Psalm
119:69-70 – The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep Your
precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in
Your law.
Bible
Challenges and Comments
Have
you ever watched a silent movie? Well now if you are my age or somewhere near
it your answer would be yes. As a child growing up these were similar to the
cartoons of those days too as all of the cartoons were silent with words to
read on the next panel or page of a book to explain the scenes of the previous film
footage.
Our
submarine docked in Portsmouth, England at a naval shipyard and the automobile
rental agency was our first priority. The Supply Officer and I were driven by
an English sailor to the rental spot and we rented two vehicles for the ship
during our stay over. One vehicle was for the crew and one vehicle was for the
officers.
We
were nearly back to the ship and navigating through downtown Portsmouth; I was
looking through the rearview mirror when I saw the vehicle of the Supply
Officer leave the road. It jumped the curb and those walking on the sidewalk
began to scurry in every direction; sort of like chickens being chased by the
fox in one of those cartoons.
This
was a momentary event and then the officer’s vehicle was back on the roadway
looking quite normal. So we kept going, and yet in my mind I was revisiting a
cartoon of many years before. The chickens were being chased by the fox and the
next page read, “And the fox goes hungry for another day, no harm and no fowl”
Auto
Rentals in those days contained in the glove box a “kill switch” in England, so
both of us were instructed to use the switch when leaving the vehicle for
periods of time to prevent thief and above all we should not flip the switch off
while the vehicle was in motion. Of course, I had no problem with that, but it
seems that the Supply Officer had to try the switch to see what would happen. Like
all of the people who scurried out of the way; he in his front role seat, saw
what happened.
After
returning to the ship I asked him what happened, of course with the excited
words of a child in trouble he said; “I couldn’t help it, I had to try the
switch while the car was moving, so I did.” As his thinking on this continued I
somehow ended up being reprimanded for asking him why? His emotional moment
took full steam and he turned on all of his anger and embarrassment at me. In Psalm
119: 69-70 the term “their heart is as fat as grease” is a very interesting
statement and explains very well how people react daily the circumstances that
life sends their way.
The
term literally means that the proud of heart have smeared the truth with a lie
of words that are stupid and emotional. This is the way of the world around us,
isn’t it; something potentially harmful happens and someone response with
emotion, then adds; it is your fault for asking. Then someone else picks up on
the emotion and before you know it, the whole dang town is mad at Leroy Brown!
This
affliction on life though is small compared to some of the things that come at
us daily, but it does identify the problem of much anguish in life. If we lead
by emotion we are of a proud and unrepented heart bent on selfishness, but we
the children of God can process these moments into good since this affliction
will drive us to learn more about the statutes, commands and precepts of God.
The promises and laws of God’s Word are better than thousands of dollars of
silver and gold.
Proverbs 24:30-34 – I went by the field of the slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns. And nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well: I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travels; and thy want as an armed man.
Bible Challenges and Comments
There are many times since leaving the military that I think of myself as the odd man out! Now please understand you may think this of yourself as well, even if you are a woman. You know we often feel that the world around us is normal while we seem to be a step or two behind the winning team. Here is a small example of what I mean. When a submarine is under water the air has a distinct smell at first then after a few hours the brain tells you that its normal and life goes on. Bring the ship to periscope depth after a week or two and let in the fresh air from outside; and
Wow! Does that air stink! That was my reaction to “fresh air” the first time I had the opportunity to smell it. I did not know we had gone to periscope depth and was taking on fresh air. All the old salts laughed at my comment and I thought once again, I am the odd man out. Also another interesting thing happened to me at that first time on a submarine. Once the ship returned to port and I was able to leave for a while, I went for a walk. I walked for hours through the countryside in Spain.
Blue skies, rolling hills with cattle and only a few houses; it seemed as though the LORD God had placed me in a very peaceful place, there were no vehicles on the road so I could enjoy the scenery without the worry of traffic. Praising and thanking the LORD for His wonderful Creation. Colors, smells, breezes and a host of other natural things were taking up and occupying my mind along with prayerful worship. Prayer and worship are very important!
The leaders of our church are looking into worship and music these days and I am praising the LORD for this. If you look steadfastly at the liberties that churches take these days at things adopted as “music and worship” you might just see the example of Proverbs 24:30-34 staring back. Go ahead and say it! Jesse you are just a critical old man, what do you know? I will be first to explain; I do not know as I ought to, but then again neither do you so stop it, do as you ought to and smell the roses instead of the thorns.
I once read a book concerning a man who came to the United States from Russia. He was excited to come as having heard of so many churches and believers who were “on fire” for the LORD. He said he anticipated the whole country as one flowing with milk and honey. After arriving and travelling around the country he found that his thoughts of a strong believing community were unfounded. His comment was; “I cannot find one serious believer in any of the churches I’ve visited”.
