Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on July 4, 2025

One could not yield to the lawless and the ruthless, or soon there would be no freedom. It was among men as it was among nations.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Mountain Valley War)

“Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery.”
–Galatians 5:1 (Phillips)
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I don’t think that John Adams thought he was prophesying regarding the signing of the Declaration of Independence when he wrote to his wife: “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” Since that time the night skies throughout the country light up with grand displays of fireworks and often the singing of songs.
It is now a majestic display, but Adams also said this: “You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not–I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means…” It did take blood and sacrifice to secure these free United States and it has taken more to secure it. When people riot they have forgotten that with freedom comes responsibility. And don’t think for a moment that the riots on the streets of our cities is the same as proclaiming independence from Great Britain. There is much difference between securing rights and anarchy.
Freedom, how often people get confused with that term. Freedom doesn’t mean the right to do what you want–freedom actually means the right to do what you ought. Freedom then is liberty to do what we ought. Freedom means paying a price; it means sacrifice, in other words, freedom doesn’t come free. Believers, sincere ones, often get confused over the term “freedom” in the Bible. Jesus said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36, NKJV)
This is not a profound theological study, but I will ask, what are you free from? First of all, you are free from the bonds of the Law. The Law is not to be forgotten, but it is used as a mirror, not a taskmaster. Alistar Begg says, “They [ten commandments] do not restrict our freedom but rather give us a blueprint for joy, showing us how life works best.” We are not under the law, but listen to Paul, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:15, NKJV) I like the way the KJV puts it, “God forbid!” Grace does not give license, it brings freedom from the bondage of the law.
Second, freedom means that we are no longer slaves to sin. Old things are passed away… (2 Corinthians 5:17) Peter states that we have been “purged from the old sins” (2 Peter 1:9). No longer slaves to sin. Sin no longer dominates or controls us for we now belong to the Lord, we have been bought with a price. Whoa, hold on — bought? Doesn’t that indicate that we belong to someone? It is no longer sin, or the world system, or the law…then what is it? Let’s look at Paul’s explanation, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?… And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:16,18, NKJV)
Freedom brings with it obligation. Without some type of guidance all that remains is anarchy. That’s where Satan wants you to be, in the realm of darkness, groping about, no obligations, no obedience, no true freedom. Chaos is not freedom! Paul writes, “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22, KKJV) We are free from sin–we have freedom–so that we can have eternal life.
Enjoy your liberty as citizens of this wonderful country. Despite its flaws, and there are many, it is still the best country on the face of the earth. Do not take your freedom, your liberty for granted. Enjoy your hotdogs, your apple pie, and the fireworks, but remember those things bring about an obligation. As Christians do not take your freedom lightly either for it was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Know this that there are obligations that come with freedom, do not neglect them. “The greater our obedience, the greater our freedom, for the more we obey our Creator who told His image-bearers to enjoy being blessed, the more we are living in line with the people we were made to be.” (Begg)

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on July 3, 2025

If there is one thing that will grow in a drought, it’s a weed.”

–John Hansen (The Outfit)

