Hope At Christmas

 The winter solstice (around Christmas time) is the darkest day of the year.  More hours of darkness than any other time of the year.  It was at this time that the Light of the world showed up for all of us to save us.  At this time in the world, great darkness has risen again.  What are the righteous to do?  Put their faith in the light of the world who always shows up right on time.

Here is a Psalm that lays out some of the hope we have before us:

Ps 54

1O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.

3For strangers^b have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah

4Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.

6With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
7For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

If you read your Bibles you will see this particular Psalm is far from a "one off."  The Word of the Lord is absolutely overflowing with similar promises.  The future of the wicked is absolute destruction.  The future of the righteous is grace, peace, confidence and quietness forever:

Is 32

16The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert,

his righteousness live in the fertile field.

17The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;

its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

18My people will live in peaceful dwelling places,

in secure homes,

in undisturbed places of rest.

19Though hail flattens the forest

and the city is leveled completely,

20how blessed you will be,

sowing your seed by every stream,

and letting your cattle and donkeys range free.

Merry Christmas everyone.  Put all your hope and faith in the Lord.  Anyone who does this will not be disappointed.

grace and peace

The Mission

 The Lord interjected a statement into this writer's thoughts that needs to be shared.  The other day as this nobody was pondering the Trump/Biden drama and what it means, the impression again was that with Trump we may have a little more time, with Biden we get sold down the river immediately.  That lead to thoughts about the employment and development of our skills, talents, abilities to serve our Lord's kingdom.  Next was the thought that we may have a little more time for skill/talent development if Trump wins and about here in the thought process the Lord interjected one sentence.  Here was the sentence:

"You do understand that your mission and development of your talents has not and will not change regardless of who wins the presidency right?"

There are multiple sub ideas that can be derived from this statement:

1.  The trump biden drama is not as important as people think it is.  The Lord could have set the current scenario up differently but He chose not to for many reasons.

2.  Our Lord's will, will be done regardless.  His purposes, not the enemy's or mankind's purposes stand the test of time. 

Is 14:27

or the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Ps 33:11

But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

3.  That gift the Lord has given you to use, that thing inside of you that you do better than other people? That thing you enjoy doing more than other people because you are kinda good at it, that is your talent, ability, gift to be used in the service of the Great King, the Lord our God who created us for His glory to do what is good and pleasing in His sight.   

4.  The fact that you have this gift/ability/talent right now on earth is the evidence of what the Lord wants you to do.  We are here now on earth as members of His kingdom according to our Lord's foreknowledge of what is needed today for the working out of His plan that was mapped out long before any of us was a twinkle in our human parent's eye.

5.  We dont have to figure everything out.  The Lord our God has already done that.  We dont have to predict what is going to happen next either.  Our Lord already laid out in His Word exactly what is going to happen and it is all going down exactly as He knew it would.  None of today's worldwide fraud, abuse, murder, theft and mayhem came as a surprise to Him who knows all things from beginning to end.  Our Lord has a plan and each of us has a part to play in it according to our individual gifts and abilities.  We dont need someone else to tell us what we should be doing as that has been well laid out in the Word of God as well as an introspective look at what has been deposited in each of us.

6.  None of the so called 'prophets' that I am aware of on the internet or anywhere else saw what was coming today.  They have all been wrong which is evidence of who they really are.  Nor do we need the globalist or even alternative 'news' to tell us.  The deception that is rampant in the world today is epic.  Which is why when things get like this we draw closer and closer back to fundamentals that have not changed over the millennia. 

Each one of us knows more or less what it is we are supposed to be doing.  Its right in front of our face.  Open those Bibles to find the answers.  One of the things we find in that Bible is the parable of the 'talents':

Matt 25

14“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants^c and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents,^d to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.^e You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

It is apparent from this parable that the Lord our God wants us to use what we have been given to serve Him.  Each one of us has gifts/talents and a mission to use those talents in His service.  This is a theme and a message that has been impressed upon this servant by the Spirit of the Lord since the end of last year when as is this servants custom the Lord is asked what is it this servant should know and or be doing over this next year?  The answer at the end of last year before any of this madness began was focus on the talents while not forgetting everything else we already know we should be doing (pray/fast/stay in the Word/give thanks continually/etc).

Thats all for today.  

May the grace and peace of the Lord our God be with you in abundance as you continue to serve Him as His Spirit guides you.

