I'm Glad

Good morning on this Tuesday! Saturday's devotional spoke of what many seem to realize: that is both the good and bad of the end times. I'm glad so many of you are watching in these times, heeding Peter's warning to be sober and vigilant. These times do seem like the dimming of the house lights just before the curtain rises on the big show. The signs point to woe for those who do not yet believe or have rejected Jesus. On the other hand, as Pastor Adrian Rogers once noted, it is getting gloriously dark! The darker the world becomes, the more we look forward to the arrival of our Savior.

Why are we so concerned with what others are doing though? My friend from college married his boyfriend a couple of years ago. That doesn't affect my marriage, I ain't got one. The problem is in the Law. God gave us laws because disobeying them is bad for us. When our government stands in opposition to the Law saying, no, this is alright according to our Constitution, then we have a problem. People look to the government for a moral code, restrictions on how to behave, and how to do what is right. When God says this thing is sin, but our government says that it isn't, we have confusion in the ranks.

Fortunately, you and I are not here to judge behavior. We have good news: Jesus.

Bucky

Recovery and Love

One of the wonderful things I see about the Church is that after a disappointment handed down by the world, we quickly see the recovery and resurgence of love in God's Church. The world will act as it will, following its prince to eventual destruction. However, God is in control and that does not change. We in the Church turn past our shock, anger, and disappointment at bad news to the Good News of Jesus Christ; love and recovery soon follow. Jesus is the Way, and love is what His followers show to the world.

Love begins the two great commandments Jesus spoke to the people. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength. And, equally as important, love your neighbor as yourself. Our Lord said that in those two commandments of love were all of the Law and prophets. As we wake up and get underway this morning, let us remember love in our speech, in writing, in whatever way we communicate to the world. Love shows that we are God's children. Our love for others shows that we love Jesus first. Our love shows God's love working in us. When it is easiest for us to show anger or disappointment toward the world, then it is most important for us to show love instead.

Jesus had reason to spend the three years of His ministry condemning the sin of the world, but He didn't. Instead He came in love: For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Show the world a loving day in Christ!

Bucky

When Heaven Calls

An ambassador in a foreign land always keeps one ear open for orders home. The ambassador listens for messages from his government and passes them on to the rulers of the land to which he is assigned; as he works hard at his job, he does not want to miss the call to come home. In the Revelation, there is a prophecy of the fall of Babylon the Great. After notice is given by an angel of the doom of the evil world power, a voice from Heaven calls, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." (Rev 18:4) That is a message we don't want to miss.

I often wonder if we will recognize Babylon the Great when that time comes. Are we living there now? We may do well to keep an ear open for that message from Heaven, for I believe that yesterday the floodgates opened in our land. With the same legal reasoning, others will come to define a privilege that states must not infringe. Bigamy and polygamy must surely follow now, but where will it end? What activity is a privilege and which a crime? Reading the end times prophecies, we often thought that Babylon the Great would form almost overnight and be easily recognized for its sin and depravity. Now we know, Babylon the Great will be raised up one law, one court decision, one executive order, at a time. God's people will be living in the land, and one day may be shocked to hear a message called out over the land they love, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins..."

Bucky

Where Do The Field Mice Go?

Friday once more! The weekend is upon us and life begins anew each weekend. That must make the boss feel good in an evil despot sort of way. I wonder if pastors ever feel less than serious about a Sunday sermon they are preparing on a Friday? Perhaps the best preparation day is Thursday, because as every pastor knows you don't ever want to be doing a sermon on a Friday. I just made that up, don't know if it's true or not. Friday does however bring out the not completely serious side of me when it comes time to work or write a devotional. This is common throughout the Monday to Friday working world. We tend to feel light-hearted, and, if the work week was particularly tough, maybe a little light-headed on a Friday. Does this make for a lack of work accomplished on a Friday? Maybe for a time, but eventually we all (at least I hope it is all) realize that there are things to accomplish before we take off for the weekend.

According to Leviticus, the mouse ranked among the unclean animals. The Israelites were not to munch on mouse pies or consume mice burgers in their day. This might sound a bit funny until you realize that grain was a staple and mice really like grain. Did unclean mean that mice had to be kept out of fields? If so, where do the field mice go? Of course, unclean meant certain animal were not on the diet, not that they could be easily avoided. On the other hand, it gave the Israelites a God-given command to learn about grain storage and keeping food from those ever-searching little mice.

We sometimes rebel against a command of our Lord while failing to see the practical side of the Law. Obey the Lord's commandment and reject coveting your neighbor's wife and there is much less chance of adultery. Also we then obey the command Jesus gave to love your neighbor as yourself. And all of the neighborhood has peace when the commands of our Lord are obeyed, making home a much better place to live and sleep!

Have a productive Friday in Christ!
Bucky

Pausing for Reflection

You may have tried this at a job sometime back in the day and met with a supervisor who thought there should be no pause in your day other than those mandated by the company. Thoughts or reflections are often not valued by a company. Actions can be seen and measured, reported on charts and graphs, and analysed in meetings (ironically where any productive thinking usually stops). You may have run into the manager who claims that thinking is above your pay grade, job, or position, and means it too! I had that experience a few times. Of course, doing nothing but thinking and reflecting doesn't help a company either. Action must follow; whether it be the discarding of a boneheaded idea or putting into practice a great idea.

After Jesus went to John the Baptist to start His ministry, He didn't sit out in the wilderness and think for 3 years. Our Lord was a man of action and reflection. Pausing for reflection implies that we have action on either side of the pause. Prayer is an action. Good deeds done in love are actions. Worship of God is an action. We have many avenues of action, and good reason for the pauses to reflect and think. Prayer is also a reflection. We work best with both the action and the reflection.

In our ministry, reflection in prayer is a good start to any action, for not all of our intended actions are godly and good. Those boneheaded ideas still creep up from time to time. Many times have I wished a bit more prayerful reflection had preceded one of my boneheaded actions! Praise God for grace and forgiveness.

Have a reflective and action-filled day in Christ!

Bucky

The Power of Life and Death

A man lays on the operating table fully conscious. The doctor approaches his IV with one of those big stickers in hand. Fortunately for the man, the needle goes into the tubes and not into some painfully sensitive part of his anatomy. The doctor warns the man, "Lie very still now, too much of this too quickly will kill you!" The man, upon his life, lays very still. Later, he begins to wonder, why then have that much of the deadly stuff in the big sticker? Is the doctor too lazy to bring multiple doses? Is the administering of such stuff a boost to the doctor's ego? After all, for just a moment the doctor will appear to have the power of life and death over the man.

It may sound more like a Hollywood script than actual medicine, but don't be so sure. We are often tempted by the thought of mortal power over our neighbors. Despots appear to have it, and for a time may use it indiscriminately. Pilate thought he had it over one man as He stood before the mob demanding His crucifixion. Jesus reminded the Roman governor that only if granted from above would that power belong to him. (see John 19:10-11). In Job, we read that even the prince of this world had power only up to the point God allowed over Job's life. Through the use of a government power or a weapon of some sort, many think they hold that mortal authority. Indeed, many human lives are ended in just that way.

However, that is but a temporary thing. Pilate's solution to Jesus didn't last; our Lord rose again on the third day. Jesus raised Lazarus and several others from death. Something about this death power thing does not last long, like perhaps the ultimate authority rests above, as Jesus told Pilate. The governor perhaps thought that Jesus referred to Rome and Caesar in His statement, but we know that above for Jesus is above for those who follow Him, and that means God. That power of life and death rests in God alone, and He loves us. As Job concluded in faith even as he mourned his children, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (1:21b)

Bucky

Not for Naught

These days we may sometimes hear a coworker say something like, "I ain't doing it for nothing!" A couple of years back that didn't happen as employers found themselves with a weak jobs market due to the Great Recession. Employees, fearful of joining the legions of the unemployed, did in fact take on extra work for nothing. As the economy recovers, workers may one day find the ability to give a firm 'no' once again, and get to keep their jobs. Your situation at work may of course have nothing to do with the recession or recovery.

Sometimes our work for Christ seems like all work and no pay. This is obviously the wrong view and fails to take into account the value of eternal life given to us by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. God gave everything to save us; who are we to demand something so corruptible as money? These sorts of thoughts are the flaming darts of the devil that Paul warned us about. God withholds nothing that is needful for us, including His wonderful Word and the Holy Spirit our guide and advocate. We have protection we do not know and provision we sometimes fail to realize in this life. And, in the end, Jesus promises to return and bring His reward with Him. We labor not for naught!

When the evil thoughts fall away and we get to that place where the return of our Lord is reward enough for all our labors, then, Jesus returns with reward for all our labors! Blessed be the name of our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Indispensable

If you are tempted to think that you are indispensable at work, you are most likely deceived. On the other hand, the boss may let you know that you are quite dispensable on a weekly or even a daily basis. We live in an age where no one gets the indispensable label at work anymore. Companies that once cut back by firing the workers with the least time in service, now start with the long-time and senior employees. Some people work hard at education, piling up degrees in hopes of gaining that indispensable tag. Others work long hours, perhaps ignoring health and family in order to be indispensable to the firm. Some even start their own company for the supposed security that ownership brings...only to find that customers don't consider their company any less dispensable than any other. The world it seems is a tough place to live and work. No surprise there, God said that very thing just after sending an angel to chase Adam and Eve from Eden.

