A Cage Made Of Rules

But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13:14

The Sabbath was a great day for healing by our Lord, but some clung to their book of rules. They clung so tightly to them that they could not see what (or who!) was before them.

Like money, rules can be useful to us. When listed in a checklist, a set of rules can help us to see an operation through to a successful conclusion. When followed in training, rules can keep us safe and ease the learning process. Experiencing a catastrophic failure in a system, as some of us have found out, is a tough way to learn a 'don't do that'. However, also like money, rules can be a way to build a cage around ourselves such that we cannot see the Savior.

The ruler growled a rule at the poor woman healed of an infirmity she bore for eighteen years. Six days you can come get healing, leave my Sabbath alone! Dude! Did you just see the Savior heal that woman bound for eighteen years by the Devil? Do you understand at all the pain she endured? This one was still bound by the Devil it would seem, bound up in his cage of good-sounding rules. Read the story in Luke 13 and see how our Savior put his adversaries to shame. It will be the same in the final judgment. Those who love Him will be glorified with Him; those who deny Him will be put to shame.

Trust in Him!

Bucky

And Another Thing About Service

So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Luke 1:23

Service may be tough, but it also means that I may not get to do what I wanted to do! Wah, wah! Yes, after all these years the crying of the selfish child is all too easily brought forth from memory.

Patience is called for as we see the days of service for Zacharias coming to a close in our verse for today. His term of service had an end and he could go home to do what he wanted to do for a time. After the child came he could learn about another form of service, but that is a story for another day. In serving another we may have to set aside a thing we want to do for a time. That may not be easy in this age where we expect things to arrive so quickly.

We can also note from the verse today that service is often away from the home. That isn't always a comfortable situation either, especially for those of us who like the place called home. Ah, but this place is not our permanent home, and service away from His home is what our Savior did to save us.

Praise God for His service!

Bucky

It's Too Much, Ask For Help

Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself. Exodus 18:18

Much good advice comes from people who don't know much. In-laws, parents, teachers, ministers, and other people such as these offer advice to us because they were once as we are, and they hope that by some good advice we will not plow ahead foolishly as they once did. That it takes a few tries for us to learn to listen to that good advice only stores up another generation of good advisers for the foolish plowers. It's a rite of passage sort of thing.

One of those areas of good advice is often in the asking for help when we reach a point that a duty, task or project is too much for us alone and we need to ask for help. The problem usually is that we are in a stubborn plow-ahead mode and it takes someone we respect such as a, well, see the list above.

Now, of course we are to go to God first in prayer. But sometimes there is so much griping going on in our heads that He cannot get a word of advice in Himself, and so He sends in some advice from some of those folks we didn't always think knew very much. And we're back to the elders thing. Yes, because if one finds the mind too busy griping to listen to the Lord, then an interruption by one with good advice might just be the next best ticket to the wisdom train. And as our Lord Jesus said, if you have left the plow to follow Him, don't look back at it.

Have a great Thursday in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

An Understanding Heart

"Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 1 Kings 3:9

Oh, it is fun to imagine being king at times! We can see the advantage in the power, and in being the first one to know everything. Uh, no, as experience has shown, the person in charge is often not the first to know everything or even anything for that matter. The monarch must fight the urge to believe the first one and condemn the second automatically. Um, what?

If you have been on the hot seat because you were the second party, you know well what I am talking about this morning. The first one gets the sympathetic ear, the chance to tell the story from their perspective in a calm sea. The second one faces the pointed sword of justice, the arresting officers, the angry sea as the authority falls for that age old myth that the first one to run to the chief is the one who is telling the truth. Solomon wanted an understanding heart to be able to judge God's people when faced with the one said this-the other said that cases that would come before him.

Solomon in his position was both president and supreme court, and he was responsible to God for all of Israel. In any case where it was he said-she said, or they said this happened but the other folks say that happened, and in many things where the king on his throne far away would be among the last to know something happened out on the frontier, Solomon wanted discernment through an understanding heart. This was something wonderful in a ruler! I'm with you in asking in prayer for some more of that in our leaders, please.

The good news is that our Lord Jesus is more of that and He will rule one day.

Have a great day in the Lord Jesus!

Bucky

Service Is Tough

“I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Revelation 2:19

I sought out the Lord to teach me patience, and I'm still waiting for that to happen. I sought from the Lord the meaning of steadfast endurance, and I just wish that would end sometime. And then came the subject of service. Service is tough.

Serving is seldom convenient. It is easy when on your way to the second town over to stop and drop something off in the first town as you are going through on your way. But, no the request for service goes something like, "On your way to Florida, can you stop in Juneau and wrestle a grizzly bear for me?" I'm like: Florida? I'm not going anywhere this weekend, and have you never looked at a map or globe or a GPS in your life? No, service is almost never convenient. Its timing seems to be off a little too.

Service is that phone call to do some work on a Friday evening just after (or before) you are going home from the work of a difficult week at the regular job. The call to serve does not come when boredom has begun to lay its heavy hand on your brain and a change would be welcome. Nope, that would be too easy. So, with timing and geography at issue, what else might serving call us for?

For Jesus, serving us in our greatest need called for His life... and a lot of suffering as well. When I read our Lord's words in our verse for today, I hope that my last works will be more than my first, because when service has called, I have not always been ready and willing. Service is tough!

Love in Christ,
Bucky

Trusting In Him

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You. Psalm 5:11

It is a song of praise. It is a prayer that these things will be done. "Let them..." David wrote, probably because it was not always that way even in his heart. As king, David wanted a peaceful land, and to gain that peace he wrote that all should be joyful in the Lord. Note how much the Lord must do for this:

1. He must be trustworthy.
2. The Lord must be defender of the people.
3. His name must be lovable. 
4. When trust is placed in Him, He must enable joy in Himself
   from those who likely have much to not be joyful about. 

Age can make us to not wake up feeling joyful. The Spirit rejoices in God within us, but the old body just does not feel that joy right away anymore. If that is not enough, feed yourself a little news today from the world... and joy might easily be driven out right there unless it is in and from One who provides a continuous supply. We do not live in a joyful world and our fallen bodies do not provide joy and the feelings of the day likely are not joyful. As David wrote those many years ago, we must trust in God and find our joy in Him.

So graciously does He provide!

Bucky

Turning From Idols

For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. 1 Thessalonians 1:9

Turning from idols to serve the living and true God, now there is cause for celebration.

Idols are common throughout the known world, and we're not talking natives in the jungle bowing down before a carved wooden thing. Nope, we have an entire host of potential idols in this modern world, and any of them might ensnare us if we are not watchful. Today we even have the option of virtual idols on our computer monitors, if something that a person can touch and bump into is no longer enough for you. Want your idol to talk and move around? No problem, television already did that, but we can go even further and program a virtual world that... You know the story, and a false reality impossible to tell from virtual reality becomes more of an idol with each passing day.

But wait! Given a bit more time, we might bump into robots and androids inhabiting our own 'real' world that are impossible to tell from humans. And of course some will want to have sex with them. Sodom and Gomorrah anyone? Yes, all things come 'round again, as Solomon observed way back in the day.

Turning from idols to the living and true God is a cause for celebration, and the angels in Heaven celebrate each time a lost sheep is brought into the fold by our dear Savior Jesus!

Rejoice in Him!

Bucky

Comfy and Secure Yet?

One person dies in prosperity,
completely comfortable and secure,
the picture of good health,
vigorous and fit. Job 21:23-24

From Job's seventh speech, we have a truth or at least a true observation; it does happen. We are jealous and wish we could be that one person. Of course this could also be the picture of a wealthy young person dying in a sudden car crash, and then we think, "Oh, what a tragedy!" But we still wish we could try out their riches for a bit. Yes, prosperity by way of great wealth is a temptation to the mind.

Job in his lamentation phase, which is most of the book of Job, was not a fun person to be around. You and me may not be comfy and secure yet in our own strength, be it wealth, health, or otherwise, but we are not supposed to be secure in what we are in the world. Our comfort and security come from God. We may not see prosperity, health, wealth, comfort and security until we are in Heaven with our Lord. And vigor and fitness too! God does give us just enough of these things to get through the tribulation of this life. Oh, and that fellow who died with all those things Job said? He most likely died thinking that he didn't have enough of any of them.

Have a great and enjoyable day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Be Fully Alert!

He should look for chariots
drawn by pairs of horses,
and for riders on donkeys and camels.
Let the watchman be fully alert. Isaiah 21:7

A semi tractor with a 53 foot long trailer is parked across the street from my house this morning, and I don't remember one arriving last night. I can estimate the trailer length fairly accurately as the thing has "53' " printed right on the side of it. Now, as for keeping fully alert for horses, a chariot, and riders on donkeys and camels, I'm not sure that I am qualified. It may be an age thing.

No doubt about it, my senses are not quite as sharp as they used to be. Not that they were ever quite up to Call of the Wild standards to begin with but now that middle age is slipping out from under me I am not likely to be anyones watchman in the physical realm. Spiritually speaking however and in keeping an eye on world events, I am doing much better than in years past. Again though, I cannot take credit to myself for that, it is the Lord who has brought His word and the news to me through ministers and messengers.

