"He Heard My Cry" And Still Does

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.  He also brought me up out of a horrible (slimy) pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.  He has put a new song in my mouth-- Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord."
(Psalm 40:1-3)

I was in the same seminary my Dad had graduated from 31 years earlier.  It was December of 1969.  Life was going on with a normalcy.  Andrew had been born in November, and we were now that American family of four.  But then the day after Christmas of that year we noticed something was wrong with Stephen.  We took him to our doctor, and that Monday he was in Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.  One week later he was operated on because of a brain tumor they had found.  I was 26.  The "bottom" fell out of my life.  I experienced a "wounding," of which I still carry the "scar."  

"Life goes on," yes, but not without the memory of him, the sorrow at the loss of him.  Yes, Sarah and I still laugh; we enjoy our children and grandchildren and each other.  Sarah never talks about those days; she is more private than I.  One reason I talk about it is to pass on to others the witness to Jesus, how Jesus upheld me as I was praying for 5 hours in that phone booth at Children's Hospital, how he helped me up, sustained me during the tortuous days and months which followed, then Stephen's passing.

Depressing devotional?  Sorry.  The intent is to affirm the reality that the Good News of Jesus Christ is indeed, "the power of God...."  It takes, "the power of God," to keep me going.  It takes, "the power of God," to save me from my sin, keep me, sustain me, and some day take me into Glory.  When I read our text, that summer of '70, I thought, This is exactly what You have done for me, Lord Jesus.  What Jesus was and is doing is continually manifesting to and in me, "....the power of God...."  I continue to wait, "....for Jesus."  And everything our text says is exactly Who Jesus is to me.

Father, in Jesus' Name, this Christmas Season and every "season" is wonderful-------- because of You.  Amen.
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Dutch Parliament member sentenced because he is not politically correct.
Read about the hypocrisy of "Amnesty International."

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Angels We Have Heard On High"

"And it came to  those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus (the 'President' of Rome) that all the world should be registered....So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city."  (Luke 2:1 & 3)

"Gloria In Excelsis Deo"  (Glory to God in the Highest")

KTBTIB Nottingham has shared a video with you on YouTube Angels We Have Heard On High

Now I know I'm probably the only one who ever wonders at times just why Jesus works His works in the way He works His works.  Take our text for an example.  Couldn't Father have had Joseph move to Bethlehem to get a new clientele for his business instead of using a totalitarian government to come up with some tax scheme which got Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, and all of this to fulfill some ancient prophecy?  And the answer is?--  Of course.  I have no doubt that it was the Holocaust which got the Jews to finally come to their senses about their Homeland.  Did I say that God caused the Holocaust?  No.  Did I say that God allowed the Holocaust?  No, because I just don't know.  I do know, however, that the Blessed Trinity causes, "....all things [to] work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to purpose."

I also know and appreciate that there is truth in the old saying, "God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform."  And there is a certain "mysteriousness" about the Living Triune God which we will never understand in this life, perhaps ever, even in the Eternal Realm.  There are things which have been going on in the past year both here in the United States and around the world which have not only the "world," but also Christendom, even those, "born of the Spirit," still attempting to figure out.

So today I just sing with the enclosed carol, "Gloooooooooo,  ooooooooo, ooooooo, oria, in excelsis Deo.  Come to Bethlehem and see Him Whose birth the angels sing; Come, adore on bended knee Christ, the Lord, the New-Born King."
    Gloria in excelsis Deo!"  

Father, in Jesus' Name, I that You for what I can "come and see."  Amen

The Definition of Unpreparedness

Above is the battle plan of the Imperial Japanese Navy for the attack on America's Pearl Harbor Naval Base.  I am sending this devotional at the exact time of the first strike on December 7, 1941, 12:55 EST.

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"Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress (literally, a house of fortresses') of defense to save me."  (Psalm 31:2)

Our text is a prayer of Israel's famous psalmist, warrior, shepherd, king.  King and Savior, Jesus, is exactly our text to us.  Jesus hears, delivers, "speedily," is our, "Rock of refuge," our, "House of fortresses," our, "defense to save [us]."  May none of us ever, ever forget this, or rely on anyone or anything other than this great declaration.

Pacifists need to have more of Thomas Sherwood in them.  He was a Quaker who was opposed to slavery and volunteered in the Ohio 79th.  Thomas was unlike some people's approach to life that when you are stroking the cat the wrong way, you turn the cat around. Thomas Sherwood was what has been referred to as a "White Abolitionist."  He saw the evils of slavery----- and did something about it.  I am so thankful for his "genes."

