–Stephen Bly (Throw the Devil Off the Train)

       “The Sovereign LORD is my strength!  He will make me as surefooted as a deer and bring me safely over the mountains.”

                    –Habakkuk 3:19(NLT)
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I don’t understand!  I don’t understand why there is so much suffering in the world; yet at the same time I do realize it is because of sin.  I don’t understand why this person dies, while another lives; yet I do realize that God is sovereign.  Sickness, suffering, sorrow, terror, hatred, bitterness, depression, and on I could add to the list–what a world we live in today; yet it all goes back to the sin issue.  Sin, the issue that man does not want to deal with; yet at the same time it is what Jesus came into this world to defeat.
       There is an old hymn, written during the Depression (wouldn’t that be an interesting study–to look at the songs written in the church during the Depression), in 1937 by W.B. Stevens.  Bad things happen to God’s people.  Trials, temptations, testings come in one form or another.  Why–I don’t understand?

               “Tempted and tried we’re oft made to wonder
                Why it should be thus all the day long,
                While there are others living about us,
                Never molested tho in the wrong.”

Sounds like the Prophet Habakkuk questioning God.  Why do the wicked seem to prosper?  Why does it seem that God’s people seem to suffer?   When are You going to do something about it, God?

               “When death has come and taken our loved ones,
                It leaves our home so lonely and drear;
               Then do we wonder why others prosper,
               Living so wicked year after year.”

I don’t understand!  Yet in our walk with God, He assures us that He is with us, that He cares for us, that He will be with us in all the situations we face in life.  This song, “Father Along,” has in recent years been much maligned.  It is said to be a dirge, a song that depresses, yet when I look at it, read and contemplate the words, what I see is the answer to, I don’t understand.  I see hope and faith in this song.  The words of the Prophet again come to mind:  if there is nothing left, if my bones are decaying, if I see distress upon the land, though there is pestilence and famine–“Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:16-19)
 
               “Faithful till death said our loving Master,
                A few more days to labor and wait;
               Toils of the road will then seem as nothing,
               As we sweep thru the beautiful gate.”

One day, and I’m not sure we’ll understand it all then either, but we will not care.  Our focus will be on the Lord as He calls us home.  Ahh, the word “home.”  This world tries to hold us, tries to test us, and often we get tempted to build a permanent dwelling here.  But listen!  Our home is being hammered right now on the streets of glory.  One day…

               “When we see Jesus coming in glory,
                When He comes from His home in the sky;
                Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion,
                We’ll understand it all by and by.”

                                            Farther along we’ll know all about it,
                                            Farther along we’ll understand why;
                                           Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
                                           We’ll understand it all by and by.”

Grasp hold and hang onto that one phrase–“Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine.”  Don’t get down, look and focus on Jesus.  Let the Holy Spirit truly be your Comforter.  In the midst of the cloudy days, continue to live in the sunshine.  Don’t let the devil steal your joy, your peace, your faith.  One day…

                    –Louis L’Amour  (Taggart)

       “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

                    –Colossians 3:15(NKJV)
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Something to ponder on.  What would you have Tomorrow, if all you had was what you thanked God for Today?  Go ahead, let that swirl through your mind until it gets down into your soul.  This is November and a month where we finally remember to be thankful.  We have so many blessings given to us every day, yet seldom do we take the time to thank the Lord for them, or we just take them for granted.  Most of the time not willfully, but we don’t stop to think of all that God has done for us each and every day.
       Psalm 66 invites us to see the works of God.  That means in nature, in the lives of men, and in our own lives in particular.  Before looking at the first part of this Psalm, think again of what you thanked God for yesterday.  Imagine if that was all you had today.

          1 — Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
          2 — Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.
          3 — Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!  Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
          4 — All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name.”   Selah
          5 — Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
          6 — He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot.  There we will rejoice in Him.
          7 — He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.   Selah   (NKJV)

Twice we see the term “Selah.”  Come think on this or simply WOW!  Sometimes we need to stop and think of the Lord and praise Him for who He is.  We need to stop and be grateful for what He has and is doing for us.  This is a Psalm for when things are going well–a time when we often forget God.  We tend to remember Him in the tough times, when we need His help, but for the everyday good things, the normal routine of life we forget that He is there as well.
       Take time as you read this portion not to think of when the Lord took you through the tough trials and obstacles of life, but think just for a few minutes on what He does for us day-by-day, hour-by-hour.  Rejoice in who He is.  Contemplate on His goodness to you.  Learn to say, WOW! for He is awesome and marvelous.  And don’t fret about tomorrow, don’t be anxious about the world situation, concentrate this day on knowing that God is there–right now with you.  WOW!  Then we can go into tomorrow with the confidence that He will be there as well and knowing all that He has provided for us today.

                    “Jesus, our only joy be Thou,
                     As Thou our prize wilt be;
                     Jesus, be Thou our glory now,
                     And through eternity.”
                                   –Bernard of Clairvaux

 

       “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us–they help us learn to endure.”