I pray that churches in the United States will return to God since most are nothing more than entertainment centers focused on bring people in to fleece them of their finances and to place them to work in religious ministries. These also teach that God is Love without teaching the justice of God and His Righteous standards of abiding in Christ. Of course these churches entertain everyone with music that resembles the world, rather than psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that make a melody of grace and spiritual thoughts enter the listing ones ear. Ephesians 5:19
If you believe your sins are forgiven and that Jesus is the LAMB, if you believe that your citizenship is in heaven and that Jesus is the LORD, if you believe that Jesus is the LIGHT who directs your path. Then do this my fellow brother or sister. Go for a walk and look at your surroundings. Pray that God will restore this nation, its churches and its people. We have material, physical and spiritual poverty expanding in leaps and bounds in this country. The prowlers and the bandits are increasing in number.
In the next few years this nation will face major changes, God is willing to treat us as He treated Nineveh; see the book of Jonah. Jonah is not a fairytale and neither is the city called Nineveh. From Thompson’s chain reference Bible a quote. “4400 – NINEVEH, the famed capital of the ancient Assyrian empire, was located 280 miles north of Babylon on the eastern bank of the Tigris River that would be just across the river from modern day Mosul. Nineveh was called the “Robber City” because it overran and robbed other countries to enrich itself”. While the United States at the present time does not overrun other countries to rob, we do within these broken down walls overrun our schoolyards and we plunder. We invade the privacy of each other and we insult one another with promises that are absolutely absurd. We need to stop or face the same judgment that God offered to Nineveh, like Nineveh we need to repent!
Hebrews 9:28 - so Christ was offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time without sin unto salvation. Jesse <><
Tuesday’s
Blog – The pain, Oh help me… the pain hurts
Bible
Challenges and Comments
Here we are back at that First
Class Mess on the destroyer, the USS Gearing DD710 somewhere around 1969. We
were in Italy and waiting for the next group of Reservist to arrive for a two
week training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea. As I have said in the past,
those were days of unbelief and the things I am writing about are out of
darkness; but do not fear, these are the very things that eventually helped to
bring me to the cross of Jesus Christ.
The Frist Class Mess was at one
time an amour stowage compartment where rounds of 5” shells were kept. The
locker was on the main deck and part of the main superstructure just under the
bridge. Now for you land-lubbers you have no idea of what I am talking about so
the location of this room was near the front of the ship on the main floor. The
locker was moved because if one of the enemy’s shells landed in that spot it
would have totally destroyed the entire ship.
Thus
the empty space was converted to entertain us Petty Officers. We had coffee,
food, movies and long benches that were comfortable. What more could a sailor
ask for! The long benches did provide a problem as some folks like to sleep on
these and this took up the room that others needed. We adopted a no sleeping
policy for the room. Then and because there were tables (about four) along the
bench way, men would place their legs on the table and sleep. We stopped this
practice too.
Except
for one sailor all was well, but whenever he was off duty we could always find
him with his legs thrown across his favorite table and (snoring) fast asleep.
We kept the First Class Mess locked, we all had a key, one day I open the door
and a plume of smoke hit me in the face. I stepped in and hit the lights, to my
surprise the sleeping sailor was on fire. Someone had wrapped a paper bag
around his shoes and fired it up! I took the hot water available from the
coffee maker and doused the man’s shoes that were now blazing on their own.
The
man woke up, from no pain asleep; to extreme pain awake. What a noise from the
man’s mouth; one that you and I should never hear. It was a good three months
before the man could walk normally again. Since no one owned up to the event no
one was convicted of this crime but all of us were reprimanded by the Captain
of the ship. How serious, very; since the door into the space was locked from
the outside, our sleeping sailor could have died trying to escape the fire as
it was about to get worse when I walked in.
Whether
the thought or plot was to kill or just get our sleeping sailor to stop using
the space for his own personal pleasures; who knows but for the one who did
what he did… he knows! Now this little plot to do harm is not anything that
would go “viral” on any of the sites that feed off of stories like this; I can
only think of twitter, the others I do not know. But let me just say that these
sources of information are not as good as we might claim. Actually the stories
found on these sites; like the one I just told is nothing more than “filthy
rags” Isaiah 64:6.
Luke 2:8-14
- Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of
the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and
they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid,
for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ
the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in
swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the
angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to
God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
The greatest event in
history is still being told today; just as it is recorded in Luke, the VIRGIN
birth of JESUS CHRIST the Son of the LIVING GOD. But there is more.
John
19:25-30 – Now there stood by the
cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom
He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your
son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And
from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus,
knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" Now a vessel full of sour wine was
sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and
put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,
"It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Now
don’t go away… there is more: you have heard that Jesus, my Savior is RISEN
FROM THE DEAD, He can be your Savior too, this is the message that the whole
wide world is hearing. Not from a story book, a web site or blog and not by ANY
means of communication known to the natural man. The truth of the Virgin Birth,
the Life of Christ, His Death and Resurrection is TRUE and can be yours by
FAITH, notice what the apostle Paul says about this: 1 Timothy 3:16 – And
without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifested in
the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the WORLD, Received up in glory.
