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WHEN THE TRUMPET OF THE LORD SHALL SOUND

2/24/2019

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When the Trumpet of the Lord Shall Sound…   

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (are dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.   For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (go ahead of) them which are asleep.
 
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:   Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.  (1Thessalonians 4:13-18)

THIS IS THE CLASSIC STATEMENT of “the blessed hope” of Christians. I’ve read it so many times at funerals and gravesides. Here, it says to “comfort one another with these words.” Paul says to Titus:  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Titus 2:13)

JESUS TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS THAT HE WAS GOING AWAY for a while but that He would come again to be with them. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:  Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.  (Acts 3:20-21)

JESUS WOULD NOT TELL THEM WHEN HE WAS COMING BACK. He said: But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.  (Matthew 24:36) Look at what else He says: And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  (Matthew 24:31)

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  (1Corinthians15:51-52)

YOU MAY WANT TO WRITE THE ABOVE REFERENCES DOWN in the front of your Bible so you can find them in a hurry. You might have to read verses at a funeral or graveside, and you would be ready. (You don’t know when you may be called on to say something at a funeral. Be ready.)

THREE THINGS MAKE CHRISTIANS OBNOXIOUS to people today. 1. We think everybody around us needs redemption; needs to be saved.  2. They know many church people who don’t have it together. 3. They don’t think they are bad enough for Jesus to have to be nailed to a cross to pay for their sins. They are not perfect, but not bad enough to need to be saved. Our biggest problem with lost people is getting them lost. That’s why the Holy Spirit must do it. And when he is come, he will reprove (convince, convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  (John 16:8)

WE ARE TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE IN THE WORLD but we are not commissioned to save them, because we cannot save them. Jesus saves! We don’t save. Our job is to ask: “Do you need to be saved? Do you want to be saved? Do you know how to be saved? Would you like for me to show you how to be saved? That’s it.

CHRISTIANS HAVE A BOOK THAT CLAIMS TO KNOW about the future of the world and that Jesus is going to rule the world. It bothers people that we think we know that. In contrast to our claim to know about the future of the world, people of an atheist or agnostic persuasion have written formal statements of their opposition to the existence of God.

THE HUMANIST MANIFESTO II OF 1973 DECLARED: “No deity will save us. We must save ourselves.” Humanist Manifesto II, written in 1973 by humanists Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson, was an update to the previous Humanist Manifesto (1933)

JOHN DEWEY, PROFESSOR AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN NEW YORK CITY and the father of public education signed the first Humanist Manifesto of 1933.  The unbelieving world is struggling to build a one-world government that will bring about peace and prosperity …without God. It’s a massive reenactment of the Tower of Babel.

 IN A HUMANIST MANIFESTO II (1973) John Dunphy wrote: "I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being...

THE CLASSROOM MUST AND WILL BECOME AN ARENA OF CONFLICT between the old and new -- the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism, resplendent with the promise of a world in which the never-realized Christian ideal of 'love thy neighbor' will finally be achieved." (As reported by Wikipedia Encyclopedia) (A Humanist Manifesto III was written in 2003.)

 THE YOUNG PROPHET, DANIEL, INTERPRETED THE AWESOME DREAMS of the first great world ruler: Nebuchadnezzar. You can read about it in Daniel, chapter 2.  I daresay we are approaching the iron and clay feet of the beast. That’s the place where the great stone hewn out of a mountain without hands is going to strike the great image and smash it to pieces and a wind will blow away the dust. And the stone will fill the earth.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
 
Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.  (Daniel 2:44-45) The Bible is the only book that reveals to us the coming kingdom of Christ.

THE NEW TESTMENT FILLS IN EVEN MORE DETAIL OF WHAT'S COMING.The grave is not the last word. When the trumpet of the Lord sounds, the graves are going to fling off the covers and brand new bodies are going to come out of the graves in power and great glory to the Son of God who died to redeem them!  Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 25, 2017 – MONDAY         
A.M.  Numbers 14-15   P.M.  Mark 6:1-32
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

GOOD VERSES TO MEMORIZE:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.  As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.  (Hosea 4:6-7)

Song for Today:
When the Roll Is Called (3:15) (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZgjbE_g7w&index=27&list=RDglDV6j-uZCY
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Health Tip:
Sleep is a chemical happening in our bodies that is an absolute necessity. The day crew turns off and the night crew turns on. All night long, the chemistry of our body works hard to restore our bodies to a working condition. We need to make sure we get enough sleep. Good physical exercise during the day is one of the best sleep aids there is. Doctors tell us that when we finish sleeping, we should drink a full glass of water to help the blood rid itself of the load of toxins that have been accumulating all night. David, the psalmist wrote: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) Sometimes I wonder if David knew how right he was. Ω
 
 
 
 
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sister...

2/20/2019

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            Sister…
And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?  (Genesis 34:31)
 
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.  (Matthew 5:27-28)
 
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2Corinthians 10:5)
 
(Regard)The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.  (1Timothy 5:2)
 
JACOB/ISRAEL AND HIS LITTLE FAMILY were sojourners among a much larger group of people who knew and owned the land. When their delicate sister, Dinah, of some 12 or 13 years of age, wandered off to see the village, she was spotted, seduced and raped by one of the young men. His father wanted permission for his son to marry Dinah. Dinah’s brothers made a false deal with them that if they would all be circumcised… the deal was on.
 
SO THE COMMUNITY OF THE YOUNG MAN AGREED, and they were all circumcised. On the third day when they were all very sore, Dinah’s brothers came upon them and killed them all and took Dinah with them. They also took all the cattle and all the women and children. It was a complete slaughter.

JACOB WAS IN TROUBLE. The surrounding area would gather together and kill all of Jacob’s family, he said. The sons answered him: “Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?” God intervened and told Jacob to arise and go to Bethel and dwell there. If God had not intervened, it’s likely that the surrounding people would, indeed, have slaughtered Jacob and his whole family.
 
WE MIGHT DO WELL TO ENTITLE THIS ARTICLE: “The Battleground.” In 1980, Tim LaHaye wrote: The Battle for the Mind, a best-seller, still online. I read it when it first came out. It shook me up pretty good and caused me to realize the mental and spiritual warfare that has been going on for centuries.
 
IN RECENT WEEKS, THE NATIONAL NEWS MEDIA HAS BEEN RUNNING STORIES about the big problem of Catholic priests abusing young boys in hundreds of Catholic churches. Forbidding priests to marry was a big mistake, in my opinion. It went against God’s basic design of male and female and His plan for families to be formed. But we must be honest about this. The raping of young boys within the church is not limited to the Catholic Church. We’re seeing the lid blown off and it’s really bad. But other denominations have their problems with this too, and with other forms of violating God’s laws about sexuality. Southern Baptists are beginning to examine themselves and to make suggestions to safeguard the children in their ranks.
 
JOYCE MEYER, WHO DRAWS THOUSANDS OF MOSTLY WOMEN IN HER MEETINGS, confesses openly that her blood father raped her over 200 times when she was growing up in her home. She shares her story of the damage it did to her and her journey toward forgiving her father. Many of the women who come to hear her speak have their own stories of hurtful violations against them as children. That’s one of the reasons they come to hear her speak. She’s from the Pentecostal/Charismatic branch.
 
WHEN I WAS A PASTOR OF A BAPTIST CHURCH, one day my secretary asked if she could tell me her story. Her father had sexually abused her when she was a little girl and she had carried the burden through life. She needed to tell someone she could trust. That’s not preaching time. That’s listening time. I’ve listened to many stories. There are a lot of wounded people among us who were abused as children, in many ways. It’s not just the Catholics. It’s not right, regardless of what brand it is.
 
THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA SOUGHT DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM of child abuse by officially placing itself as the primary custodian of all children. They could then conveniently intervene into any home and remove children when the parents were not living up to the State’s ideal of what a parent should be doing in several areas.  
 
BUT THIS WAS AN OVERREACH AND WE FOUGHT IT until they rewrote the defining statement of the law. It would have been a big mistake. But still, children continue to be abused by adults and it is so sad. We must remember that the ultimate abuse of children is when the expectant mother signs the papers for the doctor to kill her baby in the womb. When people are wrong with God, the women and children always suffer the most.
 
