The Daily Manna

[flightsimmer]

I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.
2 Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as
long as I live.
3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I
found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my
soul.
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. Psalm 116:1-5

I have greatly enjoyed my journey through the Psalms. I find that David, who
wrote the greatest number of these wonderful songs, was a man, indeed after
God's own heart and also a man with a heart and soul and mind like ours. When I
say ours, I mean all of us who have this same love for God that David had in his
time. Even though it was thousands of years ago, God is the same today for us
as He was then for David. We love the Lord because we know He hears us when we
pray and, not only does He hear us, He answers us in due time. Some times it is
an immediate answer to prayer and at others it is later but He always comes back
with an answer. It has been said that He answers with one of three answers,
"yes", "no", or "later". He never says "maybe". We may assume He answers that
way but He never does for He knows the certainties of our lives even if we
don't. God is not a "maybe" God, He is the God of absolute certainty and that
is why David had learned to love Him so.
Then, David mentions the "sorrows of death". He also mentions the "pains of
hell". So, what is he talking about? He is talking about exactly what you
might think. My mother died recently. Her brother (my uncle) is under hospice
care even as I write this today. She was one of 13 brothers and sisters and now
we are down to three of her siblings left and soon it will likely be only two.
Death destroys families. It comes into our family circle and begins to shrink
it until it is not much more than a dot on a page. We sorrow because of it.
Some of the family is ready for eternity and some is not but, death does not
care. It will take you ready or not. We sorrow the most over those who are not
ready because we know that when death comes, eternal separation is the end
result. So, we say goodbye and not so long for just a little while. That is
the sorrows of death and the pains of hell. For those that are saved and ready
to leap out into eternity to go and be with Jesus, there is a different sorrow
but that sorrow is replete with faith which is the substance of our hope that
one day we shall all be together again. This subject could easily build into a
sermon. David had experienced the death of two sons. One was the son born to
him who died in infancy. David said of his death that he knew he could not
bring him back but that he most certainly could one day go to where he had gone.
But the other son was a rebellious one who attempted to wrest the kingdom from
David. He mourned more heavily over his death than the death of his infant son.
But, regardless, death is an insult to life and when it enters our house it
causes us pangs of pain.
Without God we would all be left desolate, ruined for life. David writes of his
appreciation of God and for God. We need to express the same thing to God and
to those we come in contact with throughout our lifetime. For David, his
writings are a treasure from the past and to the present. It is a gift to us to
read and enjoy and rejoice in. Indeed, The Lord is My Shepherd Who shall never
leave me to be found wanting for all I need. The same goes for all who love
Him.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

6 The Lord preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet
from falling.
11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.
13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:6,
8, 11, 13, 15.

As I read through the 116th Psalm, I cam across these thoughts. Number one, God
preserves the simple. Think on that for a moment.
The first thing that came to my mind was God looks after the simple minded.
That would be me. I have always known that as far as profundity is concerned, I
am lacking greatly in that area. There are some men (and women) who are born
"deep thinkers". I have been fortunate to have come into the presence of some
of them. These people see what others cannot and that is why they are necessary
to the whole process of learning. They teach and they do so on a different
level than others. I so appreciate the
"Gamaliels" of this world. And yet, just because they do think on a different
level, does not mean that they can not be mistaken from time to time. Oh yes.
God is the source of their and our wisdom and none of us ever dare to forget
that.
I understand that the folks at the Creation Museum in Kentucky are building a
replica of the Ark. I heard about this yesterday on a local radio talk show.
The two gentlemen who were hosting that show seemed to be making fun of this
museum and the people that operate it. I don't know them but what I do know is
that the flood was real and the ark was real and had it not been for God telling
a man known as Noah to build it, none of us would be here to discuss whether it
was a real even or not. They mentioned Bill Nye (the science guy) and how he
soundly defeated the folks at the Creation Museum in a debate. Really? Do you
think that Bill Nye will defeat God in the same debate? Not likely.
This brings us to verse eight. God not only preserves the simple, He delivers
their souls. Now, there is a thing that science cannot duplicate. Science
isn't even sure you have a soul let alone knows how to deliver it if you do.
God alone is capable of redeeming the soul of a person. Science has never seen
a soul under a microscope. It has never watched a soul as it departs the body
at its time of death. Science can only deal with the tangibles of life and must
be left in the dark about those things spiritual because those things cannot be
brought into a lab and put into a test tube or under a microscope. Christ told
His disciples after His resurrection, "You believe because you have seen,
blessed and holy is he who believes without seeing". I don't need for science,
Bill Nye, or any other scientist to confirm for me that I have a soul, I know
this thing by instinct and intuition. Ah, yes. There is that isn't there, this
thing called intuition and instinct.
Then we move to those other verses that I have listed this morning. "All men
are liars." "I will take the cup of salvation."
"Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His saints." As for the fact
that all men are liars, I have not found that to be true. Most men will lie and
that is a proven fact but not all do. God alone is incapable of a lie. His
word is truth and any contradiction of it is a lie and, we know where the lie
originated don't we? Satan is the father of the lie.
I will take the cup of salvation and drink it gladly. It means the death of me
but then will be the life of me once I have drank its contents down completely.
Oh, how I praise the Lord for that cup which is the only remedy for my sins and
yours. That death is precious in the eyes of the Lord because once I have died,
and only after I have died, can I have eternal life. Once I am gone from here I
will be immediately ushered into the presence of God in and for all eternity.
No wonder David wrote these words. You would be wise to believe them.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

21 I will praise Thee: for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22 The Stone which the builders refused is become the head Stone of the corner.
23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech Thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now
prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed You out of
the house of the Lord.
Psalm 118:21-25

