I believe God has a plan. I may not know exactly what it is or what I’m supposed to do, but the plan is in place. I just need to trust Him and do my best to follow wherever He leads…or die trying.”
–Dan Arnold (Riding for the Brand)
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”
–2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)
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I have been doing a small study with my eldest granddaughters on the Fruit of the Spirit. If a person is a believer and you hear them say, “I don’t have any peace,” then they are either ignorant, or are trying to seek peace in the wrong manner, or have false views of peace, or they have not truly been saved.
The last fruit mentioned is that of temperance, or self-control. I like what Dr. Zenas Bicket says of Self-Control; he calls it the Regulator:
Love without restraint becomes passion.
Joy without moderation becomes frivolity.
Peace without temperance becomes idleness.
Patience without balance is apathy.
Gentleness without temperance is weakness.
Goodness without control becomes fawning.
Faith without moderation of reason becomes blind superstition.
Meekness without temperance is timidity.
Self-Control is the thing that regulates the rest of the fruit. It is the guiding force so that the other fruit does not become reckless and that senseless emotionalism does not run rampant.
Far too often, Christians forget the Holy Spirit. Without Him, we could not know Christ. Without Him, the blood of Jesus could not be applied to our lives. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us into the truth. Yet, He is often placed on the back burner. There may be talk of the Father, and the Son, Jesus, is often mentioned, but not so much the Holy Spirit. But it is the Holy Spirit that convicts and brings us to Jesus. He is equal to the Father and the Son.
We can grieve the Holy Spirit; He can be quenched. We can push Him away, and that is dangerous. It is the Holy Spirit that testifies of Christ. Jesus said that He must leave so the the Holy Spirit (i.e., Comforter, Advocate, Helper) can come. He is the “paracletos”, the One who stands beside us to give us what we need.
Without the Holy Spirit who raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), the message of Jesus would have disappeared. The incarnation would have been forgotten, the miracles and the sinless life not mentioned, even the crucifixion and resurrection would not be remembered but for that Holy Spirit. The Bible was given to us by Him; He inspired its writing and is the life within it. D.L. Moody said, “And if it had not been for the Holy Ghost coming down to bear witness to Christ, to testify of His death and resurrection, these facts [events of Jesus’ life] would have been forgotten as soon as His birth.”
The Holy Spirit then, is vital to our lives and daily walk. We are to live, to grow, to walk in the Spirit. It is He who gives us power to be a witness (martyr). It is the Spirit that will guide us along the road to glory. Think of that glorious promise of Romans 8:11. Those words were at one time my favorite chorus.
“If that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead
Dwell in you, dwell in you,
If that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead
Dwell in you, dwell in you,
He shall quicken your mortal body, if that Spirit dwell in you,
He shall quicken your mortal body, if that Spirit dwell in you.”
You cannot read through the New Testament (and much of the Old) without seeing the work of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps that would be a good devotional study–reading the passages in the Scripture that speak of the Spirit.
Echoes from the Campfire
Life is uncertain. What we want is not always what we need. We only live one day at a time. We live today. We are not promised tomorrow. One day each of us will give an accounting for the days were were given. Will it be today?”
–Dan Arnold (Alta Vista)
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
–1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NKJV)
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Have you ever had a song keep coming to your mind? Think of all the neat, little jingles of commercials. They are meant to get stuck in your mind so they continue over and over. I’ve been praying and asking the Holy Spirit for the last year or so that if I wake up in the middle of the night my mind would be on a song of praise and the same when I awaken in the morning. For the past week a verse of the following old song, published in 1922 by J.B. Vaughn, has been going through my mind.
“There’s a blessed time that’s coming, coming soon,
It may be evening, morning or at noon,
The wedding of the bride, united with the groom,
We shall see the King when he comes.”
People go round today saying that they are blessed. And it’s true, though in the current situation those once blessed people are now grumbling. Grumbling doesn’t take away blessings already bestowed, but they can hinder ones that the Lord want to give us. But, there is a time coming when there will be blessings more than we can understand. The Lord is coming! Did you hear? The Lord is coming, I don’t know when; I don’t know the time, but I do know this–He is coming.
His is coming for His bride who is without spot or wrinkle. A bride He will rescue from the clutches of this evil world. He will not allow her to be sullied, to be spotted, or to be abused. He will rescue her and take her to be with Him forever.
“Are you ready should the Savior call today?
Would Jesus say, ‘Well done,’ or ‘Go away’?
My home is for the pure, the vile can never stay,
We shall see the King when He comes.”
The above verse is the one that has constantly been flowing through my mind. “Are you ready?” Friends, now is the time to make sure you’re ready. Heaven will not see anything vile, evil, or putrid within its gates. Only the pure shall see God. How does one stay or become pure? By repenting, by obeying the commands of the Lord, by reading and following His Word. Don’t for a moment think that universalism is true. Don’t for a moment be duped by those who say that those who live in sin, those who practice iniquity, those that mock God will make it through those pearly gates. It takes repentance and belief that Jesus is the Son of the Almighty God.
“Oh, my brother, are you ready for the call?
To crown your Savior King and Lord of all?
The kingdoms of this world shall soon before Him fall,
We shall see the King when He comes.
We shall see the King, We shall see the King,
We shall see the King when He comes;
He is coming in pow’r, we’ll hail the blessed hour,
We shall see the King when He comes.”
Jesus will return for His bride in the clouds. Not all will see Him, for He is coming only to take His bride away, the saints of the Church. They will be clothed with robes of righteousness and eternity with the Lord awaits them. Then the time of “Jacob’s Trouble” on earth. Unspeakable terror and evil will abound. Kingdoms will crumble, those that survive will shake their fists at God. Then, He will come again, the world will shake, and there will be agony when the Lord comes to the earth when all shall see Him and bring judgment.