Yes, at my age the watchman stays fully alert for only as long as he can stay awake, and that isn't always very long. Praise God that our salvation is of Him and not of me.

Love in Christ,

Bucky

No Sleep 'Til

When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to see the business that is done on earth, even though one sees no sleep day or night, then I saw all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

No sleep until I find out what God is up to! Solomon apparently tried to catalog or discover all the work being done on the earth by man, even the busyness of the night time, and saw some insight into the work of God. His insight was that man cannot know all the work of God that goes on day and night. Work at it though he might, the man could not see all of God's work and there was work of God that he could not comprehend.

So, if the wisest of men could not even hope to comprehend all that humans were up to and discerned that he could not know what God was doing under the Sun, what hope have I then of knowing God's work? All that God does is His business, I have only to trust in His steadfast love and goodness.

Bucky

Do You Want To Live Forever?

Gather My saints together to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. Psalm 50:5

75 years ago this day men from several nations gathered to do battle. What words of encouragement might a chaplain find for these men, many of whom were about to die? It would be a heavy burden to stand there in that moment and seek a word from the Lord, only to hear silence.

In the steel landing craft, as fear cloaked the soldiers waiting there, many a covenant would have been offered up to the Lord. Would any be accepted and to the frightened one come words of assurance, "I accept; you will live to see another day"? Perhaps God kept His silence on these offerings and requests too.

Or, did all of them hear only the words of a few officers telling them this or that, all knowing that none of it might matter when the ramps fell and the battle for survival began in earnest? Did one of those officers ask that question, hoping to encourage the men by his wit; "Do you want to live forever?"

The flesh of course would be quick to answer that one, but sacrifice is never easy else it would be no sacrifice at all. And silent or not, the Lord God was there with each and every one, and some sacrifices He did take that day.

Thank you, dear Lord, for the sacrifice of Your Son. Amen.

Bucky

Just Love Him or Her, and Me Too!

‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:18

The command to love your neighbor as yourself was spoken by our Lord first in the Law as we see in our verse for today. Jesus then spoke it twice in Matthew to make that three times from the Lord. Paul gave it to us again in his letter to the Romans and once more writing to the Galatians, and James gave it to us one more time to make three times for the apostles.

This command from the Lord just might have some bearing on how we are to live, he said with almost biblical understatement.

What about my wife, does she not come first? (I didn't get married last night, bear with me by way of example.)

I know the husbands want to ask that question. As we have said before, the wife is simply your closest neighbor. The children are your next closest and so on until you come to that person who is most distant from you on the earth, and he or she also we are to love as ourselves. Some of us need to work on the first part more - loving those neighbors - and others the second part should be recalled more often. For all of the uses, all six of them, end with 'as yourself'. Yes, we were born sinful creatures, but loving ourselves is part of the divine command too. If you doubt it, remember that the first one is signed: "I am the LORD".

Love to you in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

Mr. Mighty Wealth

"...then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ " Deuteronomy 8:17

The context of this verse for today begins with a warning from the Lord to His people, and it begins with: "Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God..." There are many promises given by way of this warning about increasing flocks, gold and silver multiplied, beautiful houses, and other things the flesh desires in this world. The promised land beckoned to the comforts of the flesh as Israel took up living in their new home. The temptation warned about sounds remarkably like the temptations faced by our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. Actually, it is also like the temptations to get rich and comfy we face today. I guess the testing remains the same because it works so well.

In my flesh, I want to be Mr. Mighty Wealth swooping in like a different sort of superhero to help those in need and thus be looked up to and offered the best place at the banquet. This does not make me unique by any means. There are even many who play the lotteries who have a list of things they will do to help others when their ship of wealth arrives at the port. Wealth and the desire for wealth are tough tests that each of us will face. Most will face the desire test, some few will also face the actual having wealth test. God will send to us the best test to make us into what he would have us to become.

Alas, we know from the histories in the Bible that Israel did not fare well in the wealth testing and did in fact come to forget their God. May God give me and you the strength to remember Him in poverty and in wealth.

Love in Christ to you,
Bucky

Our Giving Lord

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." Revelation 22:12

From Genesis 1:15 to our verse for today, one can find the word 'give' active in God's hands. The Sun and Moon He created give their light to the Earth and the Son He gave brings His reward to give to everyone according to his and her work. Our giving Lord can be read in hundreds of verses throughout His word, and those are only the explicit instances from a search on the word 'give'. Of course we who believe in His Son can give our testimony of our giving Lord too!

Giving is something our Lord shows to us in His word and in His deeds. George Washington reminded us of our Lord's giving in the name he used for God: Providence. The Apostle Paul reminded us to bring our requests to the Lord. Our Lord likes to give from the many examples we read in the word, but He also likes to be asked, for in the asking we acknowledge our Lord and believe in Him. Daily we find ourselves needy, and daily He gives.

Rejoice in the providence of our Lord Jesus!

Bucky

He Will Come

Behold, I send My messenger,
​​And he will prepare the way before Me.
​​And the Lord, whom you seek,
​​Will suddenly come to His temple,
​​Even the Messenger of the covenant,
​​In whom you delight.
​​Behold, He is coming,”
​​Says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:1

The prophet Malachi is given last place in our Old Testament as he prophecies just before the drought of the word of God comes upon Israel. This drought of the spirit would go on for centuries before any divine revelation came again to the people of God. During all that time a remnant of the faithful waited for the Lord to come, and He did! Many were born, lived out their lives, and went back to the dust in this waiting time, much like we are doing today. They remained faithful.

We too remain faithful in a time of waiting. It is not easy and we can now feel the pain of waiting they felt back then as they watched the Temple for the Lord's coming. We watch and we wait, and we wonder at times if the Lord is delayed somehow. Of course He is not. Our word of encouragement for today is: He will come again. In the strength of our Lord Jesus, we get to remain faithful in a world that seems headed toward destruction. He is coming again!

Rejoice! He is coming again.

Bucky

Long Time Gone

Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
​​And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
​​For the LORD is a God of justice;
​​Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18

I had this dream... nah, unless it is of the Lord dreams are a form of guess-you-had-to-be-there torture for most people, so we won't go there today. Long weekend and a Bible study day and suddenly I haven't written to you since last Friday, almost a week ago. During that time we had our turn at the big storms rolling across the land. Lots of hail here and some wind too, but not nearly so bad as some have experienced. Streets became creeks for a time and the ground is well soaked. The sun will shine again though, we have only to wait.

It says here in our verse for today that the Lord will wait. If one of us were almighty for a day, would be wait? We are promised that the Lord will wait that He may be gracious. Now grace is definitely something to hope for and receive with gladness! If the Lord needs to wait for a time and then comes down on us with the graciousness, then... Go Lord! Mercy too is promised and an exaltation of the Lord. This verse is just overflowing with the goodness of the Lord! And how do we go about getting there? We wait on the Lord.

"Blessed are all those who wait for Him."

Bucky

Renewal in Repentance

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
​​And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

A famous verse from a psalm of David when he was loaded with guilt from what today would be called something like 'Bathsheba-gate'. Good heavens that is weak, it must be before breakfast early in the morning toward the end of the week. Yes, the weakness in the week is me!

Like most of us, David had a weakness for sin. The man after God's own heart was king and such a scandal as can hardly be believed came from his actions toward Bathsheba and her husband Uriah the Hittite. It would have consequences throughout his life. Yet, when presented with the scarlet color of his sin by Nathan, David repented and asked for renewal. "Renew a steadfast spirit within me," David asked of the Lord, for there was no one else David could turn to in his guilt and shame.

We also have sins that are too great for us. Whether in thought or in deed, those sins seem almost incredible in their depravity as the waves of guilt wash over us. What was I thinking? How did I get there? we might ask as the prophet of the word points the finger right at the filthy heart from which the sin came. We too must come to the Lord and ask as David did for a clean heart and a steadfast spirit within.

Memorial Day weekend is upon us, rejoice in the Lord Jesus!

Bucky

We're Set In This Promised Land

They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you. Deuteronomy 28:52

We might get stuck on finding out who 'they' is, but it doesn't matter so much. We believe in Jesus and in this world we are besieged. If we trust in our walls, our accomplishments, stuff we have, talents we think will last, and other worldly things, we are going to be facing a tough siege that can only end with our defeat. If we trust in the Lord our God though, He has already overcome this world.

There is here also a lesson in complacency. Once Israel was set and secure behind their walls in the land the Lord had given them, they might have fallen into that complacency trap regarding their thoughts and intentions, even their behavior. We too might think that salvation is the wall which removes all restraint for us to act and think in righteous ways. Imagine the distress of our Good Shepherd as he looks back at the 99 in His stable and finds them butting heads instead of loving one another. He has already overcome the world, hopefully He can also overcome us.