Then, God sent His Son to tell us that we are quite indispensable to Him. Every lost sheep is found and accounted for, not one is turned away. When the Son went to Jerusalem to do His duty at the cross, He died for every one of His sheep. There are no cutbacks, RIFs, layoffs, or company failures in the Kingdom of God. Each and every found sheep has a task to perform in building the kingdom. All of us have a Savior who lives for us daily. We are adopted into the family of God, and the sons and daughters are never cut loose. Those sheep who feel prodigal for a season are awaited by the Father with eager anticipation and welcomed home with delight and rejoicing. The cross proved how far God went to bring all of us back, for we are all indispensable to Him.

Now, have a better day in Christ!

Bucky

Endure, Not the Most Pleasant Command

Ah, Saturday! We could endure the weekend quite a bit longer if only it weren't just two days. The command in the Word to endure to the end generally isn't our favorite among the commands our Lord gave to us. Love, peace, abundant life, rejoice, these sound much better. Endurance speaks of pain, stress, sacrifice, and other things we don't enjoy quite so much in the moment. Paul wrote to Timothy: "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (2 Tim 2:3) That, just doesn't sound like lots of fun and giggles are headed our way!

I don't know how Timothy took that command, but this "you" would rather hear that I must endure years of joyous living with abundant wealth and good company. The flesh wants it easy. A good soldier, or Marine in my case, endures much during a term of service. We don't always enjoy it in the moment, but at the end we do have a pride of accomplishment. Remembering our gratitude to God for seeing us through makes it all the better. The reason to endure hardship is the building of our faith; the help we need to endure we find in Christ Jesus. Being a good soldier of Jesus Christ mostly comes in the 'of Jesus Christ' part. We add effort and longsuffering for the love of our Lord; He gives us the strength to endure from His great storehouse of love, strength, patience, kindness, self-control, goodness, and all the other fruits of the Spirit in His massive store. The love of Jesus gives us what we need to be good soldiers of Christ.

Have a productive Saturday in the love of Jesus!

Bucky

When Prayer Involves Friends

Job suffered much loss in his life when the devil was allowed to have his way with Job for a time. We like the restoration part of Job's life right after his repentance, but do we realize quite what the Word says?

And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)

This, of course, is not some magic incantation. We may be tempted to think when we're down that running a few prayers about our friends through the mouth will get us double what we lost, but that is not exactly what is said here. Eh? It appears to say exactly that? Yes, but we know the LORD sees into the heart of man. Go into that prayer with gain for yourself in mind and it is nothing but the selfish prayers we've spoken before. What the Word would have us to do is pray selflessly as Jesus did. Job prayed for his friends with no thought for getting something for himself, and then the Lord poured out the blessings upon the man.

It is easy for us to take words from the Bible, such as that passage about tithing, and then give or pray with that thought of getting deep down in the darkness of the mind where we don't want to admit that selfish avarice still lurks. Perhaps we are keeping it for a rainy day or something. Take it to the Lord and confess it. Pray for your friends without the thought of gain for yourself. Watch, and don't expect selfish gain, what the Lord will do with a selfless prayer.

Enjoy a prayerful day in Christ!

Bucky

God's Will is Best For Me

What is trust but understanding that God's will is the best for me? It isn't easy: whether from an accumulation of experience in our older years or the sharp intelligence all young folks think they have, we tend to think we know what our needs are when we come to God in prayer. If either were correct, we wouldn't need the Holy Spirit making intercession for us. It's funny that we seem to know when a child is spoiled through being given everything he or she wants, but we come to God saying nothing but the I-wants and I-needs as we see them. As I write, it is from personal experience that I speak. I'm no better than anyone else in this!

If I were given a transcript of all my past prayers, I might be well ashamed to see how much like a Santa Claus list it appeared. I hope that as the years have gone by I would see some improvement as I read through that transcript, but some days I still catch myself praying the same old I-wants that have gone before. Yet, there was David saying, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Why did he have to go and say that? One thing I know though, even in those days when my prayer has the taint of selfishness, I'm talking to God and pouring out my heart to Him. If my prayer has a sickness, my God is a healing power second to none. My prayers may not be perfect, pretty sure they are not, but coming to God in prayer is the way to the cleansing power of Christ's blood. Add the intercession of God's Holy Spirit, and I can be sure my Lord gets what He wants from me in prayer.

His will be done!
Bucky

The Conductor

Back in the day, a man went down to the recruiter's office and joined the train corps. More than anything the man wanted to be an engineer and guide trains down the track safely and efficiently. The recruiter was a sly one, as the breed tends to be, and told the man that all engineers begin as track repairmen first. By a stroke of fortune, however, the man had arrived at just the time the train corps was short of conductors. He could skip ahead of all those rail pounders, if he signed up that day. The man couldn't believe his luck and immediately signed the contract without really reading it.

A couple of weeks pass in conductor school, and the man graduates to actually riding on a real train. The engineer points to a steering wheel and tells the new conductor to keep the train on the tracks at all times. The engineer explains with a perfectly straight face, that he only controls the brakes and something oddly named the reverser. With careful attention to his duties the man steers the train up and down the tracks for 20 years. Proud of his safety record, the conductor takes his eyes off the tracks one day and looks around a bit. The train is crossing a field filled with wildflowers, it's beautiful. He sneezes. Suddenly, the conductor with the perfect safety record realizes that with a sneeze and a jerk of the wheel, he has ruined all. Looking up, the train runs down the track just as it always has. He jerks the wheel back the other way. Nothing. Wait a minute...

Without Jesus, that is what you and I accomplish. Without Jesus, our steering wheel ain't connected to anything!

Have a great day in Christ!
Bucky

Without Jesus, the Story Ain't Much

This morning in our Bible study we read the story of Lazarus. Not much is known about this man other than Jesus raised him from the dead. Without Jesus, the story of Lazarus amounts to a note about a man who lived with two of his sisters in the town of Bethany, and then he got sick and died. We know stories like that in this age, and they are quite common. In fact, any of us could take sick and die at any time. What makes this story special is what Jesus did. That is what makes my story special, and the very thing that makes your story great.

When Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been rotting in the grave for four days. The mourners and comforters have gathered, and the sisters Mary and Martha are hosting a pity party. Nothing even that unusual there, but Jesus tells them to roll the stone away. Yikes! Over Martha's protest, Jesus has them do the dirty deed, and then with a short prayer of thanksgiving, calls Lazarus to come out. Yeah, right, a dead man four days gone? Lazarus obeys. Whoa, the story then becomes that special story we know so well from countless Bible studies and sermons. All because of what Jesus did in this man's life and, um, death.

Your story and mine goes much the same. The tale is nothing special until Jesus comes into our lives. Then we have rebirth, life abundantly, peace, tribulation, and in the proper time, resurrection and eternal life with a great wedding thrown in. Now that's a tale to tell around the campfire!

Yours in Christ Jesus,
Bucky

A Thousand Things

This life seems filled with a thousand things that demand our attention. Duties around the home, assignments at work, relationship building, or just things that we want to do all demand time and effort of us. Sit where you are and think for a moment of all that you need to be doing, could be doing, or just-can't-get-to-it-today doing. An overwhelming list may present itself for your inspection and despair. And if you run out of things for yourself, ask of another, particularly a boss or a spouse, and you may find the list immediately doubled! Did any one of us think to ask God today what He would have us to do? Oh no! Surely a never ending, God-sized list is headed our way.

Maybe, but just maybe the list God would hand to us might say something like, "Abide in Me". We may expect a thousand things on this list, but it may simply say, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you." We expect more tasks than we can handle, but God may well give us that little bit from John 14:27. Think of someone you want to spend time with. Did you want that person fluttering about doing a thousand things while spending a tiny bit of their time with you? No? It may well be that God doesn't want that either.

We will have much work to do on this day, but perhaps number one on that list should be: Spend time with God, quietly, without haste or worry. Delight in Him as He delights in you and me.

Bucky

The Third Day

Ah, the third day of camp cooking! This one arrived faster than any one that came before. Many scrambled eggs have given their little lives for meals thus far. What do you mean that a scrambled egg isn't a critter? I caught two just last night, and they made some good eating too! Whatever your opinion, we often celebrate a third day. For us the third day of most any event reminds us of our risen Christ. We can't help it. The rebirth put us in mind of the resurrection. The third day tells of a new beginning, a casting off of the old and a putting on of the new. Although the excitement of the chase in our youth has given way to 'chasing' down motionless eggs trapped in their little cartons inside a refrigerator, we look forward on a third day to a new life in Christ.

Wow, sometimes my silly imagery leaves me wordless. It must be a Saturday and the third day of camp cooking. I'm glad that Jesus accepts silly writers as well as the reserved bankers, quiet librarians, and mortified morticians of our day.

Enjoy a wonderful weekend in our wonderful Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Who Are You?

Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”
And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. (John 8:25)

I see from this morning's Bible verse that Jesus was not a stranger to those who asked the question and that the question had already been answered. Why then did that group of people so often called 'they' continue asking? They seem to be always with us and the answer is always the same. They are those who refuse to believe in the Christ no matter what He said to them or how many of the sick He healed or how many blind eyes He opened. They did not want to believe and so they hoped perhaps for another answer when they asked once more, "Who are you?"

Jesus, of course, reminded them that He had given that answer already. The Son of God does not change any more than His Father in Heaven. We have a constant and steadfast Savior. Perfection does not need to change. The Almighty would be something less if He changed from His all mightiness. Yet, the world continues to hope for a different answer. One more to their liking, maybe even one just like them.

