Fear sets a man up sometimes for what he has to face.  A little fear does no harm, just so it doesn’t put a man on the run.”
              –Louis L’Amour (Matagorda)

    “That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.”
              –Ecclesiastes 12:13(NLT)
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Sometimes I wonder, how about you?  Why did the things that happened in 2018, happen?  Where was God?  Why did this obstacle lie in your path?  I have a print by Fred Deaver on my bedroom wall over my dresser.  The title, “Heap of Trouble.”  It shows a mountain man with a pack mule coming around a trail high in the mountains.  On his right is a deep gorge; on his left is a steep, sheer cliff.  As he glances around the bend there is a grizzly bear coming toward him.  There was no where to go–he was in a heap of trouble.  Ever been there?  Maybe not in the mountains with a grizzly facing you, but in life there are other types of “grizzilies”.  
    Ponder the following Scripture:

         Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!”
                    –Romans 11:33(AMPC)

Life is full of unanswered questions.  Sometimes God heals and takes care of us, other times He allows things to happen (that doesn’t mean He is not taking care of us when something does happen).  “God wills that we know that he keeps us ever equally safe, in woe as in well-being.” (Julian of Norwich)  Many times problems come because of things we did or things that other people did.  Some of those things may have been directed at us, but sometimes they are what is referred to as an accident–it just happened.  There are times when God sends us into a wilderness to teach lessons or for us to become more acquainted with Him.  I smile when people say they want a relationship with Him, but then reject the hardships that may force them to get closer to Him.  They just want to tip-toe through the tulips, but life is often like walking through a forest of cacti; beautiful in their own way, marvelous flowers, but oh, the thorns.
    Some things happen because God trusts us.  Study Job, he had no clue that the Lord set him apart to be troubled by the devil.  And, some things will remain mysteries.  Suffering and death for example, they will remain a mystery until we get to the other side and into eternity.  It is important to study the nature of God (theology) and to develop a relationship with Him, but never get to the place where you think you can understand Him.  Perhaps, that is why man seeks to set himself up in the place of God; why he wants to become autonomous because he cannot understand the ways of the Almighty.
    Get this in your mind and your heart.  No matter what–trust Him.  Remember, God never makes a mistake.  He is always in control.  Grasp hold of a statement made by Oswald Chambers.  “Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”
    Back to the poor boy on the trail.  I have often looked at that painting and wondered what happened.  Did the bear backtrack or did he rare up and scare the horse causing it to buck and throwing the rider over the cliff?  Perhaps the rider was able to bring his rifle to bear and kill the grizzly or wound it severely so that it fell over the edge? Did the bear scare the pack horse causing it to slip on the trail and slide over the ledge? Life is like that–we go along, heading for our destination, seemingly all is fine and happy when all of a sudden there is “A Heap of Trouble.”
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Last year was a good year in my reading schedule.  I always try to read four classics; one a quarter.  Last year I was able to read eight.
         The Deerslayer — James Fenimore Cooper
         Across the Plains — Robert Louis Stevenson
         An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners — Joseph Alleine
         How I Found Livingstone — Henry M. Stanley
         Walden — Henry David Thoreau
         The Trail of the Lonesome Pine — John Fox, Jr.
         A Christmas Carol — Charles Dickens
         Bransford of Rainbow Range, Eugene Manlove Rhodes (I included this as it was written at the turn of the 19th century and is a little different than other western writers).

Hope you take the challenge and read at least one classic.  I am starting with The Last of the Mohicans.

The facts were plain enough and always had been; you fought your whole life long if you wanted to live.”
              –Luke Short  (Savage Range)

    “For the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”
              –Deuteronomy 20:4 (NKJV)
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I’m going to use the New Living Translation for Psalm 11, simply because I like the way it puts the first verse.  There is much hostility and hatred in our land today.  Some of it is directed toward Christians, God, and biblical morals.  Laughter, derision, mockery, hate are commonplace today.  There is a move to destroy or compromise Christianity within the “religion of society” with is humanism and postmodernism.  On the scene, Psalm 11.