PAUL WROTE GOOD WORDS OF INSTRUCTION: (Regard)The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.  (1Timothy 5:2)
 
THE SOLUTION TO RIGHT BEHAVIOR BEGINS AND ENDS WITH RIGHT THINKING. A man is most often affected by what he sees and is the aggressive one. A man must guard his mind if he wants to do the right thing. In the church, men are to regard the older women as mothers and regard the younger women as sisters and do it in such a way as to be pure in mind and pure in behavior.
 
IF A MAN IS THINKING WRONG, HE MUST THINK RIGHT, IMMEDIATELY! The way to do that is to think of the young woman as a sister. She is not to be a sexual target. To make it easier, a man can get in the habit of thinking: “Sister.” “Sister.” “Sister.” Got it? “Sister!” And avoid the pornography thing. If you’re into pornography, get on your knees and cry out to God about it. Burn your pornographic books and magazines. If your pornography is coming through the internet, give your compute away. I’m dead serious.
 
I’VE HEARD TRAINED AND SEASONED CHRISTIAN COUNSELORS say that the only thing that will control seasoned pornographers is a vibrant program of Bible reading and Bible memorization. The mind thinks all the time when one is awake. One cannot NOT think! So, replace pornographic thoughts with the Word of God. Memorize the Psalms, many Psalms and recite them over and over. Fill your mind with the Word of God. Get back to regarding women as your sisters that you respect.
 
THE MISMANAGEMENT OF THE MIND is one of the most destructive things there is. Paul said to bring every thought unto the captivity of Christ. That’s your mission. Do it! Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 21, 2019 – THURSDAY         
A.M.  Numbers 5-6   P.M.  Mark 4:1-20
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17 
 
Song for Today:
Have Thine Own Way, Lord (3:04) (Jim Reeves)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gshu9c73Qjc
 
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Health Tip: 
NEXT TO DRINKING ENOUGH WATER, I believe the next important thing is getting enough fiber. It’s more important than what you eat or how much exercise you get. About 1980, I read the book: “The Save Your Life Diet” by David Reuben, M.D. I’ve read it several times and I’m passing on to you a quote from his book: P.xi. “For five years I watched my father die slowly of cancer of the colon. I made sure he had the finest doctors in the country and the most advanced treatment available. It didn’t make any difference because the slow-growing cancer relentlessly destroyed him."

IT BOTHERED DR. REUBEN and he set out to learn more. He noticed a small article in a medical journal suggesting restoring roughage to the modern diet. For four years he read everything in scientific material he could find on roughage in human disease. Then he said: “I am now convinced that not only could my father’s life have been saved, but millions of other cancer victims would be alive today if they had simply been able to add a few cents’ worth of vegetable fiber to their diet.” He ended up taking raw miller’s bran from wheat. His book took America by storm and cereal companies began hawking their fiber cereals. We need at least 24 grams of fiber a day. You may want to try the raw miller’s wheat bran and see which is better for you.

I TRY TO GET DOWN A HEAPING TABLESPOON of PSYLLIUM WHOLE HUSKS by Yerba Prima, twice a day with plenty of water. After a brief introductory period, you probably won’t be taking any kind of laxatives. Psyllium works better than raw miller’s bran. I urge you to go to Amazon Books and buy a copy of Dr. Reuben’s “The Save Your Life Diet.”

​In 1974 the Journal of he American Medical Association had already published “Dietary Fiber and Disease, August 19, 1974. And the Medical World News published “Roughage in the Diet” September 6, 1974. But the articles might as well have been buried under the Washington Monument. Doctors were not reading them.
 
 
 
 
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such a time as this...

2/19/2019

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             Such a Time as This…    
Then Mordecai commanded(the messingers) to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. 
 
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?  (Esther 4:13-14)
 
THE WORD 'GOD' DOES NOT OCCUR IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER. But in no book is there more evidence of the presence of God than in Esther. God’s ways are sometimes strange to us because His ways are so much higher than our ways.  If we feel we are in a corner or at the end of our rope, God is not in a corner and God is not at the end of His rope.

WE HAVE LOOKED AT "SUCH A NATION AS THIS" and now we look at “Such a Time as This”…again. As we read Esther, it looks like a normal soap opera. Queen Vashti is something of an upstart on thin ice in refusing to come into the banquet hall at the request of the king. His advisors inform him that he can’t let her get by with that. It will cause his kingdom to come unglued. Looks like another episode of “As The World Turns,” but it’s not. This is what God’s hand looks like sometimes. The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.  Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.  (Psalm 37:23-24)
 
QUEEN VASHTI IS OUT OF A JOB at the wave of the king’s hand and Esther is lined up in a beauty contest that is rigged by the hand of the Lord: she’s going to win! Here’s how it happened.
 
Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them: And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.  (Esther 2:2-4)
 
THESE YOUNG VIRGINS ALL SPENT A YEAR SOAKING UP THE MOST EXPENSIVE oils and perfumes. Then one at a time they spent a night with the king and went to another section of the palace. So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.  (Esther 2:8) We don’t know how many beautiful maidens were gathered from every province of the kingdom. This verse says: “many.”
 
ESTHER WON AND WAS THE NEW QUEEN!  Do you mean God was in such a place as this that broke the law of Moses on sexual purity and family order? God didn’t ordain the debauchery of the king and the way his court was set up. This was not the nation of Israel operating under the laws of Moses. But God orchestrated the whole process so that Esther would take the place of Vashti.
 
THE KING WAS ALREADY MORALLY MESSED UP and Esther didn’t add to his depravity. She may have been the only decent thing that had ever happened to him. He was not going to be humbled like Nebuchadnezzar eating with the cows. God’s purpose was being fulfilled without that.
 
MORDECAI AND HIS COUSIN/NEICE, ESTHER (adopted by Mordecai as his daughter) had apparently hidden their identity as Jews. Some would say they were not honoring the God of Israel. “Perhaps we could classify them with Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who were “secret disciples” and yet were used of God to protect and bury the body of Jesus (John 19:38-42) Like these two men, Mordecai and Esther were hidden in the Persian capital because God had a very special work for them to do.” (Wiersbe)
 
THE KING'S COURT INCLUDED WICKED HAMAN WHO HATED THE JEWISH PEOPLE and had a devised a way to kill great numbers of them on a given day and take their belongings, much like Hitler and NAZI Germany did on a much larger scale. King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) did not know that Esther was a Jew. God knew she was a Jew and oversaw the drama that was unfolding.  You probably know the story. It’s worth reading every year. What God can do to manage a big crisis like that, He can also do to manage a much lesser crisis for us. Nothing is too hard for the Lord, not even your problem. Can you trust Him to order your steps, so you don’t have to get bent out of shape?
 
ESTHER IS 100% HUMAN. Her Uncle Mordecai, who raised her, is her counselor at the gate and he tells her she needs to intervene for her people. She hesitates. Vashti has been disposed of and Esther can be disposed of…. with a sword. Uncle/cousin Mordecai reminds her that she may have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. If she chickened out, God would save them some other way and she would lose her place, maybe her life. She was in no place or time to try to save her own life.
 
THE KING HAD NOT CALED HER IN A WHILE AND WITHOUT AN INVITATION if she ventured into the throne room without the king’s favorable hand, she was a dead woman. Finally, she dolled up and entered the king’s court, saying: “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). As she entered, he beckoned her to come in and she was now ready to ask him to come to a special banquet, along with wicked Haman. You know the story from here. In the end Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. The Jews were allowed to fight for themselves to save their own lives.

“WE BEGIN TO SEE GOD BY HIS PROVIDENCE MOVING NOW in the affairs of the nation. It is obvious that Esther did not accidentally win a beauty contest. She was not accidentally the one who became queen. She is there for a very definite purpose, and God has been arranging this all the time. He is prepared for this event. God knows what is coming. That is why, friends, we can trust Him. When we put our hand in His hand, He has the power to hold us. He knows what is going to happen tomorrow and next month and next year. He will care for us. All we have to do is trust Him.” (McGee)

IF YOU'RE NOT IN SOME IMPRESSIVE PLACE you’d like to be, don’t worry about it. God knows all about you and He has not forgotten you. He has a plan for you, and He won’t forget you. He is your shepherd and He is a good shepherd. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.  (Hebrews 13:5-6) Is the Lord your helper? Are you looking to Him? There is great freedom in obeying the Lord and trusting Him and saying: “If I perish, I perish.” Ω
  

Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 20, 2019 – WEDNESDAY         
A.M.  Numbers 3-4   P.M.  Mark 3:22-35
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17)
 
 
Song for Today:
The Model Prayer (4:25) (Andrea Bocelli-Orchestra-Choir)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEplqV0scyo
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Health Tip: 
The salt shaker may not be the best thing. We need about 400-450 mg of sodium a day and we get that much in fresh, unsalted fruits, vegetables, beans and grains. Americans on average consume about 3,400 mg of salt per day. The suggested maximum by the FDA is 2,300 mg.

