Psalm 34:4-7 – “I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.  6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” NKJV

In the first portion of this passage, the Psalmist identifies something that too often we refuse to admit – Fear!  If I were to go back to my time in Vietnam and tell you that I was never afraid, I would be a liar.  I experienced fear more than once and am not ashamed to admit it.  I did not want to be too close to people who claimed they never experienced fear because I found them careless too frequently, which got people hurt or killed. 

There were times in my childhood and adult life when I was gripped with fear.  Sometimes the threat was real, and at other times it was a phantom danger of which I was afraid.  Learning to know the difference is important, but the effect on your body and mind is the same, and often it will paralyze you so that you cannot function as you should.  When fear tried to grip our hearts in Vietnam, our training kicked in, and we reacted out of instinct. As the adrenaline kicked into high gear, we were oblivious to fear or pain and focused on the task at hand.

In life, we have fears, some more than others. Anxiety can come as a result of “guilt,” in those cases, it is essential to recognize that and run to the Lord for His mercy.  I like what the Psalmist said, “I sought the LORD, and HE HEARD ME and DELIVERED ME from ALL my fears.”  (Emphasis mine)  

Then in verse seven, he gives us an incredible hope to hang all our hopes – “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them.”  What a promise!  We have God’s angels setting up a barricade around us who fear the Lord, and they come to our defense as the enemy comes in.  No wonder Isaiah said, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God shall lift up a standard against him.  (Isaiah 59:19b)

Being afraid is not the problem not dealing with it is.  Being afraid is not something you have to hang your head in shame over; refusing to admit it is.  I confess there is a certain amount of “fear” or “trepidation” in my heart concerning this nation, but at the same time, I am 100% confident in the LORD.  “I know in whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.”  2 Timothy 1:12 We live in “perilous times.” Still, our LORD is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and one day “every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess” that Jesus is Lord!

I want to conclude with this; do not allow fear to dominate your life because you are more than a conqueror through Christ.  Fear-like thoughts and temptations will come, but you do not have to give it a lodging place and can “resist the devil” and watch him flee.  Why – because of Christ in us!

May God be with you as you go through your day!

1 Peter 1:24-25 – “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever.” NKJV

Peter used a quote from Isaiah 40:6 to illustrate the abiding nature of God’s Word and the brevity of man.  Too often, we get those two reversed, or so it would seem, based on how we live.  From the time a person is born, they are in the process of dying naturally.  Once we are “born-again” spiritually from that moment of birth, we begin the process of living eternally. 

As we watch the seasons come and go, we see seed time and harvest, summer, and winter.  We see things die or go dormant, and then in the springtime, we see them bud forth, and there is the newness of life around us.  The weather begins to warm, the grass turns green, the flowers bloom, the trees bud forth, and life is everywhere.  Then in a few short months, the cold death of winter sets in, and all that life fades into the background.  It is the cycle of life.

We are like the grass that lives for a few months and then becomes dormant.  Our “glory” or supposed glory withers like the grass, it is fleeting and temporary, but God’s Word endures forever!  So, it is not wise to become too absorbed with ourselves and our seeming successes or failures because they are temporary.  Only that birthed out of the Word and Spirit of God lives forever. All else fades away into eternal darkness and death.

I have some methods of doing things that I find myself telling others that these methods have stood the test of time and work, so why change them?  But, if I am not careful, I will become closed-minded and not see the “newness” God wants to bring into my life through change. 

As the cloud moves spiritually, we must move with the cloud as Israel in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.  When God sends His “new wine” of the Spirit and begins to do something a bit different than what we are used to, we must be willing to allow Him to make us into “new wineskins,” or we’ll find that the “new wine” bursts the old wineskins and that which He was doing is lost to us.  Some things will NEVER CHANGE: The Word of God, the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, and the Promise of His Return.  Those are etched in granite and will never change!

If you face problems, know that “this too shall pass.”  In your struggles, please know that God and His Word will NEVER change or fail.  So, when the storm clouds roll in, run to the Rock of our Salvation and under the Shelter of His Loving Arms, letting Him hide you in the cleft of the Rock until the storm passes over.  His Word, His Promise, and His Love will NEVER FAIL!

May God be with you as you go through your day!

Ezekiel 33:1-6 – “Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’  NKJV

This passage has troubled my heart for months now, and I keep returning to it repeatedly in my study and prayer time.  I look around me and see the condition of our world, our nation, much of the church, and multitudes of people who walk in deception and darkness. 