We know that He is Lord!

Bucky

In the Morning, When I Rise...Early

The annual service of the breakfast cooking has arrived at an early hour. As 'early' was much on my mind today, for some reason or other, I ran a search on 'early' in the New King James version of the Bible and found 83 instances to work with. Back in the day they made note of early risings too, probably because like me they felt that an early rising merited some consideration, maybe. God is always up, I'm not sure that I can impress Him with an early rising. Job got up early for a rather interesting reason.

So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly. (Job 1:5)

Job got up early for his beloved children. The reason he uses is even more interesting: "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." What? I thought that the mental sins only came after Jesus said so in the New Testament. No, it seems that sin, by thought or deed, has not changed. Jesus simply reminded His followers of what Job already knew way back in ancient times: God knows all our sins, whether we keep them locked up behind our closed lips or actually commit them where they can be seen. Job loved so much that he offered an early sacrifice in case there was an unspoken sin. Jesus loved so much that He died for all sins: the ones we think and the ones we do.

Thank you, Lord, for the forgiving of our sinful thoughts! Amen.

Bucky

Broken Strength

​“For by strength no man shall prevail.
​​The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;
​​From heaven He will thunder against them.
​​The LORD will judge the ends of the earth." (1 Samuel 2:9b-10)

That first part of the quote strikes at the heart of my earthly desires. It is by strength that I want to prevail in my fantasy visions. Feeding those fantasies are any number of novels, movies, shows and comic books that encourage us in that direction. Who doesn't want to be a superman? Who wouldn't like some super power?

Of course in our comic book fantasies the hero does not become overwhelmed by pride and arrogance. He or she does not look down on the little folks but continues selflessly serving the undeserving ones. You and I would likely succumb to the pull of pride just like those in this world who gain a little more than their fellows upon the earth. Does the puffed up prideful person ever wonder whether he or she has become an adversary of the Lord?

We ought to be careful in this regard. When I attempt to prevail by my strength without that prayer and supplication which marks the Christian I may well be working against my God in an adversarial effort. Such efforts are doomed to judgment, and I certainly don't want God thundering against me!

Have a grateful day in Christ!
Bucky

How Often Apologies

Summer makes its first visit today...I probably already said that last week, or the week before, or sometime back in the day. Hot day expected today, whatever babbling nonsense I may write. How often do you say, "I'm sorry, Lord?" I find myself doing it quite a bit more than I would like. Language of an unsavory nature I learned back in the day still creeps up to the surface every now and then. Sinful thoughts arrive almost before I can stop them. Fortunately, as Jesus has grown in me, I don't have to apologize for quite as many deeds as in the past, but Jesus also said that those thoughts count the same. It's a good thing that my salvation is not about some big scale with the good on one side and the bad on the other.

We live in grace, but that should not lead us to take sin lightly. Apologizing and asking forgiveness of God seems like a daily thing with us. Hmm, could be that Jesus gave us something in the Lord's Prayer that speaks to that. Forgiveness of sins and the word daily occur somewhere in there, probably there is good reason for that. Daily bread, daily forgiveness, the need for both seems to decrease a bit with age. Some great day, we will have no more need for the one, perhaps we can enjoy the other without guilt too.

Have a great Tuesday,
Bucky

Blessed With His Life

Not one of us can die to save anyone. My death will not bring saving grace to you, and your death will not give me eternal life. Jesus alone died to save us all. However, we are also blessed with His life. By following our Lord, we too can bless others with our life. Think of a Christian, famous or simply a neighbor, who blessed you through actions or words; he or she blessed you with life. Each of us in Christ has that ability to bring blessing through living. Yes, it may also work the other way.

A Monday is one of those days when many go into work and quite fail to bless others. Some of it is that their job is a terrible fit for the type of person they are, but they gotta work for that money. Much of the problem may well be that we are often told that Mondays should somehow be that way. Faith in Christ Jesus says that it need not be that way for us.

Today, as it is a Monday again, let us make every effort to bless others with our life. Look to Christ for the strength to do this. You and I cannot do it alone, but a smile on a Monday may be one of our best witnesses to the changes Christ has made in us.

Have a blessed Monday in Jesus!

Bucky

No One In History

We sometimes look back upon historical names and use this one or that as an example of evil. Surely, there are many examples for us in this regard. However, not one of those could not have been saved by the blood of Jesus. No one in history is too bad or evil to be saved by the blood of the Lamb. Are all those saved? That we do not know, for each can make the choice to believe in Christ even up to that last moment of life. Even the suicidal disciple of Christ might have repented even as he carried out the hanging act upon himself. Yet, it is not the degree of the evil acts that is in question.

When we question whether a person or our self can be saved, we question the ability of God to forgive. We doubt the efficacy of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. These are heinous sins indeed! But we are wrong to ever doubt that crimson flow from the Son of God. Nothing but the foolish choice to never believe can stop the cleansing blood of Jesus from saving anyone.

Go with God!
Bucky

Lies They Tell Us

Jesus told us about the devil in John 8:44. In just a few words we find that the devil is a murderer and a liar. Those who live under the yoke of the prince of this world will behave as he does. The lies they tell us should come as no surprise to us. However, if the world constantly told us lies then we should have no trouble discerning truth. The lies are mixed in with facts, hidden in true stories, buried in red tape, camouflaged, obscured, and of course lied about.

Almost no one is fooled by one who lies constantly. His stories grow more outlandish with each telling and the likelihood of his facts become the stuff of bad fiction. A stranger in town may be taken in for a bit, but soon he too sees the constant liars game. What we are up against is far more difficult. Look at the temptations of Christ: the devil used scripture to tempt the Lord to sin. In much the same way, those who believe in Jesus will also face the temptation by scripture. We will hear the lies that sound good. Scripture will be quoted to us in ways that give the flesh excuse for behavior that is not like Christ. Our defense? Scripture.

What? The same words used to mislead us are also our best hope? Not quite. Jesus answered the devil with the Word, and so must we. However, where our Lord was tempted by the enemy to use the promise of God in a selfish and self-serving way, He answered with words that glorified God. It isn't that Jesus didn't need food for His body, He very much did after 40 days without any, but that He could not obey a command of the devil. Serving Himself by obeying the rebel enemy was the test Jesus faced in an extreme circumstance but our Lord did not fall. Serving herself in normal circumstances at the command of the enemy was what Eve faced, but she fell and brought Adam along with her. Eve needed food for her body too, but not from that tree in disobedience to God's command and not in obedience to the Serpent.

We face the same testing. Using God's word to serve ourselves at the command of the enemy may change a good scriptural promise into a bad sin. We must obey God above all, and sometimes that may mean skipping something that the enemy encourages or commands us to do. Seem confusing? Discernment or wisdom may well be one of the toughest Christian skills to master. Praise God we have the Master to help us.

Bucky

Listen, Hear the Sound of Suffering

One of the qualities of God we see much in the scriptures is His listening. James tells us that the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. As we know this cannot be from any power or effectiveness that we possess alone, it must therefore come from God's listening. Jesus appeared to speak quite a bit in the four gospels, but any of us could easily speak all the written words of Christ in a day or less. What He did much in the same gospels was to listen, and hear the words both spoken and unspoken all around Him. Think of all the prayers God must hear in a single day or even just one hour; yet, we are assured that all are heard by our Lord. That short, intense prayer for help comes quickly, but the Lord hears all of it and more!

We too, as disciples of our Lord Jesus must learn to listen and hear the voice of suffering around us. We don't always do it well, thinking perhaps that our talking is the way to the heart of those in need. The distractions and duties of a life in this world also work against our hearing the suffering all around us. And, there is of course our suffering too that takes up our attention as we pour out our distress to the Lord. What should remind us that others are hurting as we are does not always register with us even in prayer. Our duty of love is clear, listen! Hear the sound of suffering and lift up the sufferer to the Lord in prayer.

May God have mercy on this world,

Bucky

Vanquished By the Little Ones

What began as a dry spring turned in May to plentiful rain and a bit of snow. Now, we begin to reap the benefits including a veritable army of little flying creatures. Generally, these LFCs come in flavors, such as some seem to enjoy the shade while others are more sun oriented. These latest ones appear to simply like human wherever they can get it and their flavor is not exactly tasty or palatable. I don't know how many there are, but yesterday the consensus was simply: too many. As I pondered this, I realize that little sins can vanquish us even as we guard against the big ones. Furthermore, I probably have written a devotional very much like that at about the same time of the year, perhaps more than once. It may be that the little flying creatures bug me just too much!

We have an ambassadorship here on this earth. However, we also have this wonderful heavenly home that we have not seen. We long to be there, but our job is here. When something bugs us about here, we like to see in the prophets that it won't be there. Finding it in the Law wouldn't be so bad either. Something like: There shalt be-eth no annoying-ish little bugs in Heaven. Of course the Law and the prophets had more serious fare than addressing what bothers me or you at this time of the year.

Praise God our Lord Jesus came to cure a deeper need than our little irritations and annoyances. We have a savior who loves us so much that He died to cure our sin illness, now and forever.

Bucky

That Which Lies in Reach

The usual spring thunderstorms-in-the-night event arrived last night. Me and the cat both looked a little sleep deprived and spooked this morning. Last night, I thought on temptation. There are some temptations that are immediate and seemingly impossible to resist. I'm thinking of say an open sack of your or my favorite candies in the house. Your willpower may be powerful, a thing of beauty to behold, but I can tell you that in my house the remainder of that sack of candy is toast. As long as the temptation lies within reach, my willpower is a weak and sickly thing that fails in the test. On the other side of that is that ten million dollar mansion on the edge of town. We are probably good at resisting that because the 20% down payment is so far beyond our means that we laugh at any temptation to purchase that house. It's those temptations that lie within reach that get us.

