It [the wilderness] was no place for a fellow who didn’t have a lot of sand in his craw and a boundless store of hope in the heart.”
              –Ernest Haycox  (A Rider of the High Mesa)

    “Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The LORD God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'”
              –Exodus 3:18 (NKJV)
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I’m in the process of slowly reading through Exodus and then in my devotions just before the campfire dies down at night I’m reading Exodus.  I have also been perusing stories and writings of some of the renown leaders of the church and in the Bible.  The more I study, the more I read, the more I seek the face of the Lord–the more I’m convinced that there is an acceptable way of worship.
    Is the place important?  Well, yes and no.  I would say a person would not/could not worship at a rock concert or any concert for that matter.  I doubt it could happen at a sporting event, a bar, or nightclub.  So there is a place to meet with God, or better for God to meet with you.  Is it a church building?  It could be, and it should be, but that is not always the case.  It could be in the great cathedral of His creation.
    Let’s take a further look at where Moses wanted to take the people of Israel to worship–the wilderness.  This was not just on the edge, a place where the wilderness was a backdrop.  Oh, no, it was a three-day journey, deep into the wilderness.  See, God does not dwell in temples made with hands (Acts 17:24) though He could (i.e., the Tabernacle and the Temple).
    The wilderness may suggest danger, it may also beckon you to come closer, to come nearer.  Moses requested of Pharaoh that the Israelites be allowed to enter so they could offer sacrifices to God.  There is more truth here than what is seemingly on the surface.  Cannot one worship God anywhere?  Isn’t it more comfortable in a nice building?  The issue is that the wilderness demands attentiveness and sacrifice, diligence and solitariness, endurance and fulfillment.  To enter the wasteland of the wilderness may be to die to self so that you may live unto God.  Maybe that is the allusion that Paul leaves in Romans 12:1-2, to become, now, a living sacrifice.
    I have pondered many times why the Israelites had to go to the wilderness to meet with God and offer sacrifices to Him there.  Could they not have done this in the safety of Egypt?  Maybe it was because they could not properly meet with God in that location.  Possibly the atmosphere “of the world” would be a great hindrance to them; that part of worship required them to come apart and be separate.  In Scripture, Egypt often represents “sin” or “the world”; it was a place of bondage and oppression.  Is there a part of the world involved when you try to worship?
    When the world and the things of the world get into the church it hinders true worship.  Oh, a golden calf might not be set up but people cannot worship God in the manner and methods of Baal.  Israel learned that the hard way.  Check, do that inventory, and see it there are any practices of “Egypt” that you are embracing when trying to offer a proper sacrifice to God.  Meditate deeply on Romans 12:2, “And do not be CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT WILL of God.” (NKJV, emphasis added)  That word “acceptable” alone indicates that there is an acceptable way to worship the Lord.
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Today in the Texas Revolution:  The Mexicans are repelled at Refugio as William Ward’s troops arrive to aid the Texas.  The battle continues.  More people flee in the Runaway Scrape.

You cannot submit to evil without allowing evil to grow.  Each time the good are defeated, or each time they yield, they only cause the forces of evil to grow stronger.  Greed feeds greed, and crime grows with success.  Our giving up what is ours merely to escape trouble would only create the greater trouble for someone else.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (A Man Called Noon)

    “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.”
              –Ecclesiastes 9:3 (HCSB)
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Let me ask a question before we look at today’s Psalm.  What does the Lord mean to you/me now compared to ten years ago?  Through his life David had come to know the Lord personally in many ways.  How well do you know Him?  We should know Him in our weakness and we should know Him in our strength.  We should see Him as Creator and the Almighty God, but also as the true Friend that sticks closer than a brother.  Robert Grant put it this way:

         “Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
          In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail;
          Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
          Our Make, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.”

Here is another thought.  Imagine, if you can, some of your ancestors.  How good was God to them?  Some of them you may know, but what about a generation earlier or further back?  Were they scoundrels or followers of the Lord?  Now, back to the present; would your children and grandchildren rejoice in how you know the Lord?  Can they see, do they know how good He has been to you?