I have been trying to sound the Alarm, but my heart cries out remembering the passage in Matthew 9 when Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.” Then I think of the words of John the Baptist. When questioned if he was the Christ, Elijah, or the prophet in John 1, he said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord.” My heart keeps crying out, “Where are the Watchmen?”

The watchman must sound the Alarm.  He cannot control whether or not people take heed and respond. He can only sound the Alarm.  If he fails to warn, the blood of the slain is on his hands. I fear that we have come to that place in our world and our nation today where multitudes are being slain (literally, figuratively, economically, socially, morally, and spiritually).

Too many who have been called to be “Watchmen” are sitting silent, fearing upsetting some so that their position can be secure.  The Gospel has no concern about Political Correctness or the man-made ideology of separation of Church and State.  It has the lost in view and the redemption offered.

Likewise, on the political front (some will castigate me now over this), if we see destruction, the sword, the evil, the calamity and remain silent, will we not also be judged for our silence?  We know the truth.  We know the potential problem.  We know the danger.  We know the answer.  How will God view that when we stand before Him if we sit silent? 

I fully believe that America is a catalyst for the Last Days Harvest, and if she is destroyed, then we (Americans) will find ourselves on the outside looking in at what God is doing because HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH.  His will is not always done, so do not tell me that whoever is elected is necessarily God’s will. It might just be due to the negligence and silence of people when good people do nothing, evil triumphs!

I am first and foremost interested in the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.  I am also interested in preserving a Free Nation for posterity and a nation where one can openly and freely worship and spread the Good News that Jesus saves! 

If you are interested in the souls of men, I beg of you, pray to the Lord, and ask Him what He would have you do these days.  I ask you to do nothing more than what He directs.  It is HIS HARVEST, not mine! He is in charge; I am not.  I am a fellow laborer, and that is it.  I know I have been called to be a Voice, so I pursue that diligently, and only death will silence me.

You must understand that I believe we have a Life, not a bunch of compartments in which we move and operate.  So that Life touches everything about me, and in any of those areas which are touched, I am a Watchman!  I am not your judge, just a Voice!  What you do with the sound of the Alarm is your choice! I pray that you choose what God chooses, and if you do, we have both done our jobs!

May the Lord Bless you richly is my prayer!

Matthew 16:18-19 – “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 

My question is meant to be more than rhetorical; it is focused on how the church operates today.  Jesus expressly and emphatically declared that He would build His Church, but in today’s world, mankind has missed that part of the equation. Most seem to believe We are building God’s Church or, as the more applicable terminology, “Our Church.” 

I can appreciate any pastor identifying with the church he is leading and understand them calling it “My Church,” but is it?  I can appreciate the membership of a local fellowship referring to the ‘local sheep-shed gathering place and body’ as Our Church or My Church, but is it?  As in most humans’ political, business, and personal lives, the church, rather than being an ‘extension’ or ‘continuation’ of Christ and His ministry, becomes a ‘competition’ and a ‘position’ to be defended, protected, and developed.

John the Baptist understood correctly and spoke appropriately when he said in John 3:30 – “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  If it is My Church, I am responsible for its health, development, growth, and safety.  If it is The LORD’S Church, then I am not.  I am simply a participant in the Body or a Cell in the body with a particular function. 

I recall that the apostle John came to Jesus and said in Mark 9:38-40, “…Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.  40 “For he who is not against us is for us.” 

John wanted to protect the ministry of Jesus, but Jesus quickly informed Him that anyone who was not against Christ was for Christ. It was a simple reminder that there is nothing to protect in our pursuit to advance the Kingdom of God. It belongs to Him, and He will use and utilize whatever vessels He chooses.

I recall a time, in the annual convention of ministers in the Denomination I was credentialed with at that time, an argument and debate.  It was over the proximity of one church to another.  It was a ‘turf war,’ and the debate was passionate and heated.  I told several ministers sitting near me that this was ridiculous because it was Jesus’ Church, and that proximity should not be the issue. 

One minister angrily shook his finger in my face and said, “Well, you wouldn’t like it if they ran their buses in your neighborhood.”  I calmly and honestly said, “I do not care if they park them in the parking lot of our church.  The people who want to be with us will stay, and those who do not should not.  It is not my church. It is the Lord’s church. I am just an under-shepherd caring for the flock He gave me to care for.”  