I met a man yesterday who was wearing a cap that said, "WW II Veteran". I
stopped to speak to him for a while and he told me he had served on Okinawa and
later in Korea above the 38th parallel. To many of you he is just an old man
but to me he is a hero. We have been fortunate in this country to have so many
like him who have served so valiantly and have sought so little thanks.
In our Psalm today we read of such a person. I don't know how much the Psalmist
knew about this man but he received knowledge about Him in small bits and
pieces. To the writer of the Psalm the man is known by him and amongst his
peers as "the promised One".
He is the Messiah of the Jews.
Every Jewish child is told of God's promise to send them a "savior" some day.
This person will be a "hero" of the people. He will be a king unlike any other
king and He will come and usher in an age of power and prosperity and peace
unequaled in the kingdom[s history. They called Him "the Stone" and not just
any "Stone" but the "Head Stone". But then added that He would suffer rejection
by the builders. Isn't that strange? It must have sounded strange to those who
sang this Psalm in the temple in times of worship.
The "Stone" would be rejected by the "builders".
They also read in this Psalm that His rejection would be the Lord's doing and,
yet would be marvelous. You know, it was and is. So many years before Christ
Jesus was born, this prophecy was made concerning Him. He was a marvelous man.
His was a marvelous ministry and to us the rejection of Him and His ministry is
marvelous. He who is the cornerstone of the church was turned away by the
people who was intended to be the church and, by the way, is still be turned
away by their descendants. Not all of them have rejected Him but those who
should have been first to recognize Him did not and turned Him away and killed
Him on the cross. He loved them still and, even more marvelously yet, He loves
them still.
So, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is Christ the
Jew's Messiah and the world's Savior. Today is the day that the Lord has made.
It is not the typical twenty-four hour day that I speak of or the Psalmist
writes about. It is the day of salvation, the gospel day. That day began with
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and will last until His return. It
has already lasted longer than it will last and is far spent. I heard on the
radio that the "doomsday clock" is set at three minutes before midnight,
midnight being the end of time. Sounds ominous, doesn't it? Well, the day is
far spent and whether it is at the three minute before midnight mark or not I
cannot say, but what I can say is that time is running out and we all need to be
ready for the final chime of time. Are you?
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

44 So shall I keep Thy law continually for ever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts.
46 I will speak of Thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy
precepts.
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of Thy righteous judgments.
Psalms 119:44-46 & 54 &63 & 164

This is the lengthiest of all of the Psalms. It consists of 176 verses and it is
hard to select from out of them those verses which highlight the others. It is
a celebration of salvation and relationship with the Lord. Let me explain why I
chose the verses that I did so that you understand where I have been and where I
am in the Lord.
God's law and His precepts are important to me. There are some who seem to
rejoice over the fact that we are saved by grace and no longer "under the law".
I don't know exactly what they mean by that but I certainly am guided by God's
law and His precepts, otherwise how would I know right from wrong and know to do
the right thing and avoid the wrong. If I was not under the laws of God and all
the rest of the church was no longer under the laws of God, then we would be a
"lawless" society with no rules to live by.
Christ said that He had not come to destroy the law and that anyone that
attempted to do that would be called the least in the kingdom of God. No! Quite
to the contrary, Christ came to fulfill the law and the prophets (the precepts).
I love the law of God because it instructs me in the way of righteousness and
the way of righteousness is the safe way to travel. What Paul was stressing
when he distinguished grace from law was that the law could not save us and that
we are all saved by grace if we have faith. Works cannot save us but James
comes along and tells us that we may not be saved by our works but we will work
the works of the saved once we are saved. We don't do that to be saved, we do
that because we are saved and want to do the right things always.
Next we come to that word testimony. I remember the old testimonial services
the church used to have. Today we have become so sophisticated (another word
for cold) that we no longer permit spontaneous testimonies to be given. Why?
We want to believe that we are in control of every aspect of worship. We are
not, of course, and now and then the Holy Spirit moves some person to just rise
to their feet and speak of their love for Christ. I loved the old days and I
loved the old saints who testified with tears in their eyes that they were
saved, sanctified, and on the way to heaven. Then they would share how that God
through Christ had delivered them from the way of sin to the way of holiness.
We don't hear much of that anymore. We hear that God healed our bodies but
rarely that He saved us from sin. God help us. I want to testify to that fact
right now. Praise the Lord He has saved me and by His Word and His Spirit He
has sanctified me and now, I am on the way home to heaven. By the way, I will
share this witness in the presence of whatever person I happen to be around at
the time.
Then, I have been a fellow traveler with those that love the Lord. It has been
my pleasure and privilege to be in the company of the greatest people ever. I
have been in the company of fellow believers. They have been and remain my
companions as we journey to heaven.
Seven times a day is symbolic of perfect worship from a heart perfected for
worship. Praise the Lord? Oh, yes! Seven times a day and more. May God ever
be with us all for we all know He is worthy of the praise we offer up to Him.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not
slumber.
4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth,
and even for evermore. Psalms 122:1-8

When we are in trouble and need help, who or where do we turn to for it? Think
on this for a moment. When in need of help, what does your heart instinctively
tell you to do? Do you turn to your parents or grandparents or good friends or
a lending institution or some government agency? Think about this seriously?
When you are sick and need medical attention, who is it that you turn to?
Of course we all have our personal sources and the first one on my list is the
Lord God of heaven, the Father of Jesus Christ. I will always lift up my eyes
to heaven because it is from there that the best help comes. There is none
other like Him when it comes to matters of life or matters of death and all that
happens to us between birth and death.
God is with us from birth to death and beyond. Is it any wonder that the writer
of this Psalm (David) pointed out to us that he turned to the Lord for help. He
begins with "I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help" but
he then corrects this by saying, "My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven
and earth" (and the hills). Then He goes on to describe that help that God
sends his way.
Question: How has God helped you today? You cannot say? You do not know of any
way He has helped you? Then, you are not pay8ing attention. What about the
fact that you woke up this morning. You may have awakened while it was yet dark
but you know that soon the sun will be up and it will shine on your day, whether
through the clouds or through a cloudless sky, nevertheless, it will shine. You
don't think about it much but you go to the faucet and fill the coffee pot or
tea pot in my case with water and then go and take shower. The water runs
freely from the shower head and you cleanse yourself and you grab a towel and
dry yourself off.
It is a little chilly in the house so you go to the thermostat and turn up the
heat just a tad. Then you go to kitchen and grab a cup of tea or coffee or
glass of milk or orange juice and a piece of toast and you go to the living room
and pick up the remote and turn on the TV and watch the news. This you have
done at the beginning of your day and the rest of your day you will go and do
and use the resources that God has put at your disposal. This is just the
beginning of the day and you have already accessed by God's help things most
vital to life. Without God's blessings and His help, not a one of those things
that we take for granted would be there.
We all have our toys and accessories that we add to our lives but they would not
be possible or important at all if there was not an ounce of water to drink or
air to breathe or food to eat. Oh yes, and yet we act as though God owes us
these things but in truth, He does not. What God does for us, He does out of
His love for us and not obligation. We take it and never give Him the praise
for it but use up His gifts like the prodigals we are and when we run out we
complain about His unfaithfulness to us if we even acknowledge His existence at
all.
Today, turn your eyes toward heaven and thank the Lord for the daily help He
provides. Thank Him for the goodness your life ahs experienced and pray to Him
for help to deal with the evil that comes your way. I have found this to be the
best way to live. By the way, thank Him for the evil that did not come your way
today as well.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good.* Psalm 122:1-9

