Men can’t live without Him, and be men!”
              –Ralph Connor  (The Sky Pilot)

    “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.”
              –1 Timothy 4:10 (NKJV)
——————–
    E.M. Bounds said, “The fire burns altogether too low.”  Ponder that for a few seconds.  Does the fire of the Holy Spirit burn brightly in your heart, or is that fire only a faint glow?  I think many have missed what God is trying to do in the souls of His people and in the hearts of men in general.
    No, God did not send the “corona”, but He did allow it.  He was not surprised, and it should serve as a warning in many areas.  First, it should awaken each of us to fan the fire of the Spirit back into a flame.  Second, it should warn us how quickly a government  power can take over.  Third, it should awaken in us the power of fear.
    It is the devil who wants to “kill, steal, and destroy.”  He doesn’t necessarily want your financial destruction, but through that he’ll make you bitter, depressed, and fearful.  A panic produced by a disease, promoted by the media is used to destroy your health, add stress to your life, and turn your focus away from God.
    In this time, where the Lord is trying to speak to us, the devil has attempted to turn our thoughts away from God and toward the epidemic.  Instead of seeking God, men are living in fear, afraid to see family and friends.  They are worried about self-preservation instead of seeking the Lord and allowing Him to meet their needs.
    Christmas, that wonderful season, that beautiful time of the year, when we look forward to so many things.  Satan will try his best to keep you from the real truth and reason for the season.  This is the time when Jesus came to earth to begin His earthly life that would eventually lead to Calvary and the salvation of mankind.  This Christmas year, turn for a moment to dwell upon the words of the Psalmist.

         “My soul longs, yes, even faints
          For the courts of the LORD;
          My heart and my flesh cry out
             for the living God.”
                  –Psalm 84:2 (NKJV)

    I would encourage you this Christmas to focus on the meaning of Christmas.  Don’t let the media throw panic in your path, don’t let the joy of the season turn to fear.  Seek the Lord, focus on Him, cry out with your whole being to Him.  Cherish the purpose of Christmas and all that goes with it.

Life’s mighty sweet when you take it as she comes.”
              –Ernest Haycox  (Trail Town)

    “But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?’ Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”
              –Matthew 8:26 (NKJV)
————————
Are you going to spent the next four years, maybe longer, worrying and fretting?  The devil wants you to be anxious, worrisome, without peace in your soul.  Don’t let him deceive you in that manner.  In reality, most of the things we become anxious over never happen, we just think they might, or they are out of our control.  Since there is nothing we can do about that, why worry?
    Yesterday I wrote about having that “Blessed Assurance…” because Jesus is mine.  There is nothing that can jerk you out of the hands of God.  The devil may even come along saying that you’re not a Christian, that you don’t feel anything, but always remember the blessed assurance that you are a child of God.
    Today I want to look at another way of being assured.  I cannot confirm whether the lyrics are by Dallas Holm or Bill Gaither.  You can search if you wish.  But Dallas Holm sang the song, and he tell us that there is a “Calm Assurance.”

         “Well, I’ve a calm assurance
          I’ve a calm assurance, I’ve a calm assurance
          He is Lord, He is Lord
          He’ll see me through.”

One of the things that I see missing in the church today is that quiet working of the Holy Spirit.  Oh, I know He is working, but we often want to be like the world and get all noisy and in a twitter over things.  Hurry, hurry, and we hop and sway down at the front of the church, then want the preacher to say something that will not only scratch our ears but will tickle our innards.  There is very little time spent in quietness, meditation, and contemplation.
    For us to be quiet and meditate means that we have to be in God’s Word, that we have to study, and, oh, that takes a little effort.  In my morning devotions this week, I came across the following by Thomas Traherne, “As nothing is more easy than to think, so nothing is more difficult than to think well.”  To have that calm assurance we must be in the Word of God then peace will begin to soak in our soul.
    One more verse from the song:

          “There’s nothing else that really matters,
           There’s nothing else that really matters,
           There’s nothing else that really matters,
           ‘Cause He is Lord, He is Lord
           He’ll see me through.”

Coronavirus , pestilence, natural disasters, if you really know the Lord, if you really trust Him, then He’ll see you through and give that calm assurance.  The life of the believer should not be one of turmoil.  It should be one of knowing God and having an assurance that He is in control.  There may be stress, that is part of life, but in the midst of that stress we should depend upon the Holy Spirit.  Let Him give you joy and peace that you need in these times that the enemy seeks to use to steal your confidence.  Rest in Christ.

