The Longest Summer Vacation

Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.  Revelation 13:16-17

This seemed a great distance off just last year, as if the disappearance of many was required for it to happen. However, the recent masking of us all brings to mind this mark, particularly the why of the forehead. The social distancing brings to mind the right hand and something that would relieve us of touching or passing payment to a clerk. The prohibition against gathering together has run into the freedom of religion. We have also lived through the shortages of first one product and then another and more. And just like that, in about six months time, we see quite clearly how quickly the unveiling comes upon us. 

The mark required by the second beast has not come upon us just yet, but we can see how the world has been prepared for it. Even as I write this, there is somewhere upon the Earth a government or group planning to implement this thing as soon as it is called for by this second beast. A vaccination may well be the trigger event for it. Marked you may go into stores and do business, unmarked you may not. The Covid-19 vaccination may not be the one to cause this, but we can see how swiftly it could happen to the world. All of us I think can remember just several months back to when we had never heard of Covid-19, and another economic depression, and stay-at-home orders, and masking, and no human contact, and of a shortened school year.  (They've been out of school for how long?!) For most of us, this is the longest school summer vacation we have never expected to see in our lives, and it isn't over yet. What else have we looked for in Bible prophecy but maybe not really expected to see in this life? 

He is coming so very soon! 

Bucky

Grown Together, Gathered Apart

‘Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” '  Matthew 13:30

This verse gives a warning to those who live to look out for number one. A person does not want to finish first in this race. At times we might wonder why the Lord does not simply remove all those who oppose Him and live reveling in their present darkness. Here we see that those who would live as tares are allowed to remain in the field growing together with the wheat until the harvest time. The gathering for the wheat and the tares is quite different as the consequences of the choices in this life come in the judgment. The Master Farmer stands and directs the bundles of tares to the fire and the sheaves of wheat to the barn. Grown together, gathered apart. 

To the Lord Jesus we are gathered,

Bucky

Trial and Solution

The LORD is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
He is my God, and I will praise Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.  Exodus 15:2

Yesterday was the first trial of the new telecommunications system at work, and both partners in the project and the vendor had everything ready on both ends and all went well with the implementation. 

If you have ever been involved with an IT or telecom changeover you know a sense of doubt and unbelief right now. You might even be scoffing, perhaps even spewing your beverage onto something. If you have not heard good news of this type before, you may be on the rooftops shouting your joy to the city as an IT project completed the first time. A letter will soon arrive telling you the time is not quite right and to get back to work. Sorry.

We had the first trial and hopes were high, but then it seems that something was incompatible and other things were not ready at all yet. There was that first euphoria and expectation, but the entire picture was not in sight for us. It would be a time of waiting for the solution to our problem, and the first trial was not the final outcome. Yet hope remains. We can look to the future with joy in our hearts, but we also must endure the present and its trials. Do I speak here of this telecom thing or of the Second Coming of our Lord? Well, both of course, and some folks will say that the Word of God is not relatable to modern life. Tsk, tsk, where are they looking? The valley of faith we must tread for this telecom thing may be shorter than our wait for the return of our Lord, or maybe it won't! 

Come Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Gems In The Treasure Chest

Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 1 Chronicles 16:23

The Old Testament treasure chest was opened and to my eye came the gleaming gold and shining silver of God's holy word. But among that gold was the gleam of gems, and this one we read above came to my hand on this day. 

The Old Testament is quite lengthy and there are so many gems among the piles of gold and silver that it is easy to think that maybe some of that treasure can be ignored. Here we read today that a thousand years before Christ the Lord was born in Bethlehem, David sang a song telling all the Earth to proclaim the very thing that we are to share in this dark world. The Spirit of God in David sang then the same songs as we do today. The plan of salvation God had for us did not change in between some BC date to just before 1 AD during a solemn council in Heaven. The plan was always on God's Son, Jesus, and the plan for us was always to proclaim the gospel of His salvation until the end comes. 

Great is the name of our Lord!