If our diet is heavy into canned and boxed foods, we are getting “dosed” with salt. Blood pressure is a concern but there are concerns all over our bodies about consuming too much salt. In fact, some researchers are warning that it may be impossible to hold down our salt intake to a healthy level if we are majoring in store-bought canned and boxed
goods.

PLUS….our diets are low in potassium. Potassium is an antagonist of sodium and helps drive excess sodium out of the body. Excess sodium stresses the body. Sodium, like sugar, is addictive. After being on a low-sodium intake for 2-3 weeks, what you used to eat and thought nothing about it, will taste salty. Do your body a favor and watch the salt intake. Grits are about the only thing I add salt to. Maybe I’ll get the “cure” on salting my grits. Ω
 
 
 
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such a nation as this...

2/18/2019

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      Such a Nation as This…    
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. 
 
They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.  Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?  (Jeremiah 5:7-9)
 
WHEN A GOD-FAVORED NATION REJECTS GOD, the first two things to go wrong are sex and abuse of children. At some point the power of its economy and the integrity of its money will be sacrificed. Its military power shrinks because there’s no money to pay for it. It becomes a third world country. The nation sinks into poverty. Irresponsible sex produces divorce, which produces poverty. Women and children suffer the most when the family breaks apart. God knows a lot about making things and He knows a lot about the advantages of a thriving family. The family was God’s idea.
 
ISRAEL DRIFTED AWAY FROM GOD THROUGH IDOLATRY, plunged into sexual corruption and then began sacrificing their children to idols. Such a nation as this covers all the nations of the world, including the United States of America. God made the world, owns the world, and holds it responsible to Him. The Roman Empire did not fall for lack of politicians. Some historians believe that Rome slowly rotted from within and fell in on itself.  
 
THE ASSYRIANS, THE BABYLONIANS, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans all rose to great power and fell. How did they rise to power and why did they fall? Why did world power shift from Europe to America? Is there not a God in Heaven who presides over the rise and fall of nations? Benjamin Franklin thought so (and he was no angel) and persuaded his fellow politicians to establish prayer before congressional meetings and that practice continues to this day.
 
AMERICA HAS DRIFTED AWAY FROM GOD FOR SEVERAL REASONS, but the core reason is that we have indoctrinated several generations of children and young people with the religion of evolution, posing as science. When we went through our last presidential election, we got out the hatchets and started bloodying one another over who gets to sit in the chair. There were no perfect candidates, so we set out to vote for as little evil as possible. That doesn’t set well with some people. But I’m an old dog and I stand by it.
 
THIS IS THE NATION THAT HAS SLAUGHTERED 60 MILLION INNOCENT BABIES in the womb and has adopted into public policy what God has called an abomination. Before that, we buried the Bible so we can do anything imaginable without troubling our conscience. I posted a similar article twice before and such a nation as this continues to bother me. God will have the last word, just you wait and see.
 
ISAIAH GIVES A SOBERING THOUGHT: And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.  (Isaiah 3:4) I have long believed that the easiest way for God to bring America down is for Him to remove His protecting hand and let us destroy ourselves.
 
I SPENT SEVERAL WEEKS READING IN JEREMIAH, renewing my mind of why God was going to destroy the southern section of Israel known as Judah (Judah and Benjamin) of which Jerusalem was the capital. After the death of Solomon, the 12 tribes of Israel split into the 10 tribes of the north and the two tribes of the south. The northern King set up idols for those people to worship so they would no longer make the three trips a year to Jerusalem.
 
IN SO DOING, THE PEOPLE ACCELERATED THEIR RATE OF DEPARTURE FROM GOD so that after sending prophets, especially Elijah, God wrote them off and brought upon them the army of Syria and led them into captivity. The Syrians scattered them throughout the empire and we never hear from the ten tribes again. God knows where they are be we don’t know.  A few of them stole away and made it back to Jerusalem and they are mixed into the Jewish bloodline.
 
THE IDOLATROUS KINGS OF ISRAEL AND THE PEOPLE WHO TRUSTED THEM, had thought the game was simply to rule through political power and give the people some kind of religious symbolism to satisfy their religious cravings. We know their type better as we think about Ahab and Jezebel and Elijah whom God sent as His last effort to reach their hearts. Elijah tried, warned Ahab, brought on a horrific drought and showed up to call down fire on the altar he built. Surely the people had changed as they said: “He is God!” The fire fell and burned up the sacrifice, the water and even the stones.
 
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.  (1Kings 18:38) Then came a gully washer of a rain that prompted Elijah to outrun Ahab’s chariot and washed the 400 dead prophets of Baal out into the Mediterranean Sea.  But sometimes the spectacular does not change hearts. The people said the right thing, but their hearts never turned to God. They became slaves and disappeared.
 
A HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS PASSED, and the southern kingdom had descended into the same debauchery as the northern kingdom. God sent Jeremiah to tell the king and the people that their time had come: repent or be hauled off to Babylon (Iraq) as slaves for 70 years and lose their precious Temple. God put it off as long as His mercy could endure. Through Jeremiah He said: Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?  (Jer 9:9) Three times Jeremiah the prophet of God used these exact words. (Jeremiah 5:9; Jeremiah 5:29;  Jeremiah 9:9)
 
Please notice that God does not limit His message to the people of Judah. The immediate message is for Judah but it extends far out to all the nations of the world and for every century that was to follow: “such a nation as this.”  Is it not wise to ask ourselves if America is included in His warning: “such a nation as this?”  In devotionals we are accustomed to a message that encourages us for the day. But there comes a time when our greatest need is not to be encouraged for the day but to tremble before the God of Heaven who has weighed us in the balance and found us wanting.
 
IF GOD KNOWS HOW TO MAKE NEBUCHADNEZAR OF BABYLON EAT WITH THE COWS for seven years until he comes to his senses (Daniel 4:31-37), then we should not think it is too radical to assume that God is weighing America in his scale and measuring the rebellion and wickedness of America the Beautiful.
 
IT IS TIME TO PRAY. IT IS TIME TO SEARCH OUR HEARTS for what God may be about to unleash upon us for our wickedness. Do we think God has not noticed that 60 million murdered babies have shown up in Heaven ahead of schedule?  Has God not noticed that America has at last officially embraced the pride and perversion of Sodom?  Do we think our open borders to the south are admitting no terrorists?
 
THE BIBLE SAYS: Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.  (Proverbs 30:20) And: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!  (Isaiah 5:20-21) A man’s pride gives him permission to commit all manner of sin. A nation’s pride gives itself permission to commit all manner of sin. What is God going to do with America?
 
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  (2Chronicles 7:14)
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 19, 2019 – TUESDAY         
A.M.  Numbers 1-2   P.M.  Mark 3:1-21
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17)
 
Song for Today:
Battle Hymn of the Republic (5:18) (U.S. Army Field Band)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy6AOGRsR80
 (Wait several seconds. You may have to delete an ad.)

Health Tip: 
Liquids. Tablets. Capsules. Jells. Shots. IV’s. Salves. Drops. Foot soaks. These are most of the various ways we get medicines into our bodies. Most patient-administered medicines are tablets and capsules. It you are taking vitamins and minerals, I suggest you lean toward capsules and be careful about attempting to swallow things too big for your esophagus/throat. A few tablets are designed to dissolve when only slightly moistened. Most tablets are not soft, and some may never dissolve but pass on through the body. I’ve read the testimony of the caretakers of porta-toilets who say that they flush out an impressive collection of undissolved vitamin/mineral tablets.