Campfires are about the nicest things there are.  They add a lot to makin’ the uncomfortable…comfortable.”
              –Lou Bradshaw  (Agular)

    “The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”
              –Isaiah 32:17 (NKJV)
———————-
Are you saved?  I mean, do you actually know and are assured that if the trumpet should sound and Christ return for His Church that you would go in the throng?  Are you saved?  Then first of all, if you cannot answer that question, now is the time to do so.  Repent and get right with God for you never know the hour of His coming, or the hour of your death.
    We do not “feel” saved, though at times there may come that wonderful movement down in our souls.  Feelings are nice and fine, but they do not mean we are saved or not saved.  The words of Fanny Crosby’s hymn ring in my mind:

         “Blessed assurance, Jesus in mine!
         Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!
         Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
         Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”

There is that “blessed assurance” exclamation mark!  But let’s look a little further at our assurance.
    First, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36, NASB).  On the day we accept Jesus as the Son of God, that He died on the cross and rose the third day, we have assurance.  God cannot lie, we are saved.
    Look at your life.  There you will see the second assurance of your salvation.  As we are attached to the true Vine we should begin to bear fruit.  We should begin to see the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24).  Our attachment to this world will begin to diminish.  We will begin to long for the things of God.  People around us will notice a difference and if will cause them to react.
    The third way that we know the “blessed assurance” is found in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” (NASB)  What is this assurance?  “It is the fact that somewhere deep inside of us, we who have accepted Jesus as our Savior–at times it is as wonderful as the rolling sea–somewhere, deep inside of each of us, there is the witness of the Holy Spirit to our own spirit that we are the children of God.” (Francis A. Schaeffer)
    Let me not stop there for assuredly there are times when we are broken, when we don’t “feel” the witness of the Holy Spirit.  “When we’re broken, when we have fallen into sin, when Satan our adversary has beaten us again, sometimes this third assurance becomes feeble indeed.  At such times, we can go back to the great objective promises.”  (Francis A. Schaeffer)  What are those promises?  Look back at the first two assurances.  This is the time when faith comes into play–we must rest assured in the fact that we are saved because the Word of God declares that we are.
    When we live in the confidence of His Word, when we rest in the promises and faithfulness of God we can then continue on and live in “blessed assurance.  

         “This is my story, this is my song,
         Praising my Savior all the day long;
         This is my story, this is my song,
         Praising my Savior all the day long.”

Live in the assurance that you belong to Him.  Then begin to be thankful, begin to praise Him, and be glad that you have the blessed assurance.

There was something about the mountain air that made one want to inhale deeply…it was like fresh, clear, cold water in the throat.”
              –Louis L’Amour (Shalako)

    “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord”
              –Acts 3:19 (NKJV)
———————–
         Prayer:  “Lord Jesus, when my heart succumbs to sin, like David, I have no song to sing.  Only when I bow to Your will and purpose do my praises ascend.  May I not be so foolish as to starve my spirit in order to satisfy my sinful human cravings.”
                 –George O. Wood

    As I was reading this prayer I had to stop and ponder it some.  I had never thought that when I fulfill my personal sinful cravings and lusts that I am actually starving the real me.  Last week, we ate and ate at Thanksgiving, we weren’t starving to death, but we were fulfilling an appetite.  It seems that when we “eat” of our sinful desires we are doing the same.  But when doing it the spirit man suffers, the righteous man is now hungering.  In fact, Jesus makes the statement, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6, NASB).
    This is a good time to finish Psalm 51, David’s prayer for forgiveness and cleansing.  Keep in mind the words of the apostle John when he wrote, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NASB).  The King James says that God is “faithful and just.”  It takes a righteous God, a just God to not only forgive us, but to also cleanse us.

    13 – Then I will teach the rebellious Your ways, and sinners will return to You.
    14 – Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
    15 – Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
    16 – You do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering.
    17 – The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit.  God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.
    18 – In Your good pleasure, cause Zion to prosper; build the walls of Jerusalem.
    19 – Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.  

    Only when we have repented and are right with God will our lives be that “living epistle” that men can look at and read.  If we persist in our sin, and do not repent (remember, David had the choice when the prophet came to him) then men will despise us for our hypocrisy.  Once there is repentance then we can properly give praises to God and people will see by the outward expression of our life what has taken place inside.
    I have often wondered, especially now that I am doing some writing, about the idea of verse 14.  There is much in the writings of the prophets concerning the shedding of innocent blood and the judgment that it brings.  But what about the shedding of blood in bringing justice, doing God’s work, so to say?  David was known as a “bloody man” and therefore, God would not allow him to build the temple.  There was a price to pay.
    Much too often, there is jumping and hopping around the church (I dare not say, “altar”)  but has there been repentance first?  David is not against sacrifices, but he realizes that all the sacrifices will not cleanse his heart.  The only thing that will bring cleansing is true repentance–“a broken spirit…a broken and humbled heart.”  The King James and NASB use the term, “contrite heart.”  I have been told that contrite means to be broken down and crushed to powder.  Then, and only then, will God accept our sacrifices.

              “Lord, I confess to you, sadly my sin;
               All I am, I tell to you, All I have been;
               Purge all my sin away, Wash clean my soul this day;
               Lord, make me clean.”
                      –Horatius Bonar

Oh to be clean.  The freshness that comes to our whole being after a refreshing shower or a hot bath when the dirt of the day has been washed away.  The same is true of the spirit, when we come to the Lord and ask for a spiritual shower of His love and mercy.