“Lord, happy is the man You discipline and teach from Your law.”
                    –Psalm 94:12 (HCSB)
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          “Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, ‘Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.'”  –Numbers 13:30, NKJV

Discipline!  What a term.  Most people cringe when they see or hear that word, yet it is vital to our well being.  Now there are all kinds of discipline and many books have been written on the subject.  When we think of discipline we normally think of pain and sometimes, though wrongly, punishment.  
     I would ask you to read Numbers 13 and 14.  We see two types of people, those who have the discipline of faith and those who do not.  Someone has said that without discipline of some sort “there is disorder, chaos, anxiety, and randomness.”  When you read these verses you see the undisciplined multitude of anxious unbelievers.  See, there are two ways of facing life:  the way of fear and the way of faith.  The way of faith takes a disciplined thought-life and a disciplined faith.  John Ellis tells us that “Life consists of a long series of problems that require decisions–both personal and professional.”  To handle these properly and efficiently we need the discipline of faith.
     Those without discipline of mind, of thought, of voice, of faith… too often go off the handle.  They blurt out stupidities.  I sent a little note to my daughters yesterday:  “We have got to stop saying ‘How stupid can you be?’  It seems that too many people are seeing this as a challenge.”  Listen to them, oh my, but guard the ears and be prepared for the profanity.  Undisciplined lips.
     Let’s look at what takes place after the declaration of faith from Caleb and Joshua.  First, the people of Israel complained to Moses and said, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt!  Or if only we had died in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:2, NKJV)  If only they knew that they would soon be given the chance to die in the wilderness for they would be required to wander until that generation had passed.  There were more grumblings and rumblings from this undisciplined mob.  They went so far as to say, “Let us select a leade4r and return to Egypt.” (14:4)  
     The men of faith, Moses and Aaron fell  on their faces, hurt, shamed, and knowing that the Lord would not be pleased.  Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes, and proclaimed again their faith and warned the people.  Then the people, the undisciplined, those with lack of faith, the loud-mouths spewed hate from their mouths, “And all the congregation said to stone them with stones…” (14:10)   We see that the undisciplined do not want to hear the truth, the word of faith.  Read on, see the great discipline of Moses, and read of the Lord coming upon the scene.
     Think of yourself, is your faith disciplined?  Are you scatterbrained, or are your thoughts disciplined and on the Lord?  Let me close this morning with a little prayer by former Air Force Chaplain, John R. Ellis:  “Lord God, help me to accept the problems of life as a challenge.  Temper the challenge with courage, and give me faith to know from whence comes my strength.  Amen.”  In other words, let me walk through this life with the discipline of faith.

                     –Matthew 4:16 (ESV)
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Just a few thoughts while I’m resting and away from the homestead.  Sometimes we read and we don’t pick up on certain words.  That’s one reason why I like to read what others say, for they might pick up on something I miss and then I can go back and ponder it.  Take a look at John 13:30, “Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately.  And it was night.” (NKJV)
     There are several things that could be said here about Judas.  He took the bread that Jesus gave him, but it does not say that he participated in the communion supper.  If you read a few verses before, it is mentioned that after Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.  Ponder that for a while.
     What I want you to concentrate on however in this verse are the words, “And it was night.”  By time, it was night.  Day had passed and they were walking in the night to the garden.
     It was night for Judas.  Light had passed from him.  He had rejected the light of the world.  “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5, NKJV).  Judas, for some reason, refused to accept the light that was in front of him.  Judas, now would put his betrayal into action.
     It was night for Jesus, as He struggled with what lay before Him when He prayed in the garden.  He was in anguish for He saw a darker night looming in the near future.  A darkness of the soul when His Father gave Him up as the ultimate sacrifice.
     It was night for the disciples but they did not realize it yet.  That would occur on that dark day of the crucifixion and the darkness of the time until the resurrection.
     It was night–a darkness upon the earth as had never occurred before.  The Son of God would become sin.  Satan and his minions would rejoice in that spiritual darkness, but then—-the Light would burst into flame.  Jesus would put an end to darkness.  It is gone, but man must look to the true Light.
     Friend, when in your life it seems that all is dark and there is no hope, look up and see the face of Jesus.  That Light is there for you to see your way into the hope of glory.  With that hope, darkness is dispelled.

