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wartime praying

6/9/2019

   Wartime Praying

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

ON THE NIGHT OF JUNE 6, 1944, President Roosevelt went on national radio to address the nation for the first time about the Normandy invasion that had begun that morning at 6:30 a.m. This is the most complete version of the broadcast that I could find. You will want to listen to it and play it for your family….because…..

ON THAT EVENING, MANY THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES hovered around their radios…all across America to hear his address, which included a prayer for the men involved in the invasion. I hope the link works for you. It should bring up a picture of President Roosevelt behind several microphones. On the screen is a blue block with a white arrow in it. Click the arrow. A commercial will come on. Wait for the commercial to finish.

THIS IS THE COMPLETE PRAYER and I think it is important that we review it. On the evening of the broadcast, American newspapers had printed the President’s speech and prayer. This gave the greatest possible exposure of the prayer to all Americans. The comments made by the announcer are helpful in understanding the broadcast.

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/remembering-roosevelt-s-d-day-prayer-61413957977

ONE OF THE PRINTED BIOGRAPHIES OF GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, reveals that on the night before the invasion, he spent most of the night in prayer. He paced back and forth in his room, praying to the God of Heaven to help the men in the Allied Armies who were going into the biggest battle in the history of the world.

AFTER THE INVASION WAS UNDERWAY, people did much praying; individually, in homes, churches, schools, factories and in small groups of all kinds. At the Flatrock Baptist-Methodist church in Flat Rock, AL, the women of the community met weekly at the church to pray for the safety and success of the men fighting the war. They gathered at the altar of the church and prayed earnestly on their knees. All over America, this was going on. Prayer meetings everywhere.

I WAS SAVED IN OCTOBER 1943 IN A MEETING IN A COMMERCIAL BEAN MARKET in the middle of the war. The bean growing season was over when frost came, and the big bean market building was available for a meeting. The market was filled with people every night. I was nine years old and my mother let me go by myself to the meeting every night. Churches filled up during the war.

SIXTEEN MILLION+ AMERICAN MEN AND WOMEN WERE IN UNIFORM. All males 18 years old and up were required to register for the draft. Every county had a Draft Board. The nation was in a very patriotic mood, a fighting mood, and in a mood to pray. The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 1941 galvanized the soul of America in one day.

THERE WAS A GREAT SURGE OF YOUNG MEN volunteering the next week for military service.

AFTER THE WAR, MANY STORIES WERE TOLD ABOUT STRANGE THINGS that happened that allowed some men to escape death. Books and magazine articles were printed about these incidents. It is important that we know about wartime praying. How much do we need to pray today for our country, seeing we are so divided? Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 10, 2019 – MONDAY
A.M. 2Chronicles: 32-33      P.M. John 18:24-40
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Memory Verse This Month:
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. (Psalm 33:12-13)

Song for Today:
Battle Hymn of the Republic (5:18) – (The United States Army Field Band)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy6AOGRsR80
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The pictures on the wall

6/7/2019

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The Pictures on the Wall
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. (Matthew 26:6-7)

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. (Matthew 26:13)

“MEMORIAL" IS FOUND 32 TIMES IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE.times in the King James Bible. It is a good word. Some things ought to be remembered. Around the world, people have buried their dead and if they can afford it, have placed a stone memorial with the name, birth and death dates of the deceased. Is it too much that we fragile human beings might want to be accorded this tiny bit of significance…a stone with our name and date etched into the stone?

WHEN GRAVE MARKERS ARE VANDALIZED BY HOODLUMS, it raises the wrath among other human beings who do not know anyone in the cemetery. There’s something in us that recoils against anyone who lacks this tiny bit of respect for another human being.

THIS YEAR (JANUARY 2019) THE STATE OF WASHINGTON had a bill to be introduced that would legalize the composting of human bodies to be used as fertilizer for flowers or whatever the family might want to use it for. For whatever reason one might want to do this, it must be admitted that it is a step away from being remembered by any future generation. It runs away from the idea of human significance, even if it’s no more than a chisel mark on a stone. Is that too much recognition of human significance?

