Thank you

Thank You!       Woody and Sarah, Today, I received the gift you sent in the mail. Thank you for your show of support for my trip. I really need that, as I agonized over whether or not it would be wise for me to do this. I'm so grateful. Thank you for all you do! Annie

"My Soul Follows Hard After Thee"

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."  (2 Corinthians 9:15)

Maybe this is what was (is) going on today.  I was worshipping, viz., praying and singing with the spirit.  I would think of stopping, but didn't.  I went on and on.  I felt as the psalmist says in the KJV, "My soul follows hard after Thee."  The Hebrew Word for, "hard," is translated by some as, "close," the Interlinear says, "cling."  It could be, "My soul clings to Thee."  I like that, just a poor soul clinging to His King and Savior, Jesus.

The political circus in Washington, DC, and in fact throughout the United States of America in these days is revealing the absolute spiritual bankruptcy of most in this country.  I do pray for it all.  I pray the Scriptures, I, well, I just pray.  I continue to greatly encourage you to pray the Scriptures for the USA, as well as the other countries represented on our mailing list.  Right now for me, Psalm 35 is key. 

This morning, however, worship ruled.  Now this is not some sort of "battle," as some perhaps inadvertently, but nonetheless imply, among the "means of grace," viz., adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, as though one expression of our relationship in Jesus is "greater than" another.  Forget all of that.  I was simply enjoying, flowing in the Indwelling Presence of the Living Triune God, Father, Son Jesus, Holy Spirit.  Glorious.  This was not "new" for me, but there was a glorious sense of what the Psalm referred to earlier says, "My soul follows hard (clings) after Thee."

The Interlinear translates our text as, "the gift of Him."  Yes, I know that grammatically it is the same, but I thought of the emphasis.  The greatest, "gift," ever given and continues to be given and will never stop giving is the Blessed Trinity Himself; hence, "the gift of Him."  I was, still am, and pray ever shall be thanking, rejoicing in Him, Father, Son Jesus, Holy Spirit.

Father, in Jesus' Name, of all "gifts," You are THE, "Gift."  Amen.

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

"With All Your Strength"?

"The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"  (Mark 12:29-31)

Acts 10 says of our Lord Jesus Christ that He, "went about doing good."    This is the Theology of today's text.

Loving God with our hearts, souls, and minds can be subjective.  Loving God, "....with all your strength," however, cannot be.  Loving with "Strength" is effort, doing something, not just talking of love.  This is why Biblical love is essentially a verb not a noun.  If love is just a noun, it can be as meaningless as the song, "I'll Never Stop Loving You;" millions have, and do. 

It is the same with our neighbors, families, friends, etc.  Saying, "I love you," is good.   Doing I love you is best.  When we, "love...as yourself," we are doing something.  We take care of ourselves, do things which will protect and preserve our lives.  Today is a good day to think of ways of not just saying, "I love you," but of doing, "I love you."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray my love for You is, "with all [my] strength."  Amen.

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

"And The Dead In Christ Will Rise"

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands.  We grow weary in our present bodies, and long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing."  (2 Corinthians 5: 1, 2--NLT)

If you are under 60 perhaps you don't appreciate this.

The older one is, the more one appreciates the Words of our text.  Some day for all of us, "....this earthly tent we live in [will be] taken down." 

I am not saying that we should not "eat right," exercise our bodies, which does, "profits a little."  Yet, while we need to be responsible for, "this earthly tent," which our Lord Jesus has given us for our sojourn here, we need to remember that our life does not end with, "this earthly tent."  I call you to take great comfort and encouragement that just as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is now in His Glorious, Resurrected Body, so we too some day will be so.

The previous verses to our text tell us, "That is why we never give up.  Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won't last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!"  This is not some "morbid" old guy writing.  These are the Words of "The Eternal One," the Living Triune God Himself.  The Words of the Bible keep repeating the glorious Good News of Jesus Christ.  There is some truth in the phrase, "You're not getting older; you're getting better."  And, the "best to come" is that day when, "....the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise...."

Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to live my life in the power and reality of these Words.  Amen.

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 Book Burning

"And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe's knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth."  (Jeremiah 36:23)

On May 10, 1933 the Germans burned thousands of books on what is called today, The Bebelplatz, in Berlin.  The US Government did, essentially, the same thing to the Bible when they allowed the Supreme Court in 1963 to outlaw, "The Words of God," in the State School System.  Our text reveals that this attempt has been going on for millennia.  In Jeremiah's case, the Lord Jesus simply told him to write His Words again.

There is an attempt in the United States of America today to destroy good people.  This attempt is by the same evil which has been at work since the Garden.  No one, however, can destroy that which is eternal.  Our God, Father, Son Jesus, Holy Spirit, is referred to in Jewish Tradition as, "The Eternal One."  I have often quoted the Words of Jesus, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away."  Eternity just does not, "pass away."

So, my friend, why not give yourself as a top priority in your life to the, "God-Breathed," Words.  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust (and fire) destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust (nor fire) destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Father, in Jesus' Name, while this world worships longevity, I worship You, "The Eternal One."  Amen.

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