A Frightening Day

Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him. Daniel 5:5-6

Happy Halloween at a balmy 5° above zero. Our morning cold is the scariest thing so far on this day of frights. A king of old had a fright such as few of us will experience in our short lives on this earth. 

King Belshazzar of Babylon had a privileged childhood being the heir of none other than Nebuchadnezzar, one of the greatest kings to have lived on the earth. Indeed, Daniel brings up this very point when explaining the terrifying vision of a human hand writing on the wall of the king's banquet hall. Part of the king's fright stems from extreme guilt. He knew quite well that the Lord's temple treasures were for His worship services in Jerusalem and not for anyone's amusement. Along with that guilt came what C.S. Lewis named the fear of the uncanny. Something happening which cannot be explained by our science, reason, or experience. Yet, there it was, a disembodied human hand writing on the wall.

 

Halloween brings this tale in the book of Daniel to mind as it has such a graphic description of human fear. Pale face, knocking knees, and legs without the strength to run or fight, as the king of a powerful empire is brought low by the Lord. The king and his nobles may up to that night have taken the Lord God of Israel as simply one among many gods, but He had their attention now. And, as the Lord's other messenger arrived, Daniel translated a message of doom from the hand of the Lord for a king gone bad. 

Thank You, dear Lord, that it does not require such a frightening thing to bring us to You in prayer and repentance! 

Bucky

If You Want To Be Perfect...

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”  Matthew 19:21

"If you want to be perfect," our Lord said to the young man. There are times when we think that this was the sum total of perfection, but our Lord only gave the young man a starting point. Store up for yourself some treasure in heaven, and then come and follow Me, was the instruction. And we know from the story that the young man could not even do that. 

So it is with us as well. On our own we can do nothing to save ourselves. The first step of that lifelong journey is too high for the sinner to accomplish. In his strength the rich young man could not give up his worldly security, not even for a treasure stored in faith. 

The disciples had no better answer and were astonished, but our Lord had the answer every one of us needs to this problem of salvation:  “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (19:26)  Little did they know that sitting right there was God's answer! 

Praise the name of our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Lost, And It Was My Fault

I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments. Psalm 119:176

Some months ago, I placed a couple parts on the bumper of my truck while I worked on a repair. As anyone who has ever done this can tell you, that was a rather foolish thing to do. The parts were indeed lost, and it was my fault. More new parts swallowed up forever by a convenient flat spot on a vehicle, probably keeping company with the many coffee cups lost that way. The lost sheep who has gone astray is a different sort of thing altogether, though perhaps equally foolish.

The psalmist here knows the willful disobedience that has led him astray. He asks for the Lord to seek him out in order to bring him back to the fold. In a similar way, we too can recall the violations of the Law that brought about our lost condition, but we do not know how to get back to our Lord. Often we are like an Adam who hid from the Lord so well that he cannot answer the call of the Lord's voice because he is out of hearing. This was no mistake that brought about a lost part, but a willful contrariness against the Lord that resulted in a lost person. And by His grace our Lord sent a Shepherd to find His lost sheep.

Thank You, dear Lord, for Your Good Shepherd!

Bucky

Something's Coming!

As whirlwinds in the South pass through,
So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.
A distressing vision is declared to me;
The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease.  Isaiah 21:1-2

It would appear to us that Isaiah was not particularly thrilled to receive this vision. The prophet may have hoped for some more of that good news of Immanuel and the great light in the darkness, but he was given a distressing vision. This is of course not a good news-bad news thing, but a good news-warnings difference.

Though we long for more of the good news from the scriptures, it remains to be read by us that much of the Bible holds warnings for those who do not believe and obey. There is no good news in the end for those who refuse to believe what God says. How do you like it when someone counts everything you say as a lie with all proof pointing to the contrary? God's proof of His truthfulness is greater by far than yours and mine, so we can imagine how He must feel to be called liar with every denial of so many of His creations. 

And, we might just have a small insight into the joyous celebrations that take place in Heaven each time one of us believes what the Lord has said by His Word! Amen.

Bucky

One Of Those

“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10

I like to let everyone know that I am one of those Gentiles. You know, for you've done it too. We have sought out our Lord Jesus, the Root of Jesse. We're some of those Gentiles. The world will say it with a sneer and perhaps a snide remark,"Oh, you're one of those..." Yes, yes we are, and glad to call Jesus our Lord too!"  Have you ever read a memoir by someone wherein you thought something like, "I could really enjoy this person's company." And then the memoir goes into something about Christ and His followers, and the person discusses it in a shallow, academic way? What follows is disappointment. 