Have you seen the bumper stickers that read: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem"?* I suspect that the majority of us have and this is the Bible passage from which that is taken.* I have a neighbor from across Emerson Avenue who walks by once in a while and this is one of his favorite sayings.* Let me explain my* take on this verse and, please don't take offense at it, just think about it.*
Jerusalem was historically the city of peace.* It was that in Abraham's day and it had a king whose name was Melchizzadek. This person was the One to whom Abraham paid a tithe when he came to bless Abraham following his victory over the kings that had taken his nephew Lot hostage.* In the course of retrieving Lot, Abram routed those kings that had defeated the king of Sodom so Abraham brought all of the captives plus all of the items taken by these kings back with him.* The king of Sodom and the King of Salem came to Abraham, one for one reason and one for another.* The king of Sodom wanted his people back and the King of Salem came with a blessing for Abraham.* Abraham returned the king of Sodom's people and wealth to him with the exception of a 10% tithe that he held back to give to the King of Salem (the King of Peace).* The King of Salem, the King of Peace.* Does that sound familiar?* Certainly it does.
Let's move forward a couple of thousand years.* In that interim God takes the seed of Abraham which has been blessed by the King of Peace and makes them His own special people.* They settle in the land that God told Abraham that would be his in perpetuity.* Abraham is dead but his seed lives on in his descendants.* They come to this land and they make Jerusalem (the city of peace) their capital.* This is not by accident.* David likes Bethlehem, the city of his birth and he headquartered there quite often.* But Jerusalem is the capital of the Kingdom* of Israel and this is where the temple is built by Solomon as a place for God to dwell amongst His people.* And there He does dwell with them until they begin to make alliances with people who worship other gods, gods of wood and stone and items that fell out of the sky.* The God of the Jews is the one and only God there was and is and ever will be and He had already warned the Jews, His covenant people, to be true to Him.* They didn't and, as they say, the rest is history.
When* Christ came to Jerusalem for the last time, He pronounced the city doomed to destruction.* So great was its apostasy, it did not recognize Christ, the Son of the God that was their God.* They rejected Him and had Him put to death.* That Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and his army in AD 70 and, though another city has been built up on the ruins of the one destroyed, it is not God's Jerusalem today.* God still loves His covenant people and always will.* He loved that Jerusalem but it did not love Him.* He left that city desolate and later it lay in ruins.*
I am so glad the story does not end there.* There are people today, Jew and Gentile alike, who love God and have given Him a better place to live.* That place is their hearts and they are so in love with Him and so dedicated to Him that they have come to know the "peace" God intended for Jerusalem through the King of Jerusalem, the King of Peace, Jesus Christ.* These people are sometimes referred to as the kingdom of God* and the church of God.* They are not a sect of people or a denomination of people, they are the born-again citizens of today's spiritual Capital City of God, the new Jerusalem who is the mother of them all.
I don't know about you but this is a beautiful situation.* We are one sheepfold now, Jew and Gentile alike, who have opened the door of our hearts to allow Jesus to come in and sit on His very throne there.* He is not coming to be king, He is already King and we are His kingdom.* Praise the Lord!* Jerusalem is the city of peace and I live there.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

2 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3 Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: 4 Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: 5 Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. 6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. 7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Psalm 124:2-7 These United States of America have been around for awhile now. In 1776 we declared our independence from a dictatorial king named George. We decried paying the taxes that he levied on the colonies because we were not represented in his body of law makers. So, we dumped some tea in Boston Harbor and the revolution was on. If it had not been for those we now call patriots, we would still be paying taxes to England. These men were driven by a desire to be free to determine their own futures without interference from a government that was so far removed from the realities of their everyday life that it could not understand their growing resentment against it. Now, come forward two hundred and 40 years and tell me if we do not have the same situation on our hands as did the founders of this nation. The tax and spend money grabbing government that we have today seems to me to look an awful lot like that of old king George. An awful lot of money is being thrown around by our government today for no other reason than to buy votes and that is not just a thing of one of the parties it is a thing of both major parties. The odds of a few colonists overthrowing a major army such as the one that England had stationed on our shores back then was over-whelmingly against it happening. But, God was on our side, and we did send them packing and when they came back in 1812, we sent them packing again. One of my favorite secular songs of my late teens was Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans". It kind of gave you a sense of the pride that the colonist had in their new country and they didn't want any European country messing with it. Then, of course, there was the war with Mexico, the war between the states, the war with Spain, the war with Germany, Germany and Japan and Italy, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and those we are engaged in now. Through all of this, God has been on our side. If He had not been we would be speaking a different language now than we do. Now, we are engaged in a different type of war. It is a war for the soul of this nation that God has so blessed. This past week end, I participated in the funeral of a great man. You did not know him, he was not great that way. But, he was one of the many that made up what some say is the greatest generation of Americans ever. I agree. Most of those of this generation that went to war to save the nation went for more than political and economical reasons. There was something evil that threatened to take over the world and they rose up against it believing that their cause was right and that God would be on the side of right. Today, we need a generation that believes the same thing and who are willing to fight for right. The government does not own the soul of this nation but it can be a reflection of it and where it is going. Right now, it doesn''t look too promising. But, again, in Iowa this past week, something subtle began to emerge. A nation of people that are stirring awake after having slept through much of the past decade or two. Out of the polling that took place there and the events leading up to it, young people began getting involved in the political process. God is on the side of those who are on His side. This year's election is pivotal for the nation and for its very soul. I can not stress that point strongly enough. It is time for Christians to stand up and get up and move out and get involved. Evangelize! Tell those that have not heard from us for a long time that we are still here and that we are still a significant part of the electorate. I would never tell anyone how to vote but I will tell them that revolution by the ballot is far better and far less destructive than one by the bullet. If it had not been that God was on our side we would have lost the nation a long time ago. It was begun as a Christian nation, founded on Christian principles, and existed this way for a long time but, recently, it has gone back on those principles. It is time now to come back to them and let the mighty hand of God lead again. He will be on our side against any and all enemies whether they be foreign or domestic if we will be on His side. That is the truth and the crux of the matter today. On whose side are you? God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed,
but abideth for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his
people from henceforth even for ever.
3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest
the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in
their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them
forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel. Psalm 125