When the devil tempted our Lord in the wilderness, it wasn't with wild and far out things. Jesus could certainly have turned those loaf-shaped stones into bread. The angels would have saved the Lord from a terrible fall at His command. And, the devil did gain the dominion over the world when Adam gave it up, and might have ceded rule of the kingdoms to Jesus (or he may well have been lying). All the temptations the devil threw out there were within our Lord's reach, but Jesus reached for none of them. He answered the temptation with scripture.

I can say with some certainty that there is a lesson in that for you and me.

Have a scriptural day in Christ!
Bucky

No Condemnation

"Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." (John 8:11)

One of our worst fears is realized here in this story. Caught in the very act of sin, the woman is hauled by the authorities before the public and then before God in the person of Jesus. Faced with certain death at the hands of the religious authorities, what more can she expect from the ultimate authority of the Law? But it ain't so! Jesus first gets rid of her accusers and then refuses to condemn. Fear of public shaming, a painful death, and eternal punishment - take your pick of the worst fears, but none happen! She is in a way given a new life, reborn by Christ Himself. Not a doom of pain forever, but an impossible command: go and sin no more.

We have no hope in ourselves of obeying that command. By faith, we know that Jesus would not send the woman away without sending His Holy Spirit, knowing also that He would pay for her sin by His blood, and having planned for the grace of God. 'Go and sin no more' is a provision where we see an impossibility. A new life given where condemnation sat before. The woman is not told to go back to her lover and continue in the same old life though. Where she faced the mob of accusers, now she faces her Lord and Savior. What will she do with this new life?

Some stories in God's word just bear repeating. Have a great June in Christ!

Bucky

The Valley I Must Cross

The first Friday morning of the skeeter spraying season arrives, and I think I could use a little caffeine in my joe this time. The urge to nap is strong with this one. Mmm, breakfast, that helps a lot. Now, what temptation do we face on this day? I may expect a time of peace and rest from God, but that enemy of ours does not hand out days off from his minions. And why should I expect a day off from temptation or trial when those are the things that test my faith to the glory of God the Father? A temptation exists that starts with, "If I had only..." That is, in looking back on a fork in the road of life, I would now be in the town of Blissville living on Easy Street if I had chosen the other way.

Well, we know that there is only one Way to the Father, and that way in life includes trials and tribulations. So, what sort of evil temptation makes us believe that going the other way back then would have resulted in anything but a trip down the road that leads to destruction? In this life, we will face the valley that must be crossed. The great king, David, had one and he wrote about it in his great psalm. We have one too, and James reminds us that the testing of our faith produces patience, one of the fruits of the Spirit that God will raise up in us. In fact, the brother of our Lord tells us that we are to count that valley we face as a joy. This happens just before he reminds us to ask for wisdom from the Lord.

The valley we face today may well appear frightening, difficult, and even insurmountable, but we do not cross it alone. The 'gardener' Mary Magdalene met one morning will see to it that His little branches are pruned and trimmed for the journey. The Spirit that Gardener gave to us will produce His fruit in us as we journey with Him.

Have a traveling day in the Lord!

Bucky

The Rock at the Bottom of the Sack

Surely I am more stupid than any man,
​​And do not have the understanding of a man. (Prov 30:2)

Wow, King Agur gives himself quite the smackdown to start his chapter in Solomon's proverbs. Most of us probably would not begin our message to the world with a declaration of how stupid we think we are. Who knows how long such written words might last? Almost 3,000 years now for King Agur, and counting. But then, perhaps the beginning of wisdom is to know that compared to God we are indeed stupid and without wisdom of any kind. Jesus told the great teacher of the Jews that he needed to be reborn. (John 3) A lifetime of education and practice in the Law, and Nicodemus faced starting over in the most profound way possible: rebirth!

King Agur left his words for us to read these many years later. He was smarter and wiser than many in this world, and he shows it by first humbling himself. Wiser still was Solomon who collected the words of King Agur through the wisdom God gave to him at the start of his reign. Of course, King Solomon was wise enough to ask for discernment, another word for wisdom, when he could have asked for long life, strength, wealth, or lots of territory. Therefore, showing God's provision in his life even before the big question was asked, Solomon gained great wisdom and all the other stuff too.

King Agur may have felt like the rock at the bottom of the sack, but God raised him up to a place in one of the books of the Bible. As both Solomon and Agur would tell us, God is the source of all wisdom. But, we must be reborn in Christ to reach the place where we can begin to receive God's wisdom. Jesus told the people to take the humblest place at the banquet so that the host might raise them up. Coming to Christ in repentance, we have taken that humble place, and we too will be raised up one day to be with our Lord Jesus.

Have a wise day in Christ!

Bucky

Outrageously Conservative

Sorry, but this is not a political posting, just an attempt at a clever title. Have you ever been tempted to do something a bit on the wild side? Perhaps you have reached that point in your life where the wearing of a striped tie with a plaid shirt is your definition of wild and crazy, or just plain stupid. Our definition of what constitutes extreme, wild, crazy, or stupid tends to narrow as we grow older. A male child does not know there are rules to fashion until he tries them out on Mom. Then he begins a personal rating system based on Mom's reaction. A shriek is well-selected clothing just about right for wearing to school; a low growl an ensemble that must be reconsidered. Later, the female child will test Dad in the same way during her teenage years, while the male child will have settled on a personal style seen by adults as disreputable.

Children must endure those years where it seems that everyone, and they do mean everyone, is trying to impose a will on them that does not suit. Government says school for x hours on y days; teachers give loads of homework, chores begin to weigh on freedom, local governments have more rules for behavior enforced through the police, and... parents often remind them that these are the best years of their little lives. Then, there is God, who, on Sunday and perhaps Wednesday and maybe a few other days has a will that trumps all. Hellfire and damnation await those who cross the Great One's will and worse, He makes them sit in church for an interminable part of every weekend. Yes, we remember fondly those years of selfish moaning over the perceived unfairness of it all.

Little did it occur to the young rebels that God wanted what was best even for the self-centered, and so did parents, teachers, governors, and pretty much everyone else. We, like the generations before us, generally learned the hard way that all those rules were for our own good. Usually our first good behavior began through fear of punishment. Later, as Jesus began to make a change in our heart, we found a desire to do good came from a will within that we didn't know was possible. Our apparel may have become outrageously conservative through training and a bit of trial and error, but the heart remained firmly rebellious until Jesus made that change.

Have a Christ-full day, and try not to get lost in those wavy years of the past. :-)

Bucky

Can You Make the Grade?

In the land of earned salvation:

The required IQ for gaining entry by intellectual capacity is always just a few points higher than yours.

The mark for physical strength is always 25lbs higher than you can press.

The amount a wealthy man must give is always $100 more than you earn in a year.

We often seek to enter Heaven by the door marked "Wage Earner". Yet, Jesus gave us this gift that we cannot purchase or earn. No one is smart enough, fast enough, or strong enough to batter down the doors of Heaven. We cannot donate enough loot to earn a one-way ticket on the Heaven Cruise. The final flight of Do-Gooder Airlines left the gate just moments before we got there, and no one we would recognize boarded that plane anyway. Earned salvation is a fantasy trip that we cannot imagine, a ten-year epic journey that we must complete in a day, or a mountain climbing expedition where we find that someone has stolen the mountain top just before we got the ropes and pitons purchased. In other words, you and I are disqualified before we even start.

Jesus gave to us a better way: Himself. That which cannot be earned, He earned for us. That which cannot be purchased, our Lord bought with His blood. That which we have no chance of grasping, Christ gives to us for the asking. Salvation, it's a wonderful gift of the Savior!

Bucky

A Debt of Gratitude

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln stood in a field near Gettysburg Pennsylvania and dedicated a new cemetery to "those who here gave their lives that this nation might live." All over this world stand many 'here's' where an American man or woman gave a life that we might enjoy our life in this nation under God. How we honor that sacrifice speaks to the spiritual condition of our nation. How do we begin to repay that debt of gratitude we owe these brave men and women of our Armed Forces?

On most days, we might complain about something or other that is not right in this nation. Today, let us set that aside that we might honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their friends, family, and fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. Today, we can remember. We may not have a list of names and dates. We may not be able to recall in this moment the name of a neighbor's son who died in Vietnam. The name of a relative who didn't return from Europe or the Pacific in WWII may escape us this morning. But, we can take time to remember that those men and women did serve and give their lives that we might have a bit more freedom in the nation we know as the United States of America.

In Christ,
Bucky

Life Like a Roller Coaster

Memorial Day weekend is upon us this evening. I hope that you have plans of some sort for enjoying a 3-day (or longer!) break from work. Someone out there may even have the privilege of riding a roller coaster this weekend. Okay, so maybe we are of an age where the excitement of a roller coaster is just a bit much to be called a privilege. Nevertheless, think back to that last time you rode the rails, so to speak, and recall what happened at the end. Yes, the coaster came back into the station. Our life is much like that. One life may be more like the so-called mother of all roller coasters with loops, spins, seriously high peaks and very low valleys, while another life may seem tame by comparison. Yet both coasters eventually come back into the station. One ride may be longer and another short, but both arrive back at the designed end of the line.

