“The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.”

                    –Psalm 29:7 (NKJV)
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Friends, family, acquaintances, loved ones, and strangers–this will be the last Campfire for a week or so.  Yep, taking off again.  That’s a benefit of retirement; I’m not tied down to a desk, career, boss, or other.  I can’t really pack up and go whenever I please, but my calendar certainly is more flexible than ever before.  
       If you’ve been around many campfires you’ll know that at times a breeze will sweep through causing the fire to flames and send burning embers into the sky.  Most of these come to naught, however, they can be dangerous and cause a fire where they land.  (Ponder that)  So perhaps the thoughts this morning might be called embers from the campfire, or embers from the flame.
       See, there’s a thought right there.  We have a nice fire, our flame is burning brightly.  Those around are warm, secure, comfortable and we have been able to cook over it.  Then a wind (the Holy Spirit) sweeps through lifting some brightly burning embers into the air.  Some will land and not be noticed, but there may be a few to land and catch fire.  The flames from your campfire have now spread to someone else.  Hmmm, not bad.
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Many years ago I was asked if I knew anything about the Book of Barnabas.  Really I was sort of surprised, but then knowing the character of the person asking I figured it fit.  I replied, not ugly, that I did not, that I didn’t even have time enough to study Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to be concerned about Barnabas.  I told them if I was a student of church history I would be more interested.  
       Since that time I have become slightly familiar with the writings of a “Barnabas.”  There is the Gospel of Barnabas, and there is the Epistle of Barnabas.  Some believe that the Barnabas of Acts wrote the Gospel, while few will say the same regarding the Epistle.  Regardless, I am still not going to take the time to study either.  They were not considered for the canon which we now have–neither the Protestant or the Catholic.
       Saying all of that I did come across a saying that is attributed to Barnabas and it is worth pondering.

                    “Let us keep ourselves with the utmost strictness from any kind of wrongdoing; otherwise wrongdoing will get the better of us. Let there be hatred in us for the errors of this world, so that there may be love for us in the world to come. We must not give such rein to our natural instincts that we feel ourselves free to mix at will with rogues and sinners, or we shall only grow to resemble them.”
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           “He liked the wind in the grass, himself. And the cedars, too, and the smell of them…. Gnarled, twisted by wind, rooted often enough in rock, still it lived and grew. It took a sight of living and hardship to grow like that, but when they did grow they grew strong, and they lasted.”
                                –Louis L’Amour  (Conagher)

Conagher is one of my favorite Louis L’Amour books and the movie is also among my favorites.  The above quotation brings to mind a man who has worked all his life and now is a gnarled old man.  He is still rooted, and has enjoyed life–even the toils and troubles.  There is the wind again–for the Holy Spirit has guided the man’s life, sometimes working on him in ways that he never began to consider.
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I will mention that we are taking our middle granddaughter Kylee with us on this trip.  It will be a “college day” for her as we will be visiting the campus of Evangel University and attending the Homecoming activities.  This is Annie’s 50th homecoming anniversary.  Kylee found my old letter sweater and letter jacket and is going to wear them.  Fitting for homecoming, don’t you think?
       In the meantime, keep praying, keep studying God’s Word, be ready and alert, and don’t go drinking any bad coffee.

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Broken Gun)

        “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD:  Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.”
                    –Isaiah 51:1 (NKJV)

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It seems like it’s been a month of Sundays since we looked at the Psalms.  I want to finish some thoughts on Psalm 65 before I take off again on another little trip.  The second portion of this Psalm shows the sustaining power, goodness, and faithfulness of God.  We serve a good and great God.  He has given us a wonderful world and yet so much of the time we worry about the weather, whether we should go out with a mask or not, making us a prisoner of our own homes.  
       Too often we are in awe with the spectacular things that happen.  A storm, a catastrophe will catch our attention and we watch and we wonder what is going to happen.  We forget to look at the wonder of the day-to-day things.  Just think of how God has blessed you this day, how He has kept you, how He has given you grace and mercy, how He is faithful.  Look at the leaves on the trees and how they are changing color and beginning to fall.  Awesome, spectacular, not really, but they were made to do this by the Creator.

