The trouble with monsters is they’re hard to control once they get loose.”
              –Lou Bradshaw (Texas War Lord)

    “But these men revile (scoff and sneer at) anything they do not happen to be acquainted with and do not understand; and whatever they do understand physically [that which they know by mere instinct], like irrational beasts—by these they corrupt themselves and are destroyed (perish).”
              –Jude 10 (Amplified)
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In this day of attempting to destroy history and the legacy of the past this Psalm rings out.  This first part of Psalm 44 is a reminder of how God helped in the past.  How the nation conquered the pagan lands with the help of the Lord.  Just ponder verse one, “our ancestors told us.”  My, how important that is.  First, we think about the history of the events and people of the time.  Second, we see the importance of the elders in the family passing down stories to the younger family members.  I wish now that I had spent more time questioning my parents and grandparents of the past.

    1 – God, we have heard with our ears—our ancestors have told us—the work You accomplished in their days, in days long ago:
    2 – to plant them, You drove out the nations with Your hand; to settle them, You crushed the peoples.
    3 – For they did not take the land by their sword—their arm did not bring them victory—but by Your right hand, Your arm,
and the light of Your face, for You were pleased with them.

    Whenever we feel abandoned we are to remember how God helped our ancestors in the past, how He subdued enemies in the past.  Surely if He did so in the past He will be with each one of us.  We need that same power and that same guiding light in our lives today.  If God helped our parents and grandparents, won’t He surely help us in the midst of our troubles today?

    4 – You are my King, my God, who ordains victories for Jacob.
    5 – Through You we drive back our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.
    6 – For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword does not bring me victory.
    7 – But You give us victory over our foes and let those who hate us be disgraced.
    8 – We boast in God all day long; we will praise Your name forever. Selah  (HCSB)

    It is God that brings the victory.  “Victory results from God’s activity and not ours; therefore, trust and praise are due Him.” (George O. Wood)  It is clearly seen that the victory is always the Lord’s not ours.  What our fathers did in the past was due to the guiding hand of God.  When we are weak we cannot trust our strength and that is when we realize that we must trust in the Lord.
    In this time of turmoil, strife, and doubt we need to understand that God has not changed and that He is with us through every trial and circumstance.  As evil in the world grows, God is in control.  As there are more and more attacks on the Word of God, God is in control.  When these things reach out to strike at your faith, God is in control.
    Be thankful for those who have gone before.  Learn from their lessons and their experience and their faith that God is the answer; has been and will always be.  I have told my kids and grandkids that trust in God is the key to life.  Always trust Him even when you do not understand.  If there was one thing I learned from my Grandma and Aunt, that was trust; and if there was one thing I would pass down it would be trust.

         “I am trusting thee to guide me–
          Thou alone shalt lead,
          Every day and hour supplying
          All my need.”
               –Frances R. Havergal

We needed to keep ourselves as sharp as the business end of Mexican hornets.”
               –J. Lee Butts (Ambushed)

     “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
               –1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)
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Do you ever get frustrated?  Do people, things, or events frustrate you at times?  I recollect that my earliest frustrations would probably have been a ball game in which I didn’t get a hit.  If we won, it wasn’t too bad, but if we lost I was frustrated.  Speaking of baseball, one of my greatest frustrations would be with half-hearted play.  It was even worse as a coach.  I had a few teams in which the players thought of themselves as grand champions, but in reality they were a little more than a glorified intramural team–frustration.
     Computers!  My they are frustrating, at least to me.  That goes all the way from my personal computer all they way through to the provider and the internet.  Recently, in the past month I have been frustrated as all of my morning Echoes are not being received.  You try to do a service, maybe inspire or exhort or encourage, and then because of some “glitch” it is not received; well, it’s frustrating.
     People, especially those you work with can be frustrating.  I heard the phrase, “good enough for government work,” several times in the military.  To me that was frustrating.  I felt that we all should be doing the best we could.  Co-workers and administrators who do their own thing and go about work with a lackadaisical attitude were especially frustrating.  Don’t they know?  Don’t they understand?  The work they were doing was supposed to be unto the Lord.
     Then there are the bureaucrats!  Some of them go beyond frustrating.  Some of them actually make me ill and want to vomit.  With their smug smirks and evil agenda, well, it sometimes just jerks my jaws.  When I see their faces come up on the news I must turn them off.
     Read the prophets and the one thing that most of them have in common was frustration.  Dare to read Jeremiah and say that he wasn’t a frustrated man of God.  Amos, Jonah, Haggai, Malachi–they were all frustrated with the lives of the people and those in leadership most particular.  Perhaps the only prophet where frustration isn’t seen is that of Daniel, but he became sick when he had his dream of the end times.
     Daniel was grieved over what he saw.  Do things grieve you along with the frustration?  Are you grieved at what is happening to our wonderful country?  More importantly, is the Holy Spirit grieved with the actions of people, with the country, with you and me?  We should be careful with our lives that we do not grieve or frustrate the Holy Spirit.  Paul writes,

          “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin).”
                    –Ephesians 4:30 (Amplified)

     Now I want to ask, Is God frustrated with us?  Are we living our lives the best we can?  Are we serving Him, working out our salvation?  When we become complacent or compromising, I believe that we are in danger of frustrating and grieving the Holy Spirit.
 

