Sometimes we have the dream but we are not ourselves ready for the dream.  We have to grow to meet it.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Bendigo Shafter)

    “Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.”
              –Proverbs 24:27 (NLT)
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              “It is not until the flower has fallen off that the fruit begins to ripen.”
                         –J.C. Grey

As you read the first part of Psalm 10, keep the above quotation in mind.

         1 Lord, why do You stand so far away? Why do You hide in times of trouble?
         2 In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
         3 For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings; the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.
         4 In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks: “There is no accountability, since God does not exist.”
         5 His ways are always secure; Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight; he scoffs at all his adversaries.
         6 He says to himself, “I will never be moved—from generation to generation without calamity.”
         7 Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue.
         8 He waits in ambush near the villages; he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;
         9 he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket. He lurks in order to seize the afflicted; he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.
        10 So he is oppressed and beaten down; the helpless fall because of his strength.
        11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and will never see.”

Why, oh Lord, why?  Have you ever caught yourself saying these words?  Don’t be alarmed or ashamed, for David expressed the same thoughts?  It is one of the themes found throughout the Psalms.  Look at verse 1:

              “Lord, why do You stand so far away?  Why do You hide in times of trouble?”

Where are you Lord?  This world is a mess, our nation is in a mess.  Turmoil, hatred, and even stupidity abounds.  Evil, wicked and arrogant men (woman, and whatever) brag about their desires, and they mock God.  Perhaps you have found yourself in the midst of adversity, pain, suffering, and wonder why God is hiding.  
    There is a haughtiness that is among many people out there.  Look at some of the people in the news.  Lawyers, politicians, entertainers, and especially media personana.  Many of them think they are beyond the reach of man, and also of God.  See how many of them fit in these verses.
    I saw where Michelle Obama let out an obscene word in front of a live audience.  The audience gasped (that shows that there is still the concept of decency out there), but later members of the media and others were applauding her for daring to use the term in public.  My, my…is that verse 7?

              “Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue.”

Remember, blessings and cursing cannot come out of the same mouth; it is a matter of the heart.
    If you truly have a relationship with God.  If you truly have an understanding of His Godhood, then you know the answer to the “whys.”  It is the Who!  While it is not wrong to express our pain and suffering, “we must escape the trap of feeling the Lord does not care and remains indifferent to our plight.” (George O. Wood)  “One we have a glimpse of who God is, we can learn to trust him while his specific purposes remain hidden from us.” (William Petersen)
    Back to Grey’s quotation.  Sometimes the beauty must fade and go away before our fruit appears.  The flower is not tasty, but the ripen fruit is.  We are told not to bear flowers, but fruit. (cf, Matthew 7:16-20)

                   “I am not skilled to understand
                    What God has willed, what God has planned;
                    I only know at his right hand
                    Stands one who is my Savior.”
                            –Dora Greenwell

A man’s got to do a lot of disagreeable work in this world to chase out the crooks.”
              –Ernest Haycox  (A Rider of the High Mesa)

    “A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.”
              –Matthew 12:35 (HCSB)
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At 0755, or civilian time 7:55 am , a low-flying plane was seen violating several safety regulations.  Seconds later, Commander Logan Ramsey realized what it actually was–attack.  He rushed immediately to the radio room and order all radiomen to broadcast:

           “AIR RAID, PEARL HARBOR.  THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”

That order came at 0758, Sunday morning, December 7, 1941.  Within minutes 2402 lives would be lost in that dastardly, horrendous attack.  In the years to come many more thousand would be added to that number.  Lamar Underwood stated, “Pearl Harbor wasn’t just an attack, or a battle.  It was a turning point in history.  From the moment the first Japanese torpedo cut through the water, Japan’s conquest of the Pacific region was doomed; Adoph Hiter’s destruction of civilization was doomed.  The price would be high.  Pearl Harbor was where America began to pay that price.”  
    Blood would be required, a severe price to pay–the sacrifice of the lives of many young boys would be offered up to the beast of war to avenge this surprise attack.  Shattered would be the hopes and dreams for the future for many of them.  Some would be put on hold, others would be totally dashed, unrealized.  Everyone would be affected, and to an extent still are today, though there is that faction that would hide the fact and tell the people of the country to get over it as it was 77 years ago.
    Those that are still alive will never forget the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he addressed a joint session of Congress.  Those who are alive today should not forget those words, for they were the beginning of the sacrifice that this nation went through to rid the world of the fascist menace of Japan, Germany, and Italy.

          “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

The nation unified, coming together in a heroic fashion.  Military, industry, and all facets of civilian life came to fight in this noble cause.  There would be blood mixed with the sand of the beaches of islands that most Americans had never heard of nor could even pronounce.  The sands of the deserts of North Africa, the rocky land of Italy, then France and on into Germany would see the blood of Americans shed.
    President Roosevelt ended his speech thusly,

          “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.”

An oath, a prayer, a declaration?  Whichever, or a combination, the enemy would be vanquished.  I would tell you to take time and ponder.  I would also tell you to research and find out who in your family served in the military during this world conflict.  Also find out what your folks at home were doing.  Annie’s mother was a bomb inspector.
    Blood, so precious, and we think little of it until we are cut, or see an accident, or need a transfusion.  Blood, it contains the life.  Blood was required to win this terrible war.  Yet, it was also blood that was involved in the war with Satan.  A war that was fought primarily in the spiritual realm but the blood that was required was real, and in the realm in which we live.  Jesus, the Son of God, sacrificed His life-blood for the redemption of mankind.  Many Americans sacrificed their lives for the redemption of the world in which we live.