We have this assurance: God designed the life we are given to arrive back at the station too. We cannot see the end of the line on this roller-coaster ride, but we know that God has it perfectly in His control. There may yet be some exhilarating hills and breath-taking plunges, but we will arrive back safely with God at the place He has gone to prepare for us. What is interesting is that however tightly we hold on, the safety of the ride cannot depend upon human strength.

Without the safety already built in to the ride, today's machines would fling the strongest human right out into a serious fall. In the same way, God has designed each life to be dependent upon His strength and not our own. The exciting and exhilarating part is that none of us knows exactly where our ride ends. Yikes, trust in God!

Have a great weekend with Christ Jesus.

Bucky

Guard Against the Boo-hoo-hoo News

What a title to work with! Let's find a verse that has boo-hoo-hoo in it somewhere in the Bible. Well now, challenging the Bible may just prove to be my undoing. We know this one: And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4) No more crying, that sounds like some good news. We all have reason to cry in earnest as we look around at this world. However, you don't need me to constantly point out the reasons we weep. Too much of the boo-hoo-hoo news can feed depression, and we don't want that. Good news, that's what we are to bring!

Until the time of the Revelation though, avoiding the sad news may be quite difficult. Death, sorrow, and pain dominate the news both in the media and in our lives. It's a constant struggle to have nothing but the boo-hoo-hoo news to spread. Praise God we have the news of our Lord Jesus Christ! Some dreary days it seems that the good news of Jesus is the only news we have to share that isn't awful, terrible, or sorrowful. I suppose that is why we were commissioned to spread the glad tidings the angels announced at the birth of Christ.

Blessed be the name of our Lord!
Bucky

Unexpected Good News

So, I go to pay my gas bill for the month and it seems a bit high, but I pay up. To my surprise, the balance gets even higher. Who puts the minus sign behind the number anyway? What I belatedly figured out was that the gas company dumped my security deposit from almost 3 years ago back into my balance this month. I was trying to pay a negative balance. Those of us fighting from the trenches of poverty for the past few years need a little warning before good news is sprung on us like that. Unexpected good news goes against the grain of the poor mind set the world has carved in some of us during these years of the recession-depression, or maybe it's depression from the recession.

I wonder how many people weather-beaten and raw from the years of this Great Recession have been told the good news of Jesus Christ in a way that catches them off guard? Suppose a family has lost their means of earning a living in these past few years, suffered the loss of their home, perhaps a car or two, and faced months of scraping by while friends and relatives helped as best they were able, and had no hope in Christ, as we do. Suddenly, with the years of toil and frustration weighting them down, you spring something like, "So, ya wanna have eternal life?" on them. I wouldn't be surprised to see them run screaming from the room, probably a rented room at that. Maybe we should have told them a bit more about that eternal life first?

Before a suffering sinner assumes we are torturing them with an eternity that is just more of what they have experienced here in this shadow land, we might want to tell a few words about what God has in store for us in the hereafter. Check out the words of promise at the end of the Revelation, or in Isaiah concerning God's holy mountain. We know some of those promises already. Tread the road with love and make sure the good news we speak is good news.

Here's some good news for all of us: Jesus Loves You!

Bucky

Like a Death in the Family

Phoo, what a dream! I really thought that stuff behind me for good. I read somewhere that losing a long-held job was for men like suffering a death in the family. As many women have wished for and achieved equality with men in the workplace, one must assume the same now holds true for them as well. As Christians though, do we not get a pass on at least some of the tragedy of the world? I think we already know the answer to that one. As our Lord suffered at the hands of the world so will His followers. Like Job, we may seem to lose all in the calamities of the world. We may be stripped down to that one remaining thing - God's unfailing love.

Job had it as he sat in the ashes with his friends turned on him. Jesus had it on the cross where those who yet loved Him could do nothing to help. Paul had it even as he drug Christ-ones from their homes in chains. And we have God's unfailing love on us, with us, in us, and all around us even in what we suffer today and what we suffered yesterday. That same apostle who once persecuted the church with all his time and ability became convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing: that is a big word when we consider all the methods the world can use to hurt us emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

The suffering from the past may indeed attack us late one night when we think it conquered for good and ever. The prince of this world does like to dredge up some of that suffering from our past and fling it on us like a foul muck as we rest in the night. What we must do then is to remember the love of God in Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate us from God's love.

Amen, come Lord Jesus!

Bucky

A Little Restoration From the Great 23rd

And just like that, the weekend is over and a Monday beckons to us with all its inexplicable demands for attention and retribution of the...writer is going right off the deep end there, someone please stop him right quick! Monday is not that bad when we have so many blessings from our Father in Heaven to count. It's 6:00 am and we are awake (mostly) and up doing(sort of) our morning routine prior to arriving at work ready to go(well almost). A Monday morning may seem to us like a good time for some restoration. A little verse from the great 23rd psalm comes to mind this morning.

He restores my soul;
​​He leads me in the paths of righteousness
​​For His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3)

I have come to understand the 23rd psalm as more of a daily thing than a one time blessing. This does not make me some newly-arrived flaming genius, all of the Bible is good for our restoration and education on a daily, even a moment-by-moment basis. Jeremiah told us of God's mercies new every morning; Paul wrote Timothy that all scripture is made for our benefit. David probably pondered his 23rd psalm often during days of trouble and perhaps a bit more often when times were good.

Restoration and leading along those paths of righteousness are a constant need in me. I'm glad my Lord Jesus is so good at His job! Have a great day at yours too.

Bucky

Cats Don't Point Well

The owner of a pointing breed of the canine family knows that a good pointer goes on point even before the training starts. The pup that naturally points to the pheasant in the bush will train well and often more easily than the 'dumb pooch' that must be trained harder and more often. Cat owners on the other hand know that cats seem to deliberately look the other way whenever something is pointed out to the feline. Both dogs or cats can make good pets, it's just that cats don't point well in general, to put an understatement as mildly as possible. Those Christians who like to organize things within a church have often found brothers and sisters in Christ who are of the same persuasion. It isn't that we love Jesus less, it's just that we don't always point well.

God gave to His church a stunning variety of Christians. Not one of us has achieved the ideal Jesus set down for us in His Word. However, most every Christ-one will at one time or another come to the conclusion that a brother or sister in Christ meets that ideal a good deal less than we would like. Do we presume to judge? Yes, I think that most of us have at some point judged a fellow Christian and found him or her wanting according to the standard we presume is best for the Lord's church. Sadly, if we were to see all the standards we judge by in our presumption, we might be rather appalled at ourselves.

Jesus had an entrance exam that is just a bit different from the world's usual method: "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." ( John 6:37) Those of us who cannot toe the line, make the grade, or just plain don't point well base our eternal hope on the words of the Lord's Christ.

Have a wonderful weekend in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Salvation, It's a Given Thing

In this world we will have much work, *but* there is something that we cannot work for. When I am tempted to talk work, work, work all the time, I strive to remember that thing for which I cannot achieve, labor, toil, or work. It cannot be listed on my resume, because I did not accomplish it. This thing is given to me, therefore I cannot boast of it as of something I did. Truly it is the greatest of things to strive for and many do so in religious systems. However, a gift that can be earned is no gift at all but a wage. Salvation, it's a given thing.

When the list of 'I gotta do's' threatens to overwhelm me, I recall the grace of God in our given salvation. Since there is no earning, there is no need to list it on that list. With blessed assurance, rest comes in salvation while other things may be yet undone in the physical world. In our world, when one task is marked as finished, another awaits or arrives with breathless anticipation. Our work here is never done. Yet, long ago, well before our birth on the globe, a Man stood on the cross and proclaimed the work of salvation finished. Then, He died. Not only is salvation finished by the Son, none can pitch in to add their help because He died. Ever tried to help a dead person, it just can't be done.

Jesus rose again from the grave; not to give us a chance to help out with our salvation, but to commission us to spread the good news of what He accomplished. Praise God, salvation is not a work thing - it's a given thing.

Have a receptive day in Christ!

Bucky

And God Parted the Red Sea

Yes, God did His part of that great work in the crossing of the Rea Sea, but do we recall that the Israelites still walked with their burdens? Sometimes I think we forget that part, not to take away God's glory but rather to avoid our work. I have found myself in that same mode of living, and it may take a lot to get one out of it. There are those times when we need help, and there are those other times when we are capable of doing our part along with God's great work. God provides a boat, a sea, and a wind for the sail, but you and me may need to grab the pulling end of an oar too.

This may be the fallout from certain ministries going on in our world today. Have faith, God will provide as long as you don't doubt. That seems to sum up the message I have heard over the years from the 90's on into, well, the time a couple of years back when I left TV behind. The problem is that forgotten message of doing. Not that we can do anything without our Lord Jesus, but that we have work to do along with His mighty hands. We should recall that God could have provided the Israelites of that long ago sea crossing with a set of moving sands to hustle them across the dry bottom of the Red Sea, or even a fleet of carts drawn by mighty unicorns, but He didn't - they walked all the way across with the armies of Pharaoh hard on their heels. God provided a promised land flowing with milk and honey, but the Israelites had a mission to conquer the land even as the Lord drove out the peoples before them. Why not provide an empty promised land for the taking? Well, if we want the answer to that, we know who to ask in prayer.