Bucky

Looking Around The World Today

When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”  Genesis 19:15

Ever look around the world today and think of this verse from the first book of the Bible? Is today the day the voice from Heaven calls to those who will hear to come out of that evil world city? The time those in Babylon will have in that day will likely be similar to Lot's. When an angel urges you to hurry, that is probably a good time to put the running shoes on while you head toward the exit door. Anything you might want to grab for the journey had better be along that same path, or leave it behind. The part of the story we may not like is, "Arise". The call to run came when poor Lot was still in bed, or at least sitting down reading the Sodom Gazette with a cool beverage by his side and his feet up on a comfy stool. The call to exit quickly may not come when we are already leaving town to go on vacation. That would be nice, but it will likely be more like Lot's. 

We hope for the Rapture, but we need to be working until that moment and we might have to arise to flee the fall of Babylon too. Odds are good that a call of that type will not be at a time most convenient for all of us. I'm sounding like that proverbial little chicken today, but maybe he was just ahead of his time? One day the sky will fall on the evil world empire named Babylon in the Revelation, and by Revelation 18:4 we know that there will be those who must flee the coming destruction much like Lot did way back in Genesis. 

We don't like to be rushed, but if the angels say hurry...

Bucky

An Answer To A Wicked Heart

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?  Jeremiah 17:9

With that thing onboard, who can steer his ship to the safe harbor and the lands of eternal joy? The heart of man is of course that wicked thing seeking to wreck the entire ship. We are presented with this verse from Jeremiah quite often, as though we needed yet another reminder of how little we know about our own heart and how wicked and deceitful and... Is there no hope for us with this enemy cannon in the midst of us going off at every opportunity? 

Well, yes, there is the Lord's answer in the next verse: 

I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

The Lord knows all that goes on in that wicked and deceitful heart of each believer in Christ the Lord. Who can know it? The Lord can and does! What is His answer to this wickedness and deceit? Jeremiah gets there in verse 14:

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For You are my praise.

The Lord lets our heart go its wicked way just to the point where we know whom to call on for salvation. Can I get an "Amen" brothers and sisters in Christ? 

Bucky

The Things They Just Know

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  Matthew 24:30

The sign of the Son of Man, what is it? What do we look for? Given that all the tribes of the Earth will mourn, it seems that it is something they just know. Why do they mourn though? We look with longing to the coming of our Lord Jesus. It may well be they mourn the loss of their status, their place, the closing of their plans and schemes, the sudden valuelessness of their wealth, and of course that the coming light has blasted away the darkness they loved. They may well mourn that their time is up and the time of choosing is past. We are with John: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" There are those who mourn His coming, and that is now an alien concept to us, hard indeed to understand. 

Rejoice for the returning of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

Bucky

My Best Friend

To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6

Follow a person on social media and he or she might have a large number of followers and live far away geographically from where you or I live. With no prior relationship, calling that person a best friend seems a bit far-fetched. How would he or she have the time to devote to a friendship? And why would that person pick out you or me as a best friend from among a hundred thousand or more followers? Perhaps a smaller group, a couple of hundred 'friends' on a different platform? I have less than that on one well-known platform, but hardly could most of them be called best friends with such big chunks of their life's story missing from my knowledge.  Each of us might have several best friends throughout life as we come together in a stage of life (school, college, work, et al.) and then move apart for some reason. So, if numbers and location are a problem for maintaining a best friend, how do we explain Jesus? 

This man knows billions of living persons right now, plus a similar number who have died, and an unknown (to us) number to be born. How does He maintain this number of friends? Not all of them want to know Him? Some refuse to believe he exists? True, but that still leaves such a great number that my mind cannot understand how my best friend does it. For the Lord Jesus, sitting at the right hand of God, knows each of us better than anyone, and yet is our best friend in every case. A wife or husband might leave you, and some of you know that all too well. A best friend in high school lives far away now and is almost a stranger these many years later. Even a parent and child will have experiences apart that are unknown to each other. How does Jesus know all about us as our best friend when He is in Heaven? Wait...ALL about us? 