       “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.  The Lord be with all of you.”
                    –2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)
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“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” (Psalm 2:1, KJV)  I know that this pertains to nations, but in those nations there are segments, sects, and individuals who are used by the devil.   I like the way that the TLB, paraphrases this, “What fools the nations are to rage against the Lord!  How strange that men should try to outwit God!”  
     Ponder the above verse.  I have several thoughts meandering in my mind this morning.  We have seen the video of Charlie Kirk being shot and murdered.  (There is no need to keep replaying it).  We have the remembrance of the terrorist attack of 9/11.  I don’t try to understand the stupidity and the wantonness of all this.  I don’t try to understand the reason for evil men to do what they do.  And with that thought, I get tired of hearing and reading, “Where was God when Charlie Kirk was shot?”  He was right there in the moment, gathering Charlie Kirk home to Him.  Do I understand it?  No.  Do I question the wisdom and working of God?  No.  
     I will admit that this senseless murder has bothered me.  But I understand that God is working His will through it all.  My wife said to me, Charlie Kirk is getting plenty of publicity on everyone’s facebook.  No one will be immune to his testimony–it sort of reminds me of Stephen.  Perhaps what took place in the House bothered me as much.  When the Speaker asked for a moment of prayer, there were shouts of “no!” from the liberal left.  My, my…Lord have mercy.  And you know what, He is showing mercy.
     The words of Paul to Timothy come to mind, “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13, KJV)  The ESV translates it this way, “While evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse…”  Friends, listen, we live in perilous times.  Times that are being made ready for the return of the Lord and for the man of lawlessness to appear.  “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, NKJV)  Paul then tells of the works of evil that will be there, then he adds, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” (2:15, NKJV)
     My granddaughter posted something, and I won’t quote it verbatim, but give the jest.  Don’t worry about today, don’t worry about your children and this world they have to walk through and live in.  The reason why is that if they have accepted Christ, they are ready to meet Him.  They need to be discipled in God’s Word, but God has placed them in this world, at his time in history, to fulfill their purpose in the here and now.  God isn’t worried, He isn’t scratching His head wondering what He should do now.  It is not an accident that they are living now.  They need to walk in faith, trusting in God.  It finishes with the thought–are you up to the challenge?
     I will mention that the Echoes will be sporadic for the next few weeks as my wife and I will be traveling.  I will try to send something, but it might not be every day.  Pray for traveling mercies for us.

There will always be outlaws, but our mission…your mission…is to tamp them down hard so that life is tolerable for decent people.”

                    –R.O. Lane  (Will Fain)

 

       “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD:  I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

                    –Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV)

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Maintain the rage (2001) —– tolerance at all costs! (2025)

     My what a difference twenty-four years makes.  A vicious attack on the United States concentrated on New York City and today?  Today, there is a Muslim running for mayor of the City.  Is it really that people do not remember?  Or is it that they do not care?  To be quite frank, it goes much deeper than that.  There is a movement from the Pit to undermine and destroy what this country was built upon.  See, we perceive things on the surface, what we can see, but there is a deeper, more sinister work at play.  It is the work of the devil preparing the way for the Antichrist.  

     Can you imagine George Washington listening to Tim Kaine when he said that America’s rights depend on laws (which are man-made) not divine decrees or religious creeds?  Yes, there is some truth there, but only to a degree.  The basis, the foundational laws are built upon those given by God.  There is a supreme Law-Giver who has written the basic code of laws on man’s hearts.  There is a deeper code based on God’s laws.  Paul writes in Romans that there is “the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness…” (Romans 2:15, NKJV)  In Hebrews we read, “…I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts…” (8:10, NKJV)  

     That is part of our problem.  Stephen Mansfield wrote, “To defeat this network [Islamic terrorists] the United States will have to answer at both a theological and a military level.”  Yes, it is a theological problem!  We tend to forget God’s laws and that is one of the top priorities and real dangers of the postmodern thought; it is to tear down the fundamentals, hammer away at the foundation.  We saw an example of this last week with the brazen, idiotic comment by Tim Kaine that strikes at the foundation of America.  Kaine stated, “The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator–that’s what the Iranian government believes.”  Two things here:  first, laws do not come from their Creator.  I recall reading the words of Thomas Jefferson, borrowing from John Locke, that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”  It is evident that man’s rights come from God.  Second, Kaine is equating the United States government with the government of Iran.  This is totally absurd and it shows the ignorance of Kaine with the God of the Bible versus the Allah of the Koran and Hadith.

     Break down the foundational truths; tear away at God’s moral code and there will be chaos and confusion.  Listen, we do not war against flesh and blood in the eternal sense.  Without God’s Word there is nothing solid upon which to stand.  Society will be split (as we are seeing), there will be chaos and uncertainty on the streets.  Now, more than even at that disastrous event of 2001, should we heed the words of President George W. Bush, “The commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time.”  Moreover, in these chaotic times heed the words of Paul to Timothy, “Guard and keep [with the greatest care] the precious and excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us.” (2 Timothy 1:14, Amplified)