Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

It is his first reaction, to build a fire, to give himself the security and comfort that a fire symbolizes.”
                    –Louis L’Amour  (How the West Was Won)

       “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.”
                    –2 Corinthians 1:3 (NLT)
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          “Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God’s grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted].”  –Matthew 5:4 (Amplified)

     For the last few weeks we have looked at what it means to mourn.  We all can relate to that, if not in the real sense, certainly in the spiritual.  If we have been born again, we have recognized the sorrow over our sins and the need of a Savior.  Cleansing of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ is the first step to spiritual comfort.  That comfort comes from the free forgiveness of God when we confess our sins and our need for Him.  Then in turn, we feel the consolation and encouragement that makes our spirit smile.  The guilt and burden that we once carried, that heavy and convicted conscience that we had are now free and lifted.  We have the assurance that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin.  We read in 1 John, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1:7, NKJV)  Get that!  “ALL sin” is removed, we are spotless in the sight of God.
     Yes, we have partaken of the justice and the holiness of God by accepting the death of Christ, and then we have received His mercy and grace as we come to Him asking for forgiveness of our sins.  But know this, that we should “Thank the Lord for His patient pursuit of you and for undeserved comfort of forgiveness.” (John Stott)  We didn’t deserve His forgiveness or His grace or His mercy, but He loved us so much that He accepted us because of the blood of Christ.  That should bring great comfort to our soul.
     Have you noticed the paradox?  Weeping brings comfort; forgiveness brings comfort, repentance brings comfort because the burden of guilt and our sin is lifted.  Paul writes, “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2 Corinthians 6:10, NKJV)  We read in the Psalms, “Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” (30:5, NKJV)  Get it?  “Sorrow for sin ushers in joy.” (Thomas Watson)  I don’t understand, but I fully accept the plan of God and the work of Christ.  William Barclay said paraphrasing this verse, “O the bliss of the man whose heart is broken for the world’s suffering and for his own sin, for out of his sorrow he will find the joy of God!”
     There is great comfort in the knowledge of sins forgiven.  There is great comfort in knowing that He has a place reserved for us at the table and a home in heaven.  Let your soul be comforted, grasp the words from Isaiah 40:1, “‘Comfort, yes, comfort My people!’  Says your God.” (NKJV)  Charles Wesley, the great writer of hymns put it this way:

               “He speaks and listening to His voice
               New life the dead receive,
               The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
               The humble poor believe.”

      In our rejoicing we must not forget the purpose of the Holy Spirit after we repent.  He is the “Parakletos” — the Comforter.  We read in John, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.” (14:16, KJV)  Other versions use “Helper,” “Advocate,” “Counselor”, but I like the concept that when we mourn, when we groan those prayers that we don’t know what to utter and say, that we have the Spirit of God to intercede and to comfort us in those moments.

               “O spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found,
               Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
               Let ev’ry Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
               The Comforter has come!”
                         –Francis Bottoms

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He laid his revolver down within reach, and proceeded to light a fire in the stove, from which rose presently the pleasant odors of aromatic coffee and fried ham and eggs.” 

                    –William MacLeod Raine  (A Texas Ranger)
 