Part of maintaining friendships here on the Earth is that some things are not known one to another lest the former friend flee in horror or terror or something! How can Jesus know each of us so intimately and yet remain our best of friends? We may answer with the truth: love, goodness, compassion and more, and yet that explanation might seem almost like a foreign tongue to us. How can Jesus know that thing I did or those thoughts I have entertained and still be my best friend?!!  There is that thing He is using, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved: grace. 

What an amazing thing is the grace of God! 

Bucky

Could It Be?

“Have you entered the treasury of snow,
Or have you seen the treasury of hail,  Job 38:22

Could it be that some small amount of that hail was dispensed around our town last night?  No, the hail of Job 38 is stored up for the day, and not just any day. The usual hail that we get most every year in the thunderstorm season is generated in the storm itself and is not reserved in a treasury of hail. Through science we have a good grasp on how that sort of hail works. One might even be dismissive of this hail if it were not for the next verse wherein God states that this particular hail is reserved for the day of battle and war. And according to the Revelation, this will be some notable hail...seriously heavy hail. 

Some of the judgments of the end time period known to us as the Tribulation are so similar in this way to something we have seen in history or know from today that we may think that we can check some of them off a checklist and move on. However, one is struck by John recording the 'and thens' as if there is an avalanche of judgments raining down on the Earth. And that describes it quite well. The judgments are attention getters for those who up to that point have refused to believe, and for those who never will. In both cases, God's judgments will do everything they are intended by Him to do. 

For this moment, there is time to believe. Pray for those who do not yet know the salvation of Jesus the Christ.

Bucky

Prospering Word

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:11

The word has gone forth, and what was the Lord pleased to accomplish with His word? I recall a man who died on a cross stating, "It is accomplished!" And is this word now prospering in what the Lord has sent it out for? I believe that this Word of God is indeed accomplishing much and prospering well in that which the Lord is pleased to accomplish! 

Read the news today, and you and I may not see the accomplishments of the Lord's word as it goes forth among men with the good news of Jesus Christ. We will read many tales of woe and lawlessness, for that is what the prince of the power of the air is pleased to show to us by way of feeding us despair and doubt. However, the word is also prophecy, and that which we read and see today is exactly what the Word of God said will happen in the end times. It is more difficult to find the reports of salvation of the Word, but that too is going forth this day. Both the saving and the dying are being accomplished according to the word that has gone forth from the Lord. 

Yes, I know; I too feel the wish for the salvation and Heaven part to be the half of the prophetic word that I read and hear today. However, the other half from the word, of woe and judgment, wars and rumors of war, and the increase of lawlessness and love grown cold - all of that comes too in this day and age. Praise is due our God for all that His word accomplishes as this age draws near to the closing. Amen.

Bucky

Ancient Hot Stuff

Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. Ezekiel 39:3

Arm ourselves with the weapon of the day, pretty much a firearm in our case, and we feel like hot stuff. Sorry, hot stuff is a dated expression from the ancients meaning confident and secure in oneself; a person to take note of for his or her ability to take action. And it means a pretty person in a disco, but the ancient expressions were rather flexible. Gog of Magog, the person to which our verse speaks today, will feel that he is the hot stuff of his time, a time that has not showed up on the timeline of our historical record, by the way. We are time traveling today into the past of Biblical prophecy where the Lord's prophets long ago spoke of things which have not yet been done from where we stand in history. Gog will be hot stuff until the Lord God knocks his weapon out of one hand and causes his 'bullets' to fall from the other.  In the bygone days of disco, it would be the pretty dancer whose britches fell off just as the song began the second verse. Hot stuff becomes cold humiliation when the Lord removes the objects of false confidence from the hands (or bottom). 

We have our confidence in the Lord. He is the only strength that will endure in the times of increasing lawlessness. His throne is the one that will stand when all others fall to the mob and they raise up a false throne for a brief time. When others take a knee before the temporary powers of the Earth, we stand for the One who comes in the fullness of His glory and causes every knee to bow and all tongues to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Whoo! I feel a thrill! No ancient hot stuff for us, but the King of kings and the Lord of lords forever! 

Have a day of rejoicing in Christ the Lord! 