               6 — Who established the mountains by His strength, being clothed with power;
               7 — You who still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves.
               8 — They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.
               9 — You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it.
              10 — You water its ridges abundantly; You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth.
              11 — You crown the year with Your goodness, and Your paths drip with abundance.
              12 — They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side.
              13 — The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing. (NKJV)

       This is a good Psalm to read if you are going through troubles and trials.  There may be difficulties, but God is always there and He reminds us when we look at His creation.  We read this Psalm and we celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God.  He is the God of nature, of the universe, and He is also the God of our personal lives.  He controls nature, He controls the nations, so there should be little doubt that He can rule over the difficulties in your life.  I think of the words of that great hymn:

               “Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
                Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
                Join with all nature in manifold witness,
                To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”
                              –T.O. Chisholm

       We may have famine in our lives.  We may face the storms and tempests of life.  There may be pestilence and terror around us, but we know–we know that God is faithful.  We know that He cares for us no matter the situation that may come our way.  Rejoice in the sunrise of a new day that He has given you.  Rejoice in the sunset of a day completed knowing that God was there with you each moment.

               “The joy of the Lord is the strength for life’s trials,
                And lifts the crushed heart above sorrow and care.
                Like the nightingale’s notes, it can sing in the darkness,
                And rejoice when the fig tree is fruitless and bare.”
                              –A.B. Simpson

                    –J. Lee Butts (Bad Blood)

        “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.”

                    –2 Timothy 1:7 (NASB)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know [for a fact] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] lies in the power of the evil one [opposing God and His precepts].”  –1 John 5:19 (Amplified)

Let’s take another look at 1 John 4:1:

               “Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.” (Amplified)

There are many self-proclaimed prophets with loud voices.  Many of them are so-called believers, but there are others who have a loud voice and proclaim their form of truth.  Watch and beware of them.  We are to try the spirits; in other words look at the truth and see how they proclaim the message of Jesus Christ.  If you are not aware of it, and I surely trust that you are, there are false prophets, there are evil spirits, and there is a devil.
       Some people sort of sluff off this verse.  In fact many in the church do not believe that there is a devil.  They do not want to concede to the fact that there is evil out there trying to pull them down to hell.  Listen, if we were confronted by the Holy Spirit only there would be no need to test the spirits.  The very name “Holy Spirit” suggests that there are other spirits.

               “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the power, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
                             –Ephesians 6:12(NASB)

               “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
                             –2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NASB)

       Havoc has often come to the Church because people would not test the spirits.  False teachings have crept in because of one of Satan’s servants, or a human deceived by the wicked one.  Some rely only upon their experiences.  It is so wonderful they feel that they must be right.  Now, I am not against experiences.  They are vital, meaningful, and important.  Let no one question their salvation of a miracle or a healing or the Holy Spirit working in their lives.  However, be aware of putting an experience in front of God’s Word.  I have had several people tell me over the years that God told them to do such-and-such which was totally contrary to the Bible.  They did not test the spirits.  They wanted to go their own way, or listen to the spirits of evil.

               “It is the duty and the business of everyone claiming the name of ‘Christian’ to be in a position to try and examine and test the spirits.”
                              –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

       Remember when you are trying to live in this mad, mad world the words of Paul, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.” (1 Corinthians 2:12, NASB)  Do not judge in terms of phenomena–the Lord warned His followers that spirits would be able to do marvelous works.  Do not judge in terms of fervor–great excitement and great energy is not proof of the Holy Spirit.  Keep this in mind, experiences can be counterfeited by the enemy.  
       How then do we test the spirits?  There are three quick tests:

               1)  Does the teaching conform to Scripture?
               2)  Is it conformed to the apostolic message?
               3)  Is the teacher willing to submit to it?

The readiness to list to scriptural teaching and to abide by it is always a characteristic of the true prophet.  He is willing to listen and to abide by the Word of God.  This “prophet” is the man or woman who always manifests balance in their life.  They are not some spiritual pendulum swinging back and forth looking for the newest spiritual fad.  The true spirit always glorifies Christ.  I recently heard a teaching saying that the Son and the Father are not equal; that the Son is subservient to the Father denying the doctrine of the Trinity (a form of Arianism)–false teaching.  Also look closely, the cross always first then followed by signs and wonders, never the other way around.

               “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity–of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear–but [He has give us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”
                              –2 Timothy 1:7 (Amplified)

               “The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of order, not of disorder.  Doctrine and love are required; experience and power, intellect and mind–the whole person is involved and functions as this perfectly balanced body with no schism, with no rivalry and competition, but with the whole manifesting and ministering unto the glory of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
                              –D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

       So do not be afraid of living in this mad, mad, mad world with all the voices coming at you.  The Holy Spirit will use the Word of God to direct your lives.  He will guide your steps and He will be with you though pestilence, storms, plagues, and terror are all around you.