AT ODDS WITH THAT BIZARRE IDEA, INDIANA AND OHIO have recently passed laws requiring aborted babies to be buried or cremated. This is in keeping with the time-honored practice of burying human bodies as a matter of respect of the dignity of human life. “The sanctity of human life,” we call it. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Indiana law. If you want to read further, Google will help you find the details.

EVEN MORE STRUCTURED IS THE LONG-TIME PRACTICE of the American military respecting their own who are killed in battle. “No one left behind” has become part of a deep-seated commitment. Someone made a movie: “Saving Private Ryan,” a vivid display of this family-comradery principle. It runs through the nerve and psyche of the soldier. “We go in together and we come out together.” “Either we walk out, or we will be carried out on a stretcher.” Americans didn’t invent it. The Romans included it in the training of their soldiers, and they wrote it in Latin. It is a powerful tool in bonding soldiers together.

IN RECENT YEARS SOME WOUNDED AMERICAN SOLDIERS SAY THEY ARE MOTIVATED to heal their wounds so they can get back to their units to help them succeed and be safe. That’s what they say to news journalists. Some feel guilty because they survived an attack that killed some of their companions.

THE APOSTLE PAUL KNEW ABOUT THE ROMAN SOLDIER COMRADERY: Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. (2Timothy 2:3-4)

MY CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES OF MINGLING WITH AMERICAN SOLDIERS during World War 2, were so strong that it shaped me for life. Gasoline and tires were rationed, so we traveled a lot on trains and buses that were often full of soldiers going home or coming from home or on their way to the battle zones. Homes that had a big star posted in a window had someone in service, and stars were everywhere. I worked in a drugstore as a soda-jerk because there was no one bigger to do it. There were no high school graduates around. It was 1943. Summer had arrived.

I COULD BARELY REACH THE COUNTER WITHOUT SPILLING COKE ON SOMEONE, so, in my 8th year I stood on my toes and stretched to reach the counter. In summer I could make $7.00 a week. I developed strong hands and wrists dipping ice cream. Mixed in with that were the telegrams. A few weeks earlier, in the Spring, my 3rd grade teacher’s fiance’ was missing in action and she was crying in class. Telegrams were dreaded.

THE DRUG STORE IN MOUNTAIN CITY, TN, WAS ALSO THE BUS STATION. Soldiers were coming and going. And then, one day, a Jeep with a tall radio aerial passed our door and parked up the street. Soldiers jumped out of the Jeep and took over directing traffic. In a couple of minutes, a long convoy of trucks carrying troops, artillery pieces and tanks began passing through and turning left at the traffic light.

THEY WERE FROM FORT BRAGG, NC AND WERE PRACTICING DRIVING THROUGH our Blue Ridge Mountain of narrow, winding roads before moving men and machines through the Black Forest of Germany. Of course, they must first go by ship to the beaches of Normandy and if they lived through it, they would go through the mountainous terrain in Germany. For several days, convoy after convoy came through our town. We were amazed and could only guess what it meant. This continued off and on for months.

FAST-FORWARD FIFTEEN YEARS and as a church pastor, I was working hard at visiting hospitals, homes, shut-ins and inviting people to church. In those days, a lot of wives and mothers were still at home. So, when I knocked on a front door, about half the time, someone would be home.

IN VISITING STRANGERS, YOU NEED SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT. I noticed that most people had pictures on the walls of their living rooms and maybe on a little table here and there. “Who is that in the picture?” People were eager to talk about their pictures and tell me all about the “picture people,” and where they lived…or where they were buried.

AMONG THE PICTURES was often a soldier in a military uniform, and sometimes several soldiers. Many of the men in uniform had made it home and were working. But, some of them didn’t make it home and the folks of that home needed someone to listen; to let them pour out their hearts.