The down-side of capsules is that when they begin to dissolve, they may be sticky and stick to the throat. Tablets or capsules should not be swallowed unless you have a full glass of water at hand. If a capsule lodges in the throat, don’t take anything on top of it. Maybe crackers or bread will move it, maybe not. I trust a good shot of water more than anything.  It’s almost like getting a fishbone stuck in your throat. Milk or orange juice may dislodge it easier than water. A teaspoon of flax or chia seed plus a bit of water will create mucous that may help.

If you are using water for swallowing pills/capsules, it should be room temperature and not iced tea or ice water. The cold will contract the throat. Some things like aspirin or ibuprofen will burn your stomach. Hold an ibuprofen in your mouth a few seconds and you will see why you want to drink plenty of water with it. It’s a good rule to have some food in your stomach when you take medicine, to “pad the floor.”  If you have had acid reflux for a while, your esophagus may be shrunk because of scar tissue. Some people have a surgeon to stretch their esophagus to make swallowing easier.  Ω  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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i will pray

2/17/2019

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                 I Will Pray…    
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.  (Psalm 5:2)
 
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17)(David)
 
Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.  (Daniel 6:10)
 
TWICE THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF PRAYING THREE TIMES A DAY. (Daniel 6:10; Psalm 55:17)    The Bible does not mention that Jesus or His disciples, John the Baptist or his disciples, or any of the other prophets prayed three times a day. I wonder if both David and Daniel prayed three times a day out of special needs they were experiencing at the time. The Bible does not say that, but the Bible does catalog turbulent threat around both men.

TROUBLE AND PAIN HAVE DONE MORE TO DRIVE ME TO PRAYER than my “spirituality.”  Before I was afflicted, I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.  (Psalm 119:67;71)
 
WHEN I GOT SAVED IN THE FOURTH GRADE, October 1943, Presbyterian preacher Dan Graham gave us an olive-green pocket New Testament with a cloth cover if we would memorize ten verses. It was a standard pocket Testament that was being given to army soldiers going overseas during WW2. I don’t know how he got them, but he had a box of them. I wanted one of those Testaments, so I memorized ten verses in one week and got my olive-green New Testament. My second-grade teacher, Miss Vaughn, had already “branded” her students (including me) with John 3:16 the first semester and John 3:17, the second semester (four-month semesters).
 
THE PSALMIST SAYS THAT LEARNING GOD'S STATUTES IS SO IMPORTANT that it was worth affliction to cause it to happen in his life. In Psalm 55:17, we find David talking about praying three times a day. It took me a long time to realize it, but I should tell you that I don’t know of any prayer warriors who became prayer warriors apart from a strong dose of the Word of God. Oftentimes, suffering must be added to that. If we can do everything for ourselves and never get in over our heads, we are unlikely to do much walking with God. That is not being judgmental. That is what I have been seeing all my life and I continue to see it today. I’m included in what I have been seeing.
 
SO, HOW IS IT GOING WITH YOU AND GOD THESE DAYS? Are you walking with Him or are you just sort of mildly religious? Not fussing. Just asking.   
 
DANIEL APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MORE IN THE HABIT THAN DAVID. It is believed that David wrote Psalm 55:17 during the time his son, Absalom had usurped the kingdom from him. David was leaving Jerusalem with his governing staff to regroup. He was always writing something. He, supposedly, wrote this when he and the people with him were in great danger. A little three-sentence whispered prayer once a day was not enough.
 
DAVID DECLARED THAT HE WOULD PRAY AND CRY ALOUD. It doesn’t say here that he was in the habit of praying three times a day. But Daniel was already in the habit of praying three times a day. It doesn’t say how long Daniel prayed. We can only surmise. We do know that he prayed on his knees. This seems like a good thing to do if our bodies will permit it. But the thief on the cross prayed effectively without being on his knees. People in hospital beds can pray without being on their knees. I can’t always stay on my knees. My legs cramp and lock up and I have to roll over and smooth out the cramp. But, there’s no substitute for getting on your knees to pray if you can do it.
 
THE BIBLE DOESN'T SAY WHEN DANIEL PICKED UP THE HABIT of praying three times a day on his knees. Neither the law of Moses or Jewish tradition commanded it or commended it. It was not expected of Jewish boys or young men. Perhaps he began the practice in his teen years when he had been fingered for execution along with all the “wise men” of Babylon. On that occasion, prayer preserved his life and the life of his three friends when Nebuchadnezzar gave the order to execute all his advisers who could not tell him his dreams nor the interpretation of them.
 
DANIEL DID MORE THAN TO PRAY BRIEFLY THREE TIMES A DAY. On one special occasion, Gabriel came to tell him something: At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.  (Daniel 9:23) Barnes and Wiersbe believe that Daniel may have begun praying early in the morning and continued until he was interrupted by Gabriel. The occasion of this long prayer is found earlier in the chapter: And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: (Daniel 9:3)
 
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TIME HE BEGAN PRAYING, but according to verse 21, he was still praying at the time of the evening sacrifice, which would have been at 3:00 p.m. Daniel was in Babylon, but his mind was in Jerusalem. The angel told Daniel that at the very beginning of his praying, the commandment came forth (from God to the angel) to go tell Daniel. We don’t know if the delay in the command to the angel and the angel touching Daniel was due to the distance the angel had to travel or if he was hindered by demonic forces.
 
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER, CHAPTER TEN, an angel comes to Daniel after three weeks. His prayer was heard from the beginning, but the angel, Michael, (a different angel) was hindered by the demonic force of Persia. And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
 
Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.  (Daniel 10:10-13)
 
DANIEL HAD RISEN FROM PRISON TO BE AT THE TOP OF THE POLITICAL HEAP that ruled the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar. No one wants to even guess how many provinces there were in the Empire. Years ago, somebody was suggesting that maybe there were as many as 120 provinces. But, none of my books or Google locations know how many provinces there were. However many there were, Daniel was at the top of the heap and his three friends were close behind him.
 
DANIEL HAD ENEMIES WHO WERE AFTER HIM IN ENDLESS SCHEMES AND PLOTS to bring him down. After praying in the morning, Daniel couldn’t wait all day to pray again, so he prayed at noon. At the end of the day, he couldn’t wait until tomorrow to pray again, so he prayed at the end of the day. This is my speculation, but it may not be far off-base.

JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES PRAYED but they didn’t pray three times a day. When Jesus was under such great pressure that he prayed drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, it was by far more intense that Daniel’s praying. But it was not three times a day. I’m sure God was pleased with Daniel’s habit of praying three times a day. Two different angels (Gabriel and Michael) told Daniel that he was “greatly beloved.”
 
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WE HAVE THIS SHORT, ONE-VERSE INSTRUCTION about extended prayer. Pray without ceasing.  (1Thessalonians 5:17) Christians are instructed to: “Pray without ceasing” does not mean we must always be mumbling prayers. The word means “constantly recurring,” not continuously occurring. We are to “keep the receiver off the hook” and be in touch with God so that our praying is part of a long conversation that is not broken. God knows the desires of the heart (Psalm 37:4), and He responds to those desires even when our voice is silent. See Psalm 10:17; Psalm 21:2. (Wiersbe)

JESUS PRAYED: And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.  (Mark 1:35) And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;  (Luke 6:12-13)
 
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.  (Luke 22:44-46) 
 
THE KING JAMES STUDY BIBLE GIVES THIS EXCELLENT SUMMARY about prayer in the Bible, based on this verse: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (Matthew 7:7) This means to keep on asking, seeking and knocking.
 
“BOTH JESUS (LUKE 18:1) AND PAUL (1TIMOTHY 2:1) emphasized the importance of prayer, noting that people ought always to pray. Prayer includes asking and getting answers from God. But it is more than just asking; it is confession, adoration, thanksgiving, and fellowship with God. By its nature, prayer is talking with God.  It is the basis of the successful Christian life, and is so important that not praying is considered a sin (1 Samuel 12:23). 

“WHEN WE PRAY, WE SHOULD FOLLOW THE MODEL PRAYER Jesus gave His disciples and address it to our heavenly Father—beginning with adoration, including thanksgiving and confession of sins, making reconciliation with others, praying for our needs and the needs of others, and concluding in Jesus’ name (Matthew 6:9-15; John 14:14) Jesus pointed out that God heard the prayer of a humble publican rather than that of a proud Pharisee (Luke 18:14).