I didn't realize when I started this series on the Psalms just how timely they
would be. I did not intentionally time these writings so that we could use the
Psalms to relate them to current events. I got an email this morning from a
very good friend, a trusted friend, that said that 80% of the young people of
Iowa voted for Mr. Sanders and against Hillary Clinton. There is a spark of
good news in that and a spark of bad. But I want to give you my take on it.
God is aware of this and all that is happening to the world and our country
right up to the minute that I write these words. He knows I am writing these
words and my prayer is that they are a reflection of Who He is and what He
thinks. We will go through some very difficult times, some extremely perilous
times, but we are God's people (I speak of the church now) and we trust in the
Lord and not Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or....
Understand that and you will rest easier tonight.
I watch with a lot of interest not only what is going on here in our country but
what is going on in the world. The world is a powder keg with a short fuse. If
you are not safely in the Lord's camp today, you may not have an opportunity to
join it tomorrow. My grandmother used to have a saying when we kids would try to
put something off today until tomorrow that really needed doing today
and she would come back with, "tomorrow never comes". Every day is today in
waiting. Jesus told us to deal with evil today for tomorrow would be evil as
well and if we don't deal with today's, evil would compile until it would become
more than we can deal with. I believe we have come to the place where no human
or human agency can resolve the things that are wrong with this world. I also
believe that if things are ever going to be right again it is going to take an
act of God to make them that way and I am not talking about a little storm or a
small earthquake or a huge flood. What I am talking about is for Christ to
return and end it all and take His bride safely home to be with Him in His
Father's house. And, by the way, only the church that is the true bride of
Christ is going with Him to that place. The rest will exist but not in heaven
and you cam make of that what you will.
Jesus constantly told people in His time as one of us that He was telling them
the truth. And, He did tell them the truth. They killed Him for telling the
truth, or, at least they tried. What makes you think that if this very same
Jesus returned to the earth today and continued telling us the truth about
ourselves and Himself and His Father and what it takes to be His people that we
would not try to shut Him up also. We would but we would fare no better than
did they did back then.
What am I saying by all of this. God has a people and His people have always
been in the minority and caught up in the ebb and flow of the politics of their
time. There is no politician going to make things right as long as there are
bad people intent on keeping things wrong. Understand that. But, as the
Psalmist wrote in this Psalm, those that trust in the Lord shall abide forever
for they cannot be removed. This is my faith. My faith is not in the
politicians even if they intend to keep every promise they make, they will not,
for they cannot. because they are just as subject to the evil intentions of
others they cannot control as anyone else.
I do vote and I will vote. I am engaged for I feel it is my place to eschew
evil and to stifle it when and wherever I can. But I am not delusional. The
reason this world is not my home is because God has a better one for me and one
day I will go there. But, for now, I will do all I can to make this world a
better place and at least tolerable.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the
Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of
sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his
reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:1-5

I think that most of us would be agreed that the most important need today is
for the children to have a safe and secure future. If you have been watching
the news lately, there is a new virus appearing in this country that is a threat
to those children being formed in the womb which causes them to be born
dis-figured. It causes us to ask the question, "Now what?" It seems that we
are being inundated with issues in our time about the future of our children and
just what will their world be like. Don't you think that it is time to seek
God's help here?
The writer of this Psalm begins with the message "Except the Lord build the
house, they labor in vain that build it-except the Lord keep the city, the
watchman wakes but in vain. It is vain for you to get up early or to sit up late
to eat the bread of sorrows: for
He gives His beloved sleep." Have you taught your children that it is a vain
thing to trust this world and its leaders for the things that make for their
health and wealth and well-being? Now, don't get me wrong here, I am not
advocating that you teach your children to disrespect those that have authority
over them but what I am saying is that you should teach them that if their
reliance
is going to be solely on government, prepare to be disappointed. It is God that
generates wealth and health and well-being for all of us including those who
promise to do those things for you. No human government has ever produced
anything to give away to anyone
that has not first taken it from someone else or has not gotten it from
somewhere else. God is that Someone and His creation is that somewhere. Our
children need to know this and that they too are a "heritage from the Lord" as
well.
Any nation that does not produce "producers" will inevitable fail as a nation.
This Psalm tells us that children are like arrows in the hands of a mighty man.
Arrows aren't just found, they are produced. The making of an arrow takes
skill. The shaft of the arrow must first be straight and flawless. The tip of
an arrow must be sharp and it must be pointed. The feathers of an arrow must be
in the best of conditions. All of this must be true or the arrow will never hit
the target it is aimed at. In the same way our children must be taught and
nurtured in the words and the admonitions of the Lord. If not, they will never
have the skills or the abilities to produce a straight and an upright nation and
generation of children to follow themselves that will make and keep the nation
great.
Our children are a gift from God not just another form of gratification. God
intended that we have children and that we spend our life teaching them how to
have children of their own and to raise them up straight and useful and Godly.
I love my children and I hope that I have instilled in them at least some of the
faith in God that He intended me to do. It certainly was my goal but I had to
fight a society full of humanist to achieve it. I encourage all parents to give
their Children God first in every situation. It is the best thing that you
could ever do for them. Bring them to church with you. You go with them to
church and don't merely send them. They will see God as more believable if you
worship Him and put Him first in your life. We will lose our children and our
country if we don't.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