SOME OF THE PICTURES ON THE WALL were very young men, 18-20 years old and had never married. Some had married and had left a wife and child, or children. Of course, in many homes the “soldier” pictures were not on display but carefully preserved in albums where they could be opened and shared on special occasions.

AS YEARS PASSED AND I CONTINUED TO VISIT HOMES, I noticed that the soldiers on the wall stayed there. They were still part of the family, though they had faded to the background. Sometimes a mother might say to me, “Susan is going to graduate from high school soon. Her daddy would have enjoyed seeing her graduate. Maybe he’ll be watching.”

THE PICTURES ON THE WALL BECAME PART OF THE CHURCH, part of the community. Today, 75 years later, some of those pictures are still on the wall. On Veteran’s Day or Decoration Day, churches encourage families to bring pictures for a display at church. Time is allotted to let everyone talk about their daddy, brother, grandpa. And, we all have seen the display that occurs on Face Book.

WE NOW HAVE ADDED PICTURES FROM MORE RECENT WARS, and from community tragedies, new types of heroes are emerging. We owe a lot to our veterans and to our law enforcement officers, firemen, and first responders who are now giving their lives to make America safe. “Jesus died for the saving of our souls. Many of our veterans have died to make us free.” “If you can read, thank a teacher. If you can read in English, thank an American soldier.”

Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 7, 2019 – FRIDAY
A.M. 2Chronicles: 23-25      P.M. John 16:16-33
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Song for Today:
Battle Hymn of the Republic (5:18) – (The United States Army Field Band)(Written by Julia Ward Howe in 1862, in the midst of the Civil War.) She wrote the words and fitted them to the tune of “John Brown’s Body.” Originally written in a northern setting, it has become a national proclamation of the soul of the nation. In the Civil War, (1860-65) 622,000 lives were lost. WW2 (1941-45) took the lives of 291,000 American soldiers. Only recently has the total deaths of all other wars exceeded the deaths of the Civil War.

INCLUDED ARE THE WORDS: ”In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me; as he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, as we go marching on.” This performance by The United States Army Field Band has been reviewed on You Tube 7,495,664 times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy6AOGRsR80
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the bible and compound probability

6/4/2019

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   The Bible and Compound Probability

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2Peter 1:19-21)

“COMPOUND PROBABILITY.” Google just found it 54 million times in less than one second. Everyone should know “compound probability” like their family name.

COMPOUND PROBABILITY IS: “A compound event is one in which there is more than one possible outcome.” Compound probability is a key element in Bible prophecy. We’ll come back to this later.

I HEARD THE LATE, DR. WALTER WILSON OF KANSAS CITY, MO., medical doctor, tent maker and pastor, say something like this: “God wrote two books. One book, you can hold in your hand and it’s called: The Bible. The other book is the creation of the earth and the vast universe”. You can’t have a watch without a watch maker. Simple.

A FEW YEARS AGO, a few Sunday Morning TV programs were aired by a group of highly rated professors entitled: “In Search of the Real Jesus.” Their approach was to sift through archaeological diggings and various museum relics for verifying the Jesus of the Bible. That has been the approach of “Higher Criticism” for over a hundred years. One might expect these self-appointed “experts” to agree among themselves about their findings. However, they are broken up into various camps and they can’t agree with each other on the details of proving, by their methods, “Who the real Jesus is.”

WE ALREADY KNOW THE BIBLE TO BE THE WORD OF GOD whether these “learned scholars” find any more significant relics. I would suggest that they are looking in the wrong place. Some of most reliable proofs of Bible trustworthiness is the Bible itself. More in a minute.

WHEN I WAS IN THE SIXTH GRADE, we lived in Elizabethton, TN. Our curriculum in the public school included a study of the Greek gods. I was particularly interested in Thor, the god of thunder, whose name ended up in “Thursday” of our week. (Thor’s day.)

MY THOUGHTS: “These people thought their gods were the true gods. How do I know my God is the true God?” My best, honest reason was that it was what my mother believed, and she was a good woman. That’s the best I could come up with.