         1  I trust in the LORD for protection.  So why do you say to me, “Fly to the mountains for safety!
         2  The wicked are stringing their bows and setting their arrows in the bowstrings.  They shoot from the shadows at those who do right.
         3  The foundations of law and order have collapsed.  What can the righteous do?”
         4  But the LORD is in his holy Temple; the LORD still rules from heaven.  He watches everything closely, examining everyone on earth.
         5  The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked.  He hates everyone who loves violence.
         6  He rains down blazing coals on the wicked, punishing them with burning sulfur and scorching winds.
         7  For the LORD is righteous, and he loves justice.  Those who do what is right will see his face.

Doesn’t verses 1-3 sound like today’s society? Look at the news, the stupidity, and the hatred that abounds in this land.  Those that seek to do right; do have justice served at being shot at.  What has happened to law and order?  
    The lawless would like nothing better than for the righteous to flee.  But to flee is to escape and God has called us to endure.  How many times have I desired the refuge of the mountains–I could hear the High Lonesome call–rather than to do the will of God.  The tendency is to run from danger (and there are myriad types of danger).  Our example is Christ.  He did not flee from the cross.  He endured the pain, the suffering, and the death so that we might have life eternal.  He also rose with victory as we shall to with His appearing.
    Charles Wesley wrote:

              “All my trust on Thee is stayed,
               All my help from Thee I bring;
               Cover my defenseless head
               With the shadow of Thy wing.”

We do not have to fear the rages of society, for Christ is with us.  But I must ask, where is your foundation?  If it is in man or culture or humanism then you are tottering on the brink of destruction even though it may appear that evil is winning.  G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “To the psalmist the surrounding circumstances were not foundations.  He saw God, enthroned, watching, acting.  To him this was the one foundation.”  I ask again, where is your foundation?  This is a good Psalm for today with so many attacks on the foundational beliefs of our country.  God is still on the throne; He is in charge.
    God is our firm foundation!  O, do you hear the sound and the declaration of that wonderful hymn?  “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  Don’t flee from the spot where God has placed you, for you are there for a reason, a purpose.  Don’t deny the wonderful experience that you have in Christ, for He is directly your life.  It is there that you are meant to give your witness by your obedience to His will for you.  I would admonish you to stand for righteousness, for then you will see His face.  The HCSB says, that “He loves righteous deeds.”

Nothing stays the same.  A man has to go with the times.  No man can put a rope on the past and hope to snub it down.  The best thing is to learn to ride the new trails.”
              –Louis L’Amour

    “You have heard; See all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, Even hidden things, and you did not know them.”
              –Isaiah 48:6 (NKJV)
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“Woe is me,” she was probably crying.  “The Lord has forsaken me; He has left me and I am undone.”  The problem was not that the Lord had forsaken her, but that she couldn’t see.  Mary was standing outside the empty tomb, not remembering the words of Jesus, and she was weeping when the “Gardener” accosted her.  Her tears had blurred her vision; she had not come to realize the words of Christ and that nothing stays the same.  Time and eternity had changed for her and she had not yet realized it.

         “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,…  And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, ‘Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?’ She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, ‘Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.’
         Jesus saith unto her, ‘Mary….'”
                             –John 20:11, 14-16 (KJV)

Was it unbelief or was it simply that her tears got in the way of her vision and she didn’t recognize the Lord?  Sometimes our emotions run amuck and they can cause us to lose sight of the Lord.  It can cause our vision to be blurred.  
    There may be weeping in life and it may cause us pain, and blur our vision of what the Lord is doing in our lives.  Tears may be there for one reason or another, but do not forget the promises of God.