1 Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice: let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplications.
3 If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.
Psalm 130:1-4

None of us are justified because we were right, we are justified because God is
righteous. God saw what He had created and proclaimed it to be unrighteous and
sinful and decided to do something about it because He felt responsible for it.
Because of this, He sent His Son, His only begotten Son, to be the Lamb of
sacrifice for all of man's sin from the beginning to the end of the race. He
made His intent clear following Adam's initial sinful act and kept His promise
to us all. Even when He destroyed the race with the flood, it was an act of
mercy. By the flood He stopped the progression of sin and minimized the damage
to those already living. He would not allow the race of man to continue to grow
and sins to be multiplied. He preserve a man and his family to give the race of
man another chance, a new beginning and this new race of man would know better
because it had the flood to warn it about the seriousness of sin in the eyes of
God.
But, man did not learn that lesson very well and went back instead of forward.
The race grew in size. God had promised He would never again destroy the race
of man with another universal flood but He never promised not to destroy sinful
man by other means. Throughout all of the history of man, God has planned for
their salvation and His desire was to save the entire race of man and not just a
few. But, God also knew that all of the race of man desired His salvation and
much, if not the most of the race, went looking for a way to save itself without
any help from Him. In other words, they wanted independence from Him and not
dependence on Him. So, they worked out their own salvation having no fear of
God at all. God sent Jesus to show them that their way would fail but they did
not believe Him and they killed Him for telling them this. But, there are some
of us, fewer and fewer as the days go by, who have, like David, put our faith in
Christ and God's promise of salvation by and through Him. We are the forgiven.
From the cross where Jesus hung, He spoke these words, "Father, forgiven them
for they don't know what they do". That is a request He made to the Father but
it is also an invitation extended to us. We can be forgiven but we must first
believe that it was meant for us. We must believe that even back in Genesis,
God had us in mind and He knew that He would offer us salvation through Christ.
Isn't that a wonderful thing? The problem with us is that we just cannot seem
to fathom the wisdom and foreknowledge of God. He looked beyond the garden
where original sin took place and into the years of time and knew that I would
need to be saved from my sins and He gave me His only begotten Son to that end.
No wonder Paul the apostle marveled at the marvelous foreknowledge and wisdom of
God. We should too. We must work out own salvation with fear and trembling
before the Lord. Any other way will lead us away from Him. Praise the Lord for
salvation and justification through Christ.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.
2 Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.
3 Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever.* Psalm 131:1-3

It is right to see yourself this way if it is really the way you are.* This is written by a man who is doing some introspection and looking back over his life and having learned from his mistakes.* He has made them as have we.* He will make more mistakes, as will we.* But, he understands that he is not the omniscient One and that his humanity can not transcend its condition and become what it is not.* We are all of us subjective to our mental limitations.* None should think more highly of themselves than reality permits.* There is a limit to our knowledge and our wisdom and there is little we can do about.* Some may have a higher IQ than others, but they are not gods and can do nothing more than to work with the abilities God graced their lives with at birth.* Some are born to greatness and others to mundaneness but all for God's purposes.
We attended a basketball game last night.* It was by no means professional.* It was very unprofessional but you could not explain that to those that were playing the game.* None of those playing the game will ever get paid for doing it, they play it because they enjoy the game and everyone of them put their whole heart and soul into winning.* There were no newspaper reporters there to pick each team's person to interview once the game was over, there were no TV or Radio stations there to air the game to the public.
There was just a few spectators and the players and the officials.* Still, it was a meaningful event for those that bothered to be there.
Around this country and around the world, every Sunday and during the week, a few people gather together to worship and study and to pray and to share their faith.* There are far more congregations of the under fifty size than there are those of mega-size.* Yet, these small congregations don't get much press if any at all.* They hardly get any attention at all from those that they are connected to denominationally.* About the only time they get any attention is when someone wants them to contribute to their cause or their programs financially.* Up to and including that time there is no concern at all about the spiritual or financial condition
that small congregation has to exist under and struggle with.* Yet, these congregations do go on struggling to survive because they actually have the tenacity to believe that God put them there for a reason and His reason has not yet been realized.
I pastor one of these congregations.* We struggle and our treasurer sweats over the small contributions and, yet they go on.* As of yesterday, I have been here for the past eighteen years of that struggle.* We will go on with it until God tells us to step down.* It is not a matter of a haughty and prideful ego, it is a matter of conviction. We must go on because God tells us to go on.
God is the power and authority by which any of us exist.* If He is not, we struggle in vain to build a house that is not His.* Any house we build that is not His house is destined to come crashing down of its own weight.* But, if it is His house, it will stand.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.* Psalm 133:1-3

Unity!* The word means individuals acting as one.* It is not about becoming a cult and being mindless and doing the biding of some charismatic lunatic. It is about all coming together as one unit to pray for and discern the will of God and to be agreed that His will has priority over every thing else and, I mean, everything else.
So the Psalmist writes that unity is that good ad pleasant thing that God seeks for His people.* The New Testament calls for it also
and Christ prayed for it.* We can read His words in John 17 when He prayed that the Father would make and keep His disciples one even as He and the Father was One.* I believe that we can easily discern how that His prayer was answered by a study of the writings of the Apostles.* There was this constant battle to keep legalism out of the church and the will of the Holy Spirit in.
There were differences of opinions but when those opinions were put on the sideline and the will of God became the priority, God's church moved forward with the true message of Christ.*
Last night we studied I Corinthians eleven (the first 16 verses).* Paul emphatically insists that where tradition is concerned, the church of God did not hold with them (verse sixteen).* But, where salvation, creation, and, nature are concerned, these all reveal to us the will of God from the beginning.* By looking to God's nature in creation and the nature of the way He made us and the world around us and by His salvation of us, we can know the will of God in all things.* Long hair or short hair on either man or woman is not the issue.* What is the issue then?* The issue is God's will and when we all come together as one body to discern His will and determine to do it, then, and only then, will we dwell in the unity that Christ desired for us.
It is not my intent to judge the merit of another person's relationship with Christ.* It is my intent, however, to make sure that my personal relationship with Him is the best that* it can possibly be and to assist others to come to that same relationship with Him.* If we all pull together instead of separately, we can achieve great things for the Lord and we will glorify Him in all the earth.* If we insist of pushing against one another, we will not only fail one another, we will fail God.* Christian unity cannot happen without the Holy Spirit's involvement.* It is not the same as ecumenicalism, it is more than a mere agreement to just get along.* It is a spiritual realization that we are brethren in a common battle against the evil that pervades the world and together we can win.* May God send that Holy Spirit as a tidal wave across of Christianity and may we all respond to Him.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.
2 Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God,
3 Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
4 For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.
5 For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.* Psalm 135:1-5