FOR SEVERAL YEARS I READ MY BIBLE, attended church, and kept this question in the back of my mind. It was bedrock that the most honest people I knew believed the Bible was the book of the real God.

“ISN'T THE BIBLE AS RELIABLE AS THE GREEK WRITINGS ABOUT THEIR GODS? Why do these public-school textbooks raise the question of “which god” and did not include the Bible as being as reliable as the Greek books of mythology?”

YEARS LATER AS I PLOWED THROUGH A THICK COLLEGE PHILOSOPHY TEXTBOOK and listened to one of the smartest men in America teach the class, I learned that the Greek philosophers couldn’t agree with each other. They sifted each other and struggled to come up with something better than the last generation. One generation after another, their best thinkers couldn’t find truth and couldn’t find God. Their gods were defective, and their systems of thought were defective. Philosophy: the love of knowledge.

TO STUDY PHILOSOPHY IN COLLEGE IS TO STUDY THE SYSTEMS OF THOUGHT that were considered and then discarded, or superseded. “The previous generation of philosophers worked their lifetime and didn’t get it, but we’ve got it.” The next generation did the same thing. Finally, they had exhausted all the possible ideas and philosophy, as a pursuit of learning, was bankrupt and unprofitable. The one, true God was looking on and said:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

PAUL WAS THE "BRAIN" AMONG THE CHRISTIANS and commented to the Christians at Corinth: For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom (Greek philosophers, primarily) knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (1Corinthians 1:21)

GOD WAS WISE ABOVE THEM ALL AND LET THEM EXHAUST THEMSELVES seeking after truth through debate and discussions and writing their books. Then, God was pleased to reveal truth through Divine Revelation. Not through discussion and sifting of the best minds through several generations. God revealed what they could not discover among themselves.

WHEN JESUS WAS ON TRIAL BEFORE PILOT, Jesus said He had come to bear witness of the truth and Pilot immediately asked Him: “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Jesus Himself is the truth, the Word of God in human flesh.

AT LAST, I CAME ACROSS SOME OF THE PROPHETIC STATEMENTS OF THE BIBLEe (see below on this page) and went to the County Fair. At the County Fair, there was the jar of marbles or jellybeans and you could pay to guess how many were in the jar. That would be almost impossible, so, I didn’t waste my money on it. I had never heard of “compound probability.” That’s a little branch of math that deals with the probability of a certain thing being true. The more factors that go into the problem, the less likely you are to come up with the right answer. Guessing a big jar of jelly beans is not good.

MANY YEARS LATER, I WAS TEACHING A HIGH SCHOOL PROPHECY CLASS and we considered what the chances were that Jesus could fulfill the prophesies in the Old Testament concerning Himself. Some math students in Texas had already taken it on as a project and concluded that it was one chance in 1, followed by 80 zeros. I began making zeros on an eight-foot chalk board and found I could draw 40 reasonable-size zeros across the chalk board. So, I had to go across the chalk board twice with zeros. There it was: a one followed by eighty zeroes. I never heard of any state lotteries having that many zeroes, not even a national lottery would have that many zeroes. I can’t comprehend it.

WALTER C.KAISER, JR.WROTE AN ARTICLE: The Promise of the Messiah in Decision Magazine November 22, 2006, in which he says: “In his Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, J. Barton Payne itemized 127 Messianic predictions involving more than 3,000 Bible verses, with a remarkable 574 verses referring directly to a personal Messiah! My book The Messiah in the Old Testament examined 65 direct prophecies about the Messiah. These incredible promises formed one of the most central themes of the Old Testament: the coming Messiah.” https://billygraham.org/decision-magazine/november-2006/the-promise-of-the-messiah/ (Read the whole article.)

KEEP IN MIND THAT MANY OF THE 127 PREDICTIONS HAD MULTIPLE PARTS must come to pass. The Texas students, above, concluded that, altogether, something in excess of 300 separate items had to be fulfilled. Many are yet to be fulfilled. But, enough were fulfilled in Jesus’ lifetime to make an astounding statement by means of compound probability.