“GOD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYER WHEN WE OBEY HIM (1John 3:22), confess sin (Psalm 66:18) abide in Christ (John 15:7), ask according to the will of God (1 John 5:14), ask in faith (Mark 11:24), have pure motives (James 4:3) and live peaceably with our mate (1 Peter 3:7). Reference, Genesis 3:8-13; Matthew 7:7 and 1 John 5:14,15.” (King James Study Bible, p. 1425).Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 18, 2019 – MONDAY         
A.M.  Leviticus 26-27   P.M.  Mark 2
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17)
  
Song for Today:

Health Tip: 
Every drug store in America is loaded with remedies for digestion and elimination. It’s good to know that help is around the corner if we need it. Let’s help ourselves. Chew your food until it’s an easy-to-swallow paste and swallow without needing to wash it down. If we didn’t drink enough water before eating, we can’t make enough saliva for chewing and swallowing. Drink a glass of water a half-hour before eating. Having to wash our food down indicates it wasn’t chewed well enough. If the drink is ice cold, it will remain in the stomach until its warm enough to leave. Not good.

Eat something raw with every meal. Some raw things will only digest themselves, other things like apples and pineapple will digest themselves plus part of the cooked food. Enzyme capsules taken with cooked food will help digest it. I use enzymes that work in the stomach and another kind that only works beyond the stomach. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Very old adage. It’s probably because raw apples (not cooked) aid digestion and because they are rich in potassium.
​
My mother often drank a warm cup of water before breakfast. If she needed more than that, she relied on Cascara Sagrada, a favorite herbal laxative of today. Fifty years later Barbara and I attended a health seminar and first thing out of the M.D.’s mouth: “First thing in the morning, drink a glass of water to help flush the toxins out of your blood that have been accumulating all night.” I worked on that until it became a habit. The water will be in your blood in 15 minutes, while you are getting breakfast ready. This will also boost elimination. Ω
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The bloody galileans and the tower of siloam

2/14/2019

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   The Bloody Galileans and the Tower in Siloam
    
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.  (Luke 13:1-3)
 
“THAT IS, WHILE THEY WERE SACRIFICING at Jerusalem, Pilate came suddenly upon them and killed them, and “their” blood was mingled with the blood of the animals that they were slaying for sacrifice. It does not mean that Pilate “offered” their blood in sacrifice, but only that as they were sacrificing he killed them. The fact is not mentioned by Josephus, and nothing more is known of it than what is here recorded.” (Barnes)
 
THE GALILEANS WERE GENERALLY LESS CIVIL, less cultured and less educated than the more refined Jews living closer to Jerusalem. The High Priest in Jerusalem was a vassal of Rome and was on a Roman leash in doing his work. A hundred Roman soldiers lived in special quarters that towered above the Temple. These soldiers were the “first responders” of Rome to quell any uprising that might occur against Rome. Galileans would be more likely to buck Rome than citizens of Jerusalem.
 
A DISTURBANCE CAME ABOUT AT THE TEMPLE while some Galileans were there to offer their animal sacrifices. Roman soldiers who lived only a few yards away, immediately moved in and killed some of the Galileans. That’s what Jesus was referring to. As Jews mingled and discussed the blood bath of the Galileans, some concluded that the Galileans were worse sinners than most and God let this happen to them because of it. Jesus countered that by telling them that they were in as much need of repentance as the Galileans Pilate killed at the Temple.
 
JESUS DID NOT SAY HERE THAT ALL SINS IN THE WORLD are of the same weight. Obviously, killing someone is not on the same level of sin as stealing a lawn mower. Our law system addresses different levels of transgression such as misdemeanor, felony, manslaughter, 2nd degree murder, 1st degree murder, etc. The Bible talks about “righteous judgment.” That is what God is looking for. Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.  (John 7:24)  
 
THE BIBLE USES "ACCORDING TO THEIR WORKS" twenty-three times. The reason for that is that all the works of men are not the same. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.  (Revelation 20:12)
 
IN OUR TEXT TODAY, JESUS WAS NOT IMPLYING THAT ALL SINS ARE ALIKE, of the same weight or of the same consequence. He was pointing out that a public calamity does not prove that God was pouring out judgment on them. He was saying that everybody needs to repent of their sins and walk in the light of God’s word and under the control of the Holy Spirit.
 
THERE WAS A STRONG BELIEF AMONG JEWS THAT GREAT CALAMITIES were a sure sign of great sin among the victims of disaster. After all, Jewish literature and custom informed the Jewish people of Noah’s flood and of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Jews also knew that they did not get their land until the “wickedness of the Amorites was full” and God destroyed them in order to give the land to Abraham’s seed. (Genesis 15:16)

JESUS CONTINUED AND GAVE ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION to put down the gossip judgments of the Jews. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.  (Luke 13:4-5)

APPARENTLY, THE TRAGEDY OF THE TOWER IN SILOAM was a recent calamity that everyone knew about and had thoroughly discussed among themselves. Siloam had to do with water. There was the Pool of Siloam and there was also the system that brought water to the pool.  The reason for a tower in connection with a water supply is interesting. A tower foundation has been found that is circular in shape and about 18’ across. It is believed by some scholars to be the foundation of a second tower that replaced another tower that fell.

WHETHER THE TOWER WAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSTING GUARDS or if it was functional in supporting a water conduit is not known for sure. Husband and wife writers of Bible fiction books, Thoene (Toe-nay?) who do a lot of research about Israel, write of the tower as being part of a water system coming into Jerusalem. This part of the system was above ground and thus the need for the tower to support the weight. It was being constructed and was not stable when it fell. Workers were all around it, so it killed 18 of the workers. Josephus, the Jewish historian mentions Siloam several times in connection with a water supply coming into Jerusalem.

THE DISCIPLES ENCOUNTERED A MAN WHO HAD BEEN BLIND FROM BIRTH.  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  (John 9:2-3)  
 
THE DISCIPLES VOICED A COMMON BELIEF OF THE DAY that babies could sin in the womb and bring calamity upon themselves.  But this man was born blind in order that he might be healed by the hands of Jesus and help to establish Jesus’ identity as the Son of God. 

WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM TODAY. When there’s a storm or a shooting or a tragic fire, invariably there will be the claim that God is judging those people who were the victims. I cringe when I hear that kind of talk. If it is the judgment of God, it will be in such a way that very little will have to be said about it.

TODAY, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT AMERICA IS GOING TO HELL ON A TOBOGGIN SLED. A thousand babies a day are being slaughtered in the womb and an industry of financing it siphons money from the tax payers. It’s cheaper to kill babies than to raise them. An old N.C. senator told me that when I was a lobbyist. We are a very sinful nation and one day God will have enough. We have a variety of sex sins and violence everywhere going on that will surely bring down the hand of God. The iniquity of America will be full, and we will be judged for our stubborn, willful sins.
 
BUT WE MUST REMEMBER THAT GOD'S JUDGMENT DOES NOT BEGIN with homosexuals or murderers. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?  (1Peter 4:17-18)
 
GOD LOVES ALL SINNERS. He loves them enough that if they will repent of their sins and receive Christ as their Savior and Lord, He will gladly receive them as His own. We have a list of unsaved people that we pray for often by name because we believe they need the Lord.  This is the day of shacking up together and ignoring God’s order of living. From these lifestyles of disobedience comes a torrent of sorrow and instability heaped upon themselves and upon their children.

I’VE SPENT A LIFETIME OF COUNSELING WITH TROUBLED PEOPLE who have wrecked their lives and at last would like some relief and would like to fix things as best as they can. We serve a big God who has promised: Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  (Hebrews 7:25)
 
WHATEVER YOU HAVE DONE, IF YOU ARE STILL BREATHING, GOD CAN FIX YOU. He loves you and paid for your sins on the cross of His only begotten Son and you can be saved. Call upon Him today, regardless of what kind of sinner you are. Don’t let the devil deceive you. You don’t owe him anything. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  (Rom 10:13) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.  (John 5:24)
 
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.  I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear (confess).  (Isaiah 45:22-23)  See also: (Rom. 14:11 and Phil. 2:10)
                                                               
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 15, 2019 – FRIDAY         
A.M.  Leviticus 20-21   P.M.  Matthew 28
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it (Hebrews 4:2).
 