What a privilege to work with God. Our little hands and His mighty hands. Our small, almost insignificant effort alongside the mighty works of our Lord. We may seem to offer but a few loaves and two tiny fishes, yet Jesus feeds the multitude. God's awesome majesty...and me and you. That may cause indignation, a laugh, or just a bit of stunned silence, but we need to get past that sometime. God in His Holy Spirit and His people are working together to build His kingdom. God does His great miracles, but we still need to keep the hands busy and do the walkin'.

Have a productive day in Christ Jesus,

Bucky

Just a Random Verse

The Bible holds verses that draw our interest like a treasure chest sitting on the front porch of an abandoned mansion. How did it get there? What is the story behind it? Eh? Are you crazy? Look inside for the treasure! Go explore the mansion, maybe there's more! This morning I did a word search on 'random' in the New King James version and found one verse in all the Bible that has 'random' in it.

Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” (1 Kings 22:34)

The verse does not even say on which side this archer stood on the day of battle. Was it friendly fire; a man simply testing his bow before the enemy drew close? Was it a shot from the enemy thinking he was out of range and hoping to hit nothing at all? Like the smaller part of an iceberg though, there is a great story behind this verse. God and His angels and spirits are involved. Another of those lonely prophets takes a stand for God against many false prophets. The king is none other than Ahab, the Israelite king who had a certain evil wife. Elijah does not come into this story directly, but at about the time he is giving in to self-pity in the desert and telling the Lord he is the only faithful one left, this other prophet of the Lord, Micaiah, stands against many false prophets where Elijah had stood and takes a slap that is much like the story of Christ centuries later.

The false prophet that smites Micaiah wore a pair of iron horns he fashioned to deceive the king. Get that image in your mind as you read the story of Micaiah's prophecy of what will happen to the slapper when the enemy overruns his house. The inner chamber spoken of the in NKJV sounds remarkably like "You'll know when you hide in your toilet!"

God's actions, His almighty knowledge, His servants, a faithful prophet, an evil king, humor, a moral to the story, an amazing and unlikely bowshot, and much more from a simple word search in God's Word using modern technology. What a great age we live in! How great is God's Word!

Bucky

Striketh Thou Not The Son of Man

May weather should make a return this day, much to our relief. We know that by the age of 12 Jesus knew His Father and His mission. What about those brothers and sisters though? Did they defer to Jesus the elder brother as the Son of God? Imagine the younger ones following along as Jesus and Joseph make their way to work. A freshly plowed field holds the dirt clods that kids love to throw. Jesus turns with royal majesty and says to His brothers, "Striketh thou not the Son of Man, little children." Joseph groans a little, "Enough with the King's English, Son."

Alright, we know the Bible contains no such story (and the KJV-style language came along just a bit later). However, I have trouble thinking of how it must have been growing up with the Christ, the Son of God. And if I have trouble, imagine how difficult is must be for my sisters to imagine a sinless, gentle, good, kind, and never ever ever make a mistake with Scripture brother like Jesus. We have a tough time with that because we grew up with a bunch of imperfect parents, teachers, siblings, and everyone else in this life. In our youth, we even got biblical in the description: there was none who was perfect, no not one. Yet, the siblings and parents of Jesus enjoyed a few years growing with the perfect Son of God. Peter probably gives us the most insight into that relationship.

Our beloved first disciple at times gave our Lord some backtalk. Other times he didn't understand what the Lord said. Then, there was that time when Peter told the Lord He couldn't and earned a tough reaction. However, Peter also saw miracles, walked on water, and enjoyed a revealing look at Christ in His glory. Because of who Jesus is, the relationships with those He grew up with probably wasn't as tough as we might imagine. Our relationship today need not be overly formal or tough. After all, He knows our every thought already, what have we to hide behind a façade of formality?

Amen, come dear Jesus!

Bucky

Not On My Road Today

One of the colder weekends in May that I can remember. I have my yellow hat on this morning, the furnace is going, and it feels much like that winter thing we just put in the past (at least we thought it was in the past). In our favor today, the clouds have blown away and the rain/snow have stopped. Tomorrow, the temp is supposed to be right back up to springtime levels. Tomorrow, though, is not on my road for today. Flood warnings are up again for us, but not until Thursday now, and Thursday is not on my road for today.

I enjoy the phrase 'foreseeable future' when it comes up in books and such. What is that and what does it mean for me? Nothing, of course! My anxious worries of the night have little or nothing to do with the road I must walk today. What I think I can foresee is likely a lie from the tempter's minions. The great apostle told us that we see as in a poor looking glass. I have expectations for the next few minutes, but so many things can change in that much time that I have no guarantees in my foreseeing. Trust and faith in God is where my road lies today.

Whatever may come or not come, Jesus walks with us today.

Bucky

Authority For Good News

A search on 'authority' in the Bible will produce results from Genesis 39 all the way to Revelation 18. At the first it occurs with the word 'under' most every time, but after that things begin to go a bit off track, until Jesus comes and then there is quite a bit about giving. We do have a question of authority in this world, but what is it really? Authority: the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. A definition helps, but I see an 'or' in there. What about God who has power AND right? So, we're dealing with a more worldly definition when 'or' is included, I will assume. There is this verse from the Proverbs:

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; ​​But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.(29:2)

We tend to say, that if we have a righteous leader then things are just fine. However, our Constitution begins with "We the People..." So what happens when the people no longer have authority from God because of unbelief? Hmm, could be that we would have a government that is too big, perhaps seeking authority from overwhelming size; a divided and ineffective Congress because the voting people are themselves divided and uncertain; and perhaps a president trying to rule by executive order because he has no real authority from a divided people. We could go on about 5-4 Supreme Court decisions, boatloads of federal rules that no one can hope to know much less obey at all times, and government bureaucracies going 'off the reservation' in a manner of speaking.

According to the apostle, all authority comes from God (Rom 13:1); so, if we the people have lost our authority to unbelief, where does the authority go? Probably just what we see, agencies and governments grabbing for authority, leaders taking too much or too little authority, very close votes in elections and the houses of government, and a sort of wholesale mess in the courts, Yes, pretty much what we have going on all the time these days. Perhaps, if We the People will return to God, we can get some of that 2 Chronicles 7:14 action going: If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Bucky

Motion and Commotion

Good rainy morning, once more, and praise the Lord for that rain! It seems that our weather pattern involves moisture these days, but what is this about snow this weekend?! I guess that the time has not yet come to move my onion and garlic outside. What is going on in the world today? Motion and commotion all around the globe, at least according to my news sources. Your news probably looks much the same as mine. Today, I took a search on the Blue Letter Bible site for 'commotion', and found three verses in the NKJV. This one seemed a good one to yank out of context and read as a stand alone verse.

And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way. (Acts 19:23)

What do we know about this? The Way is of course our Lord Jesus and those who follow Him. A great commotion about this is valuable so that people hear about the Word and want to know more. Amongst all the motion and commotion of the world, it helps to have something that gains their attention. And it's working! Around the world there is perhaps no more recognized name than that of Jesus even if many will not believe in Him. Many even hate the name of Christ and Christian, but they do know the name. Reading the context of our verse for the day reveals a riot caused by a man losing his means of living to those who were bringing the good news of Jesus. Not that Paul and the other apostles wanted to take food from the man's family, but making a living by crafting idols must give way to the Way when people come to believe in Christ. The silversmith came to know the name, and he didn't like it.

Like Paul, we prefer not to cause a riot or a commotion, but we also know that it may happen someday. The world will choose sides as the end draws near. On one side is Jesus.

Have a great spring day in Christ!

Bucky

If All My Works Pointed To Me

Good morning on this day called the sixth of May! Wow, that is so lame. If all my works pointed to me, that would indeed be the bottom of the lameness curve. If all my works pointed to me, I would have lived a life the world might call well lived. However, Jesus once said, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matt 16:26) Indeed, if at the end of my life all of my works do but point to me, then I will have failed and fallen. My life would but end where so many have stopped, under a rock and forgotten. A clever epitaph on a grey stone might be my only hope for posterity, if, all of my works point only to me.

Praise God, we have a greater hope than that depressing outcome. We live in Christ and all of our works do not point just to the self. If we are forgotten in this world after this life ends, Jesus will never forget us. We may receive no recognition for our works here, but in the great and glorious hereafter we will live with our Lord Jesus in His glory. Our goal and purpose in this life becomes to point our work to our Lord and Savior. Our hope rests in Christ, our reward to be with Him eternally.

If all my works did but point to me, what a wasted life this would be. The glory of God in the works of His Son is the way for you and me!

Bucky

Some Tough Lessons

Why do we take on the tough lessons at a 0630 Bible study? Wouldn't a 9:00 am start be better for digging deep into the more difficult passages in the Word? Today, we ran straight into a statement that caused many disciples to leave Jesus. You will recall the one from near the end of John chapter 6 where Jesus tells His disciples that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood for eternal life. Whoa, that would be a bit off putting for most anyone except for a few vampires and cannibals. Perhaps the amazing thing about this incident in our Lord's ministry is not the disciples who left, but the twelve who stayed.

Jesus asked the twelve if they too would leave, but Peter comes up with one of his golden responses. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68). We like it when Peter comes through in the clutch. We like it because Peter didn't always say or do the right thing, and we can identify with that. For all those that left Him at this time, Jesus left neither Peter nor the others who remained steadfast in the tough lessons. So, I guess 0630 is not such a bad time for a tough lesson: Jesus won't leave us now either.