EVEN BEFORE I HEARD OF COMPOUND PROBABILITY, I had looked at the element of prophecy in the Bible and knew that I had found something the gods of the Greeks didn’t have. None of the gods of any nation in the history of the world has ever had a proven rate of fulfilled prophecies in its literature. None!

THAT'S WHY I ENJOY WALKING AROUND IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, realizing there’s not one book in that massive national library that can tell the future. Well, there IS one book: there are some Bibles in the Library of Congress. That one book in our largest library tells the most significant things that are going to happen in the future. It also tells where we came from and what our purpose is in being here.

CONSIDER THESE VERSES ON WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF.
Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. (Isaiah 42:9)

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10)

Jesus said: Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. (John 13:19)

Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. (Act 15:18)

FULFILLED PROPHECY IS ONE OF THE MAIN THINGS that interests me about the trustworthiness of the Bible. There are other reasons, but this is one of the foundational proofs that the Bible is reliable. It would take several months of articles like this to go through all the Bible prophecies and their fulfillment. The Bible contains plenty of proof in its own pages to prove it is what it says it is: The Word of God. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 5, 2019 – WEDNESDAY
A.M. 2Chronicles: 17-19      P.M. John 15
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Song for Today:
Glory to His Name(2:01) – (Male Trio) (Calvary Mem.Church – S.Pines, NC)
https://www.facebook.com/100009410046480/videos/1823831644607153/

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break up your fallow ground...

6/3/2019

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Break Up Your Fallow Ground

For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. (Jeremiah 4:3)

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)

JEREMIAH AND HOSEA BOTH PREACHED that God’s people should break up their fallow ground. Fallow ground is: “plowed and left unseeded for a season or more; uncultivated.” (Dictionary.com) Israel was instructed by the Lord to let their land go unplowed and unplanted every seventh year. But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. (Leviticus 25:4)

JEREMIAH AND HOSEA HAVE BORROWED A METAPHOR from Israel’s farm life to illustrate a spiritual need in the lives of the people. The message is to God’s people who at one time were in touch with Him and need to plow their souls again. This message is strictly to God’s people. It is not about plowing new ground that has never grown crops before. That’s why He specifically called it: fallow ground. God did not harden the hearts of His people. They did that themselves. But He used the fallow ground as an object lesson for them.

LAND THAT HAS NEVER BEEN PLOWED OR HAD CROPS TO GROW ON IT before is not fallow ground. Many pictures like the right one above are portrayed online as fallow ground but it is not fallow ground. This appears to be the dried bottom of a lake that has a high content of clay. That’s why it cracked open. Nothing has been growing on this land and most likely, farm crops would not easily grow on it.

THE MESSAGE IS NOT TO LOST PEOPLE who have never had the seed of the Word of God planted in them. He wants lost people to be saved, but that is not dealt with in this message. God’s people need times of refreshing so that the seed of the Word of God can take root and grow fruit.

McGEE COMMENTS: “This is a principle that runs throughout the Bible. It is exactly what Paul wrote to the believers in Galatia: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:7-8). Hosea is saying that if they would sow in righteousness, they would reap in mercy. It is always true that we cannot live by the Devil's standards and then expect to reap a reward from God!"

THIS DOESN'T NEED A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO THOSE WHO HAVE DONE ANY FARMING or gardening. A small amount of clay is desirable in the growing soil, but only a small amount. The roots of plants breath oxygen that is in the loose soil. If too much clay is in the soil, the oxygen level will be low, and the plants will suffocate for lack of root oxygen. It’s the same if it rains too long and the plants begin to turn yellow because they are starved for oxygen at the root level. Air and breath are words that remind us of the Holy Spirit. Fallow ground shuts out air, shuts out the Holy Spirit.