Song for Today:
The Blood of Jesus (4:24) (Collingsworth Family(6) and Gaithers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7DSCkEdY0
 (Wait several seconds. You may have to delete an ad.) This is so good, I’m leaving it up again today.
 
Health Tip: 
During cold weather, the air is dry, and we need added moisture in the air in our home. This is very important. Dry air will dry out the air passages in our nose and throat. Bacteria thrives on dry air passages. We need moist air passages so bacteria and be moved off with mucous and prevented from attaching to the soft membranes of our air passages. A one-gallon capacity plastic vaporizer by VICKS or some other reliable brand, may be enough for your home. We have used a vaporizer in winter for many years. Some central heating systems have vaporizers built in. Ours does not. We use about a gallon of water a day.
 
 
 
 
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the big cover-up

2/13/2019

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                The Big Cover-up
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.  Use hospitality one to another without grudging (1Peter 4:8-9).
 
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins (Proverbs 10:12).

SO,LOVE IS THE BIG COVER-UP. A man who loves his wife will not go around telling everyone what a sorry cook she is. A woman who loves her husband will not go around telling everyone her husband has bad breath. Love is the lubrication that helps us through the rough times of life. Love welcomes new babies from the womb and assures them a place in the family. The heart has been the symbol for love for a long time.
 
TODAY IS ST. VALENTINE'S DAY.  From early childhood we learn that giving cards and candy, (especially chocolate candy) is a special way of saying: “You’re special, and I love you!”  We may even think of flowers, especially red roses.  Wikipedia Encyclopedia tells us: “Valentine is the name of several martyred saints of ancient Rome. Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is on February 14, nothing is known except his name and that he was buried at the Via Flaminia north of Rome on February 14.” (You have several links above you can follow to pursue this celebration if you care.)
 
BETTER THAN THE INTERNET IS THE "UPPER-NET"  that tells us much more about love.
 
LOVE IS GOD'S IDEA. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him (1John 4:7-9).

“LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN HAS BEEN SHOWN AS PROOF of fellowship with God (1John 2:7-11); then it has been presented as proof of sonship (1John 3:10-14). In the earlier passage, love for the brethren is a matter of light or darkness; in the second it is a matter of life or death.

“BUT IN 1JOHN 4:7-16, WE GET DOWN TO THE VERY FOUNDATION of the matter. Here we discover why love is such an important part of the life that is real. Love is a valid test of our fellowship and our sonship because “God is love.” Love is part of the very being and nature of God. If we are united to God through faith in Christ, we share His nature. And since His nature is love, love is the test of the reality of our spiritual life.” (Wiersbe)

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE (John 3:16).  
 
FERVENT LOVE COVERS THE MULTITUDE OF SINS. God knows we are sinners and even though we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit if we are truly saved, we still carry around the old sin nature that just keeps on sinning. Sometimes we sin against each other and unless we have a lot of love for that person, we may carry an axe around to chop off their toes. It has always been that way and it will be that way until we have new, glorified bodies that do not contain the sin nature. 
 
If we have fervent love, we are not going to be shouting the sins of the saints to the house top. It’s the big cover up! We are to cover up the sins of others in the sense that we don’t go around gossiping and tattling every little morsel of wrong doing we can find. A favorite (and despicable) tactic is to ask prayer for so and so and go into all the tantalizing little details of how much this weak Christian needs our prayers. Stop it! We are cover-up agents. Keep it a secret even if it gives you a headache.
 
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1Corinthians 13:1).
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 14, 2019 – WEDNESDAY         
A.M.  Leviticus 18-19   P.M.  Matthew 27:32-66
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Verse to Memorize:
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it (Hebrews 4:2).
 
Song for Today:
The Blood of Jesus (4:24) (Collingsworth Family(6) and Gaithers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU7DSCkEdY0
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Health Tip: 
Eat enough fat in your diet. There was a time when so many people were in a state of panic over fat that they worked hard at cutting fat to zero in their diet. Some died of their mistake. We must have fat in our diet to live, along with protein and carbohydrates and minerals and water. Fat is a good servant and a bad master.

Fats that can be heated some without damage are Olive oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, butter, and hog lard. Nothing else. (Dr. Ted Rozema) Foods can be cooked in these fats. All other fats should not be heated until scientific proof is presented to the contrary. Oils for salads can be polyunsaturated fats if they are not heated and they are not rancid. Oxygen molecules bond with unsaturated links in these fats and it is like a bull in a china shop in your body.

Flax seed oil is a winner if kept refrigerated, in the dark, and sealed away from oxygen. Buy in small, black bottles and keep refrigerated. (8 oz). CANOLA oil is a made-up name (Canadian Oil) and is made from Rape seeds, which have a connection with cancer. I eat a tiny bit of this oil in Nabisco Whole Wheat crackers (Hint of Salt) but in nothing else. There are a few other polyunsaturated oils, such as safflower, that are good on salads if the oils are not processed. I mainly use extra-virgin Olive oil and some coconut oil. Occasionally I use a bit of butter on a baked potato.
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 Some fat in a meal will slow down digestion and help your carbohydrates to give off a slow stream of sugar for fuel. Farmers liked to have a breakfast heavy in hog fat to promote energy until lunch time. Without the fat in the meal, you will be hungry in two hours and in some people will experience a drop in blood sugar will give them the weak trembles. Fat in the diet will also help the gallbladder empty and this helps to prevent the formation of gallstones.
 
 
 
 

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GROWING IN GRACE...

2/13/2019

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        Growing in Grace
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.  (2Peter 3:18)

YOU GOTTA HEAR THIS AT LEAST ONE MORE TIME because it follows me around.  When I got saved in the bean market in October, 1943, I knew about “being born again” but I had never heard of “growing in grace” as a Christian. I thought a sinner gets saved and gets the whole load all at one time and that was it!
 
I BEGAN HOUNDING MY SCHOOL MATES ABOUT GOING TO THE REVIVAL MEETING  until they had had enough. When they got me on the ground during morning recess and taunted me to pray, I saw there was no way out. So, I began to pray. I prayed, “Dear Lord, please get this S.O.B. off of me, Amen!” They didn’t know anything about praying and that was good enough for them. So, the guy on top of me let me up.
 
THEY WENT ON ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS and when I got up, I stood there, stunned. That didn’t sound right. I had been one of the best cussers around those rough boys and though I did not say one of the “heavy duty” things I could have said, I had said too much, and I was ashamed of myself. I knew in my heart that Christians didn’t talk like that. I was saved, and yet here I was talking ugly. I didn’t question if I was saved, but I felt twisted out of shape.
 
I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD EVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. I had heard my mother say the s… word a few times and she was a praying, singing Christian. But that was when she was really mad about something, like my daddy coming home with “three sheets in the wind.” She didn’t talk that way all the time. I didn’t know how I was going to do better. I had asked God to save me and I had accepted Jesus as my Savior and I intended to live that way the rest of my life. Somehow, I would do better, but I didn’t know how to do much of anything in the Christian life.
 
I HAD NEVER HEARD THAT NEW CHRISTIANS ARE BABES in Christ and needed to grow as new Christians. It would be several years before I would learn about those things in living the Christian life. In later years, I began to find books written in the 1800’s about “How to Live the Christian Life.” Books by D. L. Moody and R. A. Torrey. When I read the titles on living the Christian life, I realized that people had been wondering how to live the Christian life for over a hundred years. I had not yet realized that Peter had written about it two thousand years ago in the Bible. Peter wrote:
 
Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,   As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  (1Peter 2:1-2)  So, God knew about this two thousand years ago and He wrote how to do it.

MAKE AN HONEST EFFORT TOWARD CLEANING UP YOUR LIFE and get into the simple parts of the Bible and eat it as your spiritual diet. In that same place, Peter warned new Christians: Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.  (2Peter 3:17)

“BEWARE..." LEST YOU BE LED AWAY WITH THE ERROR OF THE WICKED and fall from your own stedfastness. So, if I’m going to grow as a Christian, I will have to maintain a defense  against being led away by the influence of wicked people. That would lead me into falling from my own stedfastness. It wouldn’t cause me to lose my salvation or my relationship with the Lord, but it would cause me to be unsteady in my walk and it might affect my fellowship with the Lord.