One had to be aware of danger to defend oneself against it.”
              –Louis L’Amour (Comstock Lode)

    “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
              –Matthew 25:13 (NKJV)
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Do you not see?  Do you not understand?  Of course not, not if you’re not reading the Bible, not if you’re relying upon your personal opinion.  The enemy works in darkness and people, including some in the Church are becoming lovers of darkness rather than lovers of the Light.

         “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way…  He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this…'”
                   –Matthew 13:25,28 (NKJV)

The enemy will come to sow seeds of darkness into an individual’s life, but he also does the same to the Church.  Now for sure, the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18) and the Lord will not allow His Bride to be sullied, however, with that being said–there are wolves in amongst the sheep.  The enemy sows evil into the hearts of those in the Church; he destroys families and that in turn hurts the Church.
    The church (notice I switched to little “c”) has discord.  There are those in the church who believe and promote false doctrine–the seeds of evil.  There are those in the church who are allowing their personal hatred of an individual to cloud and affect the more urgent issues such as abortion–the seeds of evil.  There are those in the church who hold to the false truth of universality, that all men will eventually be saved–the seeds of evil.  There are those in the church who are calling evil good and good evil, blasphemy–the seeds of evil.
    While the servants slept… While the church was sleeping the enemy came.  Jesus tells the story of the ten virgins who were on their way to the wedding (Matthew 25:1-13)  Five of them were foolish and five took along extra oil, just in case.  Because of that they were able to waken, light their lamps, and go into the feast.  The others were given one of the saddest statement in the Scripture:  “I do not know you.” (25:12)
    While we slumber the enemy is at work.  He is in the process of sowing evil seed to split and dirty the Bride of Christ which will not be tolerated.  Do not join his ranks.  Heed the warnings of God’s Word.  Jesus will return for His Bride, one that is without spot or wrinkle or blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
    Beware of false preachers.  Beware of false gospel and fake news.  Beware when others say it is all right to have your opinion of God’s Word.  Beware when men are defiling one another and saying it is all right.  Beware that you are not duped and deceived.  Beware lest your hatred and bitterness destroy you.  Beware lest you trample on the blood of Christ that has purchased your redemption.

Don’t waste time worrying about the mistakes of yesterday.  Each morning is a beginning.  Start from there.”
              –Louis L’Amour (The Cherokee Trail)

    “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
              –2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV)
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The fight never ends.  Never think that it does.  Oh, it may quiet down some, but it is always working even if subtly behind the scenes.  The enemy never stops!  He is either actively fighting and working against your soul, or he is being a sneak, deceiving people with words.  There is an interesting phrase that Jesus brings to our attention in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares.

         “An enemy has done this.”  –Matthew 13:28 (NKJV)

In the rest of the verse the servants ask the Master if He wants them uprooted.  The Master replies, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.” (Matthew 13:29, NKJV).
    Right now concentrate of the portion about the enemy.  We know that the enemy “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NKJV).  He wants to feast on your soul.  He wants to destroy you, rip your heart from you.  We know that, we are ready for that fight, but what we don’t pay attention to is when he comes in unawares or as an “angel of light.”
    The devil, the enemy, will suggest all sorts of things to you.  He will attempt to instill doubts, difficulties, and suspicions.  Look around you and see how many Christians are being duped, how many are living in fear.  Look and see how many are accepting a “new truth” and forgetting “thus saith the Lord.”  He wants to disturb your loyalty to Christ; he wants you to accept a relative truth; he wants you to compromise God’s standards.
    He’ll bring petty accusations against you.  He will remind you of sins of the past bringing guilt.  Then we wonder and are puzzled at the weeds that are growing in our hearts.  How did they get there?  “An enemy has done this.”  Every life has weeds of some sort, and they may fool us.  Look at the pretty flowers that many of them have, yet they are still weeds.  
    The issue is not that they are there, but how did they get there?  Were they sown by thoughts?  Were they sown by vain imaginations.  Possibly it was fear or dread, worry about the virus or the future.  Maybe it was an old habit, one that weakens your spiritual legs and you tasted of it once again.  
    Have you ever pulled at a dandelion when it is all fuzzy and blown upon it scattering its seeds all about?  Think of your enemy doing the same.  He is blowing at the tares, scattering them in your heart to mix with the good grain.  Jesus said to let “both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.'” (Matthew 13:30, NKJV)
    That is another aspect of the enemy.  He may plant someone next to you, at work, in church.  They may have an appearance of good, but their hearts are evil; they do the work of the enemy.  They are hard to pick out, and they must be left until the harvest when they will be bound together and burned.
    Never forget that the enemy is busy sowing.  Do you best to stay alert.  Cultivate before the weeds take root.  Read the Word of God and sow it in your heart or you might end up saying:  “An enemy did this.”