“He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops.”
–John 15:2 (TLB)
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We must not throw all the words of Job’s companions away for there is some truth in what they say. Bildad chides Job but he does say one thing that we should ponder, “Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.” (Job 18:16, NLT) The HCSB translates it this way, “His roots below dry up, and his branches above wither away.” Here’s my question for you this morning: How lively and fruitful are your spiritual branches?
In our approach to Bildad and his critical assumptions regarding Job he does bring forth an important truth. One of the terrible effects of sin is a dry, dehydrated spiritual root system. Are we thirsty enough for that living water? Do we drink from the fountains that will never go dry? Far too many Christians live in an arid condition spiritually. “Their spiritual roots are dry. They are suffering from internal drought. There is little or no growth or fruitfulness in their lives.” (Dale A. O’Shields) We have the Fruit of the Spirit but so often it is not nourished enough to grow.
A person gets born-again, but that’s it. They often are not nourished properly and more often than not, for one reason or another, they are not discipled properly. The root system is weak, therefore, the fruit yield is less and what is there will wither. These people are normally easy to spot. First, the fruit of the Spirit is not evident in their lives. These individuals have lost their peace and joy; they’re the ones with cynical or critical attitudes. Those in this condition are dangerously on the edge; “this spiritual dryness becomes a serious threat to their spiritual well being.”
A second question: how healthy is our root system? To maintain a healthy spiritual root system we must continue to grow in a healthy fellowship with the Lord. “If we fail to hydrate these roots regularly and properly, we eventually suffer the consequences–we begin to wither and die. Fruitlessness externally is the result of spiritual root problems–dryness and death internally.” (O’Shields)
Since the root system is out of sight, it often is out of mind. We have to take time to deal properly with the roots. “Dry roots result in a weak structure–a tree that is vulnerable to destructive, adverse forces and ravaging insects and diseases.” (O’Shields) The pests, the imps of the devil become a hazard. Have you ever been through a forest of tall pines, once seemingly indestructible, but now dead due to the hidden pine beetle? Once strong, sturdy, but the pest came in and destroyed the tree. Or those tall trees that look firm have dried out roots and when the storm blows the tree falls due to the dried up root system.
We are to be firmly planted. We are to make sure our “root system” is properly watered. We are to 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 whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3, NKJV) We are to be productive for the kingdom, therefore we must have the proper nutrients flowing up through the roots. We must have a time with God every day, in fact, the more we meet with Him the stronger our root system will be. “As we recognize our need for spiritual hydration, we must make the commitment to cultivate a regular pattern of exposing ourselves to the life-giving, refreshing and renewing presence of God.” (O’Shields)
“Drinking at the springs of living water,
Happy now am I,
My soul they satisfy;
Drinking at the springs of living water,
O wonderful and bountiful supply.”
–John W. Peterson

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on July 2, 2025

A marriage is as much a product of thoughtfulness and consideration as of love.”
–Louis L’Amour (The Key-Lock Man)

“Life is short, and you love your wife, so enjoy being with her. This is what you are supposed to do as you struggle through life on this earth.”
–Ecclesiastes 9:9 (CEV)
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Satan cannot destroy the Church. He can only attack it, but Christ will not let His Bride be sullied or dirtied. With that in mind Satan turns his attack to the family; destroy the family and the Church is greatly affected. The father, Solomon, continues to warn and give advice in this next portion of Proverbs, chapter 5.

15 — Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
16 — Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets?
17 — Let them be only your own, and not for strangers with you.
18 — Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19 — As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love. (NKJV)

In an arid country a well was a prized possession and a privilege to be cared for. So is a spouse. “Drink water is an oblique reference to sexual union, and from your own cistern is a clear call to marital fidelity–one man, one woman, together in marriage.” (NKJV Study Bible) Marriage is like drinking pure water, but immoral sexual sin is like drinking sewer water. This water is not to be wasted by pouring it in the streets. When fifty percent of marriages end in divorce this is a major problem in our country. As J. Vernon McGee states, “marriage is the highest and holiest relationship” there is on this earth. The Christian marriage is to be a picture of the relationship between Christ and His Bride–the Church. This is one sure way to tear down society. “The brooks and rivers of the land cannot be pure if the springs are defiled.” (J.L. Flores)
Wiersbe says that “The commitment of marriage is like the banks of the river that keeps the river from becoming a swamp. And if the water backs up, it becomes a bog, no life is flowing. Where water has no depth, shallow water then is easy to stir. Ponder…no commitment, bad things happen. The writer of Hebrews gives a severe warning, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (13:4, NKJV)
Commitment, satisfaction, loyalty, are things that should be considered and upheld says the father in Proverbs. Charles Bridges says regarding the man who seeks to find another “strange woman” is that this person is dissatisfied with blessings already in his possessions. “The true husband has a feeling towards his wife to which the licentious man is an entire stranger.” (Flores)
Rejoice with the wife of your youth…learn to grow old with her with satisfaction. Always be enraptured with her love. Ahhh, what more can be said than that. The ESV, puts it this way, “be intoxicated always in her love.” I found in my files a song put out by Charlie Pride, written by Ollie Kennedy and have included the second verse below.
“Time for me passes on,
And I’m growing old a lifetime nearly gone,
I cannot unfold night’s dark and cold.
Warm is your hand in mine,
Weathered with age and time,
Light of love still shines
After all these years.”
I’m not sure Solomon could utter these words at the end of his life…perhaps. However, in writing the Proverbs he certainly has the wisdom of love and life.