    1  I love You, Lord, my strength.
    2  The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
    3  I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.
    4  The ropes of death were wrapped around me; the torrents of destruction terrified me.
    5  The ropes of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
    6  I called to the Lord in my distress, and I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.

    Back in the silent era of movies there was a move called “The Perils of Pauline.”  Poor Pauline, she is a beauty, but she is always being chased by a dastardly man who captures her and ties her up.  Maybe you would do better thinking of the cartoon, “Dudley Do-Right” who is there to untie the fair maiden before death comes to her.  This is the situation David writes about.
    He knows where he is safe, but he ventures a way and is “roped” and hog-tied.  Death, destruction, Sheol (Hell) were wrapped around him; there was no escape.  The RSV puts verse 4 this way, “the torrents of perdition.”  Perdition, here, means Belial.  The sons of Belial were local, violent, evil-minded gangster types who were willing to assault or murder for kicks or for cash.  David had a rope around his neck and was being pulled to the depths by these thugs.  But then…  He cried out to the Lord and his cry reached the Lord’s ears.  It wasn’t Dudley Do-Right to the rescue, but the Lord God Almighty.
    This is a dangerous world in which we live.  There is danger all around us, much of which we ignore or don’t think about (such as driving on a freeway).  Physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dangers are there.  However, we have security in the dangerous world.  Look at the following thoughts from George A.F. Knight.

         1)  The Lord is my strength–He enables me to live a live of love to others in my turn.
         2)  God is my Rock.
         3)  A fortress was a place where one regained one’s breath and initiative to continue on as a soldier should.  (Remember, David was a soldier, a warrior).
         4)  His Deliver had saved him from enemies in the past and that gave him peace.
         5)  Notice:  “My God”, this is no human savior.
         6)  Rock, another term, a cleft, a place to take refuge.
         7)  A shield that provided full bodily protection.
         8)  David knows what it is to grasp hold of the altar–there is safety there.
         9)  The stronghold was a giant fortress on top of a mountain or precipice.

David had a good grasp of who the Lord was.  He had seen Him in action before.  He took comfort and sought solace in the Rock of his salvation, and received deliverance and peace.
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This day in the Texas Revolution:  Houston arrives in Gonzales, takes command and begins his retreat.  This precipitates the Runaway Scrape.  Houston orders Fannin to fall back from Goliad.

How almost impossible to exercise eternal vigilance!  Habit was more powerful, in the long run, than the most implacable of wills.”
              –Zane Grey  (Arizona Ames)

    “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'”
              –Luke 9:62 (NKJV)
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March is upon us!  Remember the old saying, “In like a lion, out like a lamb.”  Well, in some parts of the country the cold wind is howling and there are freezing temperatures.  I reckon that’s lion-esk.
    Here are a few random thoughts I gathered from the “Old Farmer’s Almanac.”
          –Blue was the color originally associated with St. Patrick.  Somewhere, somehow along the line it was substituted for green.  How and why, I have no idea.  I used to wear orange in my classroom for the Protestant Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.
          –Don’t forget, St. Patrick’s is the day for the planting of peas.
          –Cabbage seeds are to be planted on St. Patrick’s as well, but to make them grow better you have to plant them while wearing your nightclothes.
          –St. Patrick didn’t chase all the snakes out of Ireland.
For some reason St. Patrick’s Day is just another day for drinking and carousing (as if another day was needed).  It would be something that St. Patrick would not condone, despite the stereotype of the Irish.
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Groan–it’s upon us again!  Daylight Saving Time.  I do wish they would just leave us to nature’s time and quit messing with things.  There is really no need for it today, especially the switching back and forth.
    Here’s a little history (again from the “Old Farmer’s Almanac”).
           –Benjamin Franklin supposedly suggested it back in 1784 as a joke.  It was again proposed by George Hudson, British, in 1885, but he was ridiculed along with his idea.  In 1907, the idea was revived by William Willett.
           –The Germans were the first to officially adopt the concept in 1915 during World War I.  The British copied it in 1916 and the U.S. adopted it in 1918.  This was at the time when our time zones were established.  (Imagine traveling today without a time zone.)  The law was repealed in the U.S. in 1920.
    No matter what happens, ahem, “time marches on” (pun intended).
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Habit truly is much easier than vigilance.  And how often do bad habits take hold of us!  If we are not careful those habits may get us off course.  Our goal, that is in the distance, and because we do not have vigilance it seems to be getting no closer.  However, we may seem motionless, not moving when God is going forward.  He is never still.  He is never hurried and never lost.  He never doubles back.  He knows how long it will take to arrive at His destination, and He will arrive right on time.  
    Two things then:  don’t lose vigilance and don’t look at things with carnal eyes.  Your progress must be seen with supernatural eyes.  We are borne along by God, and He has us moving forward on His charted course.
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Today in the Texas Revolution:  Travis’ letter of desperate plea arrives at Washington on the Brazos.  Houston orders Fannin to go to his aid (too late!).  Fannin receives news of Texas’ declaration of independence.  Houston and his staff head for Gonzales.

