–Lou Bradshaw  (and Cain Smiled)

       “But hold fast what you have till I come.”

                    –Revelation 2:25(NKJV)
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Have you ever noticed that when reading the Bible, light all of a sudden dawns in your brain?  You can read a portion over and over, then, wham one day a different perspective is shown or a part of the verse never noticed before is seen.  I do want to mention something about prophecy.  So often there is a misconception regarding prophecy for it means telling the truth.  It may or may not have something to do with the future.  Remember, if you read the words of the prophets, they were primarily writing and speaking to the people of their day, however, the covenant background may be seen in their words at times, also there may be messianic and eschatological messages in their speaking.

               “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.  The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.”
                         –Hosea 11:1-2 (ESV)

       In verse one it is clear to see a double prophecy.  First is the idea that God loved Israel, He regarded Israel as His son.  He cared for them, treated them with special care, made special covenants with them, and delivered them in many instances but clearly from the slavery of Egypt.  We also see this as a Messianic prophecy.  Matthew writes, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Matthew 2:15, NKJV)  You may remember that Joseph was warned to take the baby Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt until the time of Herod’s death.
       That’s the portion that is very familiar to me.  But verse two is what struck me this time.  Look at it closely, take time to contemplate it.  “The more they were called, the more they went away…”  A Jewish text reads, “I sent prophets to a thousand of them.”  (Targum)  The prophets were sent to Israel, God’s “son”.  They had messages of repentance, warning, about proper worship and living.  However, look at the verse, “the more they were called, the more they went away.”  Think of the access to the gospel we have today.  God is speaking, God is always speaking, but more and more the people are turning away.  There is the call to repentance, but it falls on deaf ears.  The people do not want to hear the voice of God; they want to do what is right in their own eyes.
       I remember in years gone by I would try to tune in the radio in the car, or on my transistor.  It seems that most of the time all I got was static.  That was the way of Israel when Hosea prophesied, the message was often jammed with other messages, or static interfered.  Static coming from the peoples’ hearts.  The more they went from God the more they turned to Baals.  We see it happening today; we see the words of Paul coming tragically more and more true, “…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie…” (Romans 1:25, NKJV).  The more people were given the opportunity to know God the more they resisted.  Paul writes, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (Romans 1:28, NKJV)
       When the radio waves cry out a voice of repentance, when the media is full of scripture verses, podcasts, sermons–the voice of repentance is there, but are the people listening or are they turning more and more to their Baals?  Israel upon the word of God coming to them, “kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols.”  Remember, many of those sacrifices were children.  Do we see the sacrificing of our children in abortion?  Maybe more deceiving and more sinister are the drag queens reading to children in the schools.  The media spewing forth the vomit of transgendering and the gay agenda.  The more people are called, it seems, the more they went away.
       Back to prophecy, it is speaking the truth.  The prophet spoke to the people of his day, but the message may be for those of the future.  It may be eschatological and show us that we are indeed, living in the last days.  Jesus spoke about the offenses to children, but His words rang deeper than just the children, “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of offenses!  For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!”  (Matthew 18:6-7, NKJV)

                    –Psalm 107:29; Luke 8:25 (NKJV)
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My Uncle Ted used to work on planes and was a flight engineer for NCAR.  I once asked him, how do those humongous planes get up in the air and stay there?  He sort of grinned, replying with only one word, “POWER.”  Whenever you feel down and out, look to Psalm 93.  Whenever you seem overwhelmed by the evil in the world, look to Psalm 93.  Whenever the news is bad, the outlook terrible, and there seems to be no hope–look to Psalm 93.

          1 — The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed, He has girded Himself with strength.  Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.
          2 — Your throne is established from of old; You are from everlasting.
          3 — The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their waves.
          4 — The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.
          5 — Your testimonies are very sure; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, forever.      (NKJV)

“Our God reigns,” does He in the midst of the pestilence facing you?  “Our God reigns,” does He when you face financial ruin and your career is on the line?  “Our God reigns,” does He when cancer strikes?  “Our God reigns,” does He when a child who was dedicated to the Lord has turned away from Him and rebels against godly teaching?  No matter what situation we find ourselves in we must realize that God truly does reign.
       God is sovereign.  The sovereignty of God is probably one of the most hated and maligned doctrines of the Bible, yet it should be one of the most comforting, bringing peace to our souls.  Lawson points out that, “God always does as He pleases, when He pleases, where He pleases, how He pleases, with whom He pleases.”  We don’t like that.  It hurts our self-autonomy.  But when trouble arises and we don’t know what to do, how does that affect the wondrous autonomous man?    Man in his free-will rebels, but God reigns triumphantly despite the rebellion.
       Perhaps our perspective is blurred or even wrong.  We may say that God is unfair.  We may think Him powerless or disinterested in our lives.  Perhaps it is because we are weak that when things seem to overwhelm we think that God is weak as well.  Not so!  He is closer to you than you can see.  If He can take care of the world, the universe, can He not take care of your and me–oh us of little faith?  In times when we don’t see clearly–look to Him who is seated on the throne.
       Is the world around you too loud?  Is all you hear is the clamor of evil, wickedness, and hatred?  The noise is so loud that you cannot hear God listening or you are so distracted that you can’t hear Him.  The noise of the attack on your soul is loud, then listen more carefully.  In the midst of the sound of the mighty waves pounding against the shoreline listen for the voice of God.

          “And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia!  For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!  Let us be glad and rejoice…!”
                        –Revelation 19:6-7 (NKJV)

Sometimes the noise and thunderings of the world is perceived to be louder than the voice of the Lord.  Listen through the noise, hearken to the voice of the Lord.  Again, when you seem to be overwhelmed come back to Psalm 93 and recognize the omnipotence of the Lord.  That same power is there to help each one of us overcome.