It may be from fear. Anyone who has put his or her faith in Jesus out there in writing has felt that push back. It may be from a desire to sell more books. Political correctness runs rampant through much of the world right now. Or, it may be from unbelief, and I'm not sure which of these is the more disappointing. Of course the most disappointing would be for the person to carry unbelief or denial all the way to the grave. That would make me sad. 

As we are not likely to meet everyone in this lifetime, prayer for the dying unbelievers is something we can do constantly. 

In Christ,
Bucky

The Healing One Comes

But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.  Malachi 4:2

The Cleaner went to drug trials in a few months and it is everything the public wants. Injected directly into the blood stream the Cleaner moves throughout the body devouring plaque, cancer cells, invasive bacteria, virulent viruses, plus shrinking away any scars and restoring aging joints and skin. Upon completion of its cleaning the Cleaner exits the body with a burst of feel-good chemicals and rejuvenating scents. The inventor of the Cleaner is reputedly wealthier than the top six billionaires combined, or will be if the drug trials finish ever start and finish. 

Yes, I did mix the tenses in the first sentence, and with no good reason other than the Cleaner is fictional. However, medical industry, big pharma, and a few pirates are in fact looking for just such a product even now. Those who do not want to believe in the coming of the Sun of Righteousness desperately want them to succeed and quickly. Why they want to live forever with the Earth in this state is quite beyond me, but there it is.

As for me and my family, those who all around the world from every nation, people, tribe, and tongue believe in Jesus the Christ, we want the coming of the Son, and that right soon!

Love in Christ,
Bucky

Not Enough Space?

Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. Genesis 13:6

In the course of our duties, we have run into a house or two where the possessions were so great that the house could not support another person. In the case of Abraham and Lot, the land was not great enough to support them. 

In thinking about Heaven recently as part of our Tuesday Bible study, I have wondered much about how close we might be in terms of physical proximity. Will it be like an overpopulated city? Many of us might not be so happy in such a place. Will it be so spacious that we might not see each other for months or years? Others would not like that sort of thing. As usual, I am led to the conclusion that we do not have to worry over things like this. Heaven will be the bestest place that God can create! 

Yes, a new word especially for God's Heaven - it's the bestest!

Bucky

Is It Time To Study Heaven?

And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. Genesis 1:8

A place was created quite early in the Word of God, and it has a name, Heaven. It is, we think, a place to go after we die. God dwells there, how bad could it be? Such questions betray a sort of willful ignorance for there is much to learn of Heaven in the Word. For example, a quick word search reveals 501 uses of the word heaven in the New King James version of the Bible, 550 in the old King James version. Some refer to the sky above and others to God's dwelling place, but in order to know which we must study the Word of God.

 

501 references? There must be something about that eternal home we crave with Jesus! Indeed there is, but there is also Paradise, the New Heavens and the New Earth, and other references to learn more about this place or places where we will spend so much more time than we know here on this Earth that we have to wonder at our lack of study on such a lengthy topic. If this Earth is but the boot camp to eternity, one would think we should learn all that we can about it. 

And then we have our Lord Jesus ascending to Heaven, and He is why we want to go there...unless He comes back here first which is also promised! 

Have a great Friday in the Lord!

Bucky

You've Been Taken Care Of In Love

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.  Psalm 139:16

Unformed? Yes, our Lord God knew David the man long before he even came into existence as we know it. The same happened to you and me. And in God's book our lives were set down from beginning to eternity with Him, even before the days had arrived. Those without belief in God our Father will rail against this and cry out for freedom. By faith in Christ, we know that tomorrow is nothing to fear for God has already written it down and in Him we have freedom! 

Events and conditions come upon us as a great surprise at times, but never is our Lord taken unawares. There is no call from Heaven for an emergency meeting, no alarms going off with great clanging bells, and no shock when that thing surprises us down here on Earth. Isn't it great to know that our Lord has our future firmly in His loving control? Yes, you've been taken care of, in His unceasing love! 

Praise God today!
Bucky

Oops! Busted

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.” Joshua 2:2

The story in Joshua does not speak of much time before the two Israelite spies were found out and reported to the king of Jericho. They had time to secure lodgings at Rahab's house, and that was about it as the king was informed already. So much for secrecy and concealment. 

We might wonder why God's protection was not upon them, but we would wonder wrongly. God's protection would be shown through Rahab, and not in the expected way of never being found out in the first place. Doing it our way would have given no opportunity for Rahab to show her faith in God. 