Once we were that lost lamb and Jesus saved us. We also know that as we await the arrival of each and every lost one before the Lord takes us all home, we have a distance to travel with Him along the road of sanctification. There is some head butting in the church; there are thoughts of the flesh that have not yet been cleansed away, and we fear when we ought to be secure in our Lord Jesus. Knowing that, we are not set in complacency in that promised land but must look to the Finisher of our faith to revive us again.

Love one another,
Bucky

Quenching the Darts

...above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. Ephesians 6:16

Bolts go with the crossbow, arrows to the longbow, but Paul told us about darts, and fiery ones at that. So what weapon do darts belong with? The enemy of course, the wicked one. These burning and sharp attacks may come from the Devil and his minions or from our fellow humans who love the world and its present darkness. We are indeed beset from all sides. But that little word, all, is used somewhere by Paul too. His assurance states that by the shield of faith we can quench ALL the fiery darts.

The effectiveness of faith in Christ Jesus is shown in this picture of us taking up the shield of that faith. It is large, it is effective, it is a shield to be used, and it is faith in Him. The darts are hot and they hurt and they are many, but this shield of faith is totally effective in quenching them.

Praise God for the shield of faith!

Bucky

The Disappointment at the Ending

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:5

The big series ended last night and the final season was not a smash hit with everyone. It seems that a million signatures have already been added to a petition to redo the final season of the show. Ow, that hurts. I didn't see the thing, as you know I have no TV service, and certainly not the premium stuff like HBO. However, I cannot escape the news of the thing going around this morning as such a big disappointment at the ending is going to be noticed. And therein lies one of our great fears of this life, that we will be disappointed, or be one ourselves, at the ending.

Paul writes to the Romans to set their minds at ease about this. It is not a hope leading to disappointment because God is in charge of the ending. We would have every reason to fear if any or all of us were in charge of the ending of this life and world. We have no reason to fear while God is in charge. And the motivator of God's great finale is His love. Rejoicing will come in the end, His love will see it through!

Have a great week in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

The Partiality Reaction

My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. James 2:1

It is almost too easy to find partiality or favoritism in the church life. We take to it like the proverbial fish to water. Have tasks needing done? It is easy to like the one who is always enthusiastic to take the next job and run with it. Need to expand the building or ministry? It is easy-peasy to like the one always ready with their checkbook. We find it is too much trouble to keep asking the one who never volunteers for the job. And we just know that family over there won't give more than the minimum anyway, so why ask them again to contribute to the building fund?

My church has no problem with those things or any other favoritism, we try to say with loyalty to our church family in mind. Oh really? Let a celebrity walk into your church next Sunday; hear the necks crack and pop as they strain to help the eyes catch a glimpse. See those eyeballs bug out over that designer outfit. Watch the anti-reactors as they swear to themselves they will not act in any of those ways to the point of being rude or even snobbish! Would the state senator have to sit near the back of the Bible study because he arrived last, or would that favored seat be quickly vacated? Who wouldn't think of answered prayers for the church gym fund when that well-known billionaire walked into the service? Are we so confident now that our church would pass the partiality test with flying colors?

Nope, favoritism is a hindrance of our faith and love, but raised in a celebrity culture we need the Lord's help to hold our faith without partiality. Part of the problem, pun intended, is that partiality is a reaction to someone we see. Those partial thoughts haven't formed into a reminder of not showing partiality before we find the reaction of the flesh has preceded our better intentions. That old flesh can't react faster than our Savior though, and He knows the future, and especially helpful in this case, He knows our future too. We need some proactive prayer before the test comes, that we might not fail yet again in favoring one over another.

Love in Christ,
Bucky

Attention Grabbers?

Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains. Philippians 1:15-16

The minister took to the stage and bounded toward the lectern, his excitement in the preaching of the word evident to all the congregation. Who was to know in that moment that his motivation toward the kingdom of God was envy and strife? When did selfish ambition become the primary driver behind the passion of his delivery?

Some of that seems at odds, and yet Paul assures us that there are those who minister the word of God from the wrong motivations. Paul even states that some would take up their cross with the hands of selfish ambition! How could these things be?

Of course we know from experience the lure and lust of grabbing some attention for ourselves. Many are the temptations facing a minister of the word to grow some pride from being the center of attention in a church. And it would be so easy to spot 'em, those attention grabbers of the flock, if it were simply a matter of numbers. However, it can be just as easy to steal some of God's glory as a minister to 3 or 30 as it can be for the evangelist to 300 or 3,000.

We know quite well the center of attention in the church must be her bridegroom, for He is the One who saved us all on the cross.

Rejoice in the Lord!

Bucky

How Wrong We Can Be

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

Wait, didn't we gain the knowledge of good and evil from that tree and inheritance as sons of Adam and daughters of Eve? Aren't we so smart now in our own knowledge and wisdom? A quick look around the world leads us to the knowledge that we are about as wrong as we can be. And just to show us how wrong we can be even about how wrong we think we are, the Revelation shows that the world will get a whole lot wronger before the end. Please don't make me write that sentence again!

In my life, I have found that when I am wise in my own estimation any excellence and sincerity are long gone and offense goes way up; my fruit bin of righteousness is then found to be quite empty. And that is because there is too much of me in that case and not enough of my Lord Jesus. Want a full to overflowing fruit bin of righteousness? Get with Jesus and abide in Him, then the fruits of the Spirit can grow and be good.

Have a great Wednesday in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

They Told Him!

They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” Matthew 21:41

Yes, they told our Lord what was what in the world, and He used it to show them how wrong they were. And of course they did not like it and in place of reforming their ways or asking of Him for salvation, they sought all the more to murder the Son of God.

Our sin monsters do not like to be shown in the light of the Lord. The light causes them to shrivel up and lose their hold on us. And it is also quite embarrassing to that part of us wanting to show the Lord a resume of our goodness when so many sin monsters are seen in the light of His Holy Spirit crawling back into their dens to snap and growl in the darkness. There would be no embarrassment if we believed the stone the builders rejected whose word states that there is none who does good, not one who is righteous, and all have sinned.

Where does this come from today? It seems that I held court with those monsters this weekend and had one of those "Am I saved?" times that I indulge in ever so often, wallowing in the slough of despond once more because I haven't yet saved myself. Tsk, tsk, Pride is the one who says that I can save myself. Despair is where Pride leads me. Jesus, my Lord, does not want me to entertain those foul fiends but only to believe that He has saved me and that one day the members of that foul gang of monsters will be banished forevermore!

Faith is a tough road, but daily our Lord places us back upon it.

Bucky

Not Here Forever

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

​

​​“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
​​In toil you shall eat of it
​​All the days of your life. Genesis 3:17

Adam's first question probably went something like, "For my sake?" That's what God said though. And what a gift it is.

For many, old age is a curse. As we can see here in Genesis, it is likely related to the cursed ground. The toil wears us down and the cursed ground stabs us with thorns, and in time we return to the dust of which we are made. Since we are made of that ground which is cursed, then it likely follows that our 'soil' is cursed too and we age and grow old and die. I'm a real spark of happiness on this Friday morning, eh?

Yes, part of God's love is that we don't have to stay here in this condition forever. We get to die! After we make that brief transition from what we think is living to what our Lord has gone to prepare for us, then we will understand or as Paul said, we will see clearly, and God's mercy, goodness, and love throughout all of our sufferings will become known fully to us.

Yes, it is tough to see it from this side, and that is where faith comes in. Rejoice in Him!

Bucky

But, We Can't Hear Him!

Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard
Rather than the shout of a ruler of fools. Ecclesiastes 9:17

There is a family of my acquaintance wherein two of them together will raise the loudness level considerably until one's ears ring from the din of it. And three or more of them... But that isn't where we are going this morning.

Solomon wrote a proverb from our modern world. We are surrounded by loudness. It is the weapon of choice among certain groups who want their way. It is almost like they want to shout down and shout over the words of wisdom from the quietly speaking ones. Duh, well yeah! In fact the volume of a particular group is proportional to the foolishness of its cause quite often in this age. And if you think that pointing that out to them will make them pause for a moment to reflect, then you are even more naive than me, and that's saying something!

It is interesting to see the quietness of our Lord Jesus. Shouting was not His way, and people gathered to hear Him. Much of our Lord's wisdom was imparted to small groups or individuals. He did speak to crowds, such as the Sermon on the Mount, but He did not shout over anyone to do so. I see there is another lesson for this age, people listened quietly, and that is something we see less of these days too. One has to wonder, if today Jesus tried to speak His great sermon would He be able to speak it without a group of sign-waving people showing up to shout Him down with bullhorns?

Praise God for His Word!

Bucky

Not There Yet

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. Philippians 3:12 (NLT)

Do you sometimes doubt your salvation? In the test I think that every Christian, perhaps more than once, will find themselves enduring a dark night of the soul where salvation seems to have not taken root in them. Surely we must be a part of the garden choked off by the thorns of this life we tell ourselves as despair clutches hard at our faith. The circumstances we stare down in that dark night are not those of the blessed and joyous Christian we hear as though whispered to us somewhere in the depths of the heart, and we listen too easily to the temptation of doubt.

