Echoes from the Campfire

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

Wrong minded folks can cause a peck of trouble.”

                    –Lou Bradshaw  (Teton)

       “It is a joy for the just to do justice, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.”
                    –Proverbs 21:15(NKJV)
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Is it wrong to pray against your enemies?  We are supposed to forget, but really are we to forget?  Can a leopard change its spots?  The second part of Psalm 79, speaks of those who have been wrongfully persecuted.  More than that it speaks of those who scoff and mock God.  The cry comes out for justice.  Lord, do not let them put Your name to shame.

          9 — Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, for Your name’s sake!
         10 — Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”  Let there be known among the nations in our sight the avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
         11 — Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; according to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are appointed to die;
         12 — And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
         13 — So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture, will give You thanks forever; we will show forth Your praise to all generations.  (NKJV)

       There are always questions regarding what is meant by “save.”  Is it in the present tense of “now.”  Save us now in the present world.  And yes, I agree that is what Asaph was meaning, but God always has a bigger perspective than we do.  We look for physical protection.  Safety from those who would harm us, and that is as we should, but God offers “long-term support.”  He is much more interested in protecting us for eternity.
       My friend, there is a payback time.  I really do not like to think of it no matter how much I would like to see someone face justice.  That time is coming and it will be a dreadful time.  There will be that Day of Judgment.  That is one reason we are told to pray for our enemies.  They face a severe wrath, and they will stand before an awesome, stern Judge.
       God will allow His name to be sullied only so long.  He will stand for the mockery and scoffing for only until the cup is full, then He will bring forth His righteous judgment.  Read Proverbs 1:22-33–it shows a dreadful time.  Simply put God is saying, “Mock me, I’ll mock you.”  Verse 26, “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes.” (NKJV)  Man can only for so long attempt to play God.  He can desire all he wants to be autonomous, and even come to the point saying, “there is no God.”  They will not be able to stand before a righteous and holy God.
       Yes there is trouble and sorrow and suffering right now.  But the day is coming when we will live in the pasture of God’s love.  Our enemies–God’s enemies–will no longer mock or speak for they will not be around.  George O. Wood writes, “The desecration is for a short time.  It will pass.  But we, the sheep of His pasture, will praise Him forever.”

                    “He fills the poor with good,
                    He gives the sufferers rest;
                    The Lord hath judgments for the proud
                    And justice for the oppressed.”
                                –Isaac Watt

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I guess a man doesn’t remember the ‘howdys’ as much as the ‘so longs.’”

                         –Stephen Bly  (One Went to Denver…)

       “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”
                         –Psalm 20:7 (NKJV)
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                    “We shall meet, but we shall miss him.
                    There will be one vacant chair.
                    We shall linger to caress him
                    While we breathe our ev’ning prayer.”
                              –Henry S. Washburn

This song was written towards the beginning of that horrendous epoch in our history–the Civil War.  It became very popular during the War and continued on afterwards.  The War left many vacant chairs in households across our country and this song was a reminder to the people of the household of the one who once sat in that chair and joined them at the dinner table.
       That is one of the main purposes of funerals (i.e., celebration of life) – to remember.  Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes that it is better for us to go to funerals than to parties.  For in attending a funeral we tend to remember.  We remember the person, their life, their times, what they did, anecdotes about them and so on.  That is why the Tomb of the Unknown is so important, for there are thousands who died who no one knows where or when, but I will say that there is/was a household somewhere, someplace with a vacant chair.
       Memories, they are so important as we go through this life and especially so as we move toward the end of life.  Dr. Seuss said, “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”  Little things sometimes are what we remember.  Gestures, word usage, are all part of a memory.  It is hard for me to think of my Grandma Adkisson without hearing what she called her, “Okie Malookie,” or to point with her bony finger.  
       The word, “remember” means, “member me again.”  It is the hope of one leaving the family circle, it is the hope of the scene of those at the casket; it was the hope of the man next to Jesus on the cross.  Whenever you gather together–remember me.  Whenever the family comes to sit around the fire on a cold winter’s evening–remember me, the one who used to sit in that now vacant chair.  They want us to know, to remember, that even though gone, removed from us, that they are still a member of the family.
       George Matheson writes that “what most of us fear in death is not that we shall cease to be; it is that we shall cease to be members of the family of man.”  He brings forth the cry of the one ready to depart this life.  “Shall we be members of the earth no more?  Shall the last link be broken that binds us to the clay?  Shall we be blotted out from time?  Shall we part from the seen and temporal?  Shall our feet have no right to be listened for in the march of the earthly army?  We stretch our hands through the void and cry, ‘Member me again–remember me!'”
       Even Jesus, in that solemn sacrament of the Lord’s Supper said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me…  This cup is the new covenant in My blood.  This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  (1 Corinthians 11:25, 25, NKJV)  The calls for us to remember, not His death, but to remember Him, the focus should be on Him.  Whenever we think of the cross and the resurrection our focus should be on Jesus.  Whenever we go to church and participate in all of the functions and liturgy our focus should be drawn to Him–to remember Him.
       I had most of this thought all written out before my wife and I attended a “celebration of life” of a dear and old friend.  I have fond memories of her–we would call that part of her legacy.  We do not have to fear not to be remembered.  Being in Christ is a promise that restores life to the body.  One day we will be in that joyous throng in heaven, always to be remembered.  For the Lord never forgets any of us.  We are not just a number, but we are an eternal soul to Him.  When death tries to dissolve the tie with man on this earth, Jesus welcomes us with open arms to the true brotherhood of man saying–I remembered you.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The lesson of faith is not what turbulence you face but how you wind up on the other side.”