Now is the day of salvation. Turn from your wicked ways, then on that glorious day–“we shall see the King; He is coming in pow’r, we’ll hail the blessed hour, We shall see the King when He comes”!
Echoes From the Campfire
If I’m to accept the benefits, I ought to accept my share of the work.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Time It Never Rained)
“Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon.”
–Nehemiah 4:17(NKJV)
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One thing I haven’t done in the past few months is get woeful and down in the dumps. I will not be drug through the dregs of life no matter the situation. I don’t like masks, but I will wear them if necessary. Fortunately, where I live few people wear them. I don’t like the idea of a vaccine; there are too many variables being discussed, so I will not get one. I don’t worry about the future whether near or far.
In these times there has been much ado about it being the “last days.” I guess it depends what one means about the last days. If one is talking about the imminent return of the Lord for the Church, then for sure it could be. If, however, they are talking about Judgment Day, it is not. A true believer cannot deny that these days are definitely leading up to the coming of the Lord for His people. I fully believe that it is part of the cleansing and the waking up of the Church for that to happen.
I’m a happy person, I know the Lord is coming, and I believe He is coming soon. I am “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13, NKJV). Sometimes I begin to get angry at those I see that spew forth the hate, then the Spirit touches me to remind that without Jesus they are lost forever. Other times I feel grief at what is happening in this great country. For myself, I have hope.
I have hope in Christ; He is coming back. I have hope in His promises, they are for me. He will never fail to fulfill His promises. My hope is grounded in the Word of God. Read the news and it could be easy to lose hope; read the Word of God and hope arises for you see what is happening.
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I do not remember the exact date of the first of my daily writings (i.e., Daily Paine, Echoes From the Campfire, Saturday Perc). It most definitely started sometime around this time in the year 2000. At first they were sporadic–the idea behind them was to stay in contact with my daughter, Kim, who was married in August 2000. I thought it would be nice to keep in contact with her via a morning devotion. They were not every day, but all that changed September 11, 2001. Since that time they have been almost a daily occurrence.
When I think that I have been writing them for twenty years it almost staggers me. Goodness, who would have thought. I have quite a base of individuals that receive them daily, and I always pray that someone may be touched by the Spirit of God in them. My purpose originally was to stay in contact with Kim, but now I hope to inspire, encourage, sometimes cause you to think, and bless you. I have tried over the years different approaches, and one of the biggest problems is to get said, what I want to say on one page.
Thanks to all that drop a note once in a while. I really enjoy hearing from you. As of now I have no plans to stop writing, and most days I can usually think of something to write. Some may not be as theological as other days, some days I borrow thoughts from other writers.
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“Today the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won. The skies no longer rain death — the seas bear only commerce men everywhere walk upright in the sunlight. The entire world is quietly at peace. The holy mission has been completed. And in reporting this to you, the people, I speak for the thousands of silent lips, forever stilled among the jungles and the beaches and in the deep waters of the Pacific which marked the way. I speak for the unnamed brave millions homeward bound to take up the challenge of that future which they did so much to salvage from the brink of disaster.”
This was part of the radio address by General Douglas MacArthur upon the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. The bloody war was over. In the actual address aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, MacArthur spoke the following profound words in benediction.
“Let us pray that peace now be restored to the world, and that God will preserve it always.
These proceedings are closed.”
It was finally over. World War II had come to an end. Countless lives, military and civilian had been lost to rid the world of a totalitarian menace.
Echoes From the Campfire
His mind was usually crystal clear, open for impressions, warnings, dangers. His instincts were alive to every change of sunlight or shadow, to every hint of movement.”
–Louis L’Amour (How the West Was Won)
“Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night.”
–Job 27:20 (NKJV)
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Psalm 46 is a psalm of victory, a song of faith in the Lord Who is our fortress and refuge. The psalm is one in which we are simply to stop and look at God. Look at Him and expect Him to do great things. Today, we finish Psalm 46.
8 – Come, see the works of the Lord, who brings devastation on the earth.
9 – He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces; He burns up the chariots.
10 – “Stop your fighting—and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”
11 – Yahweh of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah (HCSB)
The first part of the Psalm should leave us trembling, especially those who do not know the Lord. However, even believers should take warning and be in wonder for the Lord will bring “devastation” to this world. That time is nearly upon us. It will be a dreadful day when that takes place. Hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, disease, viruses, will be nothing compared to the devastation of the Lord.
At that time He will make wars to cease. He will finally reign over the earth as the Prince of Peace. Then verse 10 is a very familiar and important verse. I really like the KJV and NKJV and with other versions which puts the first part like this, “Be still and know that I am God”. We get so busy that we don’t take time to see what God is doing. Be still, or as the NASB states, “quit striving.” Quit fighting, quit striving, quit being so caught up with yourself and so busy that you cannot see what the Lord is doing.
Derek Kidner stated, “Resembles the command to another raging sea: ‘Peace be still!’ and the end in view is stated in terms not of man’s hopes but of God’s glory.” We get caught up with our own struggles and fights that we far too often forget to look at the larger picture. Jesus is there to calm our storm, but He is also concerned with the larger storm that worsens and is loosed upon humanity.
“Be still, my soul:
Thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways
Leads to a joyful end.”
–Katharina von Schlegel
He continues to remind us that He is there with us. He is there in our struggles. He is there in the midst of the calamity and the terror that may come our way. He is there in the hidden spiritual fight. No matter what He is with us. One other note, “Yahweh of Hosts”, or the “LORD Almighty” as in some versions means the “Commander of the Armies of Heaven.” He is the supreme commander-in-chief of the universe, and that includes those in the spiritual realm.