We are spies in a foreign country too. And as soon as you and I believed in Jesus, it was reported to the prince of this world and minions were dispatched work his will against us. We may expect God to protect us in a certain way and it may surprise us when He does not, but as we can see from the story, His way is always the best way. 

Faith in God! 
Bucky

Have Eternity?

 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

The Bible is quite short when we ponder how much we might read in eternity. Yet, for this lifetime it is more than enough. Consider just this one verse for today. Do you have time to understand it? Perhaps you or I might think so, but then some months or years later we consider it anew and: lo and behold! new insights, revelation, and understanding!  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Any of us might be wondering when his or her time will come. We also hope that that time hasn't passed away forever. We have eternity in our hearts. What will it be filled with? If no once can find out the work God does from beginning to end, what's with all those folks arguing over creation or happenstance or accident? Yes, the Bible is quite enough to keep me wondering and pondering throughout this lifetime. 

Praise God for His Word!

Bucky

Have A Different Spirit

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Numbers 14:24

So, that sneaky voice would say to us, Caleb had a special dispensation of the Spirit from God; he was a spiritual superman such as I can never be. The rest of us should never be blamed for our sins because the specially picked ones like Caleb have that big advantage, that voice goes on. That would just make it so easy! A few spiritual superheroes could make it on their own, and the rest of us could blame God for our sins. One little problem, or maybe two or three, the ones we might call spiritual superheroes such as Paul, Billy Graham, Spurgeon, et al., do not speak that way. 

Those who teach the Word speak of faith. Plus conquering the promised land with my spear and magic helmet? No, no, just faith in our Lord Jesus and in God to save us from our sins. You mean they have a different spirit because they believed God? Yes! Faith is what made Caleb of a different spirit than the other Israelites (save Joshua), because he believed the Lord when He said, that Israel with the Lord before them could take the promised land from those who dwelt there. You and I can be spiritual superheroes too by believing all that the Lord God says to us. It's faith, and the Lord Jesus gives it to us in bountiful amounts when we need it. 

Have a great Friday in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

October in Blue

So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. Esther 8:15

Blue was not at one time a color of depression but of joy and gladness. The Jews of Shushan did not feel blue when Mordecai accepted the reward of the king and stepped out in fine clothing with a new chapeau. No, the next two verses speak of joy and celebration until we get to many of the natives becoming Jewish for fear of the Jews. Wait, they became Jews? Don't you have to be born into that nation? Nope, we know from the scriptures that the Law always had provision for foreigners to join up, so to speak. The Law has many verses telling the people to treat foreigners living among them as native-born. To love them as themselves (That bit sounds familiar!) and to not despise them. Somehow this got lost entirely by our Lord's time. However, verse 17 has an interesting reason for conversion to Judaism - they were scared. 

We of course are familiar with this reason, for many of us heard the old fire n' brimstone sermons in ancient times and knew firsthand the fear of hellfire and eternal darkness. These sorts of sermons should be brought back, as many of us first came to seek the Shepherd with our woolly coats singed by the flames pouring forth from the pulpit. Yes, the love of the Lord Jesus is a far better reason to believe, but if they won't believe in Him at all perhaps a brimstone warning will put the fear of God in 'em. It certainly worked in our case. By way of example we need only look to the Tribulation to come where the fear of God saves a number too great to count. 

It sounds hard, perhaps even a little mean, but if I were sliding down the chute that led to the fiery flames of hell, I would appreciate the words of life that told me of One who could save me.

Bucky 

Temporary Things

For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18b

Some of the things around me I have kept for a long time by my reckoning. There is a King James Bible copy back yonder on the table that I have kept since 1981. But wait, there is a Gideon's New Testament copy that I have kept since I spelled the man's name, 'Jhon'! How far back must that one be? Is it permanent yet? Nope, that length of time does not make them permanent and certainly not eternal. Any of us might have an easier time holding our 'stuff' loosely while we walk in this world if we can look at each thing and call it temporary. But no, we usually look at them and say, "Mine!" 

Temporary is this world and all that we see around us. House, possessions, trees, grass, rocks, and even our outward appearance and body are temporary. If we can see them today, pretty much a good bet that we can call them temporary. Now, on the other hand, that soul of our brother or sister in Christ is eternal. God is eternal; unseen by us at this time, but eternal nonetheless. 