We know from the scriptures that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Yet, the heart seems to refuse the knowledge and we repent once more of every sin we can recall going back to the dawn of our time on this earth. A preacher from back in the days before cars and airplanes spoke to this in his particular way:

The Holy Spirit makes men penitents long before He makes them divines; and he who believes what he knows, shall soon know more clearly what he believes. Charles H. Spurgeon

What a lovely sentence! And of course the words of the preacher call upon us to remember faith. For it is the believing in Jesus that gave us salvation, not something we did or earned that can be lost, but something He did which can never be taken from us. How did the great preachers become as they were? By seeing the dawn come after that dark night of the soul, perhaps several times, and they through the Holy Spirit came to know more clearly what they believed.

Great and wonderful is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

Bucky

A Bit More Respect

Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? Hebrews 12:9

God should have all the respect we can give and more, but this verse for today shows us what is so common among us, we need an earthly example in order to learn the spiritual lesson.

Some questions have no answers, but we try. How big is God? And then we bring up mountains or oceans, maybe a planet or a galaxy, and all those examples fall short, or maybe they don't, we cannot know unless God tells us just how big He is. What is love? We tend to think of that mating desire we had for that young man or woman, or we think of that possessiveness we feel for the spouse or children, but are those love? Jesus had an interesting answer for the greater love.

Throughout His ministry our Lord gave us wonderful earthly examples in parables for spiritual truths. The man I call, 'grain bin man' is one of my favorite parables in Luke 12:16-21, and one I struggle with still. You probably have your favorite too. Many of the examples, like ol' grain bin man are negative, as in don't be like him. Others show how one doing right, such as the Samaritan who did good, may be despised by the world, and he was! Still other parables are about the Lord Jesus Himself.

So, a bit more respect please for our God and Father who sent His Son to give the greater love for us on the cross, and who took the time to teach us so well.

Bucky

Is It Delivering Time Yet?

That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me. Psalm 60:5

Thank you for the kind and loving birthday wishes yesterday. I did get to celebrate with a tiny subset of my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Like you, I look to that time of delivering from this world when we will no longer be separated from our Lord and each other by such distances and times as we have now.

When will that time arrive?

If I knew that I would be in violation of scripture, for as our Lord said, no man knows that time. Yet, we yearn for that time of delivery. We write of it, talk about it, and sing for the day, and like David we pray for the time when Christ our Lord will deliver us from this world and present us to God, not as a sacrifice (He took care of that!) but as His beloved bride adorned for the great wedding that is to come.

Rejoice in Christ!
Bucky

Too Many Expectations Of Me

...to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD, and likewise at evening; 1 Chronicles 23:30

Brrr, it's only 29° out there this morning. As I sit here contemplating the start of my 57th year and my 56th birthday, I realize that I quite failed to pop out into this world and declare that I was zero, even though that was the beginning of my first year on this earth. Shameful of me really, ought to have remembered to do that. Such an absurd expectation from myself was only the beginning of a long parade of expectations placed by me upon me to succeed in this world by worldly terms. Of course the most extreme and by far the craziest was that I would save myself by my good works and be allowed into God's heaven because I was somehow good enough.

      Alas, absurd expectations and too many!
      Cease ye disenchanted yappers and desist!
      Jesus loved me and cried out my sin upon His cross!
      I am saved by Christ alone, and in His love stand atoned! 

With that out of the way, happy birthday to me and all those who were born on this day in May! I share my famous birthday with some sort of wrestling rock, but I think I would rather spend it with those who love me. May the Lord Jesus Christ be celebrated in our celebration today!

Bucky

You Mean, I Get To Decide?

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

This verse has been used throughout the centuries of the Way, but not always in the right manner or method. A quick glance might give one the impression that I get to decide by experimentation what is the will of God, what is right or wrong. This is the opposite of Paul's point however; for read in its entirety the first part of the verse puts that aside, for what is the world but men and women deciding for themselves what is right and wrong?

You can bet that if I were the judge of what God's will is and what is declared right or wrong then asparagus would be an abomination while pizza would be what is good and acceptable and perfect. You may laugh, but every individual would decide in a similar manner and with similar results. Lawyers and politicians could make their will sound official, writers and advertisers could make their will sound more appealing, and country bumpkins would do the thing with asparagus and pizza, but the entire world would have billions of sets of laws about rights and wrongses.

What Paul has in mind for each of us though is quite different.

First we believe in Jesus so that the transforming of our mind begins with our rebirth in the Spirit. Then we learn as a newborn babe does what is the will of God as we study His word, pray, sit under the discipleship of elders and deacons and ministers of God, come back for more prayer, live with the Lord at hand, and the many other things we do to test and learn what is the will of God and what He has decided is good and acceptable and perfect. Discerning what is the will of God seems to begin with accepting first that I was born wrong and God is always right. Hence the need, as our Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, for that second birth in Christ by the Spirit.

So, I don't get to decide? No, I get to discover what He has decided for me. What a relief! So many people actually like asparagus, I would hate to declare it an abomination.

Love in Christ,

Bucky

P.S. May Day Devotional? No, the world is going down; we need to send a mayday to God.

Sorry, No Conspiracy Today

For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

​

“Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’
​​Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy,
​​Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.  Isaiah 8:11-12

We have much information available to us in this age, and all that information might give to us a skewed picture of the way things are on the other guy's side. The Lord spoke to Isaiah with a strong hand to move the prophet away from worldly thinking. We are moved by His Spirit in the same way. Many of the things that might scream conspiracy at us, should we give in to that pride of self we face daily, are likely not concerned with us at all.

Yes, crushing as it may be, the universe is not out to get us and probably does not care about us at all. Want someone to care about you and me? Look to the One who died on the cross to save us. "Greater love has no man...", he said when speaking of the greatest love that gave up his life to save us from our sin. Need a little boost to that sense of self worth? The Son of God gave up His life to save you and me! The Son of God did that for us! Now that gives us a sense of worth and value that the world cannot convey to us.

Have a priceless day in Christ's love and goodness,

Bucky

Return

“Thus says the LORD:

‘I will return to Zion,
And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth,
The Mountain of the LORD of hosts,
The Holy Mountain.' Zechariah 8:3

We have all turned from the Lord and are invited in the holy scriptures to return to Him. However, the greatest promises in the Bible speak of His returning to us. This is a play on words of course and a very light touching of the enormous things our Lord Jesus did for us that we might ever return to Him and He to us. That great gulf that came between God and His creation was made by that first couple turning away from the Lord in disobedience, and it took the life of God's own Son to restore us to our Creator. A few words in a Friday morning email can hardly convey all that Christ has done for us in this!

Returning is on my mind this morning as having my Internet connection back here at home feels something like having been away on a business trip or something. It is a feeling at odds with the reality of it. But that is what we are in this world, we are at odds with the world around us and not in the place God wants for us to be, which is with Him for all time. There! Now I've made things clear as stone. I may not understand what I have typed, but I do know that I want to visit Jerusalem when it is called "The City of Truth", for that must be when my Lord Jesus, the Truth, has come to live there.

Have a great Friday in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Stuck Outside?

The whole time he has the infection he will be continually unclean. He must live in isolation, and his place of residence must be outside the camp. Leviticus 13:46

This infection was one of men, balding men. Oddly, or perhaps not so much, there is yet these thousands of years later still a social stigma hanging about balding men. Just look at all that advertising stating how wrong it is to be bald!

Of course balding wasn't of itself unclean. The law in our verse for today was due to an infectious disease that showed up in that area. The infected victim once confirmed by the priest was pronounced unclean, and then he had to tear his clothing, loose his hair, cover his mustache (?), and then call out his uncleanness to the world. Oh, and then he had to go live outside the camp alone. Unclean was a tough state back in the day.

Wife, family, and friends were all off limits for the unclean one. The B.C. version of Subway was off limits. That big game on Sunday, nope. And kids were allowed to throw rocks at your bald spot too! Okay, not that last one. Life for the unclean one was just not fun and games for as long as the uncleanness lasted. Keeping the mustache covered wouldn't be such a picnic either. Yet, during that time one could certainly give much attention to prayer and supplication with the Lord.

And misery has not changed much; turn away from your contemplation of the current misery, look to the Lord in prayer, and things are always better.

Have a better day my balding friends! And you others too.

Bucky

Repent or Perish Likewise, Ye!

And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? Luke 13:2

It is easy to see suffering, and then blame the sufferer for their problems. "It must be due to their sin," we say with our tongue once again on the loose. Jesus had an answer for those who thought so, repent or perish likewise.

Disasters, natural or man-made, were common in the day of our Lord too. And like now, there is always someone ready to blame those who suffered the disaster. It is about pride and control. The method goes something like: I didn't suffer the disaster, therefore the powers that be must be pleased with me, and thus I am a good man/woman and will live in peace and prosperity all of my days, 'cuz I earned it. Oh, wait, we forgot the blaming part where the tongue goes off with, "Look at them! Their sins must have been just heinous (or at least way worse than ours) for God to lower the boom on them in such a horrible way."