I REMEMBERED THAT AT HOME CERTAIN THINGS were expected of me. I never worried about being expelled from home, but I did worry at times about my fellowship with my mother and father. They were not overbearing or hard taskmasters. However, when they said to be home by a certain time, I had better be there. I knew to get my school assignments and if I had jobs to do, I knew to do them on time and to do them well. That kept me in good fellowship with my parents.

I KNEW I WAS GROWING AND THAT MEANT DOING MORE THINGS that grown-up boys did at home. Gathering eggs and feeding the chickens was a worthy job. Then, leading the horses to water was a big deal!  Finally, I was milking the family cow and the goats! There came the day when I was responsible to get the ten acres of hay into the barn. I was growing! God also expects us to grow in the Christian life.

PETER WROTE ANOTHER BOOK and in it he said: But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.  (2Peter 3:18)

“THIS IS NOT JUST ANY KNOWLEDGE: it is knowledge about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. 2Peter 1:1-2, 2Peter1:11; 2Peter_2:20). The verb “grow”… could be rendered “be continually growing.” Believers are to grow “in grace,” that is, in the sphere of God’s unmerited favor, and in the exercise of spiritual graces which Peter spoke of in 2Peter 1:5-7.” (Bible Knowledge Commentary) (I hope you will look up these verses.)

IF YOU DO NOT FEED ON THE WORD OF GOD AND OBEY WHAT HE SHOWS YOU, you will not grow in your Christian life. God has designed it that way.

Read Through the Bible in a Year
FEBRUARY 13, 2017 – TUESDAY         
A.M.  Leviticus 18-19   P.M.  Matthew 27:32-66
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Memory Verse:
 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.  As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.  (Hosea 4:6-7)

Song for Today:
Vestal Goodman & Group (4:39) : There Is a Fountain (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PasK3ZFAOPE&list=RDglDV6j-uZCY&index=27
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Health Tip:  To drink a little more water each day, place two bottles of water beside your bed, by the chair where you read, and beside your computer.  When one bottle is emptied, you have another bottle of water and can conveniently fill the empty bottle. This makes a difference in the amount of water I drink. (I’ve had several requests to resume the Health Tip feature.)
 
 
 
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do moral laws exist?

2/6/2019

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       Do Moral Laws Exist?
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.  (Isaiah 45:18)
 
WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE LAW OF GRAVITY because we have hit the ground and skinned our knees. Ladders and the top of the house are great teachers on the power of gravity. Oh yes, and when we hit the ground, we encounter the law of impenetrability: “two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time.”

If I can remember from Fed Wiley’s physics class at Homestead High School, there are also the laws of hydraulics, inertia, magnetic-electric, thermo-dynamics, and several other unbreakable laws.

WHEN I TRAVEL, I TAKE NOTE OF THE BRIDGES we go under and note how they are built and how they are supported. Every bridge we cross is a community of engineering. But are there moral laws that are as exact as the physical laws? I believe so. There’s even a book that describes them with warnings about the consequences of ignoring them.

MORAL LAWS REQUIRE AN AUTHOR AND AN ABIDING AUTHORITY for the execution of these laws. This author-authority figure calls Himself God, Jehovah, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father, and several other names. When Moses asked Him His name, He said, “say that I AM hath sent you;” The ever-present one who has no beginning and no ending. He is the everlasting Father. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.  (Isaiah 45:5-6)
 
MORAL LAWS RADIATE FROM THE NATURE AND CHARACTER OF GOD and have always existed. When God created the heavens and the earth, they immediately began communicating that there is an Almighty Designer. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power [authority] and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  (Romans 1:20)  

THE PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION SAYS: We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness….”
 
The infrastructure of Western Civilization is built around the laws given to us by Almighty God. We ignore these laws to our own peril. Things are right because God says they are right. Things are wrong because God says they are wrong. There is a penalty for violation of what God has shown us. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (Romans 6:23)  
 
WHEN I WAS WORKING AS A LOBBYIST  in the N.C. Legislature, the CEO of the N.C. Association of Churches came to me and said: “You can’t have a religious reason for a political position.” I was stunned and handed it back to him: “You may not have a religious reason for a political position, but I do!”
 
I REMINDED HIM THAT NONE OF THE 170 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE AND SENATE came to Raleigh to pass bills into law that had nothing to do with what they believed in. They worked at passing bills that reflected their deepest-held beliefs. All laws are passed because people believe what they vote for or else they vote for it because it is the lesser of two evils before them.
 
WE SEE THIS STUPIDITY REFLECTED BY SOME WHO WANT to avoid the appearance of being religious in defending the right-to-life of the unborn. If the thinking of mere men governs the right to life, then the thinking of men has an equal right to put the unborn to death.
 
A NORTH CAROLINA SENATOR, an old farmer, closed the door of his office one day and told me in hushed tone: “if we don’t kill these illegitimate babies, we will have to sell our farms to pay the cost of raising and educating them.”  He was a long-time leader in his church in his home town and out of his mouth was coming the vile values of atheism.
 
IF THERE IS NO MORAL AUTHORITY, then it’s ok for me to shoot you and take your cow and it’s ok for you to shoot me. If my life is safe only because of politicians, then I may not be safe for very long. Some political group may decide that my kind is worthy of death.

ADOLF HITLER NAZI GERMANY called old people “useless bread eaters” and upon that idea they invaded the homes of thousands of old people during the night and hauled them off to be put to death: over 300,000 of them…Germans.  This was before they got around to killing six million Jews. If there is no moral authority, Hitler was his own moral authority and who could tell him he was wrong? No, the authority must be higher than a legislative body or a wild-eyed dictator.
 
WE SEE THE AUDACITY OF PEOPLE WHO DEFY THE LIVING GOD in restructuring marriage laws to include sodomy. God warns us about this through the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;  And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;  And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;  (2Peter 2:4-6)
 
GOD SAID TO JEREMIAH: Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?  (Jeremiah 9:9)  Here is the principle of God’s moral authority over nations. Someone said: ”The wheels of God’s justice grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine.” 

THE ISSUE IS NOT WHICH SIN WILL GET YOU INTO TROUBLE WITH GOD. If it doesn’t matter to you what God thinks about it, regardless of what it is that you know is wrong, you are in trouble with Him.
 
BE ASSURED THAT MORAL LAWS EXIST FROM THE HAND OF GOD and that He presides over individuals and nations in holding us accountable. The good news is:
 
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  (John 3:16)
 
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year 
FEBRUARY 7, 2019 - THURSDAY
 A.M. Leviticus 1-3   P.M. Matthew 24:23-51
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Good Verses to Memorize:
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.  (Luke 19:40)
 
Song for Today: 
Come Thou Almighty King (2:13) (Coral Ridge Hour)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEeoIRXFM9Y&list=RDHEeoIRXFM9Y&start_radio=1&t=2
  You may have to adjust the volume and/or delete an ad.
 
Health Tip: Today I scanned several pages in the Merck Manual, the standard reference book among hospital nurses for several years. I was looking for “Gall stones; Gall bladders.” Several months ago, a surgeon had my gall bladder photographed and it was about 1/3 full. He wanted to take it out, but it was one of the “silent” gallbladders, so I told him to please take good care of himself in case I should need him to remove my gall bladder on his day off.
 
Four out of a thousand gall bladder surgeries result in death. Not very high but, like lightening striking, commands respect. In days past, the doctors with a strong connection to herbs had their patients drink Dandelion Root Tea. Some doctors still do. There’s a list of known things that will dissolve gallstones. If they hang up in the outgoing tube, it can be painful…and worse. I have visited a lot of “gall stones” in the hospital.
 
Merck and other books acknowledge that many people never know they have gallstones. When Americans went on the low-fat and no-fat binge, the gallbladder problem went through the ceiling! The liver bile that is stored in he gallbladder is intended to squirt itself into the tube when fat comes through. Bile is a heavy-duty detergent. If there’s no fat, then the bile stays in the gallbladder, thickens, and forms stones. There may be other factors but that seems to be the biggie.
 