                    –Romans 5:3 (NLT)
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Several years ago, Charles Swindoll penned an outstanding book on Ecclesiastes–Living on the Ragged Edge.  In working on my notes for “How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World” I’ve found that I could have easily called it “Living on the Ragged Edge.”  Perhaps Rev. Swindoll should do an update.  Look at the world around you:  antifa, BLM, terror, COVID, hatred, racism, the stupidity of sanctuary cities, influx of illegal aliens, backlog of cargo, and on and on….
       Ecclesiastes has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible.  Be careful in reading it however, for it is easy to look at a verse and take it out of context.  Read the whole first, then go back to dig out the little gems within the book.  As Christians we must realize that we live in this crazy, insane, mad world.  We are not to escape it, but we are to move through it and survive.  Remember, we are to worship in truth which means “reality.”  In this mad world, we continue to worship and live.

                    “Survival is directly linked to living in the ever present, fast-moving realm of reality.”
                                       –Charles Swindoll

       Ecclesiastes is the book of the “Preacher,” or the “Teacher,” depending upon the version you are reading.  One person has said the person writing is “The Searcher,” depicting the searching mind that has looked over all of life and observed what is behind the actions of people.  Look for a moment at the second verse from several versions:

                    “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher; ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'” (NKJV)
                    “Vapor of vapors and futility of futilities, says the Preacher, vapor of vapors and futilities of futilities, all is vanity–emptiness, falsity, and vainglory.”  (Amplified)
                    “‘Meaningless!  Meaningless!’ says the Teacher.  ‘Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless.'”  (NIV)
                    “‘Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher.  ‘Absolute futility.  Everything is futile.'”  (HCSB)

In a nutshell this is saying that nothing in and of itself will satisfy.  Man may search, man may experiment, man may try to escape–but nothing satisfies.
       The Book of Ecclesiastes examines the major endeavors of life and warns about false purposes in life.  In the long run who cares about your intellectualism, or your wealth and luxury, or your politics, or your pseudo-religion.  Someone has suggested that a subtitle to Ecclesiastes might be:  “The Things That Won’t Work.”  However, in reading the book one does come up with two major conclusions.  First, enjoy life–not the hedonistic lifestyle, but also know that life without enjoyment is no life at all.  Second, fear God–there must be honest humility before God.  Samuel Cox writes, “Those who raise the question, ‘Is life worth living?’ answer it by–living on; for no man lives simply to proclaim what a worthless and wretched creature he is.”
       This book was intended to be a book in celebration of joy.  It was commonly read on the third day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  Realize that we are to be living this life.  My pastor, G.R. Kelly said that, “Life is living.”  Every day as we take a breath we need to realize that life is a gift of God and we need to be living it for His glory.

                    “The mood of Ecclesiastes is one of delight, with the prospect of living and enjoying all the goods of life once man has come to fear God and keep His commandments.”
                                        –Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.

 

       “[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

                    –1 Corinthians 13:6-7 (NASB)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the power and control of the evil one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NLT)

       Hiding the truth–that is not love.  Compromising the truth–that is not love.  Hatred, worry, and despair–that is not love.  It seems almost contradictory that a way in which we survive in this evil world is to love.  
       Many years ago, I was walking down the hallway in the school where I was teaching.  There was a parent coming my direction and he blurted out in passing, “Love you brother.”  After he went on by I stopped and turned to look at him shaking my head.  It was a cliche coming from him, for I had never been shown any love from him in the past.  It was something that was supposed to be said.  A similar situation is when a guest speaker gets up in front of an audience and cries out, “I love you all.”  Nonsense!  Yet, we are to love, especially those of the faith.  How can you love if you do not know a person?

                    “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
                                   –1 John 4:7-8 (NASB)

       To know about love it is vital to look at 1 Corinthians 13.  Love is not puffed up; not easily provoked, does not think evil; not to rejoice in evil about others.  Love gives us hope.  We are to have patience, be in sympathy, and understand the feelings, situations, and problems of others.  Love is not easy.  In fact, we cannot have true “agape” love without the Holy Spirit living in us.
       God’s nature is love–you cannot think of God without love.  Love is of God, love is from God, love flows from God.  This love is not natural love.  Only when this love is flowing through you can you say to a believer you have never met–love you brother.  It has to come from the Holy Spirit.  Know this, that loving one another is evidence of our new birth.  We cannot love as God loves without being born again.
       A key to love/loving is knowing God.  To love we must know God and if we do not love do we really know God?

                    “God is love, and therefore, the more I know God, the more will I know that God is love, and the more I will know about love.”
                                   –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

As we grow in grace; as the Holy Spirit works on and in our lives we come to know God better.  We are not as much concerned about the things we know about Him, but our interest is to know God Himself.  Matthew writes, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (5:48, NASB)  Perfection??!!  How can we become perfect?  Do not be afraid of that word.  I have told many students over the years who sought perfection that they can’t be perfect, but they can be excellent.  This perfection Matthew writes about is to reach a goal; to be complete, mature.  The more the Holy Spirit works within us the more we become like Christ, therefore, the more complete we become.  The more we can walk through this pagan and foolish world with the love of Christ in us.

       When we realize that the Holy Spirit lives within us.  When we recognize the value of true Christian friends and believers then we can surely forget the weariness that this old sinful world tries to place upon us.