He had never allowed himself to dwell on the darker times, for to live them once had been more than enough.”
              –Elmer Kelton  (The Good Old Boys)

    “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
              –Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)
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We had communion last Sunday in church.  There’s nothing in Scripture that tells you how often a person should partake of it, but there are some guidelines.  Whenever we partake we are to remember Christ–His death, resurrection and return.  He will have communion with us again.  We are also to examine ourselves; do some inner sweeping and mopping.  The early church had communion whenever they came together, thus the practice that is in Catholic churches.  It doesn’t mean a thing if the heart’s not right and we do not remember Him.
    Yesterday was “Lent.”  I’m not a real proponent of what it represents.  Choose one a day a year to give up something.  If we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit it is most likely more than one day and most likely more than one thing is given up.  The key is that we should do regular inventory of our spiritual life.  There should be constant introspection, not just on Lent or during the communion.
    Consider the following questions as you take time to look deeper into your soul.  Here, I going to assume that you do it.
         1)  Are you keeping God’s commandments?  (Phooey on those who say the Old Testament isn’t important.  Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15, NKJV).
                a)  Are they positive or negative to you?
                b)  Do you welcome them as you would good food?
         2)  Are there particular temptations to which you succumb?  (Are you working on these with the help of the Holy Spirit?)
         3)  Do you enjoy spiritual exercise?
                a)  As you read the Bible are the suggestion given to you by the Holy Spirit repulsive or exhorting?
                b)  Do you talk about Scripture?
                c)  Is meditation at the top of your “exercise” list?
                d)  Are thoughts of God pleasant for you?
         4)  Have you done things that are unhealthy?  (we’re talking spiritually here)
There are other questions that could be added to this list, but I figured these were enough to contemplate on and digest.
    For the true believer the life is one of continual sacrifice and surrender.  The “whats” and “hows” may change but they are always there.  The Lord may tell you to give up something, or he may tell you to take more time for him.  If you truly love God, nothing can distract your attention.  While at work He can speak to you, He can give you a lesson, you can be a witness, you can live in joy.
    Don’t let Lent or communion be the only time that you check out your spiritual habits.  Do it often (daily) and see your growth, your strengths, your failures, your weaknesses.  Seek always to grow and improve.  Access your character; it is becoming more and more like the Holy Spirit?
    Perhaps you are just out of tune.  If so, tighten, or loosen the strings.  Tune yourself up by reading God’s Word.  Seek His way and not the the worthless things of the world.  In your inventory of your soul do not hesitate to thank God for even the slightest movement forward in your spiritual growth.  Seek forgiveness for failures; ask God to guide and keep you faithful.  Simply be honest with God.