Instead of coffee, I recently went online and found me a pound of ground Dandelion root and make a quart of tea every morning. Not bad. I drink half of it at breakfast and the rest during the day or at night. A tsp of honey stirred in while it’s hot makes a nice sweet hint without going overboard. Two handy books: Merck’s Manual for the Home, and The Herb Book by John Lust. Sell your shoes and use the money to buy these books. Drink lot’s of water, gallstones or no gallstones. Your gut and kidneys will thank you.
 
 
 

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praying god's words

2/3/2019

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​      Praying God’s Words
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.  (Psalm 5:2-3)
 
THE BIBLE COMMENDS AND COMMANDS us to pray and affords us many examples of people who prayed. The Psalms are a prayer book. When Peter was about to go under the waves, he did a nice spontaneous prayer. But prayers don’t have to be spontaneous, without forethought to be authentic. The disciples came to Jesus and said: And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.  (Luke 11:1)
 
THEN, THERE MUST BE MORE TO EFFECTIVE PRAYING than meets the eye. John…taught….his disciples about prayer. (Some of Jesus’ disciples were former disciples of John.) Don’t we all know that prayer is simply talking to God? Yes, that is one way of thinking about prayer and most people probably think of it that way. But some prayers are better prayers than other prayers. That’s why the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray.
 
I HAVE A SHELF FULL OF BOOKS ON PRAYER. I have read all of them and several of them many times. I like the book, Elijah, by Arthur Pink. I try to read it every year. I like to read about, learn about prayer. I figure we can get more from our time spent if we read after people who have traveled the road themselves before they wrote a book about it. Books on prayer do two things: 1. They inform us.  2. They inspire us (motivate us). I have seen some things happen in answer to prayer.
 
I BELIEVE THAT EQUIPPING OURSELVES FOR REGULAR, serious prayer is the heart of living the Christian life. I’ve liked books since I was six years old but reading books about prayer is not prayer. Reading Bible verses about prayer is not prayer. It can be. But, just reading Bible verses about prayer is not prayer. 

READING AND LISTENING IS EATING. Praying is breathing. We can go longer without eating than we can go without breathing. That’s why the Bible tells us to: Pray without ceasing.  (1Thessalonians 5:17) We’re told that “without ceasing” here means like “an intermittent cough.”  We cough a bit. In a few minutes, we have to cough again. That’s coughing without ceasing. Praying without ceasing is like that. Not on our knees. Not in a church.
 
WE COULDN'T PRAY WITHOUT CEASING IF WE HAD TO BE ON OUR KNEES to pray or if we had to move our lips to pray. (Although it’s a very good thing to pray on our knees if we can and to move our lips if we can.)  We can pray while driving, working, taking a test in the classroom, lying in a hospital bed, lying in bed in a sick room. We can pray when we can’t say a word. We can pray when we cannot be heard. We can pray when it’s cloudy or fair. We can pray, any time, anywhere.
 
TODAY, I WANT TO LEAVE TWELVE VERSES ON PRAYER for you to memorize and incorporate into your praying. Please write these verses on cards and carry them with you. Read them over several times during the day. Then, select three of them to concentrate on to memorize. Quote these three verses as you pray. Include a verse or two in your very next time of meeting with God to pray. Believe God. Cast yourself upon Him and expect Him to meet with you. He may show you something that needs to be done, something that needs to change.
 
FOR EXAMPLE: “Dear God, your word says, Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you. I believe that. It’s in my heart today to draw nigh to you. Please show me what I need to do to draw closer to you today. I expect You to draw near to me. I know You will keep Your word, and so I wait before You today, to draw near to You and for You to draw near to me.”

AS YOU WAIT BEFORE HIM, you may find yourself borne along by the Holy Spirit as though He is praying through you. That is what happens when we pray in the Spirit. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;  (Ephesians 6:18)
 
GOD WANTS YOU TO WORSHIP HIM, to come into His presence, to talk with Him. Jesus told the woman at the well: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.  (John 4:23)  God is waiting, is looking for us to come to Him. Can you believe this? Can you lay hold of this? Will you let this lay hold of you? It will change your life!
 
THERE ARE MORE THAN A HUNDRED VERSES we can repeat back to the Lord in our praying. I’m compiling a larger list and will soon mail it out. You can copy the pages on your printer, fold and keep one page folded in your Bible. Set your printer to print on “Draft” quality. That uses the smallest amount of ink and it will prevent bleeding through the paper.
 
YOU WILL PRINT BOTH SIDES OF THE PAPER and you don’t want it to bleed through. The verses will use ½” margins to get the most we can on each page. You may have to give your computer permission to print on ½’ margins. On average, that will give us 15-16 verses per side, or about thirty verses per sheet of paper. You can print these for yourself, your family, Sunday school or hand out in church, or wherever you have an opportunity.
 
FOUR PAGES WILL HOLD ROUGHLY 100 VERSES if printed this way. Use standard printing paper which is usually 20-pound weight. If you don’t have a printer you can copy the file on a little “finger file” and take to your local printer. Or, you can send by email to a close-by friend whose printer is operating.
 
YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE THESE VERSES and print them on paper, if you like. I believe they will fit on 8 ½ x 11 paper. I don’t know if you can do it from your smart phone. It all depends on how you are set up.
 
●Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.  (Jeremiah 33:3)
 
●Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.  My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.  (Psalm 5:2-3)
 
●And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.  (Mark 1:35)
 
●And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  (Luke 6:12)
 
●Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.  (Psalm 55:17)
 
●Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.  (Daniel 6:10)
 
●Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.  (James 4:8)
 
●Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  (Psalm 139:23-24)
 
●He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  (Psalm 91:1-2)
 
●…Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us (our trespasses), as we forgive  (those who trespass against us). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.  (Matthew 6:9-13)
 
●And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  (1John 5:14-15)
 
●Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.  (Isaiah 41:10)
 
Read Through the Bible in a Year 
FEBRUARY 4, 2019 - MONDAY
 A.M. Exodus 34-36   P.M. Matthew 23:1-22
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Good Verses to Memorize:
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.  (Luke 19:40) 
 
Song for Today:
 Let the Rocks Cry Out (2:48) (Calvary Memorial Church)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RB339rbvNU
         You may have to adjust the volume and/or delete an ad.
 
Health Tip(s): Slowly, but surely, the wheel of settled wisdom is turning toward a few simple things we all can do toward having the best health possible. Every day, drink at least a quart of water plus other drinks. Green tea is a plus, and a bit of coffee if your stomach will allow it. Chew your food until it is an easy-to-swallow paste without washing it down. Lean heavily toward a plant-based diet. Get enough healthy fat in our diets. (Olive and coconut oils are premium). Your heat-stable fats are: olive/coconut oil, peanut oil, butter and…hog lard. Do all your cooking with these fats. Add other fats after cooking. Your gall bladder must have fat passing through your gut to empty your gall bladder and prevent gall stones.
 
Keep the sugar intake low, very low. Nix the no-sugar sweeteners. They make you fat and mess up your chemistry.  Prefer wild, cold-water fish as your meat, with some free-range chicken. Avoid farm fish and commercial chicken that has fed on anti-biotics and growth hormones. When company comes, fill them up on bacon, sausage, eggs, gravy and biscuits but quickly get over it.  Avoid the white sisters: white flour (in all forms), white rice and white sugar.
 
While moving our fingers is good, moving the whole body is even better. Forget about jogging. Fast walking is preferred because it does not pound our knees and move us toward knee replacement. Next to walking, the jumping rebounders are outstanding exercisers. We may not need breakfast if we can do without it, to give our bodies more fasting time after yesterday’s last meal. First thing in the morning: drink a pint of slightly warmed water to help our body flush out toxins accumulated during the night. Get enough sleep.
 
Fiber at mid-morning and mid-afternoon with plenty of water. (Psyllium whole husk) Animal products have zero fiber. Digestion and elimination are central and something we can do ourselves. Nobody gets out of this world alive (except Enoch and Elijah) so just make yourself comfy and enjoy the ride. Fight as little as possible. Do something nice for somebody every day. Ω
 
 
 

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    Dan Carr is a "retired" pastor, writer, teacher and continues to write at this website. This blog and other articles are e-mailed free to anyone who wants them. Go to: 
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    Dan and Barbara live 
    at Flat Rock, AL between Chattanooga, TN and Huntsville, AL. on Sand Mtn.
    We enjoy gardening, reading, church, family and friends.

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