Now
if you feel that the sailor who lit up the feet of his companion, peer and
friend is guilty of a crime, why should you my friend feel that you are not
guilty, when you willingly lock the door to this TRUTH just received and walk
away? Hebrews 9:27 explains that it is appointed for men to die once (no
argument there) but after this (death) the judgment.
One
final thought! “O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure – the Saints’ and angels’ song. This song began on
the day of HIS BIRTH, it is getting louder and louder and one day a similar
song will be heard throughout out the UNIVERSE. Notice Revelation 5:8-14
Revelation 5:8-13 – Now when He had taken the scroll, the four
living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each
having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the
saints. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the
scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God
by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have
made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the
earth." Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the
throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud
voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and
wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!" And every creature
which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the
sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: "Blessing and honor and glory
and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and
ever!"
Have a great day! Put God in your day and it will be greater
still. Imagine that! The joy of having Jesus in my day overwhelms my soul and
truly I hope your soul is likewise… OVERWHELMED with Him!
Proverbs
7:21-23 –With her enticing speech she
caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. Immediately he
went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction
of the stocks, till and arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare,
he did not know it would take his life.
Bible
Challenges and Comments
This
is a story of many years ago when the Volkswagen first came to the U.S. one of
the sailors on a destroyer I was on purchased one. We were E-6 Petty Officers
so we all shared this common bond and had a compartment on the ship called the
“First Class Mess” (no it really was not a mess, we kept it clean, just a
sailor’s way of calling isolated compartments belonging to a specific group). There
are many stories that came out of this chapter in my life so, please stick
around.
Back
to the sailor with the Volkswagen! After a few days our friend and companion
said, “This car is the best one I have ever owned. I have had it five days and
no doubt it will be another two or three days before it needs gasoline, it gets
great mileage. After he left the mess a few of us got together and made a pact,
each one would take turns and buy a gallon of gasoline each morning and dump it
into our friend’s car.
After
a few days our friend was so excited he could hardly contain himself. “Man what
a car, I don’t need gasoline yet, I think I can get another few days out of my
first tank of gasoline, can you believe it, I am working on the second week and
I still have a ¼ tank of gas”. For a total of five days we faithfully put a
gallon of fuel in his vehicle and then we stopped. Our friend after a couple of
weeks of having to fuel his vehicle became less vocal.
One
day we got together and asked him how his VW was doing. A bit unhappily he
said, “There must be something wrong with it, every week I have to put gas in
the car it is not getting the mileage it first got. Then we made our secret
known, we were looking for a good laugh, but our little prank worked just the
opposite, our friend took his time trusting us after that incident, since he
did not appreciate being the subject of ridicule.
Matthew 27:27-31 – Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium
and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a
scarlet robe on Him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on
His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and
mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they spat on Him,
and took the reed and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him,
they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be
crucified.
Sometimes in life, we believe that we are the familiar friend
who would do no harm to another, only to find out that while we are at face
value “friendly” it is most certainly what is going on behind the face that
brings victory or failure in relationships. Integrity is not something to be
tossed aside for the sake of a laugh and all too often our laughter is not the
best medicine. Laughter is better when it is directed at self and not at
others.
Notice Psalm 41:7-9 – All who hate me whisper together against
me; against me they devise my hurt. “An evil disease,” they say “clings to him
and now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.” Even my own familiar
friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
Yes, Satan is the Father of lies, the one who ridicules, who
blasphemies and who murders and like him, we chime in at times. We get our
cards punched so to speak and join the crowd of mockers. Yet there is a “Bema
Seat” or better understood the “Mercy Seat” here, we will see the ONE who did
lay down, “Yes HE did!” but He and NONE other; ROSE AGAIN. For believers in
Jesus Christ we should surely “rejoice” that our judgment is here at the Mercy
Seat of Christ where mocking Him will be rewarded with gifts that burn up and
smoke!
2 Corinthians 5:9-11 – Therefore
we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether
good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but
we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
You
see men and women, when our friend and companion found out that we were using
him for our mocking entertainment it hurt him to the point that when we
realized what we did, we wanted to flee from him and hide our self in shame. We
were from his point of view, unworthy of his friendship. So there is this final
moment in time when God will have another judgment over those who believe in
self-justification; isn’t that what “mocking” is all about?
Revelation 20:11-15 – Then
I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the
dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were
opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead
were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the
books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered
up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his
works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast
into the lake of fire.
At
this judgment there will be no gifts to burn up and the only object to go up in
smoke is YOU!