     Take heed to what ol’ Bill Raine said, keep yur gun within reach as there’s too many crazies runnin’ ’round out there.  My mercy, the way them supposed sophisticated bureaucrats acted durin’ the President’s speech, one has to be wonderin’ ’bout the common person any more.  Pard, things are gettin’ out of hand.  Where’s the common courtesy that is to be afforded?  It’s not black and white no more, it’s not racism that is the issue; it’s the sane versus the crazies.  
     But enough of that, don’t want to rilin’ yur gizzard with all that foolishness.  But one other thing, an’ then I’ll poured yur coffee as I see yuh reachin’ out yur paw.  There’s a payday comin’.  Sooner for some, eventually for all.  Don’t yuh be forgettin’ that.
     Hyar yuh go.  Take a sip an’ that’ll perk yuh right up.  Picks me up, why whenever I need a fixer-up, I’ll pour me a cup, sit down in my chair an’ do a little contemplatin’.  Went to the doc the other day, and found out–guess what, I’m gettin a mite older.  Yep, as my Aunt and Grandma used to call it, progressive agin’.  Listen, Pard, it happens to all of us if’n we fortunate to live that long.  But let me tell yuh the goodness truth of the matter.  I look at those folk in the doc’s office an’ they’re bad off.  Besides the aches and pain they must have they let it affect their face and demeanor.  Not, all, some roll with the punches.  Some know that the ol’ body wears down an’ they keep a right good attitude with it.  Why Pard, I thank the Lord for another day, and always for a good night’s sleep.  Don’t want to get sour and grumblin’.
     Ol’ Paul, wrote somethin’ like this.  “We do not lose heart!”  Get that in yur noggin’.  Most of those folks I saw have lost heart.  They depend on the doc for help an’ they get their pills to swaller, but it don’t do much good, jist helps them linger on a little longer.  See, we should never be losin’ heart.  Yep, for shor, this ol’ body is wearin’ or as Paul said, “wastin’ away.”  But the good Lord don’t leave us that way ’cause our innards, no not yur gizzard and liver, but that inner man is bein’ renewed day by day.  Get this Pard, when yuh feel the aches and pain, an’ yuh let out a moan–spiritually we never grow old.  Now, that’s something to clog in the kitchen about.
     Hold on, Pard, I jist can’t hold it in.  Beller out with me if’n yuh want to.  “Never grow old, never grow old, In a land where we’ll never grow old…”  Whoopi-yi, don’t that get down in yur soul?  Add that to yur coffee an’ yuh can surely have a good day.  Live the life that the good Lord would have yuh live an’ don’t be worryin’ for yuh ain’t never gonna grow old.
     Keep that thought through the week, but wait, that don’t mean to go through life foolishly–yuh still need to check yur cinch.  
     Vaya con Dios.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on
The desert had crucified him and had left him to die or survive, according to his spirit and his strength.”
                    –Zane Grey  (Wanderer of the Wasteland)
 
       “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.  And he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
                    –Exodus 3:1 (NKJV)
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     You may have wandered into this wasteland that you have found yourself in.  The Spirit may have led you as He did the Lord Himself and as He did Moses.  You may have taken it on a dare, a lark of adventure, excitement, but now…  You are not accustomed to the wilderness, you are not familiar with it or its ways.  You have not honed your weapons and you have not trained with them properly and now you find yourself in a fix, a world of hurt.  You may have bragged that you could handle anything for a day, a week, but now you are experiencing something that is completely foreign to you, out of your comfort zone for sure, and out of your abilities.
     This is the situation in which Moses found himself.  First of all, we need to know that whatever we do in life can be used to develop our character (for good or bad) to add to our knowledge.  Sometimes we are thrust into situations, jobs, and other experiences that we do not like, but they are there to help us along the way, even if we do not know how, or how to enjoy the experience.  Moses understood, while as a prince of Egypt, that something was wrong deep inside his being.  He was part of the court of Pharaoh and a member of the royal family.  Was it that his spirit was lost, wandering about in some wasteland that he knew nothing about?  There was turmoil in his soul and it would not rest.  Circumstances then intervened (or was it the Holy Spirit?).  He committed a murder which forced him to retreat into the wilderness.  Trying to escape his deed, he fled.  Actually, not knowing, it was the calling that was deep in his soul that forced him there, and it would take the next forty years to surface.  Forty years of not knowing, and we often complain of a day or a season of our wandering.
     He had to learn the ways of the wilderness; he had to come to the place where he was no stranger to its ways.  He had used it as a means of escape from his past.  For years he learned of the wilderness while at the same time hiding his past in the robes of a shepherd.  He worked, moving the flock for which he was caring from place to place all the time learning and developing.  One day he found himself in the western portion of the wilderness.  It was there, while working doing his common duty that he noticed a strange phenomenon on the mountain of God.  What drew him to that place?  What has drawn you to the place that you now find yourself?
     It is very interesting that while simply doing his duties that come with the day’s work that he finds himself in this particular wilderness area.  He fled there once when escaping Egypt; and now, working as a shepherd, he finds himself there again.  It doesn’t necessarily make a difference why you entered the wilderness but that you develop; you do what is expected of you and you pay attention.  You become alert so that God can speak to you.
     Moses had left prosperity.  He had left the city, the glamour and bright lights, and his wealth and fame.  He had left his previous life and now he was simply a worker and a member of the family of Jethro.  He was learning many lessons, one of which stands out in importance–a person often has to leave the hustle and bustle of the city to find God.  We find ourselves simply too busy in a noise-polluted environment where we cannot hear the quiet voice that speaks softly to the ear of our soul.  Oh, it may not be a city such as New York or Chicago, it may be humdrum USA, but you are busy, stressed, running hither and thither so that you cannot hear, or care not to.
     God was waiting for Moses in the wilderness.  It is not that God is not in the city, in the hectic daily routine, or in the flux of the crowds, but that He wants us in the wilderness.  Why?  Because in the wilderness all of the fluff and bravado is stripped away.  It is you and the wasteland.  It is you and perhaps the bleating of sheep, or the grunt of the camel, or the rattle of the snake.  It is there that God can touch you and get your attention after the cares of this world have been crucified.