           “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.”
                     –John 15:13 (HCSB)

Poison can be a liquid, a powder, a gas–or it can be somethin’ in your head.”
              –Ernest Haycox  (Canyon Passage)

    “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
              –Romans 15:13 (HCSB)
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Bring forth the cheer and joy for the season is upon us.  This is a great time of the year for this is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ.  In our feeble brains it is hard for us to begin to even comprehend this event.  The Almighty, humbled Himself and came to earth.  The Christ-child, fully man and fully God.  The miracle is beyond understanding.
    With Christmas we have the playing of songs.  Most of which, anymore, are secular.  Some of these are good, some marginal, and some utterly ridiculous and disdainful.  However, there are those wonderful carols that we tend to save for this time of year.  Here is one, written by William Harold Neidlinger, that we seldom hear.  

              In the little village of Bethlehem
              There lay a child one day
              And the sky was bright
              With a holy light
              O’er the place where Jesus lay.

God sent His only begotten Son to earth.  The Son of God willfully laid aside the glory that was His in heaven and came to earth for the purpose of saving man from his sins.  He left heaven and came to a manger in a stall in a small Judean town of Bethlehem.  He became helpless at this moment and it was up to Joseph to protect and care for the boy.  However, we cannot see in the spiritual realm, but in my imagination there was a tremendous guard of angels set around the birth of Christ.  Satan would not be allowed to touch Him there.  Maybe it wasn’t seen, but there was a holy light.

              Humble birthplace
              But O
              How much God gave to us that day!
              From the manger bed what a path has led
              What a perfect holy way.

The way of Jesus was indeed a holy way.  He rose from that bed of hay to one day becoming a well-known figure in Palestine.  So much so, that those of the synagogue feared Him.  God set forth the beginnings of the deliverance of mankind in a manger bed years before and then the path that Jesus trod led Him to the cross for the salvation of man.  In God’s way, it was the “perfect holy way.”  Now, man can go back to the Father.  Man can have redemption.  It began in the little town of Bethlehem.

                      Alleluia
                      O how the angels sang!
                      Alleluia
                      How it rang!
                      And the sky was bright
                      With a holy light
                      ‘Twas the birthday of a King.

It is our custom, on a birthday, to adorn a cake with candles.  But think, ponder if you will–the birthday of Jesus, the stars were His candles.  If you have never heard this song it is one that is powerful, especially when the chorus is sung.  The birthday of the King is proclaimed loudly and exuberantly!  Go back and be with the angels for a moment; join in the song and exalt the birth of Jesus.

He always found the crack and pop of the fire soothing.  Fires had that effect on him.”
              –G. Michael Hopf  (Vengeance Road)

     “So they said to each other, ‘Weren’t our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?'”
              –Luke 24:32 (HCSB)
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For the last several years we have spent Thanksgiving camping.  One of my main jobs is to get the morning fire started, keep it going, and make the morning coffee.  I cheated some this year–I didn’t camp.  But since the campsite was only sixteen miles from the house I would get up in the morning, go out and do my chore.
    I have sat in front of many a campfire–hence the title of my devotions, “Echoes From the Campfire.”  It seems that much pondering can go on around a campfire.  Of course, there is the cooking, the coffee, the camaraderie, and the family time.  Many years ago, when I was back in youth, some of the best times were around a bonfire, each person holding a pine cone in their hand and when it came their turn they would toss it in the fire and testify what the Lord had done for them, or what they wanted Him to do, or prayers that had been answered.  Many would repent and come back to the Lord.  It was as if the flames flickering and waving in the fire was doing the same things in the hearts of those around.
    Fire is one of the main symbols of the Holy Spirit.  I won’t go into all of the things that fire does but I will mention them and you can fill in the analogy as you ponder this devotion.  Fire:  consumes, purifies, breaks, softens, hardens, inflames, warms, cheers, fuses, assimilates, tests, illuminates, moves, and ascends.  God, Himself, is referred to as a “consuming fire.”
    There was a time when hunting near Eagle, Colorado that the campfire was a very welcome sight.  It was miserably cold, and I can handle being cold when out hunting.  (I need to add that hunting in Colorado is not sitting in a stand, there is moving around.)  However, when I come to camp I want to be warm.  The only time we were warm that week was when we were arund the fire or in our sleeping bags.  It was cold, but the thought of fire encouraged us to get back to camp in the evening.  That in itself brought cheer to our hearts and minds.
    One other aspect of the fire I’ll mention.  Fire assimilates.  Matthew Henry stated that, “Fire makes all it seizes like itself.”  The Holy Spirit, “the Fire”, is in the process of burning away the old person and making us like Him.  He is working in us.  Remember, the Holy Spirit works from the inside out.  Before He begins to clean the outside, He burns up what is inside and makes it like Himself.  
    This is a lifetime work.  Would that it was not so, but we are so stubborn at times and will fight His work in us.  We are His temple and He will burn everything out that doesn’t please Him.  Some things are like paper and they burst readily into flame.  Other things are like a stubborn old stump that will smolder giving up lots of smoke in its burning.  It will eventually be consumed, but not brightly like other types of wood.
    So, when you are going through the fire, what is it that the Spirit is trying to do?  Is He trying to purify you, or soften you?  Is He trying to assimilate you or harden you?  Is He trying to warm and cheer you or consume you?  Time to ponder.