Bucky

Laws Unto Themselves

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet."  Romans 7:7

Paul, the great Pharisee, would not have known not to covet apart from the Law?  He wrote it, not me! Actually, without the Law we would be laws unto ourselves, going about doing what we think is right by our latest feeling or random thought. In any kind of organization, be it family or tribe, we might do more or less according to the Law through training as children or the threat of punishment by our parents or leader. We would be subject to the 'might makes right' form of government for as long as we didn't run away from it. Go a bit further in organizing and forming a kingdom or nation, and we might become part of the 'right makes might' form of a rule of law. The right lasting for only as long as the current organization was not overthrown from without by a larger organization with different laws or from within by rebels wanting to go back to the 'doing whatever we feel like' form. The temptation to go lawless is always there for those rebel-born Sons of Adam. 

Often though, we see the disadvantages of everyone being a law unto themselves. It is rather convenient for me to have a home to return to after the workday. Under anarchy, I might find a group of coveters had taken my home and all of my possessions for themselves just before a blizzard was due to fire up on a January day. And I would have no law enforcement to return my home to me under a rule of no law. Shivering in my booties outside my former home, I might lament the lack of law. I will admit that it is harder to picture a blizzard in July, but it is easier to picture lawlessness in these past couple of months than it was...

Praise God that whatever may appear in the news today He is always and forever sovereign! Amen.

Bucky

Bearing No False Report

“You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.  Exodus 23:1

Now this is a law that might be useful in our age! We have such an urge to bring the news, any news, to one another that sometimes we may get caught up in spreading some bum scoop. Hmm, that term is a little dated I see. Bum scoop is the term we used to describe those in the military back in my time when they had proved to be bearers of false reports too many times to count. Scoop was obviously the term for right or correct news. We will not here attempt to explain 'scoop' of what substance of course. In the days of Internet news and social media, we have a serious task ahead of us in not falling for or being the bearers of false reports. It is so difficult because some of the reporters are those of organizations once trusted for accurate reporting of the news! And other false news is so well crafted by those up to no good, that we have trouble seeing the deceit without help. 

Maybe there is some good news that we can count on every time we pass it though? 

Yes, yes there is, witness for the Lord Jesus that  you are. We have the good news of our Lord's salvation to pass along to all who will listen. We have the good news of God's grace through faith in Christ. We have the story of a resurrection from His day, and one to come for all who believe in Him. We even have a way out of the mess the world seems to be plunging toward with all due speed! And He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  (John 14:6)

Yay Jesus! The Good News of Life Eternal! 

Bucky

Slowing To The End

Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”   Daniel 9:27

As the end of an interesting week shows itself on this Friday, I am trying to slow things down a bit. Am I in charge of the pace of events? Not overall, but there is room for me to make a few decisions about what I try to get done this day. This verse in Daniel tells of a week, and this week of years puts my little events into a tiny little shadow hardly to be seen.  Quite a few chapters of the Revelation are contained in this week given as prophecy to Daniel, including all 21 judgments to be revealed and poured out upon the earth. The two witnesses come in this time, and they are real life superheroes with powers. 

The verse in Daniel also tells about the great treachery of that time by one who comes on the wing of abominations. Would one of these abominations be the tearing down of public statues? Could it be the pedestals are being cleared to fulfill another prophecy, that of the image of the first beast that all must worship in this final week of the age? Makes one think... and maybe want to run to check those scriptures of prophecy once more? 

I may get to slow down a bit for the weekend, but history looks to be speeding up toward the ending.  Love in Christ Jesus to you!

Bucky

Growing Down?

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.  Ephesians 3:17

As we often associate the direction of down with Hades or Hell, we do not like to think of growing down. And yet as a nation or person, the Bible at times uses a tree as a metaphor and without strong roots that tree will be doomed. Trees as we have seen through careful observation in this life do not often do well floating about in midair. A tree needs the soil of the earth to anchor itself and to grow and thrive. So, if the scripture uses the soil as God's love, how much more do we as the tree need to grow down roots deep into that love? Do you feel that you are there yet?