That's Old Testament stuff, we note with only slightly disguised superiority. Yes, Israel and Judea did suffer, but we must not ignore all that prophetic scripture which said the same thing Jesus did, "Repent or perish likewise, ye!" Repentance of who we are, the first step on the road of salvation our Lord earned for us. Amen.

Bucky

P.S. Yes, still writing from work, no Internet yet, but the new modem is on the way.

How Did It Start?

“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Matt 27:4

How did this Resurrection Day begin? Can we blame a certain man, to use a Bible expression? It would seem at the first that we can, and often do, blame Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of our Lord Jesus. However, our Lord, the very one who was betrayed, died on the cross, and rose again, had a different explanation for who to blame for His death:

“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:18

So, it would seem that once again, all the glory or credit or even blame for our Lord's death is His alone. So why did Judas have to die? Well, we know quite well that he did not have to and that he took his own life on his own guilt. Jesus, as our Lord did with Peter, was likely ready to forgive and save poor Judas, if only he had waited to see this great day after the Resurrection.

We are here the day after celebrating Resurrection Day, so what are we trying to take the blame or credit for that belongs to our Lord Jesus? A good thing to take up with Him in prayer.

Love to you in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

P.S. There's no Internet at my house today!

Write No Less

​And He made His grave with the wicked—
​​But with the rich at His death,
​​Because He had done no violence,
​​Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Isaiah 53:9

Just another day in the life, what can one possibly write about for today? Ah, but of course this is the great celebration of our Lord's resurrection this weekend. How can one write about anything less than what our Savior and Lord did for us at this time of the year almost 2,000 years ago?

Passover had begun and the city was crowded with pilgrims from around the Roman world. Before the Sabbath of that particular celebration though, the Romans had a couple of prisoners to execute in their ghastly way before the holiday break, and one other. This other was a man who had committed no crime that the Roman governor could see, and yet there was orders from Rome to keep the peace in Judea, apparently at all costs for Pilate had given up the man to the executioners as though he had been caught in some act demanding the worst punishment.

And so it was done.

Another detail came to the governor though, with the Sabbath of Passover upon them this very evening, the bodies must needs be entombed before sundown, and a couple of them at least were not yet corpses. So the order came down to end the lives of the men on the crosses at Golgotha, but the other, that one, was found to have gone already. A soldier made sure with a spear, but the word was true and he had died. Two of the prominent Jewish citizens came to Pilate and requested the body of this other one and to them it was granted to bury that particular body.

And the rest of the story can be summed up in one stunning revelation, that other body would not stay buried and rose again on the most beautiful Sunday morning the world has ever seen, and believers everywhere know that it had nothing at all to do with the weather!

God be praised,
Bucky

It Doesn't Quite Work

Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Isaiah 13:6

Having worked with rentals for a few years now, I tend to apply those things I have learned to our circumstance and it doesn't quite work at times. For example: when an owner leases his property to a tenant, then the place is not quite his any longer. The leasehold cannot be inspected without permission just any old time because the tenant now has rights to privacy and other rights that one expects with a place called home. Most of the time the landlord should simply stay away and leave it to the tenant. I might be tempted to apply that to the Lord and His Earth as we are tenants now and He does not appear to be here in my sight. Of course, we know that the sight of humans is severely limited both in physics and in understanding. The Lord is at hand and for those who would oppose Him, His day is at hand as well.

The comparison with a human landlord does not quite work either because our Lord has not left the world; He is here in His Spirit at all times and even in the very heart of the believer. Our Lord does not view this world as a business proposition where He just wants the rent paid each month, nor does he care only that we treat His property respectfully and well. Our Lord cared so much for His tenants that He sent His only Son to save them (us!). The whole landlord thing really breaks down here as one cannot even imagine that slumlord over yonder way sending his son to save the tenants by sacrificing his life in a criminal execution.

Yes, we celebrate Easter, Resurrection Day, as we do because our Lord's sacrifice is so unique in this world! And for those who will steadfastly refuse the gift of grace our Lord Jesus gave to us by way of the cross, well, there is the word of woe given through Isaiah that we read today.

Bucky

An Open Grave

Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. John 20:1

A stone rolled away from the grave entrance, an obvious act of thievery one might think. And Mary did! The stone rolled away gives the imagination every opportunity for mischief. If a person leans toward those conspiracy theories about the government, then evidence is at hand for a plot by the ruling authority carried out in the dead of night. Perhaps a person was taken by the temple money changers and now looks upon the priests with a suspicious eye. No problem, the stone rolled away provides ample evidence of priestly misconduct. However, one could also recall that Jesus said He would be back from the grave and believe Him.

Why does that last one always come later and seem harder to accept?

The first two are business as usual in this world and do not require the power and presence of God; the fallen man likes that and he is always ready for an explanation that leaves out the Creator and Savior in one fell swoop. That last one requires first that we believe in God's Son and in the Word of God Himself. No wonder it is only with the mighty grace of the Holy Spirit that anyone comes to believe!

He lives! And from that we do too!

Bucky

G'day Monday!

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Romans 12:16

Mondays are not the day that I typically leap from my bed ready to conquer the world. Actually for the past month, or at least since that last time change, you can add all the other days of the week to that as well. This one has been a difficult adjustment, and the sun sure goes to bed late these days too!

Paul has some words of counsel for us on this day. I hope that I am not wise in my own opinion or proud of my own humility. I'm not quite sure what these high things might be, but I will try to be down to earth in my mind. Oh, bother! Anytime a list comes up in the Bible, I'm almost sure to be in violation or worse. I can't even get this list right as I'm supposed to associate with the humble not worry over the state of my humbleness. I sure hope those I associate with do not have as high an opinion of themselves as I do of them! Wait, did I get that wrong too? No, I'm quite alright with being the lowest of the low in Heaven, just as long as all of us are there with the Lord Jesus.

So, while Monday beats me up some: be of good cheer, Jesus is near!

Bucky

Alone Is Not My Word

For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. Romans 14:7

Decide to believe in Jesus and alone is not where a person lives anymore. As a practicing introvert, I do not always do well in a public place with more than one conversation going, but I am not alone. As a quiet person, noise may not be my preferred venue, but my taste in music notwithstanding, I am not alone. In the quiet of my home, I am not alone. My Lord Jesus is always with me even unto the end of the age. Alone is a word that no longer belongs to me.

A person may be lost in a trackless wasteland, but that term we have heard, god-forsaken, is simply not true. A person lying in a coma ward connected to various monitors and no longer able to communicate with loved ones is neither forsaken nor alone. Even in a crowd and feeling so out of place with the surrounding world that the phrase alone in a crowd seems appropriate the one believer in Jesus is never alone.

Therefore, we look to our verse for today and know that living or dying, we live not just for the self but for and with others as well. We also life for and with our Lord Jesus. Think that the world would be better off without you in it? Think again and believe on Him who is with you always. Remember those who love you, and one who loves you always is Jesus our Lord!

Love in Christ to you on this fine day,

Bucky

The World Changes

One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. Romans 14:5

As the day grows light outside, we look upon a changed world. Where it was 80° and green on Monday it has become a world of 20° and white on Thursday. With the second spring blizzard going on, dare we ask if this warming trend has peaked and the days of our vernal frozen moisture have returned? I'm trying to say that carefully so as not to excite the global warming crowd overmuch. Any hint of questioning or criticism of their pet theory tends to draw a rather heated reaction.

The world changes, and Paul was a part of that change, though not nearly so much as His Lord and Savior, Jesus. Days were the argument among those who believed in our Lord back in Paul's day. Some were likely afraid to violate the Friday evening to Saturday evening Sabbath having been raised under the Law of Moses. Others probably worked on that day and could not afford to lose a good job when they could worship God quite well on Sunday. And there are those then and today who realize that God doesn't want a percentage of our week but that we are His every day and all day.

Paul did not judge between the parties but said an interesting thing: "Let each be fully convinced in his own mind." Prayer time with the Lord, it seems to me, is the way to achieve that state of mind.

Have a convincing day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Make Him Stand

Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. Romans 14:4

Uh, oh! It's another one of those 'what day is it?' mornings. Another storm is coming our way, and I can feel it already in my bones.

You scan the Old Testament for some handy rules to throw at me because I do not do this thing or that thing and have not avoided this other thing. And I respond with, "Who have you stoned recently?" That defensive reaction is of course just as judgmental. Who are we to judge the servant of God? And yet, it is done every day among those who believe in Jesus. And still, with all of this going on, God is able to make him and her stand.

Sometimes we wonder how God could come to accept the worldly ones when we should be asking how God could possibly accept those who call themselves by His name. And thus we get in a quick judgment on all the world at once! Yes, God is able to make us stand and quite able to cleanse us of all that judgmental unrighteousness too. And this cleansing is made possible by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross.

Praise God we are saved by the Lamb in spite of how we are and act in this age!