Bucky

Time In The Wilderness

Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. (Joshua 1:6)

We know from our Bible study that after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in a mighty miracle of God they often turned back toward Egypt in their grumbling. God promised a paradise on Earth if they could just be faithful through a short time in the wilderness. A bit later, when faced with having to earn paradise, they balked and ended up serving another 40 years walking that same wilderness. Finally, after much adventure, Israel is poised to enter the promised land. Ah, ha! we say, there's no way I would be like them!

No way? Did you never lose a job and then try to go back there in thought or deed? Never once yearn back to the good times of high school or college or whenever? Every day in that circumstance back in the day was one of unquenchable good times and bliss? Did the married fellow never once speak of how good the single years were to him? Is a house from your past calling out to you to move back in and things will be just wonderful again? Yes, we get confused about which way progress lies in life.

Every person who comes to believe in Christ will endure a time in the wilderness, probably more than one. To reach a promised land we must endure some tough testing. The promise is hard to see, the reality is tough to bear, and the past begins to take on the shine of forgotten pain. We marvel that the Israelites yearned to go back to slavery and persecution, yet we do the same in our nostalgia from time to time. So, God gives Joshua some encouragement as the leader of Israel stands on the border of the promised land. Be strong and of good courage, and remember the promise of God!

We have that same encouragement today.

Bucky

Wrongful Thought Acid

Whoa, yard sale season begins today all over the plains. We have two or three even in our little town. Okay, so the title might be a bit obscure this morning. Maybe you even thought something like, "Yow, he's gone loopy, must be older today." Well, yes, I am that. The funny thing is that I don't feel any loopier than yesterday. Ah well, gotta soldier on in the army of Christ.

Leave a battery too long in a device and it is most likely that an acid leak will in time destroy that device. This occurs to me this morning because I found just such a device last night. I couldn't help but think of those thoughts that do much the same thing. If a wrongful thought enters the mind - and we have so much help in this world with thinking those sorts of thoughts in the first place - we are to resist and reject the thought with all our might, and then call upon the might of our Lord in prayer. However, we don't always accomplish this little sequence of mind cleansing.

One time the thought is attractive to us and we want to entertain the fantasy for a while. We must remember that the wages sin pays out are deadly to us. Another time the thought may not be attractive, but the tempter wants us to dwell on it for a while until we fall into fear. The Bible tells us that resisting the devil will cause him to flee from us. Using the name of Jesus is resistance of the good kind too. We also have an affliction common in our land in these dark times: the thoughts that remain and return from some trauma. The incident(s) may have been emotional, physical, financial, spiritual, or some combination of all of the above. Those thoughts sink in deeply and we need help before that wrongful thought acid eats us away. Fortunately, Jesus is just the help we need; and He comes with our brothers and sisters in Christ, Christian counselors, His Holy Spirit, and maybe even a Christian writer or two to help out.

Indeed, in all things we have more help than the enemy would have us recall in a time of difficulty.

In the name of Christ Jesus!
Bucky

Are Your Maydays Answered?

Happy May Day! The title question probably has an obvious answer for all of us. With funerals still happening and hospitals doing a brisk business, we must say that, no, not every mayday is answered with the answer we expect. If we compare God's plan to an ocean, then we are like the little seals swimming over the surface. We can dive down a bit, but as for exploring the gigantic depths of God's plan we are hopelessly thin on understanding. God's word explains it all to us; but even with that primer, we are lost in the great depths of His plan for the ages.

If we ask God about the Revelation, I think that He would tell us it means exactly what He said. Yet, as large as that vision of John is to us, there are many more prophetic visions of the end times in the Bible. We cannot understand most of them and still we ask that our prayers, those maydays mentioned earlier, be answered in the way we expect. Trust, a tough word to bear at times, tells us that somewhere in God's plan sits the answer we are given.

Some of us suffer more, and others less. Some live a long life, and others a brief time that passes quickly. Some are rich and others destitute, and during a life they may switch places more than once. Some live through times of war, while others live out their lives in peacetime. All are part of God's great plan for this Creation. Yet, when the maydays go up, we often expect God to answer only with the answer we expect from Him. One reading of the gospels should convince us that Jesus didn't come to do what everyone expected. As our Lord said, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matt 6:10)

So, maybe a mayday wasn't answered as we expected. Dear Lord, Your will be done!

Bucky

Feeling Your Pain

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." (John 15:1) Jesus gave us the truth about our connected nature in this statement. Each of us is a branch of the true vine. When God prunes a branch, Jesus knows it and feels that pruning. We cannot stand alone, for a branch dries up and withers without this connection. Jesus does not want us to separate in any case even though He must feel every pain and heartache coming down the vine from all those branches. Jesus makes a point in the next verse of the pruning His Father does. You or I may feel alone during a pruning and the devil may tempt us to think that is the case, but nothing could be further from the truth; we are connected firmly to the Truth.

Branches upon branches, all crying out to and receiving the true light of grace from the Vine. As we think on the number of branches attached to the True Vine, we are staggered by the mighty cares and responsibility of our Lord. Millions, perhaps billions of branches all dependent on the Vine. But it is not our place to worry over the cares of our Lord; He is more than capable and mighty to save. We also should know that it is not just fears, worries, pain, and sorrow that flows to our Vine. Jesus also knows the good deeds, our lovingkindnesses, and sacrifices we make for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yes, at first we think of all the bad stuff the Vine must endure with us, but there are better thoughts to know.

Recall your wedding day and those good feelings - the Vine was there with you. That triumph at work, the passing of a test, and the good news that came in the mail - all moments we shared with our True Vine. Jesus is the Good News, but we also have good news to share with our Lord. When we enter into prayer this day, maybe it doesn't have to be a list of the woes of the world this time. I'm sure Jesus likes to hear our good news too!

Bucky

The Need On Our Side

The weather forecast for the next few days appears to say 'Spring!' for us. Whoops, went away there for a bit. I noticed a bit of e-mail contact housecleaning that needed my attention. Yes, the devotional should come first just as Jesus must come first in all things in my life! Even when taking out the trash, Jesus must have the place of preeminent honor in my daily walk. How does my Lord and my chores come together in the same thought? Isn't it disrespectful to mention the One who died for my sins and.. uh, the waste products of my worldly life in one sentence? You can decide that for yourself. The thought for today is our need for the Holy Spirit.

We have little hope of speaking or writing the righteous thoughts or performing the loving actions without the strength and guidance of our dearest Counselor, the Holy Spirit. I am too easily distracted even during a personal Bible study. Prayer easily slides off the rails as we kneel down and think of one thing and then another. In a quiet moment of meditation our thoughts of God veer unaccountably into the mundane thorns of our daily life. The need on our side for God's guiding Spirit is great. Praise God that Jesus promised to send us another Counselor, who does guide our thoughts and makes intercession for our prayers. Just like Jesus is our salvation, so His dear Holy Spirit is our sanctification, and intercession, and guidance, and encouragement, and the promise of God's eternal love.

There now, have a better day on your side!

Bucky

You Came For The Food

The pot luck at the church features food. A meeting for prayer at the restaurant involves food. We meet at the home of a church family and food is brought out. So, Jesus feeds the five thousand and a great miracle is enjoyed by all. He crosses the Sea of Galilee on foot one night, and the crowds follow the next day by boat. When they ask, "Rabbi, when did you come over here?" Jesus says, in the modern vernacular, "Y'all just came for the food!" Well, yeah, food is a big part of our lives. We cook and enjoy; eat and enjoy even more. Food is a big deal for us. So, continuing in John 6, Jesus uses this to teach about what is really important.

In the first of His wonderful 'I Am' statements, Jesus says, "I Am the bread of life." Not the bread that satisfies the stomach for just a little while, or even the bread necessary to sustain our earthly life for a few more days, but the bread of life. As in eternal life, something unending and forevermore, brought to us by Jesus in Himself. We came for the food, but received something much more. Like the woman at the well, we wanted a magical food and drink that relieved us of a daily chore, but Jesus brought us something good for eternity. Praise God for seeing the need we really have.

In Christ,
Bucky

The Godly Stamp of Approval

When taking stock of the sin in a life, we may be tempted to just give up trying to be like Jesus. But did you know that we are mentioned in a prophecy? In Revelation 7:9, John tells of a time when he saw a multitude in Heaven too great to count. The prophecy is: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands..." That's you and me in that crowd. Sure, we say we don't belong there just yet, but whose word will be fulfilled in that prophecy, ours or God's? I'm quite sure that John in that glorious moment looking on those God saved through His Son did not care what we might have to say about our condition, but marveled at what Jesus the Lord revealed to him about the end.

You and me will never satisfy God's standard as stated in His Law in our own strength and ability. Our Godly stamp of approval is Jesus Christ. Another prophecy in the Revelation speaks of the sealing of God's own. Indeed, as we strive to attain some imaginary level of approval, hoping to salve a smarting conscience perhaps, God has already stamped us approved through His Son Jesus Christ. Our journey may have days or years or even decades to go on this earth, but Jesus has already won us at the cross. In the next verse, John bears witness to the witness of that great multitude: "...and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Of course it does: best we remember that today!

Have a great new week in Christ's service,

Bucky

That's It, Time's Up!

“For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” Gen. 7:4 NKJV

On a nice spring day here on the high plains, I bring up one of the more chilling verses in the Bible. Jesus, speaking to His followers on Olivet, told how in the last days life would be going like it was when Noah entered the ark and shut the door. Here we have Noah getting word of the final countdown, the one week remaining to him to enjoy life as it was from the beginning of his years. One week. Think about that one for a bit. What would you or I do with seven more days before the end of all things as we have known them up to this day?