Why We Cant Watch The "News" Anymore

 Perhaps its even more than the news.  Its becoming more difficult by the day to watch any tv show, movie, sports event or even advertisement on tv without feeling like it needs to be turned off.  As a Christian white straight male this servant is persona non grata in today's 'new world.'  Todays world is full of hatred, greed, selfishness and lust masquerading as 'love' and 'tolerance.'  None of this of course should be a surprise to us as our Lord told us all this was coming:

2 Tim 3

1But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 

One way of looking at all this is this world and the enemy are doing us a favor.  This servant is being more or less forced to turn off this world's garbage and focus 1.  on the Word and 2. personal mission.  What does the Word say about our situation?

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Instead of the hatred, division and dissolution offered by this world, we should choose this ^^.

We have the power to choose what to focus on and what not to focus on.  While this world and those who belong to it continue to spiral around the drain of history, following each others lead to lower lows.  We who do not belong to this world or its kingdoms should be looking to the laws and Words that guide and direct our kingdom.  How much better to spend our waking hours dwelling on noble, right, true, pure, lovely and admirable things?  In order to dwell on true lovely admirable things we must turn off this world and all of its media, including and especially social media that has revealed itself to be an enemy of our God and His kingdom but also an enemy of humanity itself.

And while we are dwelling on true, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things let us consider Psalm 37 which should be reviewed daily until it is memorized because it holds so much truth for our present situation.  Here is an excerpt:

Ps 37:

39The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

He is our stronghold in times of trouble?  Indeed.  Are we in trouble today?  You bet we are.  It also sas the Lord will help us and deliver us from the wicked because we take refuge in Him.  If ever we needed to cash in a promise of the Lord at the Bank of the Most High it would be that promise today.  The wicked surround us on every side.  They are in the media, the government and just about every corporation.  The whole world it seems has given itself over to the dark side to serve themselves and their master the devil.  But guess what?  The whole world united together plus the devil and his angels will not be enough.  They will get absolutely crushed, obliterated, devastated, destroyed, annihilated.

This is where we must part ways with those who claim to be Christian but throw their hands up in the air claiming we the Church will be sold down the river without a second thought and with no recourse or help from heaven.  Really?  Which Bible are these people reading?  This servant presented to you just two verses out of the 40 in Psalm 37 that clearly state we have a stronghold in times of trouble.  There is a big difference between being sold down the river and having a stronghold.  Not only that it says we will be both 1. helped and 2. delivered from the wicked.  This servant does not need ThD or PhD after his name to know what that means.  The Word could not be any more clear.  This is perfectly understandable from even a 4th grader.  We will be helped, saved and delivered from the wicked because we take refuge in the Most High God.  Thats what it says and we can take it to the bank.

So...turn of the news.  Cancel and walk away from social media and everything else that is selling hatred, wickedness and despair.  It is time to focus:

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 The other part of the focus is on your personal 'talents' (Matt 25).  You and I have been given gifts within us from heaven to serve our Father's kingdom.  Whatever those talents or abilities are, now is the time to engage and develop them.  Our services are now being called upon, its time to go to work.

We dont have to figure everything out we just have to deal with what is right in front of our face today.  The Lord will take care of the big picture stuff.  He is the General, we are His grunts/foot soldiers who do what we are told to do.  Our Commander in Chief knows exactly what He is doing and He knows every minute detail of the enemy battle plan against us.  To say that this is not a fair fight is an understatement.  While the enemy appears to hold all the cards at the moment, like every time before he will be annihilated.  Here is an example from the past:

Isaiah 37

Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help

1As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD. 2And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. 3They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. 4It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.’”

5When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, 6Isaiah said to them, “Say to your master, ‘Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. 7Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’”

8The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush,^a “He has set out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance

14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: 16“O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 20So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.”

Sennacherib’s Fall

21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22this is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:

“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.

23“‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.

26“‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted^b before it is grown.

28“‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
29Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’

30“And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that. Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 31And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 32For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

33“Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 34By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. 35For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

36And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 37Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh. 38And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Yep, things looked pretty dark for awhile there right up until the Lord extended His fly swatter and whacked 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.  Like it was stated earlier, this fight is not and will not be even close to fair.  The odds are not stacked against us, they are overwhelmingly against the enemy and his servants, they just dont know it yet.  They will be getting educated in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Keep the faith.  Remember what to focus your thoughts on.  Remember to engage your talents/skills/abilities.

grace and peace