This question comes up because I do not think or feel that I have as good a grip on God's love as I would like. This feeling must come from God's prompting in His Spirit, because without the Lord I would have no knowledge that I am missing out on something. This also cannot be any shortcoming of God's love, for Jesus the Son showed the greatest love on the cross at Calvary! If trusting in God is the way to grow deeper roots down into His great love, then that is what I must do. And as is the case with all things good, it isn't my work that gets the thing rolling: the verse begins with Christ making His home in my heart first. 

As always, the first and best glory goes to Jesus my Lord! 

Bucky

Such Were You

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.  Ephesians 2:1

Read a list of the behaviors of sin in this world, and one can but see how well we resemble such a description. Even now, years after salvation was effected in us, we may see the huge footprints of sins long past, like the largest of dinosaurs whose footprints lay embedded in stone. That same day we may be caught by the quick striking of the serpent by the path, and fall once more to trespass and sin. Who could ever believe himself or herself saved by such a presentation of our weakness? 

One obviously cannot! For our struggles to walk the righteous path are weak, our good deeds as filthy rags, and our efforts to save ourselves quite useless. However, salvation was never based on your effort or mine. Salvation came from God through Christ by faith in Him. And there is our answer to this dreadful presentation of who we WERE. It is the promise of eternal life from God the Father by way of His Son Jesus that we must place before the eyes of the heart when the Enemy attacks us with the past life and the present weakness. Want a blessed assurance for the future? Quit looking at yourself and look to the Lord Jesus! 

Set the heart on the promise of God!

Bucky

More Than We See

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 2 Kings 6:16-17

The world powers of darkness appear quite large and numerous to us right now, overwhelming even, and yet if we could but see the hosts of Heaven gathered for the fight as the young servant of Elisha did in his day we would be comforted. Today though, we are called to look with the eyes of faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is more to Him than we can see right now. The Lamb of God was obedient to the sacrifice then, but the Lion of the tribe of Judah stands ready to return with forces arrayed for battle. By faith we know, but with our eyes we cannot see them just yet. 

Have faith in the Lord, His time comes quickly!

Bucky 

Not Of Myself

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9

Good morning in Christ our Lord! Today, I thought that I would outline for you everything I did to be saved.

1. 

There it was, hope that gives you some pointers to get you started along the way. Nicodemus, that teacher of Israel, probably hoped to add to his lesson plan an outline provided by our Lord Jesus. He got an answer that went right by him without slowing down. 

"Born again? How do I tell the students to do that? How will I explain it to them?" Nicodemus may well have wondered in the moment. We of course know from our advanced science, technical experience, and bigger brains... not a thing more than Nicodemus about how this born again thing is accomplished by our Lord. A list of boasts that any of us can make of ourselves in the salvation process runs just as long as what we did to make it happen. 

Salvation is all the Lord's doing. Praise God for His great gift!

Bucky

Puppy Healer the Unwise

Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17

Imagine just for a moment that you have been given a rare gift, the ability to heal dogs. Yes, those pets that many of us think are among the best things in life, our canine companions; who get sick and die just the same as we do. You come upon one dog obviously in need of your healing, and without the slightest research or hesitation you heal this dog. The poor ailing doggie is saved to live out many more days on this earth by your kind attention. The family looks upon their returning and suddenly healthy pet with what can best be described as horror. What? Yes, in this rare case, the dog had turned out to be irascible in manner, a biter of the hands that fed it, an ungrateful wretch among dogs, and everyone who knew this canine cantankerous curmudgeon waited eagerly for the day it would finally die. And then along you came, Puppy Healer the Unwise. 

If anyone but our Lord Jesus saved the fallen humans, we might be faced with a similar situation. Without God's Spirit in each and every one of those who have come to believe in the Son of God, we would be faced with an eternity of life without redemption, existence without love, and an eternal continuance of living without any of the joy we have in Jesus. So close were our first ancestors to this that God quickly moved to separate them from the Tree of Life. Our salvation must be given by God through His Son Jesus, or we are in deep trouble. Praise God that Jesus is the Way, and the only way, for us to come to God the Father! 

Separations come to us in this life, but we are grateful that each is managed in the wisdom of God our Father,

Bucky