         “For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
                              –Psalm 30:5 (AMPC)

Look at the morning.  Every day the Lord’s mercies are renewed.  Every day is a day given to us by the Lord to use for His glory and to enjoy His mercies and blessings.  Don’t let tears or other emotions blur your life.  Wipe them away and see the risen Savior as He stands in front of you.
    However, there are other reasons for blurred vision, in fact, it is actually blindness.  It may be caused by bitterness, hatred, superstition, heathen and pagan practices, and/or the foolishness of the atheist.  The Pawnee worshipped the god Tirawa by sacrificing a healthy, good-looking male captive.  Also, Mars, the Morning Star, in their belief was worshipped by shooting a sacred arrow through the heart of a young captive girl.  After her captor shot her through the heart, the rest of the warriors would then fill her body with arrows.  (Win Run: Trail Rider Devotion)
    Talk about blurred vision, yet there are those who say that Christianity should not have been brought to the heathen.  In other words, they are saying those people should have been left alone and lost in their sins.  But Jesus wants us to wipe away whatever is causing the tears–whether it be hatred or joy, bitterness or sorrow.  
    Friends, wipe your eyes and look up–for your redemption is drawing nigh.  Not only is He coming soon, He is standing right before you.

Wherever a man is, there is work to do.  That’s the best part of it.  My friend, there is a Hell.  It’s when a man has a family to support, has his health, and is ready to work, and there is no work to do.  When he stands with empty hands and sees his children going hungry, his wife without the things to do with.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Bendigo Shafter)

    “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
              –1 Timothy 5:8 (NKJV)
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Friends, I’m sure glad I can still do a few things.  Now, I’m not as young and limber as I used to be, and sure can’t hump the boonies like I used to do.  The legs have aches and pains, and the ol’ ticker has its problems, but I reckon I can be of use in some ways.  Just not like I used to be.
    One thing for sure, the heart needs to be in the right place.  It definitely can be more attentive to God.  That’s a blessing of my life right now.  I can definitely be more contemplative than in years past.  I have more ability to do so as I’m not trying to do this or that anymore.  When a man can’t do something is one thing, but when he has the ability and is too busy to care for his family or is traipsing about doing his own thing and not caring about the things of the Lord then there is a problem.
    I’m thankful that we have not had to deal with the things my parents did–the Great Depression.  There are the “snowflakes” out there who are moaning and whining about not being able to get by.  And, by the way, “snowflakes” are not just confined to Millennials.  They want their school bill done away with, but a debt should be paid.  Scripture tells us that we should count the cost before undertaking a major endeavor, hmmm, such as a large debt.
    Remember, some of you, others do not have the slightest idea of the following analogy and I guess that may be a blessing (or a gap in their experience), the televisions of yore.  You would sit down to watch your favorite show and all of a sudden the picture would turn to “snow.”  You would get up and play with the “rabbit ears” to try to get a clear picture.  Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t.  But you would twist them this way, and then twist them that way.  Finally, maybe, hopefully, the picture would be clear and you would sit back down and then the picture would start moving up and down or back and forth.  You would get back up and find the little dials:  vertical hold, horizontal hold, and would move them depending on the problem.  You would move them and the movement would slow down and finally, as you held your breath, you would release the dial hoping that the picture would stay steady.
    Compare that to your life in Christ.  The television is on, your life.  You are connected to Him.  However, often because of interference there is “snow”.  You can’t see or make out the picture.  Your life is a mess because there is something interfering with the connection.  Or the picture is rolling and is out of whack, just like your life might be and you need some adjustment.  There are many things that may be causing the problem and the answer to that would be to get rid of that particular thing in your life.  Sometimes the picture is there, but not steady and you may not be sure what the problem is.  Then you need to get in the Word more, pray more, hmmm, and it is so popular in many circles at this time of year, fast more.
    A couple of thoughts about fasting to fix the problem.  First, do not try to manipulate God.  He sees the heart and your motives.  Second, fasting should show we are serious about God and wanting Him in our lives.  If we fast to lose weight, well, that may be good for the physical man, but it does nothing for the spiritual man.  Fasting should be accompanied by prayer and study of God’s Word.
    (Thanks to Pastor Pool, for the idea of the television and his sermon last Sunday on fasting.  See, I do listen!)