In the late 1930s for Great Britain, France and the United States of America were still war-weary from "The Great War," the "War To End All Wars."  They kept operating in the delusion that people change, that if we just talk and negotiate enough, everything will turn out just fine.  December 7, 1941, changed that, especially for America.  There has never been a "war to end all wars," nor will there be until King Jesus' Second Appearing.  "l saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice He judges and wages war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns.  He has a name written on him that no one knows but He Himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God....Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  'He will rule them with an iron scepter.'  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written: KING OF KINS AND LORD OF LORDS." (God)

Notice that the foregoing Bible passage is in the present tense, with one future tense, and no past tense.  This is yet to come about, and come about it will.  Never start a day as that infamous day 75 years ago, sailors playing ball, sleeping off drunken outings, enjoying a sunny, lazy Sunday morning, thinking "all's right with the world."  If the Enemy does anything, he is constantly awake and "planning" attacks, watching for weaknesses, neglects, this-could-never-happen-to-me life style.  "What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!"  These Words of our King and Savior, Jesus Christ, should begin every day.

Father, in Jesus' Name, in Holy Spirit I trust the grace to, "Watch!"  Amen.

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See tragic illustration of this devotional illustrated in France:   jhs58.blogspot.com

There Is A "Carefulness" We Must Have

"Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you."  (Job 36;4, NIV)

The NLT says, "....for I am a man of great knowledge."  The Message says, "I learned all of this firsthand from the Source....Trust me, I'm giving you undiluted  truth; believe me, I know these things inside and out."  The CEB says, "One with total knowledge is present with you."

Every time I read through Job I have to listen to this self righteous young man chide Job.  I have referred to this before, but these last couple of days, reading his impudent accusations against the only one of the 5 "combatants" of whom the Lord God says, "spoke of Me what is right," is always off-putting.  Since it is in The Book, however, I realize there is a lesson here for us all.

Most of us have been accosted, at one time or another, by people who know everything we need to know about spirituality.  You can not share with them something they don't already know, and/or they instruct you in spiritual matters as though you know either little or nothing at all.  I pray I never "come off" like that.  This does not mean that we should not speak with conviction, that we should not have a certainty about our walk of faith in Jesus Christ, nor total trust and faith in, "the Words of God."  It is, rather, an attitude thing.

James says that, "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."  This is Jesus, Who is, "the Wisdom of God."  In like manner, this should be you and I.  I know that this has not always been my profile, and as I read of a young man who had the nerve to instruct another who, incidentally, forgot what that young man thought he knew, I pray a constant "attitude check."  Snoopy's book on theology had the "perfect title.  Has It Ever Occurred to You That You May Be Wrong?"

Father, in Jesus' Name, You have shown me, "what is good:...to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."  May this be I.  Amen.
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They may want to rethink the whole vote recount thing:   jhs58.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"....The World And All Its People...."

"The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, the world and all its people belong to Him."  (Psalm 24:1, NLT)

Not only does, "the world," need to realize and submit to this reality, but so too Christendom, which for too many centuries has allied itself in too many cases with, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name...."  Right.  How's that going, Mankind?!?

I was reading an article entitled, "The Nationalist Revival."  You need to read this.  What has happened in the United States of America and currently going on in Europe is a reaction to those who would like to disband any national identity.  They make it sound as though love for one's country, singing national anthems, dealing with illegal immigrants, willingness to defend a particular people group is all a rival of Hitlerism.  In other words, as in Obama's philosophy, "Everybody else is right, and we're wrong." 

The article to which I have referred speaks of historic attempts to bring to the earth a sort of "can't-we-all-get-along" ruling philosophy.  This was the reasoning behind the League of Nations, the United Nations.   There could be something of, "do to others," here, but mostly it is driven by humanism, man's desire and attempts to solve his problems without the Lord Jesus Christ.  Babel proved that the Living Triune God will just not allow this to happen.

I deeply believe that something is going on in the heavenlies, which is manifesting right now in, "the world and all its people."  King Jesus will not be mocked nor rejected without a very severe consequence to those who so do.  Be encouraged today, however, with the reminder that you and I as Followers of Jesus are on the winning side.  The battle between "nationalists" and "internationalists" will go on until the Trumpet sounds.  Then, my friend, it will all "be over but the shoutin'," literally.  Stay in union in Jesus.  Stay in His Words.  Stay in fellowship with like minded people.  Make the most of every moment to bring the Good News in Jesus Christ to the nations.  As President Roosevelt ended his speech to the US Congress just after Pearl Harbor, "....we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God."  And He will.

Father, in Jesus' Name, what glorious times to be alive.  Amen.
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Article referred to at:   jhs58.blogspot.com    

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2