               “God moves in a mysterious way
               His wonders to perform;
               He plants his footsteps in the sea,
               And rides upon the storm.”
                      –William Cowper

                         –George G. Gilman  (The Quiet Gun)

       “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”

                         –Isaiah 55:2 (NKJV)
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I have used the words from my pastor as a youth, G.R. Kelly, many times–“Live is living.”  I wrote yesterday the words from Ken Gangel, “Have a blast while you last.”  In other words, live happily wherever you are.  There is no joy without Christ, and happiness if fleeting.  So to truly have a “blast” one must know the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.  Only when you become intimate friends with God can you really live this life as it is meant to be lived.   Remember, to God you “are special objects of His gifts and His acceptance.” (Walter C. Kaiser).  When we realize this then we can truly be joyful.

          8 — Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil.
          9 — Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun.
        10 — Whatever you hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device of knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. (NKJV)

       Go back and reread the first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 9.  Then read the above verses.  Perspective is important when reading them, for the person without the Holy Spirit could and most likely will be downhearted, but the Christian can smile and say “let it be.”  Tim Hansen has written a little poem about life that I would like to share.

               Don’t be bashful,
                    Bite in,
               Pick it up with your fingers and
                    let the juice that may
                        run down your chin.

               Life is ready and ripe
                    NOW
                        whenever you are.

               You don’t need a knife or fork
               or spoon or napkin or tablecloth

               For there is no core
                    or stem
                    or rind
                    or pit
                    or seed
                    or skin
                          to throw away.

Live life in Christ!  Throw away worldly philosophies and have a life that is free of guilt, contagiously happy, and committed to God.  A life that is thoroughly involved in the kingdom.  A work that is not a curse.  Ray Steadman said, “Believe what God has given you already, and then, on that basis, live your life to the full.  Fill it with all that is of value, reason, and worth.”  How do you currently see your life?  Maybe the words of Jim Elliot should be etched in your mind, “Wherever you are, be all there.  Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”
       How do you live life?  The optimist goes along thinking nothing is wrong therefore does not check anything.  They live a life that lacks reality.  The pessimist trudges through life in grim existence, there is little joy.  Then there are those who are suspicious, maybe even suspicious as to why you are smiling in this journey of life.  They think everyone is out to get you and live in the realm of conspiracy theories.  Finally, there is the life of the fatalist–no hope.  The Christian is to be living a life of victory and of hope and of faith.  “There is to be calmness, a peace, a consciousness about us that no matter what happens, it is never going to be too bad or too difficult, because we have with us a God who will enable us to handle it.  Do we view life that way?” (Ray Steadman)
       “Let your garments always be white,” live in the righteousness of the Lord–be pure in mind and in spirit.  “Let your head lack no oil”–let the oil of the precious Holy Spirit flow through you and especially over your head.  Let it clean the mind.  Charles Swindoll says that we “need an objective view of this rat race!”  We are to live realistically (read James 4:13-17).  Don’t dream your life away.  Have joy, don’t be a victim of pessimism.  “Face life as it is, not as you think it is or as you wish it were.  To the best of your ability, with God’s help, enjoy it.”  (Charles Swindoll)

                    –Max Brand  (Harrigan)

       “But for him who is joined to all the living there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.  For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.”

                    –Ecclesiastes 9:4-5 (NKJV)
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I want us to contemplate Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 this morning.  Take time to read it once, then again more slowly looking at each verse, but also keep in mind the context of the whole.  Right out of the chute comes the concept that all will die.  The rider on the black horse is grinning, swinging his scythe reading to reap whomever he can.  It will happen.  People while living face evil and madness, but then death comes.  People who wreck mayhem and wickedness on others succumb to death.  There is no escape from it.  In all of this keep in mind that God is sovereign.
       I’ve heard several say recently that it is not where you’re going but how you lived your life in the here and now.  There is a smattering of truth there, but it does matter where you are going–there is a heaven for those bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, and there is a hell for those who refuse His redemption.  Yes it is important to live a good life, but more important that you know Jesus as your Savior.
       The materialist will say–he who dies with the most toys wins.  The Epicurean/hedonist–let’s party-hardy.  The humanist may say–“I thank whatever gods there may be for my unconquerable soul.”  And then there is the fatalist–what’s the use; what will be, will be.  Ha, there is something they have forgotten–the hand of God.  No one, the Christian, the pagan, the apostate, the heathen, the scoffer, the mocker can escape the fact that “God is there and He is not silent.” (Francis Schaeffer)
       Listen, if we take life seriously, and we should, then we cannot treat death flippantly.  Death is an appointment and it is one to which you will be punctual.  Some people may say RIP, but those who do so probably do not know the Lord and it is only wishful thinking.  Some say the person is just asleep, others may say the individual is resting.  Others may be blunt and say that he is on his way back to becoming a clod.  

               “Oh why do people waste their breath
               Inventing dainty names for death?”
                       –John Betjeman

       There is a brevity to life, especially in regards to eternity.  Now is the day of salvation; now is the time to find the Lord.  Now is the time to be born again so that when death arrives at your doorstep, people can say with the words of Paul, he is only sleeping.  For we know that to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).   Live righteously and in the love of His light and death has no fear.  Remember that one day there is to be a grand and glorious homecoming.  Solomon reminds us that while we are alive there is hope.  Find meaning for life–now or as Ken Gangel has said, “Have a blast while you last.”  What are you living for?  What are you dying for?  Those are pertinent questions that need an answer.  Look at life, then look at it in the light of eternity–do you have hope?  “A hope that can be destroyed by death is a false hope; and must be abandoned.” (Warren Wiersbe)  Look to Jesus, the sure foundation, the Giver of true hope.