Bucky

Scriptural Warfare

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. Romans 14:1

Sometimes we look for our next doctrinal victim, an easy mark, one who cannot defend him/herself in the faith. With a few slashes of our sword of the word, we can reduce that one to a quivering disciple. And just let them bring up those debatable things; what scriptural warfare will ensue!

Yes, we have been with the church elder who has his sword ready to do doctrinal destruction on every new believer in his church. We have seen the scriptural sword-maiden ready to sharpen the tongue of her sword on the small faith of the newly born-again one.

Paul did not want the tender shoots cut off before they could mature in the Spirit and our Lord Jesus promised He would do no such thing. Gentle teaching and compassionate discipleship are the way for us. We do not need to prove scriptural superiority by scrapping with the babes in the faith over matters debatable. No one who believes in Jesus should need to alpha-dog the other saints of the church. We run the race to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus, and we run it together. We fight a scriptural war, but the sword is for use against the enemy! The full armor of God is not for gladiator sports in the church coliseum. And that helmet of salvation is not for butting heads over matters each believer must decide with God in prayer.

Peace in Christ,
Bucky

God's Testimony

And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. Exodus 25:16

As a photographer, if I can be physically present and see something, then I am allowed record the image in my camera. This could be described as my testimony; I was there and this is what I saw. Much of the Bible could be described in this way as well. What about that prophecy stuff though? Who was there and saw it, as it has not yet happened? All prophecy, including those parts that were prophetic then but have now been set in our past, is God's testimony. And as we can read in our verse for today, His testimony is kept safely in the Ark of the Covenant!

If you are feeling the gates of symbolism opening before you, well yeah! The Hebrews literally placed the Testimony in the Ark, but there is also God's Word, His Testimony, placed securely in the heart of all who have believed and His name is Jesus, the Word of God. We are the ark of His new covenant and His testimony lives in us!

His testimony comes forth!

Bucky

Talkin' Like Them

I said, “I will guard my ways,
​​Lest I sin with my tongue;
​​I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle,
​​While the wicked are before me.” Psalm 39:1

Only while the wicked are in front of him? No, not quite. What David noticed and I'm sure you have by now as well, is how easy it is to slip into sinful speech while in the company of the wicked. It is far more difficult to set a good example for the wicked by restraining the tongue and mouth. Converse for any time with the wicked and the wicked words spill forth in our speech almost as quickly as the wild animal returns to its predatory ways when released from the cage. So, did David just say nothing?

Yes, for a time as we read in the 39th psalm, that is just what he did. But as king he did have to speak at some point to render his decisions and judgment. A few verses down the king would ask the Lord to show him humility. Show me the frailty of my life, Lord, David asked in lovely and poetic language. For to know the frailty of this life is to be reminded of the author of that life and to seek Him in order to maintain our gentle speech in the face of the wicked world. We do not want to be talkin' like them; we want to show the gentle speech of our Lord to the world that they may know a Savior lives in us.

“And now, Lord, what do I wait for,
​​My hope is in You.
​Deliver me from all my transgressions;
​​Do not make me the reproach of the foolish. Psalm 39:7-8

Bucky

How Valuable Is Our Faith?

“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers..." Deuteronomy 13:6

The Law was perfectly strict and reading the start of a law in our verse for today we can see that it is from a book of the law and we can know already that this will not end well for someone. As usual, it ends badly for both.

Since Moses arrived on the scene and the Israelites were free from Egypt, God gave to His chosen nation the Law. And we read it today and marvel at the range of offenses for which death was the penalty. Which is kinda dumb given that the very first law stated, thou shalt not eat of that one tree or you will surely die. Death was always the result of sin and we should marvel rather at the range of things for which humans could yet live after a sin under the law. Well, the law for today's reading goes a step further. God will not strike down the enticer in this case, you will!

Yes, this particular law states not only that the soul-mate friend, the son or daughter, or even your wife, will be stoned to death should they entice you to worship other gods, but you, yes you, will throw the first stone. "...your hand shall be first against him to put him to death..." (v9) That is where we get our impression that the Law was so harsh. However, this is but the result of that fall we inherited from Adam. Want to have eternal life under the Law? You must not only obey the good behavior parts, but satisfy it by carrying out judgment as well. We don't like that part and neither did the Israelites in Moses' day and after. This is one of the reasons we cannot be saved by the Law. Stone your friend to death? Your wife or daughter? Much rather would we forget the whole thing, and that time and again was what the Israelites did back in the day. How valuable is our faith? We needed a savior and God provided His Son to save us from the Law of sin and death. And not just our death, but that death we would have to dispense in justice should our dear friend or child, or even the spouse we married, sin.

Praise God for the mercy we have in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Why Do We Speak?

...and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates! Jeremiah 22:2

Why do we speak of the Lord and the good news of His salvation? Would it not be easier to keep quiet and live at peace with all? In our verse for today, the prophet is commanded to go speak to the king of Judah. Yes, that fellow on the big chair with the power to say, "Off with his head!" and all that. We are not generally called before the king of the land, but we too face certain ridicule and scoffing by speaking out for the Lord. Whether emotional, intellectual, or physical, there is enough persecution to go around. So, why not keep our faith to ourselves?

Jesus would not have it so! In fact we refer often to the Great Commission spoken by our Lord just before He left to be with His Father in Heaven. And little is harder to keep to yourself than good news, and the salvation of our Lord is certainly that! So in our various ways of communication, we are going to communicate the joy we feel in Christ Jesus. It will not always be accepted, but share it we must.

And if no one around you wants to hear it today, then share your testimony with me. Our stories of His grace are well worth hearing!

Grace and love to you in Jesus our Lord and Savior!

Bucky

No Shopping Here!

Then I commanded that the gates of Jerusalem should be shut as darkness fell every Friday evening, not to be opened until the Sabbath ended. I sent some of my own servants to guard the gates so that no merchandise could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Nehemiah 13:19 NLT

It's Friday, and I tried to look up 'Friday' in the New King James Bible but it was a no-go. However, the newer translation had replaced 'the day before the Sabbath' with the simpler 'Friday', only to find that Nehemiah had shut the gates and guarded them to prevent shopping and freight hauling. Friday evening certainly was different in Nehemiah's day! Imagine for a moment the hollerin' and screamin' that would take place if President Trump tried to shut down all commerce on Friday evening and sent in the Marines to guard the gates to the shopping place. Yes, the noise in the streets and the media. The shouting of slogans and the roar from the angry mob. Actually, you would think he had tried it already!

Yes, today is the day of outrage and sometimes the reason for it seems to not matter very much. Any reason will do, just let us go outrage some more.

Nehemiah had good reason to prevent this thing though. He was trying to lead the nation of Israel back into obedience to the Law and there was resistance. Six days they could shop and work, but one day was for rest. And there were a great many other laws the fallen flesh did not want to obey. The desires of the fallen haven't changed, but praise to God we have a satisfaction for the Law! We certainly needed Him too. As we look at old Israel, we can but say, "Yes, and such am I in my flesh, wayward and disobedient just like them."

Praise God for His Son, our Lord Jesus,

Bucky

Little Ol' Me

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

I have taken stock of my condition and found nothing in my body that would impress the world and its principalities, much less the powers and rulers and spiritual hosts of wickedness. My feet are slow, my knees are weak, my joints are stiff, and the rest of me doesn't even impress the people of this world; how could all of that impress a ruler of the darkness? Little ol' me just doesn't even register as a worthy foe to those powers and rulers. Like the little kid with that proverbial big brother, I always want to ask them, "Have you met my good friend, Jesus?"

Even the name of my Lord and good friend will send them running. His presence in the clouds of glory spells their doom. Just one of my Lord's angel servants can demolish an army or kill every firstborn son of a mighty nation. And He can call on 12 legions of them! With His death on the cross He redeemed all of the saints of the Most High God. A word from His lips stopped the storm on the Sea of Galilee in a moment. Yes, little ol' me is no threat at all to the world and its powers, but have you known my friend Jesus? He is mighty to save!

Have a happy Thursday in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

The Isolation Walk

As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp. Leviticus 13:46

Outside the camp... Imagine being exiled outside your town or city right now. Hungry? No going to the grocery store; you must place your hope in those who might leave a box of food for you nearby and then run away to avoid that which you carry. Lonesome, your only hope would be for another to contract the same disease afflicting yourself. Do you have another hope? The verse speaks of as long as the disease lasts. At the point of your isolation walk from your home to the outskirts (Good luck finding some public lands to squat on today!) of town, as your head hangs down wondering what awaits you in this new life, you would not know the length of your sentence. Life, is it worth it in these conditions? Well, there is that hope that the disease will run its course, perhaps in just a short time if you even dare to hope for that, and restoration to cleanliness will allow your return to home.

Of course each spring would bring some renewed hope as well. The cold and long darkness of winter has passed and the warmth of spring thaws the heart and bones...ah, what am I saying? In these parts an isolation walk into winter would almost surely mean a walk to a person's final resting place. However, spiritually speaking, maybe even socially speaking, each of us has taken an isolation walk from the world we knew as sinners. Led forth by our Lord Jesus, we said goodbye for good to the world of sin. But not quite! Now and then we return as missionaries and ambassadors to the world, not to participate, but to share the good news we have found in Christ. And lonesome? Not with Jesus with us always even to the end of this age.

