the way.  Maybe we’ll make it to a joyful end, maybe not.
       Robert Louis Stevenson said, “To arrive is better than to travel hopefully.”   Many people have dreams, or maybe I should call them fantasies.  But look closely at those dreams–are they realistic?  Realism has nothing to do with a life of faith.  In fact, just the opposite, a life of faith is what gets us through reality.  Dreams don’t fill empty stomachs.  By that I mean that many individuals have a dream, but they don’t work along the way.  They live in a cloud, not able to see the land below.
       I do want to point out one difference from New Testament thinking that Solomon could not have recognized.  Before the resurrection of Jesus all who died when to Sheol–the place of the dead.  It was a dark, gloomy place where the soul either rested or was tormented.  Remember, the story of the rich man who died and the beggar Lazarus.  Lazarus rested in Abraham’s bosom while the rich man was tormented in the flames.  When Solomon wrote in verse 6, “Do not all go to one place?” that was true then.  And to an extent that is true today for all go to the grave.  However, now the believer upon death, the soul goes to be with the Lord.  Paul writes, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV)
       Therefore, it is important that we live a good life.  Upon death it should be our hope, our utmost desire to hear the words of the Lord, “well done good and faithful servant.”  (Matthew 25,21, 23)  Living a good life will not get you to heaven, grace is the only way.  Accepting the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing His sacrifice and that He is the Son of God is the way to obtain grace, however, throughout this life we should seek to be faithful and to do good works.
       So enjoy this life; let your daughter (or granddaughters) come and pull off your boots.  Enjoy a cup of coffee, recognize the blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon you and rejoice in them.  Be satisfied with the goodness of God.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on
All the vast range was locked in silence and slumber yet even then thieves and death were at work.”
                         –Zane Grey  (The Trail Driver)

       “Noah was another who trusted God.  When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed Him even though there was then no sign of a flood, and wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family.  Noah’s belief in God was in direct contrast to the sin and disbelief of the rest of the world–which refused to obey–and because of his faith he became one of those whom God has accepted.”
                         –Hebrews 11:7  (Living Bible)     
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The disciples came to Jesus privately while on the Mount of Olives asking Him about the signs of the end.  Jesus answered in quite a long discourse found in Matthew 24 and 25, but I want to look at just a couple of verses.

               “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man be.”
                              –Matthew 24:37-39 (NKJV)

       There are several things that we can see from this passage of Scripture.  The most apparent is the fact that people were going on with their lives not thinking of God.  They were feasting and marrying, but not heeding the voice of the preacher.  This will be happening when the Lord returns; there will be no thought of God or of a coming judgment.  Another sad note in these verses–where were the other preachers proclaiming that judgment is coming?  Noah, but was there no one else?    Here are some startling statistics from Barna:
               32% of evangelical pastors do not have a biblical worldview.
               39% say that there is no absolute moral truth.
               62% say that life is about good works.
               51% believe that faith matters more than which faith.
Now that is a sad commentary on the pulpit; the men who are supposed to be leading us into the truth of Jesus Christ.  Peter wrote, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1, NKJV)  We see that we are warned of those who would deceive and try to take us from the truth of Jesus Christ, that He is the only means of salvation.  Our faith must rely upon Him!
       Back to the days of Noah.  What was it like in the time of Noah?  Yes, there was feasting and marrying, but there was also evil.  “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  (Genesis 6:5, NKJV)  The Bible continues, “The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”  (Genesis 6:11-12, NKJV)
       We see in the first chapter of Romans what life will be like and it will worsen.  Paul says that “God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (Romans 1:28, NKJV)  The days of Noah–“every intent of the thoughts of his [man’s] heart was only evil continually.”  Look at the insane world around you.  I will mention only a couple of things, but much more could be said.  The problem with gender identification; it is being determined by society that biological sex and gender are socially constructed.  A man can say and think he is a woman and vice versa.  The legitimacy of true moral sexuality is being tossed away.  Not only is there same sex marriage, they have made a way for a man to become pregnant–a woman thinks she is a man, therefore society says she is and pregnancy can occur.  Duh!!  As in the days of Noah, but now worse.
       The United Kingdom now has “censorship zones.”  If a person is acting in a way that is offensive to the right of abortion they can and have been arrested.  Arrests occur for the content of a person’s thoughts.  So, if a person has proper thoughts, proper morals in their thinking they are now subject to arrest in the UK.  Evil thoughts, evil intentions are only relative.  As in the days of Noah.
       Jesus said in the midst of His discourse of the last days this, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming…  Therefore you should also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”  (Matthew 24:42, 44, NKJV)  As in the days of Noah, with Noah’s preaching and of his action in building the ark, the people only went about this business, the business of evil not worrying or wondering about the judgment to come.  

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

It didn’t seem fair, but then; a lot of things aren’t. We take them as they come.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (Lonely on the Mountain)

       “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful. Always judge people fairly.”

                    –Leviticus 19:15 (NLT)
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As you read this portion of Psalm 89, I would suggest that you go back and review the calling and life of David.  He was chosen above seven older, stronger brothers–men who “looked like” king material.  Read the characteristics of David; yet he was chosen.  David, divinely anointed, sustained, and strengthen to be first, a warrior, then a king.  Also, remember that David was a type of Christ.

          19 — Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one, and said: “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
          20 — I have found My servant David; with My holy oil I have anointed him,
          21 — With whom My hand shall be established; also My arm shall strengthen him.
          22 — The enemy shall not outwit him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
          23 — I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague those who hate him.
          24 — But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted.
          25 — Also I will set his hand over the sea, and his right hand over the rivers.
          26 — He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
          27 — Also I will make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
          28 — My mercy I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall stand firm with him.  (NKJV)

       We see that a special father-son type relationship will exist before God and David.  We know that his was not Jesse’s firstborn, but he will be as if he were God’s firstborn.  God promises to keep His covenant with David forever as well as his line–hence, we see the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, a descendant of David upon the throne during the Millennial Reign.
       David was born to a humble, common family and became just an ordinary shepherd, and would become a king, and in a sense a savior to the people of Israel.  Jesus, born in humble origins as the son of a carpenter.  The Holy One, in humble beginnings, who would become the Savior, not only of the Jews but of anyone who would turn to Him.  Notice also, David’s recognition of God as his Father and his God.  Jesus would say, My Father and I are one (John 14:10).

                    “O come, Thou Key of David, come,
                    And open wide our heavenly home;
                    Make safe the way that leads on high,
                    And close the path to misery.
                    Rejoice!  rejoice!  Emanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”
                                –John M. Neale