Have you ever inventoried those things that God has achieved and listed them on paper?* David did.* In this Psalm he looks back over the history of man and God's relationship with him and inventories the great acts of God.* Let's look at these:*
"6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
7 He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.
8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.
10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:
12 And gave their land for a heritage, a heritage unto Israel His people.
13 Thy name, O Lord, endures for ever; and Thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will judge His people, and He will repent Himself concerning His servants.
15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusts in them."
Think about what God has done for you and for His people whom He has called "His own peculiar people".* Think on it and praise the Lord.* Praise Him in His heaven and praise Him in His church.* Praise Him in your heart for He has done great things unachievable by man.* We are His because He has chosen us to be His.* He has moved heaven and earth to make us His.* If that isn't enough, He has promised to do even more.* Oh, the gods of this world are powerless in His presence and when He flexes His spiritual muscles, the strongest of the earth cower in a dark corner.* They have mouths but cannot speak in His presence and must stand silent before Him.* They have ears but they do not hear Him speak because He does not speak to them or through them,* This is why they sound so strange to us.* They bluster and speak as braggarts about how they are going to control our future and make them ideal when their lives are a mess, a wreck.* These that have become our idols are married but not married.* They move in and out of relationships at their own convenience.* Do you trust them to handle your health issues, your financial present and future?* Do you trust them to take over the lives of your children and to raise them up for you?* Oh, so many have and have lived to regret that they did but, the Lord, He is God and He is trustworthy and praiseworthy.* Never is there one instance of His having failed His people, His church.* He is always on time and He is always there with the exact right answer for that moment in time where it is required.
Today, praise the Lord.* Just stop and praise the Lord.
19 Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron:
20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
21 Blessed be the Lord out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord.
This is the house of God, the household of faith and it should praise the Lord.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered
Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they
that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I
prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase
it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that
rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Psalm 137:1-9

A song but no a song of joy. It is a lamentation of the Jews who were being
held in captivity by Babylon during the seventy years of God's determination.
There they could not sing the songs of Zion because the joy of Zion had departed
them. This was God's doing as a means to awaken these people to the dangers of
looking to those foreign gods, such as those found in Babylon, for their needs.
There is but one God and that God wanted to be their God but they insisted on
looking to other gods that were not gods at all for what God had promised to do
for them. So, God moved them to Babylon which was rife with these gods that
were no gods for, like the great image of Daniel, they all had feet of clay
which meant that no matter how they looked to the human eye, all you had to do
to bring them down to earth was to strike them on the feet and the whole thing
would come tumbling down. It seems we will never learn however. We keep
looking to our idols to do for us what only God can do and we see them fall one
by one to the earth.
No man is God and no man can ever be God. Who is going to save America and the
world? It is not going to be our current president nor will it be any of those
vying for his job. The person whose God is the Lord God of heaven, the Father
of Jesus Christ and who is willing to be led by Him and to worship and adore
Him, this person will stand the best and greatest chance of bring America back
to her greatness. But these who speak so unkindly about each other do not have
this countries best interest at heart, only there own. I would love it if one
of these people would step back from their debate podium and say to all the
others, "Have at it, but I will not engage in any conversation that offends, I
will only engage in conversation that outlines what each of will do, if elected,
to make America great again. Here is my plan, what is yours?"
I have to make this quick this morning. I can still sing the sweet songs of
Zion. My "harp" is not hung on the willows. I have come away from Babylon into
God's marvelous light and His sweet church. What a pleasure it is to fellowship
with the saints of God and to enjoy their company as we travel together toward
our heavenly home. Hope to see you all there.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

1 Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought
afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my
ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it
altogether. Psalm 139:1-4

In order to understand these verses one must read on. David is awe-struck at
the omniscience of God. God has searched him and God has known him and God has
said of him, "This is a man after My own heart". Can God say that of me or you?
What did God mean by that? To me He was saying that David's intentions were
identical to His and that David had a heart for the people God had given him to
look after like that of God. I really don't believe that any pastor can be the
pastor that God intends for them to be until they have looked at the people they
are given to look after through the eyes of God. Every pastor, evangelist,
missionary, Sunday School teacher, Bible Professor, must develop a heart for
God's truth and a heart to teach that truth because God wants His people to have
it to live by. What David is writing about here is an intimate God who knows our
strengths and our weaknesses, our flaws and our perfections. There is, for all
of us, a place where we are serving God in holy perfection and the other areas
that are flawed and areas that are a constant conflict. Satan knows those
areas. He will not hit you where your strength is. He will attack you where
your weaknesses are and God knows those as well.
Throughout my life and my ministry as a Christian, Satan has, as Paul put it,
"Buffed me" through the flesh. There is always a need to pray about those.
Even the sanctified by the Holy Spirit fight that battle. I know that some have
been given the impression that by the power of sanctification they no longer
have to do battle with the flesh. Not so. What sanctification does is to give
us power to win that battle. Christ told Paul, "My strength is sufficient for
thee". This is where every saint of God must go in times of battle with
themselves. They must go to Christ as Paul did and tell Him about their
problems. I don't care who you are, we all get battle weary and need to take
that weariness to the Lord so that He can replenish us with His wisdom,
knowledge, and strength.
Some forgot to do that and some fell by the wayside. It happens even if we
don't want to admit that it does. I am not a "super-
saint", I am just a child of God who is struggling with the things of the world
around me and praying and studying in order to keep
Satan at bay and the world out. This is not a once in a lifetime thing, it is a
constant battle because Satan will never be content
with us being Christian and he will always be at the door crouching and waiting
for the opportunity to leap into our lives.
God knows. That is the important thing here to get. He knows. He knows us and
He knows the world and its prince and how that the prince of this world will
assault us and try to bring us down. And, because He knows, He has provided to
each and every one of us a way of escape. That "way" is Jesus Christ. Always
go to Him and His Word and His Spirit. You will win the battle.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout
all generations.
14 The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed
down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due
season.
16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. Psalms
145:13-17