Have a loving day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Why Weren't You There?

And Jephthah said to them, “My people and I were in a great struggle with the people of Ammon; and when I called you, you did not deliver me out of their hands. Judges 12:2

We have likely seen the day after a colleague or friend did not show up for the struggle at hand. Without asking what may have happened in their life, we might jump right to the accusing phase of breaking a relationship. 'Why weren't you there?' May not come up as we jump on the former friend with both verbal feet, "You failed to show up and I suffered this, that, and the other thing! We're done!" And thus does a valuable and loving relationship end on the burning fires of our tongues. And to think that the friend might very much have wanted to share what happened to him or her, and why the space at your side was empty that terrible day. But no chance was given, and the Devil marked another notch on the stock of his deception gun.

The Lord describes our relationship with Him in this way, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." (Matt 28:20) While we have turned away from Him many times and failed to fill that spot at His side, He is always with us. Wait, how can that work? What is impossible for me and you, is always possible with God. We might try to ask that awful question of the Lord in our title for today, but He is always there and the question is but the worst sort of unbelief.

Thank You, Lord, that You are always here with me, Your beloved.

Bucky

Does The Lord Love?

The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Deuteronomy 10:15

It seems like an obvious answer and indeed it is, but should someone ask of us we must be ready with a scriptural answer. Searching the Law of Moses, there are many verses about laws so that the children of Israel might love the Lord, as if that were the problem. Well, yes, fallen man must return to loving the Lord and as Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15) As we have not throughout the centuries shown a perfect record of keeping those commandments, it would seem that our love of the Lord is questionable as well. So, Israelite or Gentile, we do indeed need to return to or learn to love the Lord our God.

John 3:16 of course shows God's love without exception or qualification. Does the Lord love? Yes, He does and He did before we asked. The most prominent expression of the Lord's love has a name, and His name is Jesus.

Wait, how did Jesus get involved? You just kind of threw Him in there!

Not quite, Jesus was the one who spoke the great words of John 3:16 and He is the Son that was given in the verse and as promised by the prophet of old. (Isaiah 9:6) To know if God loves we need only look to Jesus who came to save us by laying down His life for us.

We need to love; He already does!

Bucky

The Ancient Asking of Intercession

So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me.” Exodus 8:28

Gee, Pharaoh almost sounds contrite here, perhaps even a little repentant, but is that the case? The heart hardening of Pharaoh by the Lord had already been promised and was likely working in him or even completed by the Lord. This intercession seems a bit suspect then, kind of a get-something-for-me request; though Pharaoh probably didn't see it as a request.

Pharaoh and Egypt had a big problem: God had said to let His people go and those people were a source of cheap labor for Egypt. Four centuries had passed since the time an Israelite had saved and even prospered Egypt by way of the Lord. Joseph was a distant memory and his God was perhaps even unknown to many Egyptians. So much for gratitude. This Pharaoh reluctantly let the Israelites go just a little ways, commanded an intercession and quite likely expected their quick return to the slave quarters. In short, he wanted to maintain control. But God was exerting His control and Egypt was only in the fourth plague. Bargaining for control with Moses, God's messenger, Pharaoh had no idea what was yet to come.

So, bargain for control with God if you will, but like Pharaoh, we will fall under the Lord's command sooner or later. As for those who believe in Jesus, we have already surrendered to the Lord, and each day we get a little better at following Him more closely.

Great is the name of the Lord our God!

Bucky

Gone To The Father

You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. John 14:28

When we read the scriptures of the life of Jesus our Lord and read that His Father is greater, we must stand back with a bit of awe. His authority over the Sea of Galilee, the healing of so many, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead, all come from the greatness of God as He worked through His Son. Could Jesus have disobeyed His Father then, with the Father being God and all? Yes, I suppose He could have, but He never did. To worry over what He could have or might have done but didn't is a waste of time and energy. Jesus could go to the Father because He never disobeyed Him. Of course one of the reasons we can rejoice in Jesus going to the Father is that He has gone to plead the case of the disobedient ones; some of them being you and me.

Like the disciples we have trouble even rejoicing at the right time. Instead of jumping about with joy over Jesus being with the Father, we are wondering when He is coming back. Maybe we can start with praising God that He is coming back and learn to rejoice better from there.

Love in Christ Jesus,
Bucky

What About Eternity?

For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15

It seems about that time in life when many who lived the rock n' roll lifestyle of the 70's and 80's are giving up the goods in memoirs and autobiographies. Although I can see the worldly success written down in their prose, there is a question I want to ask them: What about eternity?

We are told not to envy the one who prospers in his way, and one way of doing that is to keep my mind on my Lord and Savior. With that in mind, that remains the question I want to ask those who have enjoyed a double (or triple or quadruple...) helping of earthly rewards. As God inhabits eternity and our Lord Jesus died to get us there, how will the earthly rewards prepare anyone for our far longer time spent in eternity? Are those worldly ones even considering the length or breadth of eternity as they enjoy their life here in this brief now?

Tough questions to be sure, and I would not make myself popular among the upper crust of this world by asking them. However, we have a duty to our neighbors to ask questions along those same lines of them too. Today is tough for you with all of the aches and pains we suffer in this life, but what about eternity? Tomorrow brings a new set of bills which you may not be able to pay, but what about what comes after? Is there a bill there that you could never pay when the judgment comes? Our answer is the Savior, what is yours?

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being the answer to a tough question,

Bucky

Happy John 3:16 Day!

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. John 3:16

There was such a celebration, at least in geek circles, over Pi day (3/14) that I thought we should celebrate John 3:16 day. If a bunch of math and computer types can get silly over an infinite decimal, then we should be able to celebrate eternal life with our Lord! Okay, that is a play on 'if' as we do not need a worldly celebration to rejoice in our Lord.

Universalism came up again in a Christian magazine article recently. And what is that you might ask? That is of course the belief that Christ died for all, all are thus saved, and anything goes. It comes up in church history from time to time and it has some popularity. However, John 3:16 has a bit of a qualifier for that eternal life: whoever believes in Him.

There are some who refuse to admit that God even exists. How can they believe in the Son if they refuse to confess there is God the Father? "Believes in Him" is such a big little set of words in just one little verse of but one book in the Bible, yet what a profound effect rings forth across the judgment of the world! And still there is no exclusion in it, for whoever...anyone, everyone who believes in Him has eternal life.

Praise God for His Son and everlasting life!

Bucky

The Lawless Age

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Romans 13:1

Have you ever met a people more against government obedience than us? We whine when government interferes in our business and we whine when government does not interfere. Don't think so? Watch every winter season as a high-speed interstate somewhere in the Midwest becomes a no-speed, snow-bound parking lot. Why didn't the governing authorities shut that road down before people got stuck? A question that will be asked many a time today as the Denver news is broadcast. Up in Nebraska the roads were clear in many places and no parking lot was seen after government interfered in goodly time and shut the roads down. Yet, somewhere along the interstate was whining that, "I could have got through, if they hadn't closed the road so soon." The governing authorities seldom win in the court of public opinion.

Yet, here we are living in a nation born by disobedience to the governing authority. It seems that we had the wrong George in 1776, so a revolution was fought to get rid of King George and elect President George. Go figure. Anyway, once the rejection of Romans 13:1 was concluded and we had a new George in charge, we congratulated ourselves that God had raised up a new nation of rugged individuals fresh from a startling victory over that governing authority and godless tyrant from over there across the sea. Ever since that day, we have grumbled in turn by parties over the current governing authority. I say 'we' because God judges the nations and we are a part of a nation whether we participate in the grumbling or not.

However, you are the one who obeys and submits to the governing authority, how can I call you lawless? There are so many laws in this age that you have likely violated more than one by now through ignorance that such a law even exists! And has our love grown cold also as our Lord said back on the Mount of Olives? There is news of so many tragedies throughout the world today that our capacity for loving is quite overwhelmed. Only our Lord can mourn all the dead as each day on the calendar draws to a close.

As we are caught up in these lawless and cold end times, who is our hope? Who indeed but the One who has always been our hope, Jesus the Christ! He can warm our love and encourage our obedience in these dark times.

Bucky

Blizzard Day

When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come, let us return, lest my father cease caring about the donkeys and become worried about us.” 1 Samuel 9:5

In a snow and blow such as we have going on here, it is obvious that we must care about and for the people. However, at some point yesterday there might have come that time when a father changed from being concerned about his car and began being concerned over his child driving home from school. Conditions changed slowly yesterday and with plenty of warning time to get into trouble, the unwise may have waited too long or tried just one more stop along the way. We can tell that conditions are not terrible when Dad is just worried about the car. Everyone joins in the worry when Dad looks out and worries about the kid and is no longer concerned with the car. Dad's have not changed since Saul's day a thousand years before our Lord Jesus came.

Does that apply to our Heavenly Father?