They huffed away, mumbling that I would be upset if it happened to me.  I believe it must be God’s Church, so I seek to help wherever and whenever possible.  I never want to be a hindrance or obstacle. 

If it is Jesus’ Church and we are the Body of Christ and members in particular, then it would behoove us to all draw from each other and realize that we have no position, place, or entity to protect It is His!  May God build His Church dynamically and allow us to be a part individually and collectively.

God bless you as you go through your day!

Galatians 2:20-21 – “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” NASU

I can go back through my memory banks and recall several things that dramatically impacted my life, thinking, attitude, and way of living.  However, I can think of none that have affected me more than THE CROSS!  The Cross is more than a symbol to me. It is the beginning point of my “spiritual walk” with Christ.  It is the beginning point of LIFE for me. 

When Jesus hung on the cross and cried, “It is finished,” in John 19:30, that signified that He had done all that was, required to satisfy “Divine Justice” and had reclaimed the birthright of humanity from the devil.  He had paid the FULL PENALTY for Sin and now, through His blood on the Cross, would open the door for “whosoever will” to come from darkness into the light, from sin to salvation, from bondage to freedom.  He paid a debt He did not owe so that I could go free, pardoned of my sin! 

THE CROSS is a treasure!  Paul identified its value in 1 Corinthians 1:18 when he declared: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”  NKJV

The writer of Hebrews tells us: Hebrews 9:22 – “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood, there is no remission.”  NKJV At the Cross, the debt was paid in full by the precious blood of the Lamb of God.  At the altar, we gain access to the pardon that was purchased there.  As we allow Christ to live in our hearts and live His life through us, we walk in liberty and freedom that the world cannot comprehend nor imagine.  No wonder Hebrews declares: “How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”  Hebrews 2:3 NASB

It is the cry of my heart to walk in the fullness of Him who loved me and learn to live as Paul described:  Philippians 3:10-11 – “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Nothing less will suffice.  Nothing less will satisfy.  Nothing less will enable us to see this world transformed by His Grace!  Truly, the Old Rugged Cross made a difference in my life; I am eternally grateful for it.

May God bless you richly as you conclude your week and get ready to enjoy a long weekend!  Blessings abundantly, and be safe!

John 15:7 – “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”  NASB

In His discourse on being the Vine and the Father, the vinedresser Jesus informed those hearing that He expected His follower to “bear fruit” and that if there were no “fruit-bearing,” that branch would be removed. 

He talked about cleansing the vine by pruning and told those listening that they were clean already because of His Word.  He identified that there could be no fruit except from the life of the Vine and that since we are branches and He is the vine, our fruit is the result of the life that exudes from the vine. 

Then in verse seven, He makes a statement that far too often is taken as a stand-alone passage but must be viewed in the context of the whole – “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask WHATEVER you wish, and it will be done for you.”  (Emphasis mine).

This door to the miraculous is conditioned not only upon the context of the whole but hinges on the tiny word – ‘IF.’  The two facets of the “if” are abiding in Him and His words abiding in us.  In light of drawing life from the Vine and producing fruit, He identifies that we are recipients of life, and as living branches, we produce fruit because we are ABIDING IN HIM, and His Words are ABIDING IN US.  That is the flow to us and from us. We receive of His life, and as a result of that reception, we produce fruit which produces seed which produces more fruit, and the cycle is endless.  In that context, we can “Ask what we wish and receive answers to our prayers.”

Unfortunately, it seems that too often, we either are not abiding in Him, and His words are not abiding in us to the level that He is our ALL-IN-ALL. We live in a relatively casual relationship rather than a committed life in which we “seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.”  

In that life, we neither expect that whatever we wish or pray to come to pass nor are we in a condition of heart to attain faith to receive.  Contrarily, if we are abiding in Him and His words are abiding in us, His life will prod us to the level of life that we live in expectancy and become fulfillments of His promise that “the Works that He did we will do and greater works because He has gone to the Father.”  We will exhibit in this life the life of Jesus, and through the fruit of that relationship, others will be positively impacted for the Kingdom. 

The operative word is “IF and if we abide in Him.  If His words abide in us.  IF is the condition and the conduit through which the life that brings the faith for the miraculous operates.  Lord, help me to change the “IF” to “I DO.” 

May God be with you as you go through your day!