If a thing is everlasting that means that it has no beginning and not end. The
kingdom of God is that realm over which God reigns and it has existed for as
long as He has and it is eternal. Having said that, we must conclude that the
kingdom of God that Christ came to show the way into came with Him from eternity
to us living in time. Time is a creation of God and it was created for us so
that we would have reference points to look back to in order to measure His
influence on us from the beginning to this very day. What I am saying by this
is that God knew we would need those reference points but we also need to know
that He does not. God does not exist in time for time has no meaning to His
existence. He was, He is, and will forever be whether we acknowledge this about
Him at all. He does not need us to exist but we surely need for Him to exist.
As it is with Him, we also need the kingdom and an awareness of it for our
soul-peace and satisfaction. When Christ came preaching the kingdom of God, He
did not come preaching a kingdom that was for only one race of people. He
taught the kingdom of God as a universal kingdom that was open to all mankind
and not for just a few.
Now, note that He taught that the kingdom of God was open to all of us but He
never taught that all of us was the kingdom of God. To the contrary, He taught
that the kingdom of God was the kingdom of God's elect. What does that mean?
It means that God has elected to present the kingdom to us through His dear Son,
Jesus Christ and now it is up to us to elect whether we want to be in that
kingdom through Jesus Christ. The moment we are saved by the blood of Christ,
we become citizens of the kingdom of God and members of the church of God.
Anyone wishing to debate that will have to argue with brother Luke who wrote
Acts chapter two and the
Apostles of Christ. They all taught that we must be born again in order to be
saved and to be made members of God's great and glorious church and kingdom.
The kingdom of God forever has been the kingdom of God's grace. Jesus told
Nicodemus that in order for it to be seen or entered into, he had to be born
again. Jesus was speaking of being born of the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit
is the Spirit of revelation.
The kingdom of God did come to us through the flesh of Jesus Christ, it came
through the blood and it is revealed to us by His Holy Spirit. That is why such
a knowledgeable man as Nicodemus missed it and totally misunderstood it. From
the moment that God called Abram to become Abraham, He was trying spiritually to
give this revelation to a people that would share it with the rest of the world.
That is the mission and ministry of the church of God. The kingdom of God
pre-existed Abraham and Noah and, even Adam. It was with Christ all along even
before the foundation of the world. The glory of it is that we can all enjoy
its benefits and that God intends for us to do just that. I certainly hope that
you are and if you aren't, you soon will be.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. Psalm
147:4-5

I have been watching with great interest a science program on Dish Network. It
deals with space and the fact that we are finding things out about our solar
system and universe previously unknown, at least by us. One of those things
that I heard was the impact that our sun has upon the planets and other
components of the system. We sent out the "Rover" several years ago and it is
still moving outward into space and sending back information previously unknown
and not possible to know. We have telescopes now that can reach out into space
and find original light. Now, isn't that something? I wonder when they do
this, what they will find. I am very interested in science and I am just
curious enough to want to know about that "original light" and the source of it.
Well, all the way back to the day of King David, there was this awareness of the
fact that, even if we didn't know all that could be known about the world that
existed out there in space, God did and, even more than that, He knew the name
of every star and called them by their names.
The Psalmist wrote, "Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is
infinite". I recall as I write this today that a man named Daniel was given a
peek into the future and was told that "knowledge shall increase" right before
the end of time. That is an accurate statement that describes our time. It is
not that we know how to handle the knowledge that we are learning. We are
discovering it faster than we can utilize it. In other words, what we are
discovering is that the solar system and the universe is a lot more technical
than we ever thought t was and that it is much like a finely designed precision
instrument. It is much like a precision time-piece that has kept the most
accurate time and so much so that we can look back over it and pinpoint events
that took place in time nearly right down to the minute. I wonder how that
happened? I don't have to wonder long. I wonder if science will be able to
admit that the source of all of this is God? I wonder if they will finally say
that the universe was so finely designed that it had to have a "designer"? Will
they come to know that in the beginning of all of that, there is God?
In the beginning God created. That's it, isn't it? In the beginning God
created. There is no other explanation for it and there cannot be. Not because
I am desperate for that to be true but because it is true whether I want it to
be or not. For all of the desire of those who want evolution to be true and
forces that are merely nature by nature, God is the power and the force and the
wisdom and the knowledge of all that exists in space and on the earth and even
in our selves. For all that space consists of, there is such potential in us
that God put there that can change us and the world around us. Yes, God is that
powerful, He is that wise.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

148 Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the
heights.
2 Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
3 Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.
Psalm 148:1-5

149 Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the
congregation of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in
their King. Psalm 149:1-2

150 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament
of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent
greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and
harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments
and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Psalm
150:1-6