I WATCHED MY GRANDPA RICHARDS PLOW BETWEEN THE ROWS OF CORN or garden plants, even when there were few weeds. I wondered why he did that. He didn’t know why, except his father taught him to do it. He was breaking up the crust that had formed on top of the ground after a rain and the crust hindered the input of oxygen into the soil. So, breaking up the soil is a constant need, especially when the plants are small, and the root system is not fully developed. If soil “lays out” for a year, the rains pack the soil and the packed soil hinders the plants just like too much clay in the soil. So, the soil must be broken up.

JESUS DISPLAYED A SIMILAR PRINCIPLE WHEN HE WASHED THE DISCIPLES' FEET and Peter didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.(Judas needed a complete bath and was not clean at all.) (John 13:8-10)

JOHN WROTE ABOUT OUR NEED OF CLEANSING, which corresponds to the breaking up of fallow ground. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1John 1:8-10)

PETER WROTE ABOUT THE NEED TO BE STIRRED UP. This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: (2Peter 3:1-2)

MOSES WROTE OF THE LAMPSTAND AND ITS NEED TO BE TRIMMED of its ashes. And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold (about 75 pounds of gold) shall he make it, with all these vessels. (Exodus 25:38-39)

BARNES COMMENTS:arnes comments: Exodus 25:38 “The tongs - Used to trim and adjust the wicks. (Compare Isaiah 6:6.) The snuff-dishes - These were shallow vessels used to receive the burnt fragments of wick removed by the tongs. The same Hebrew word is translated, in accordance with its connection, “fire pans,” Exodus 27:3; Exodus 38:3; and “censers,” Numbers 4:14; Numbers 16:6.” (Barnes)

THE TONGS AND BASIN FOR THE ASHES AND WICK TRIMMINGS were made of gold and weighed at least 75 pounds. The gold is a symbol of deity.

TRIMMING THE WICKS AND THE SNUFFERS IN THE TEMPLE. They became corrupted because of their God-appointed use and not because of rebellion and sin.

LIKEWISE, GOD TOLD HIS PEOPLE TO LET THE GROUND LAY OUT, and in that obedience, the ground compacted and needed to be broken up. Again, Jeremiah and Hosea used fallow ground to illustrate what ought to be done in the lives of His people. As we serve God in the line of our appointed duty, we become polluted and hardened in our hearts and need to break up the hardened condition that has come upon us. We need the fresh dew of Heaven upon us.

IN OUR APPOINTED DUTY, OUR FEET BECOME SOILED IN A FALLEN WORLD and we need to wash our feet. After we have spent ourselves and we are reduced to ashes, we need to cast ourselves in our burned-out condition into the presence of God. In our service for God we grow weary and need to be stirred up and refreshed again.

WHEN ELIJAH CALLED DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN upon the sacrifice and altar on Mount Carmel, he ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot to get ahead of the rain that was coming. But he spent himself outrunning the horses and the words of Jezebel discouraged him. He went into the wilderness and lay down, wishing to die. The angel of the Lord came and gave him food and he slept again. Then, and only then could he go on and finish his God-appointed work and turn it over to Elisha.

HAVE YOU GROWN TIRED? IN THE SERVICE OF GOD ARE YOU SPENT? Do you need to break up the fallow ground so the seed of the Word of God can once again grow in you and prosper your journey in serving the Lord?

TODAY'S SONG IS:
Break Up Your Fallow Ground, sung by Kathy Owens and Tammy Thomas.
Chorus - Break up my fallow ground; give a heart just like Your own; where Your word will find sweet soil everywhere that it is sown. Break up my fallow ground; rid my heart of sinful stone; break up my fallow ground, my heart Your throne.

Verse 1 - Lord, you saved me with Your Blood You shed on Calvary, and sweet blessings You have given every day; but my stubborn heart has often not been yielded to Your plan You had for me, Your perfect way.

Verse. 2 - Every day I am so easily distracted from the glory and the joy of serving Thee. Wicked pride and bitterness are there to strangle; sinful habits keep me from the victory.

Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 4, 2017 - TUESDAY
A.M. 2Chronicles 13-16 P.M. John 14
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Good Verse to Memorize:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)

Song for Today:
Break Up My Fallow Ground (3:35) (Tammy Thomas & Kathy Owens)
https://www.facebook.com/100009410046480/videos/2015636695426646/
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thank you....

6/2/2019

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Thank You…
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (1Thessalonians 5:18)

A PRAYING CHILD HAS SOMETHING TO TEACH US. They may pray for each member of the family, their five cousins and grandparents, the family’s three dogs, and the kittens that haven’t been named yet. At Sunday school they may request prayer for their injured foot that has been healed for two years and sometimes for a doll they have decided is sick.

SOME CHILDREN JUST SEEM TO KNOW THAT PRAYER IS A GOOD THING. Others have to be taught to pray at mealtime and bedtime. The first prayers are thank-you prayers. The early years are such important years of a child’s life.

SAYING "THANK YOU" IS ONE OF THE BEDROCKS OF A CIVILIZED SOCIETY. I have long believed that if parents allow their child to receive a stick of gum without saying “Thank you,” they are teaching their child to be a criminal. The child gets the idea: “There’s something about me that deserves this stick of gum.” A child who believes everything is owed to him is on his way to a lot of pain and so are the people who taught him/her.

ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO INSTILL A THANK-YOU ATTITUDE IN CHILDREN is to thank them for things they do. Acts of obedience are worthy of a parental Thank you! Picking up toys deserve a hearty Thank you! And there are many fitting occasions to say “please” to a child. “Please” and “thank you” is the dependable lubricating oil of a home and any other human institution. Fifty years ago, I was reading through the Bible and was arrested by this verse in Romans:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:21). (There are eleven more verses that get really bad.)

THESE PEOPLE GOT INTO A MORAL SWAMP when they failed to glorify God and failed to be thankful. It’s in your Bible. Thank-you won’t save your eternal soul, but it is a positive exercise of the soul that helps to keep us from becoming ego maniacs and criminals. I’ve seen poor and wealthy people do well (and very badly) with their children. It is of utmost importance to teach them to work as a normal part of life and to appreciate what people give them and do for them.

SOME PEOPLE STARVE THEMSELVES SO THEY CAN GIVE THEIR CHILDREN what they never had, and in the process, they ruin them. They raise an ungrateful misfit. I’ve been watching this go on for a long time and it’s the truth. We should love children with all of our hearts and make them feel loved, but there is the ever pressing need to install in the child the sturdy pillar of thanksgiving and appreciation of “a job well-done” that will help them reach their God-given potential in due time.

WE HAVE BUILT INTO US A GREAT NEED TO GIVE THANKS to other people, and especially to God. One of the most valuable things I ever read in my whole life is this:

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? (1Corinthians 4:7).

HAVE YOU THANKED GOD FOR YOUR FINGERS LATELY? Your eyes? Can you smell things? See colors? The Book of Psalms is full of words and verses of thanksgiving that can be read to God as our own sincere prayer of thanksgiving to Him. Our great hymns of the Christian faith will help us give thanks to God. The Bible and a hymn book are worth their weight in gold and should be in every home and should be used daily.

THE HYMN BOOK SHOULD INCLUDE THE GREAT CLASSIC HYMNS. The featherweight 7/11 choruses (seven words sung eleven times) don’t do much for me. But if that’s all you’ve been taught, and it helps you worship the Lord then use it to the glory of God. The result is that we should thank the Lord and praise Him every day of our lives.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name (Hebrews 13:15).

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; (Ephesians 5:20).

Be careful (anxious, worried) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6). Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
JUNE 3, 2018 - MONDAY
A.M. 2 Chronicles 1-3 P.M. John 12:1-19
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Good Verse to Memorize:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

Song for Today:
Surely Goodness and Mercy (3:20) (Dick Anthony & 16 Singing Men - plus one, plus three girls who enhance the group. The string bass is a genuine double-bass; nothing sounds like a plucked double-bass. Love them. Used to own one.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISO18SCs-80
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