                         –Cliff Hudgins  (Grandpa’s Legacy)

       “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him…”
                         –Job 13:14 (NKJV)
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I was doing some reading this week and a thought struck my mind.  How many idols are there in our homes?    Most would probably say “none.”  We are more enlightened, we know that there are no gods depicted by wood or stone, but wait a minute my friend.  What actually is an idol?  First let me draw your attention to Proverbs 25:14, “Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of gifts he does not give.” (NIV)
       Okay, I can hear you.  What does this have to do with idols?  This is speaking about clouds, rain, gifts, and not giving, what does that have to do with idols?  Let me give you a simple definition of an idol used by Bob Beasley, “[An idol] is someone or something which boasts of gifts that he or it does not give.”  An idol, a false god promises to give gifts which there is no way that it can fulfill.  People flock to false promises–they are idols for the promise cannot be fulfilled.  Idols then are deceptions.
       Idols are those things in which you put your trust over God.  Many people put their trust in wealth, a bank account, or the stock market.  There is a false promise there.  Sure there is nothing wrong with money, but our trust is not in money, but in God.  Others put their trust in the government and the leaders of that government.  Governments change, governments fall, and the people there, well, they’ll promise you everything, but will not fulfill that promise–an idol.  Sports figures, entertainers can become idols if a person’s heart is continually dwelling on those individuals.  In other words, an idol is something which controls your heart.  Jesus warned, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21, NKJV)
       Beasley writes, “We are idolators because of the sin that is in our hearts.  Given the chance, we often run to the first promise that looks good, forsaking the promises of God.  And when we place our hope in anything over and above the promises and providence of God, we are into idolatry.”  Where do you run in times of trouble?  Where do you go when there is a storm on the horizon?  What is it you seek to help satisfy your longings?  Perhaps we turn to idols.
       There are four terms used for idols in Scripture.  1) terapim–symbolizes a god, or a divine presence.  They were often kept in households.  2) gillulim–this term appears 39 times in Ezekiel.  It is a disdainful term originally meaning “dung pellets.”  3) ‘elil–this is the word for a false god; it can mean “naught” or “vain.”  4) eisolon–this is a New Testament term used to depict a false god.  The term means “an idea, fancy.” (Vine’s Expository)  Look at the idols of today–into which category do you see them?
       Paul refers to idols as “vain things.”  It was something that was a phantom, something that could not bring about its promise.  Peter and Jude refer to false prophets “as clouds without rain.  I like what Jeremiah called idols, “scarecrows.”  They cannot speak, they must be carried to the place where they are to stand, and they are to do something that they cannot do. (Jeremiah 10:5)  So I ask again, where is your trust?  Is it in idols, man-made ideas or creations, or is it in the word of God?   Do you turn to God or a person or a bank account in times of trouble?  Where is your heart?

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The old Romans built what they had by being strong, inside as well as out, and they lost it when they began giving in, going the easy way. They lost everything when they ceased to be men, and a man is one who does what he has to do when it has to be done, and does it with pride.”
                         –Louis L’Amour  (Bendigo Shafter)

       “Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me. Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.”
                         –Psalm 40:11 (NLT)
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How many sins have you committed in your lifetime?  Let me ask it differently.  How many sins got Adam thrown out of Eden?  Whether it’s one sin or many we are in a world of hurt, in fact, there is no hope–Paradise is lost.  There was/is no hope for man, for me, for you unless we come to Christ.  I look at Psalm 79 and see it as one of woe, of sin and failure, and no hope.

          1 — O GOD, the nations have come into Your inheritance; Your holy temple they have defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps.
          2 — The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
          3 — Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.
          4 — We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those who are around us.
          5 — How long, LORD?  Will You be angry forever?  Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
          6 — Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know YOU, and on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
          7 — For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
          8 — Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us!  Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us, for we have been brought very low.  (NKJV)

       Perhaps you have heard the sayin, “He would steal the pennies off a dead man’s eyes.”  They used to put objects, such as pennies, on the eyes of the dead to keep them closed.  A person just didn’t want the dead to be staring at them when they went to pay their last respects.  To steal something like this is the lowest of the low.  When conquering a village or city, people would not only kill the soldiers, but they would steal anything of value off their body.   Asaph says this is Israel after Jerusalem was conquered.  The bodies just laid around, food only for the scavengers.
       What good is our life?  We are sinful people.  We may have suffered a great deal, and feel like we are but food for the vulture.  What’s the use in trying?  Over and over you may have fought the battle, but you always seem to be losing and on the edge of death.  I’m reminded of a boy who was always in trouble, and therefore, his father was always taking him out to the woodshed.  One day the father instead of whipping the boy, gave him a bucket of nails.  “Every time you sin, or do something wrong, I want to you take a nail and hammer it into the fencepost,” instructed the father.  By the end of the week, the post was full of nails.  The father would glance at it from time to time, then on Sunday he took the boy out to the woodshed.  There was fear in the boy’s eyes, then the father showed him the fencepost.  The nails were all gone.  Oh yes, there were still scars from where the nails once were.  The father then told the boy, “that is grace.”
       One sin or many sins.  They must be brought to the Father in repentance so that the “nail” can be removed.  Look at the words of Paul,” “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all me, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:18-19, NKJV)
       Can you hear the anguish in the voice of the writer of this Psalm?  “Do not remember former iniquities…!”  The the pleading cry, “Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us…”  Pull the nails from the my life and make me whole.

                    “If a sinner such as I
                    May to thy great glory live,
                    All my actions sanctify;
                    All my words and thoughts receive;
                    Claim me for thy service, claim
                    All I love, and all I am.”
                              –Charles Wesley