Might we break down Paul's statement by the use of our late model brains in this case? Can there be a chance to prove one little sentence, and one of Paul's shorter ones at that, wrong and by that wedge go on to prove all the Bible wrong? You can bet some would try in this age. We might talk about tiny things like atoms or a virus, or non-reflective things that we cannot see in our attempt. But, that doesn't prove anything yet because we haven't seen...wait for it... eternity! Nope, I cannot prove by my little brain that my soul will last for eternity since I cannot see all of eternity. It's like me in my imperfection trying to prove God is perfect. Would not my proof be imperfect coming as it does from imperfect me? Ow, now I've gone and strained that poor little brain of mine. 

Thank God for Himself and His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus, by faith we believe in Him!

Bucky

How To Live Today

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

This verse for today comes to us by the message of the cross. "What foolishness," the wise person of the world says to us as we live each day in Christ our Lord. Look around us at the world and see its wisdom: save up, work hard, forego family, retire early, travel, enjoy, try anything and everything to live here as long as you can. So, do we then look at all the opposites when we look to Christ for our way to live this day? 

Opposite wisdom of the world is not quite it, for that would be easy and would not need the loving touch of our Lord's Spirit. We need the Lord's constant guidance for His way is so different from the world that we cannot comprehend it by simply turning over everything the world tells us to do. You may have noticed for example that youth does not always want to work hard first and then enjoy life. Giving up on having a family is not always the way to wealth and early retirement. And those who appear to do everything right by the world's wisdom do not always live long on this earth. God has indeed made foolish the wisdom of the world. 

And it gets stranger still, for we are not afraid of the latest philosophy for ourselves, having known Jesus already, but for those who fall into it. It is good for us that the Lord Jesus left us His handbook for living and His Spirit for life!

Love and peace in Christ our Lord,
Bucky

Ignite Stress Tubs

And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Exodus 20:25

The title for today comes from something I saw for sale in one of our local social media groups. This is one of those things that appears to mean something entirely different to someone who is not familiar with the jargon of a profession or industry, as in a container of stuff one would set on fire when feeling under pressure. And those who work in the profession can then make a joke and have a good laugh at the poor slicker who thought such a silly thing. Guilty, your honor, I had to look that one up on the Internet. 

The Israelites of ancient times were commanded to do something that would seem strange to other religions who used altars, no tools. Israelite altars, at least at the first, would probably look like a heaped pile of rocks. Later they would learn to stack rocks better, but why no tools in the first place? Perhaps to remind them that no tool wielded by man can save us. Contrast that with the numerous tools used for our Lord's crucifixion, including: hammer and nails, digging tools for the socket on Golgotha, plus sawing and cutting tools for the cross beam and post. While that particular altar was much profaned, it was of course the blood of the Lamb which cleansed it. 

Grace and peace to you in Christ Jesus,

Bucky

One Little Witness

"Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you." Leviticus 25:36

We often think that we have no or little witness to offer to the world. There are all these great writers, preachers, singers, and missionaries with such talents to give; how can anyone see little ol' me? Your trumpet may indeed be of the toy size and incapable of making much in the way of music or noise. However, it may well be the tiny witnesses that help the neighborhood to see the way of God in your life. 

One witness we may do in the world is this one in our verse for today. By extending it from our literal brother to brothers and sisters in Christ or even those who do not believe in Jesus, we bear witness to the world that they are more important than the earning of money to us. The world will not tell them this. We, who were taught capitalism from an early age, may blow quite a trumpet by loaning money, time, and other things we have without collecting fees and interest from our friends and neighbors.

A few days is easy, wait until the loan stretches out to months and years. Perhaps we will never get paid back! But Jesus has a verse for this too. 

Love in Christ,
Bucky 

Even To Them

A distressing vision is declared to me;
The treacherous dealer deals treacherously,
And the plunderer plunders.
Go up, O Elam!
Besiege, O Media!
All its sighing I have made to cease. Isaiah 21:2

Distress and destruction, even to them, is horrible to watch. So, who is 'them'? In the case of Isaiah the vision concerned Babylon, an enemy of Israel one is given to know from the scriptures; why then should Isaiah be dismayed over their woe? We can learn from Isaiah's dismay though, for we have prophecies that come after the departure of the church in the Rapture. 

As man is born into sin, so many of the prophecies have judgment, woe, the coming of the Lord in anger, and His vengeance on the evil ones. As we love and pray for our neighbors, neighboring nations included, we do not want the terrible vengeance of the Lord to fall on them when there is a chance to repent still. Yes, the prophecies show that many will remain unrepentant to the very end, but as we do not know which ones these are, we pray even for them. 

And with a sigh, we pray for the scoffers too, there will be many of them. Sometimes 'them' make it harder for us to love one another, but that is what our Lord commanded us to do.

 

God bless you on this day in the Lord,

Bucky