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on June 30, 2025

It is not our God you do not understand. It is our lives you do not understand—our failure to conform to our professed teachings.”
–Zane Grey (Captive of the Desert)

“He is the Rock; his work is perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!”
–Deuteronomy 32:4 (NLT)
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We close out this month of June and it is fitting that we close out Psalm 145 as well. What a wonderful portion of Scripture. No matter what we can praise God. In the good times we often get so busy enjoying them that we forget to praise the Lord. It is also easy to praise the Lord when He quickly answers our prayers, but what about those times when it seems that He lingers or doesn’t answer at all?

14 — The LORD upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 — The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season.
16 — You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 — The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.
18 — The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.
19 — He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.
20 — The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
21 — My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever. (NKJV)

“In a world in which life is tough, the Psalms delight in affirming that God is good and that there is no limit to His power, His love, and His concern for His people.” (NKJV Study Bible) Hold on tightly to that saying–never forget that God is there. Think of His care for all people first of all. The rain falls on the just and the unjust, but God also blesses the unjust. How many people live in America who are wicked, yet they receive the blessings of this great country? God upholds the life of all, and He offers grace and mercy to all.
Continue to thank God for His “general” blessings, but also remember those special blessings He has given to His people, and even more so those blessings He has given to you and you alone. I was reading while studying for this psalm of a minister in a German town during the Thirty Years’ War. In one year, the plague swept through that city where Martin Rinckart conducted funerals for five thousand victims, including his wife. During this pestilence and war he wrote a hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God” in which he praises God for the wondrous things He has done. (William J. Petersen) Remember COVID? I was sort of dismayed when I saw the effect that it had on believers. “Most of us find it hard to be thankful in the midst of short-term woes, but we have trouble when our woes continue for very long. How about thirty year? (Petersen)
We tend to forget that God will and does provide. Did Christians die during COVID? Yes, but we must remember that God is sovereign, and that He “is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.” The NLT translates it this way, “The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.” We, all too often, look at life, not in God’s perspective but with human eyes and thus we expect Him to answer in a way that we can understand or the way we want. Steven Lawson writes, “God is righteous toward His people, always just in all His ways. He never deals with His creation wrongly, nor does He ever mismanage them unequally. God is infinitely loving, never needlessly harsh.” Call upon His name and He will answer. Ah, but be ready, He will answer in His own way.
This is the problem with many people who say they reject God. It is because He did not answer them the way they wanted. One thing also to remember, He is near to those who call upon Him, those who love and fear Him. The Lord watches over His own. However, to the wicked, and this is a sobering thought, He will destroy. Listen, now is the day of salvation, call to Him while He is near.
“Rising up from within our souls must be an anthem of perpetual praise to God.” (Lawson) David finishes this wonderful psalm with praise. He will bless the name of the Lord forever. That should be our aim. We should always be in a state of prayer (and praise) that is what Paul means to “pray without ceasing.” When we see an accident on the road, send forth a prayer. Pray when you see the news, or hear of some devastating event. Paul prayed for those whom he had never met, so why shouldn’t we? Praise Him for the needs He has met. When we praise Him we affirm His work in our lives; that He meets our needs and protects us. (George Wood) Go through the thick and thin of life with a heart full of praise, even when you don’t understand how God is working. I like this little prayer by George Wood: “Lord, I can neither fathom Your creative power nor Calvary’s love. But You never asked me to understand You. Instead You invite me to praise and love You. I do that gladly. I am so little. You are so great. I humbly ask You to magnify Your presence in my life this day.”

“Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done, in whom his world rejoices;
Who, from our mother’s arms, hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”
–Martin Rinckart