Amazingly the theme of today's Manna is "Praise The Lord". It is a great way to
start every day and every gathering of believers. As long as it is the Lord who
is the focus of our praise then, I am comfortable with the praise that is
happening. I love the Lord and He deserves every word in our vocabulary that Is
a word of praise.
The angels praise Him. Even the planetary system and all the stars sing
together in the heavens their song of praise. Have you ever sat alone next to a
water brook and listened to its song of peace as it ripples across the rocks? I
have. There is a little creek called Leatherwood in Southern Indiana where I
used to go as a boy and fish and wade and just sit on the banks of and watch and
listen as the water gently went by. Most of the creek was hardly over knee
deep. It could get deeper when the spring rains came but for the most of the
year it was no more than knee deep. I used to sit there and watch it and listen
to it. There was a certain peace that came out of that for me.
Then there was that little stream with no name that flowed across the road from
the little house where we lived. It wasn't much.
One could catch a sunfish or two out of it or maybe a bluegill and if you found
the deepest hole of it you might just catch a small mud cat. But for the most
part it was not the least impressive. Yet, I spent considerable time just
walking the banks of that little stream and wading in it at times. Those were
days of discovery and peace. AS Archie Bunker used to sing, "Those were the
days".
I learned to appreciate God's created nature in these places. They were
important to my spiritual growth. They still are. Think about it for a moment.
We did not get to where we are accidentally. God has brought us this far and we
can praise Him for having done so. I was a kid then with few responsibilities.
I am an adult now with more responsibilities than I can handle. I need the Lord
to give me the wisdom and the strength to move about and do what needs doing.
The heavens depend on God to move them as they course through space and I need
Him as I course through life. I will praise Him with every instrument of my
body and every thought of my mind and every sound of my voice. Oh, yes. Praise
the Lord. Praise Him with all you have at your disposal. And, if you find that
you cannot praise Him it just might be that you need a little more of Him in
your life and little less of you.
God bless and go and have a great day.

 

[flightsimmer]

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.* Proverbs 1:1-9

A proverb is from someone who feels a sense of having a superior mind and who can grasp the seriousness of the situation better than the average person.* Out of this mind comes words that compare things in nature to situations of man.* The use of metaphors and simile are found in the proverbs of both Solomon and Jesus Christ.* Both used nature to express truth.* A proverb or/and a parable is an effort to show truth and to express in a way that the average person can identify it.
So, Solomon begins with words that encourage us to lend ourselves to instruction in the areas of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity.* In order for us to be just we must first be wise.* That is why not just anybody should sit in the seat of a judge no matter how popular they may be in their social circles.
A proverb is also shared to give, as Solomon put it, subtilty to the simple* What this means is that the simple, once having heard and learned a proverb, then has a come back answer in certain situations.* There is an old proverb that has been passed down from generation to generation which I suspect was a way for a parent to get a child out of bed who hesitated to do so.* The proverb says that "the early bird gets the worm" and that is meant to mean that we should be up to be first served or it could be we will not be served at all.* The proverb for that was "first come, first served".***
Now, there is much more to this than just word games.* There is truth.* The truth of all of Solomon's proverbs and the parables of Christ is that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and that only the fool or very foolish would hate wisdom and instruction (unto righteousness)".* It is a good thing, if a son has a wise set of parents, to listen to them.* It is a stupid and foolish thing to ignore them.* I cannot tell you the number of people I know this very moment who have ignored the advice of a pair of very godly parents and who are paying the price for it.* They go ahead and drink and smoke and do drugs and have sexual experiences and all of that against the advice of godly parents.* The reason?* The Bible calls it rebellion and goes on to say that rebellion is equated with witchcraft in the eyes of God.
Wisdom says that we should listen to the advice of those around us who have "been there and done that" and who have "lived to regret it".* The advice they give may sound a lot like "do as I say and not as I do (or have done)".* But, behind that advice is a whole lot of experience and experiences that one just might want to avoid.* I believe this is where Solomon is coming from in his book of proverbs.* He has lived and he has made mistakes and, even committed sins and mostly from listening to the all the wrong people and not taking the advice of the right people.* All of this was born out of pride and I am sure the one thing Satan trips us all up with which is the idea that what has happened to others will never happen to me, I am the exception to the rule.* You are a fool if you think that way.* You might survive a while but eventually the Bible says, "your sins will find you out".* This means that you nor I are exceptions to God's declaration that any and all sin is death to you, and, it is.
God bless and go and have a good day.

 

[flightsimmer]

27 When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me
early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with
their own devices.
Proverbs 1:27-31

I have been around for awhile. That alone does not lent itself to wisdom.
Wisdom comes when a person pays attention and learns from the experiences that
life takes them through. Some people are born more prone to acquiring this
thing called wisdom than others, but everyone can acquire wisdom. Wisdom seems
to come more easily to some more than others. Wisdom is the ability to use
knowledge in the most profitable manner. Knowledge from learning. Learning is
intentional. As I have written and said in the past, learning is up to the
individual and not the mob. Everyone is a student of life and from life we
learn if we desire to. It does appear that some never learn and that is not
because they can't, it is because they refuse to.
Wisdom is listed as one of the gifts of I Corinthians 12:8. It is a gift of God
but even that does not mean it comes easily to any one. Again, wisdom is the
ability to learn from ones experiences and to apply what one has learned from
the past to the present and the future to achieve great things for the Lord.
Solomon had wisdom. It was the gift of God. He was asked by God what He could
for him and he asked God for wisdom. He knew it would take the wisdom of God to
reign over Israel and, God gave him that wisdom. But, even though God did give
wisdom to him, he made terrible, huge mistakes that made his life as king
miserable at times. The thing is, did he learn from those mistakes.
I have told my grandchildren this (t least to those that would sit still long
enough to listen), "your education is your business and not that of the school
or your parents." What I mean by that is that the school can present you with
all of the materials and tutoring necessary for you to get an education and to
have one when you graduate but whether you leave that school with an education
or not depends on whether you wanted to have an education or not. No student
can be forced to get an education. Every student has to want an education if
they are going to get one.
The same is true of the church. We can be casual observers sitting on the
sidelines or we can be actively engaged in our own education and the acquiring
of knowledge about Jesus Christ. We can learn or we can let it all go over our
heads and pay later for being idlers and spiritual sloths. There is no benefit
in attending church merely to be there. One must be fully engaged in what is
going on. One must want to learn and to acquire wisdom from the Lord or one
will not ever have it for it can not be thrust upon anyone. Solomon got wisdom
when he asked God for it and set out getting it. God gave him the capacity for
it but only he could let it become a part of him. He could have rejected it and
I am afraid that is what so many do.
Open you heart, mind, and, soul to the wisdom of the Lord. Let wisdom reign for
it is of the Holy Spirit of Christ. If you let wisdom in foolishness has to
flee for both cannot dwell in the same place at the same time. The beginning of
wisdom is believing in God. So, start there and go forward.
God bless and go and have a great day.