Our promise of the coming day of the Lord speaks of similar destruction, but we have one great advantage over Noah and his little family. We get to go together should the Rapture come this next week. Noah had his family and a bunch of animals, and one week before God rained down destruction on the Earth. I wonder if Noah even had anyone to say 'so long' to after the years of scoffing and bad jokes at his expense? Did Noah love his neighbors and feel sorrow over their coming end? It would not surprise us even in this age of scoffing to know that much of the first weeks on the floating ark were filled with grief. We can only speculate.

Of course, Noah may have had his warning, but that doesn't mean he wasn't busy for that final 7 days. Animals in our day are not the most cooperative when trying to herd them onto a boat, even if it is to save their lives. Noah may well have collapsed exhausted behind the shut door of the ark just as the first drops began to fall. We too will have work to do up to that final day, and since no man knows the day of our Lord's return, we also get no last week warning. However, we do have our faith in Christ and the strength to endure to the end.

Have a great Saturday!
Bucky

What Part Am I?

So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. - Jeremiah 27:7

Given this verse this morning without context, one might at first think of a prophecy of Jesus until we get to that second part. Wait, our Lord can never be forced to serve another king! Exactly. The context of this prophecy refers to Nebuchadnezzar. We can know this for a certainty because in verse 6 the man is specified by name. Before Daniel arrived in the court, the Spirit of God sent the king a dream many times. Then, Daniel received the interpretation of this dream from the Lord. Separated by some time and distance, Jeremiah the prophet also received the words about Nebuchadnezzar. So, what part do you and me play in the kingdom?

We once thought it good to be a part of the 1%, maybe this is our chance. Then again, when it comes to the work God began long before our birth, our human weaknesses, and how easily the lost sheep wander out of the fold, maybe we are a part of the 1% of 1%. Building a welcoming church building, holding a Bible study, greeting people as they come to our town or state, or any of the other work we do in the kingdom may be just 1% of the work of God, or a whole lot less than that. Yet, after the work of salvation, which is all on God's Son, we do have a part and God would not have us slack off on the performance.

It is interesting to note that by the time of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, God had been at work for quite some time in this project. Indeed, by the time those of us who will read this devotional came upon the scene and believed in the Lord Jesus, God had been at work for many a century. Nations rose and fell and His command, but still there is a part for you and me to play in building the kingdom of God. Let us play that part with prayer and faith in our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

A Welcoming Place

A couple of people were talking within my hearing yesterday, so I thought that holding their conversation up for public ridicule in the devotional would be the ticket for today. Actually, they just gave me an idea for a subject. A new store opened near our town; it seems there is a problem with the feel of the store for one, and the design, layout, or appearance of the entrance for the second. As a person who developed the PTSD, I can relate to this sort of thing. I have been to places where the ambiance, atmosphere, appearance, architecture or something just didn't sit right with me and all those 'a' words caused another one in me: anxiety. The bottom line for a retail operation is sure to be affected by poor design of an entrance. People must feel welcomed by the entrance first and the remainder of the store as well. What does this mean for us as we help to build Christ's kingdom?

We may easily think that nothing of these things has any bearing on the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit will move those who will believe to come to any ol' church and that our job is to study the Word of God. I'm not so sure that will work for us. God didn't save us through the sacrifice of His Son so that we might check our brain at the door and wander into the church building with an empty head. If our meeting place is not welcoming, the unbeliever has but one more reason never to enter. Of course, the church building is but one example. We must make our Bible study place welcoming, our homes welcoming, and even our personal appearance welcoming to make that contact when the seekers come seeking the Lord.

Now, the specifics of how to do that... Well, that's a subject way too big for this morning or perhaps even for an entire day. As in all challenges in the Christian walk, prayer comes first. Take it to God in prayer.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Bucky

Let Faith Speak! And Praise the Name of Jesus

It is a fine morning when we awaken without doubts in our minds over Jesus and His salvation. We know that everyday should be that day, but faith seems more destination than dispensation to us today. Faith may appear as that complex exercise that only the truly accomplished Christian can attain and perform. If our doubts cannot send faith reeling this day, then a few rounds with our shame and guilt will do the poor little fighter in for good and all. Yet, faith, that most enduring of qualities comes back stronger and faster. We don't know for sure how this happens, but our faith is not the lightweight and unskilled recruit that showed up that day so long ago. Our faith may not yet be the mighty warrior stepping forth to battle doubt in the fullness of Christ-like power, but it is not what it once was before the many hardships came that first cast doubt upon the salvation we received from Christ the Lord.

We have the promise that Christ will complete the work He began in us. We have a little faith in the beginning that may be quite bold and loud. We have more faith as we endure many a trial in this land of sorrows. God is not slack concerning His promises and though it may appear slow and troubled in growth that faith we have in Christ works out daily and grows stronger, more powerful, and more firmly standing on the rock of our redemption. Fear not, let faith speak and praise the name of Jesus! Little Faith has grown up some since we last looked at what Christ has done in us.

Amen, thank you Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Good Tidings

What are tidings anyway? Taken out of its context, the title seems a bit odd. We don't seem to do tidings anymore, good, glad, or otherwise. The definition is one we know from many readings of that passage in Luke 2, it is simply news or information. But in Luke 2, the angel brings good tidings of great joy. You might say that the angel brought the gospel. There's more to come! The angel also brought one of those great messages we need: Fear not. We need to hear that message of fear not or don't be afraid often, because we are so often afraid. Then there is the combination: "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy..." Not only do we not fear, but we are to behold the good news that is to come. And, just in case a shepherd or two may have entertained thoughts that we frequently have in this age of mental distress, such as, "Oh that message must not be for me, I never get any good news!" The angel says the good tidings are for all people.

Unless you can somehow exclude yourself from the group of all people, you and I must accept that we have this good news to receive and rejoice over. Why then so much difficulty in the world? Anyone can of course fail to believe the message and the messenger. We always have that choice, and much evil follows that unbelief. The shepherds of long ago believed and thus we have that great message of Luke 2:10: "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.' " How wonderful it is to receive good news on a Monday morning! The angel did not leave the shepherds at that though. The good news was not simply an announcement of good news but the news itself. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)

And that is better news for a Monday!

Bucky

That Old Hymn

A few of us left on the earth can remember the old hymns sung in church before the turn of the century. Back in my day, I liked the hymns played at a faster tempo. Now that I'm a bit older...I still like the faster ones, I just can't keep up as I used to do. I may need a few more decades before I'm found singing the first verse while everyone else is already on the second, but such things are no longer out of the realm of the possible. What I may have scoffed at back in the days of youth, I understand better as my questions about the old folks got answered by experience one or two at a time. As each birthday passes, those strange creatures known as adults become more understandable to me. Of course I'll never quite catch up, because as Bernard Baruch once said, "To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am."

However, like it or not, at some point I did as Paul said and put away the childish things (well, mostly) and thought as a man. Strangely, at some other unknown point I began growing back toward that childhood thing. The great thing in this is that our Lord promised to never leave us or forsake us. Whether I find myself old in years and young at heart, Christ will be with me. If I find myself middle-aged in years but old at heart, Jesus is there. When I was young in years and ignorant of the older things, Jesus led me through that time too. During all those many years, that old hymn played in my heart even when I wasn't paying attention. Which old hymn? Your choice is as good as mine. Enjoy whichever old hymn seems to suit your occasion or circumstance for today.

Have a great day in Christ!

Bucky

Who We Need

Two people meet in a saloon back in the Old West. To them it isn't 'old' anything just the West or perhaps 'home', but that's beside the point. As is common in such meetings they begin swapping stories. In this case, the stories are about how bad he or she had it during that one year. The other one strives to top the story with another tale of woe from his or her past. We can tell from our view through that digital broadcast-quality camera all the old time saloons seemed to have that much suffering has happened in both lives.The question is of course who is going to help these poor unfortunates.

We do the same thing and who we need now is the same as the One they needed back in the day. We need Jesus. We need Him because our first tendency is to look to the self and what he or she has to offer to fix the situation. Usually that inventory comes up woefully short of a solution, and then we look to that other person who, as it turns out, has equal or greater woes of his/her own. We all want to be that super-wonder man or woman who has not only the solutions for his or her problems in this life, but also the solutions for our friends, relatives, politicians, government leaders and the fellow we just met on the street. The times we can help another person are a great privilege, but the One we must give credit for that ability is the same One we need in our times of trouble.

In all times, good or bad, we need the One who saves, Jesus our Lord.

Bucky

When It Comes to Devotion, It's You Lord!

In the devotional for a day, many things, events, and subjects may come from my experience, a quick reading of a Bible verse, or even something I see in another e-mail message. However, when it comes to the writing of a devotional, it is God, His precious Holy Spirit, and His Son Jesus Christ who make up the object of our devotion. We want to see the Triune God in His holiness, in His almighty ways, His provision, and especially His great love for us.

As faith takes hold of lives given to Christ, we want to hear what the Lord did in the beginning. Facing the end times, we want to hear what God will do and of His great renewal of the earth and heavens. We like to read in the Word, both our favorite stories and those that instruct us in the mistakes and sins that people much like us made back in their day. God's perfect law becomes less a whip to drive us and more of a standard that one day God will create in us. We look forward to the completion of God's work and His Revelation. We most definitely long for the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

As our devotion to God grows, so grows our devotion to each other. And thus we learn and grow into those two great commandments Jesus gave to all.

Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

Bucky