No it does not, for the Dad we have here has no control over the conditions and so as they deteriorate in the storm he may become worried over his youthfully reckless progeny. God is in complete control, even if we may doubt sometimes while watching the news, and is never worried over His sheep. Our Lord knows exactly where we are, exactly what will happen to us, and when we will be reunited with Him. We become less worried when we learn to trust in Him more; when the knowledge of Him becomes enough to overcome our doubts while staring into the storm conditions and we know, just know, fully and completely, that He is in control... always.

Always and forever, He has me!

Bucky

Watch Yourselves Carefully

And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. Deuteronomy 2:4

The people of Israel would not get one footstep of Esau's territory as it had already been promised by the Lord. It would seem that as they passed through this area, they might see something they wanted. The old lusts of the flesh would need to be watched carefully lest they sin against their brethren. In the next verses the children of Israel were commanded to purchase food and water if they needed anything. Territory and who lives in it is quite important to the Lord.

Having someone fear you can lead to temptation. That powerful feeling we might get from seeing such an attitude displayed toward us is also a danger to us. Just as the children of Israel might be tempted to lord it over the children of Esau, so that flesh of ours might also try to take advantage of someone in a fearful state. It is even the thoughts we might well watch carefully as we are to love one another and look down on no one.

Well, I'm not going to pass through a territory, we might say by way of denial. Oh, wait a minute, remember that house that was not up to our standard of cleanliness? How we looked down on that person in her territory. The shop with a few broken tools laying about in the filth, they were gone from the place but how we judged them unworthy. Yes, watch yourselves carefully!

Love and grace to you from Jesus Christ our Lord,
Bucky

The Hit Temptation

And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Acts 8:18-19

Simon, not Peter, saw something he wanted and he offered up some loot to get it. The Devil showed Jesus something any of us would want - all the kingdoms of the Earth - and our Lord resisted the temptation. In our social media age we have something called the hit temptation, that is the more hits one gets on a social media page the more money, popularity, etc. one has in this life.

Imagine just for demonstration purposes that I get paid for my blog posts, and there are many bloggers who have this going, but it isn't enough because money has that effect on us. One temptation that could increase my hits for a time would be to tell of my experience with meeting Jesus out in the desert. You will quickly recognize what our Lord said in His Olivet Discourse about someone saying that very thing (Matt 24:26 if you need a refresher). By coming up with a good story, I could certainly increase the attention paid to my writing for a time. That time being until someone goes out there and says, "No, He ain't!" That part of Matthew would have saved them the trip, but the temptation goes on.

Call it the hit temptation or the 'going viral' temptation or whatever, the lust to have lots of attention, and gain a pile of loot from it, are prevalent in our social media culture. Everything that our Lord saw and resisted in His temptations is laid out in ways without number for us to look at on the Internet. And among all of that, in order to get noticed there will be some who fall to the temptation to fake a story. The one about Messiah in the desert is coming around again; let us not run out there, we know better.

Grace to you in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

Mr. Glasshouse

The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor,
​​But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. Proverbs 11:9

Two big forces at work in this verse, the one who enjoys scoffing at neighbors and the one who feels that compulsion but seeks to do what is right. A latter day proverb we use is: Don't throw rocks if you live in a glass house. This is not meant to criticize construction materials but to remind us not to destroy the neighbor with words of the mouth, very much along the same lines as the ancient proverb Solomon collected. That this problem still exists confirms another of bit of Solomon's wisdom: all things come around again. Mr. Glasshouse still chucks those rocks around and as he plays the hypocrite, he likes it.

Criticism, scoffing, and angry denunciations can make a person feel superior to his neighbor. Mr. Glasshouse looks down on his neighbors because he imagines that smashing sound is the effect of his stone throwing on them. One day, he thinks, they will have suffered enough to 'straighten out' and see the errors of their ways as he does. The bitterness of his loneliness will soon cause more rocks to fly. Why is he lonely? It seems that his rocks retain enough velocity to sting and hurt the neighbors even after smashing through his glass walls. And they do, and well we know it.

All of us have come under fire from Mr. Glasshouse and we have been hurt. There are many in the Glasshouse clan, and they throw those rocks with pepper on 'em.

Now comes the tough part. What are we in Christ to do with Mr. Glasshouse? Jesus already prepared us for this: "Do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." (Matt 5:44) No returning that criticism stone for stone and no hateful defensiveness, just prayer and doing good to old Mr. Glasshouse. Whoa! We wanted a tough road to climb to prove our love for the Lord and there it is.

But, I'm not up to climbing this steep road! True, but our Lord Jesus will get us up there. Follow Him!

Love in Christ Jesus,
Bucky

They Are At Work

Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” 1 Kings 22:23

This was about Ahab, but could just as easily describe the climate of the end times as many will fall for what the lying prophets will say. Note that the prophets belong to the king and not to God. Only one prophet speaks the words of the Lord, and he (Micaiah) brings a message of disaster. Another thing that may fit the end times, there were a lot more of them. The king had about 400 men in his prophet gang, the Lord sent one.

In this age we may see many of the false prophets, so many that without the Holy Spirit in us we might well fall under the sheer volume raised against the word of the Lord. Of course, we know the voices of the many false prophets are at work already in the world. So where should we look for them? It would make it easier if they gathered in one political party, maybe even too easy. One nation would also make it easy to spot them. One religion? Yes, but the most effective place, one which they would strive to get into if allowed, would be speaking from the pulpits of churches throughout the land. Too scary. How about the places of the powers that be, financial and government? They are probably there. The centers of communication: radio, television, movies, web sites and social media? Sure, probably there too. With odds of 400 to 1 against, the enemy has plenty of false prophets to put in all of those places and more. If I know of just 29 other people who love God and spread the good news of Jesus, we might be up against 12,000 false prophets already!

It isn't the numbers though, it is the One and His name is Jesus!

Bucky

Never Give Them Up

Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. Revelation 6:11

One way to get back at someone who killed you would be to come back as a ghost to haunt them. Perhaps asking "why?" endless times, making suggestions regarding their personal hygiene, hiding their car keys, or just showing up bloodied with wide staring eyes while pointing spectrally at them during their finer moments. That is how the story or joke usually goes anyway. Whether that can happen or not, I do not know.

As I look into the issue in the Revelation, one place to look is the tribulation saints whose souls are under the altar when the fifth seal is broken by the Lamb. They do not get to go back and haunt their killers but are told to rest for a little while longer. Another group would be those who have gone to sleep in Christ before the great tribulation, but it seems that they too, raised up in the Rapture, only follow Christ the Lord on white horses as He returns to deal with those armies arrayed against His city.

Therefore, one might conclude that once our Lord Jesus has us in Heaven with Him, that He will never give up His own. No ghostly missions to dispense a little justice to the killers? Nope, only a good Shepherd who will never give up His sheep. Amen! Once we are with the Lord Jesus, I don't think we will want to go anywhere else.

In Christ,
Bucky

John's Warning

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

That thermometer outside shows -12° on it this morning. Is it possible to have such cold and not talk (or write) about it? Divorcing ourselves from the circumstance is often difficult, but in this case being inside the house with the furnace going and hot oatmeal nearby certainly helps.

John the senior disciple writes to tell us of spirits that should not be believed. Swell, now it isn't only people we need to sift the words of but spirits too? Yes of course, Paul had already warned the Ephesians of powers and principalities in the present darkness. We too know that sometimes advice seems to come from a place that caters to the lusts and desires of the flesh. Whether it is another person speaking or a thought that seems to come out of nowhere, we must take care with what we hear. God sends dreams and visions in these end times and it would seem that the enemy does also. It is likely that both will increase as the end draws near. Do not forget, beloved, that the Spirit of God dwells within us and we have good warning of these messages which ought not to be believed.

God's warm blessings to you on this morning!

Bucky

The Question May Be

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26

The question of what we will do when meeting Jesus is often asked. From Bart Millard's song, I Can Only Imagine, to the wonderings of believers in a moment of rest, we ponder that question. However, perhaps the question may be: What will Jesus do?

We tend to have this picture of the stern and silent God sitting on His mighty throne as we creep forward tentatively hoping to not be struck down. Then we turn to the Lord Jesus who is just waiting for us to do something. There is so much evidence in the Bible for an active, caring, and loving God that one must wonder where we get these impressions. So the question I want to ask this morning is that other one. When we meet Jesus for that first time, what will HE do?

Indeed the meeting Saul of Tarsus had on the road to Damascus should show us right away that there is not some restriction on our Lord Jesus that prevents Him from meeting us right here and now. There is no law set down in the Bible that states: The Son shall not return until that thing you call the Second Coming. Sorry, not there. In fact that whole 'Second Coming' thing is a misnomer, for the second time Jesus came was when He met Saul on that dusty road. We do not even await that Glorious Appearing, for at that time all of God's saints want to be with the Lord Jesus having gone to meet Him in the event we call the Rapture. So, don't sleep, let's go meet Jesus!

Love in Christ Jesus,

Bucky

P.S. March, coming in like a polar bear today.