 

Echoes From the Campfire

by Ira Paine, Posted on

It’s easy to fool those without any brains.”
                    –Joseph Powell  (Justice Comes Home)


       “The righteous detest the dishonest; the wicked detest the upright.”
                    –Proverbs 29:27 (NIV)
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One of the peeves towards the top of my list are those with the Peter Pan Syndrome.  Play, play, play, never grow up.  These are people so often written about in Proverbs as the fool or simpleton.  They don’t want to accept responsibility but want to sit on the couch with their phones or playstations.  Let the world drift by, and then clamor that they are not being treated right.  If something happens to them, they come unglued, cry and whine, then don’t know what to do saying that life is so unfair–boo hoo hoo hoo.
     The writer of Hebrews has some direct words for these types.

          “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.  In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
                   –Hebrews 5:11-14 (NIV)

When asked, “why do you go to church?” at the top of the list is either fellowship or the “worship” service.  While both are important and needed, there is little hunger for the doctrinal teaching of Scripture.  “Theology divides” they clamor, yet what is “theology” but the study of God.  Shouldn’t we long for more knowledge of the Almighty?  If discussion is brought up about righteousness or sanctification almost immediately is the chant–“legalism”.  Listen!  Righteousness is not legalism!  Sanctification is not legalism!  “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after what?  Righteousness!  You cannot discern proper worship without a righteous hunger in the heart.  Ray Stedman made an interesting yet vital statement, “There is a cloud of threat hanging over people due to their immaturity.”
     Woe unto us if there is not growth in the church and in the individual.  Woe unto the family if proper spiritual nourishment and food is not provided.  Woe unto the individual if they do not partake of what is offered, taste, digest, and grow.  We are told to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  Hold on–that is legalism!  Read again, Philippians 2:12.  Three things I have come to see within those who are immature, childish, babies in the church.  I borrowed some from Ray Stedman though I have already seen these in action.  
     For a fact–age alone does not produce maturity!  I had a student one time ask if I thought he was an adult, a mature person.  My response was, “do you accept responsibility?”  He put his head down and walked away.  I might add that he is doing quite well now, and is approaching thirty.  Look around you at all the childish behavior that we see in so-called adults.  They are adults only in age, not in doing what is required of them, of fulfilling their obligations of life and before God.  I completely understand Paul’s frustration with Mark and not wanting him along on the second journey.  Time, age, never brings maturity unless one understands that maturity is accepting responsibility and fulfilling one’s purpose in life.
     Another characteristic that we see is that immaturity is self-identifying.  Fool!  Look at what the Bible says about fools and what happens to them.  We read the above verses from Hebrews and we see that these people have been Christians long enough that they should be teaching others.  Instead, they still suck at the bottle.  “They do not understand the divine program which results in right conduct, because they are themselves children and want only milk.” (Stedman)  They do not have the ability to discern good from evil.  There is a dangerous cloud looming over their heads.  They are, what Dr. Stedman refers to as “consecrated blunderers.”  These are the church-hoppers, ones who go from church to church, looking for a ministry that will make them feel good and satisfy their itching ears (2 Timothy 4:3).
     Finally, we see as we continue to watch them that their arrested development is a very costly thing.  You can call it spiritual atrophy.  Their parts have not developed properly, they cannot handle the weapons of our warfare, they do not wear the armor properly and thus are not able to stand their ground.  They run from hither to that doctrine, not knowing that it is false.  Jude warns us what happens, they “follow natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.” (vs 19)  In fact the Book of Jude is a good book to look at if you want to see what happens to those who pamper themselves and stay as children.  Listen, “the immature lose so much, and they risk even more.” (Stedman)  Candy-bars for breakfast, ice cream for lunch, and cake for supper do not cut it in the real world, and even less in the spiritual fight that we are involved in on our journey.
     How frustrated Paul must have been when he wrote the church at Corinth.  “I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able.” (1 Corinthians 3:2, NKJV)  “Even now”…what an indictment!  Look again at Hebrews 5:24 this time from the NKJV:  “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”  In other words–act your age!