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Root and Fruit

9/28/2017

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Root and Fruit
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: (Isaiah 37:31)
And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.  (2Kings 19:30)

Isaiah’s record was incorporated into 2 Kings by the author of that record. Isaiah added this material to make the references to Assyria more understandable. The northern 10 tribes of Israel were captured and taken into Assyria to be dispersed throughout the land. They were never heard from again. (From MacArthur)

This left the two tribes of Judah to think it over for another 150 years to see if they wanted to follow the fate of their wicked sister or if they would repent. Judah did not repent and was rounded up and deported to Babylon (modern-day Iraq). The Temple and most of the city of Jerusalem were leveled to the ground. Judah was given another 70 years to think it over in Babylon before a remnant returned to Israel to rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem.
 

I am not introducing these passages to talk about Jewish history, although that’s a good thing to study. After talking about Milk and Meat Christians of Paul’s day, it is fitting that we consider what needs to be done if we are going to succeed at living the Christian life and bear fruit as we are commanded (John 15:5). In short, we must grow spiritual roots in our hearts if we want spiritual fruit.
 

By the time I was 12, I was being trusted to plow the garden. That was big. How do you plow close to the potatoes but not plow them up? How do you explain to the mule not to step on the beans? It was good for my mother to go back in the house and leave me and the mule alone. That left just me and the mule and we did well.
 

To go back a bit, my mother began teaching me to work in the garden when I was five, (I would be six in September) doing prestigious things like catching bugs on the beans and potatoes and putting them in a little jar of kerosene. (I wasn’t yet trusted to operate a hoe.) After the bugs were canned, I went to the next job of pulling weeds. You had to know the difference between a weed and the young vegetable seedlings coming up. She showed me the difference and went on about her work somewhere else in the garden.

When you pull up a weed, there’s a different looking part of the weed that you can’t see until you pull it up. It’s the root of the weed. (You can learn this at five if you want to.)  If you accidently pull up a young bean plant, it’s not so easy to put it back in the ground and it’s not so easy to tell your mother what you have done. (She was patient.)  I learned to have great respect for the root of the plants. If you want tomatoes to survive dry weather, bury the stem of the tomato plant up to the first leaf so the stem will make extra roots for taking up water.

In later years, I would learn to respect Johnson grass and Bermuda grass. Johnson grass and Fescue grass will grow a clump of roots so strong by the time of dry weather that you will need a mattock to dig them up. The thing about Bermuda grass is that you can’t possibly pull it up without breaking off some of its roots and leaving them in the ground. In no time, the Bermuda grass has multiplied by a factor of six. New grass is growing up from the broken roots. God made sure that Bermuda grass would do its job to feed the horses and keep the soil from washing away. 

Our black berry vines are genius vines. They grow fast in the spring and when they touch the ground, a root will form where the briar touches he ground. As it grows and touches the ground, another root. A dozen blackberry plants will take over your garden in 3-4 years if you don’t keep them cut back and the roots dug up with a shovel.

A farmer/gardener gets to study about God in the garden. It takes a smart engineer to design a plant with a root to feed the rest of the plant. For a gardener to not believe in God he/she would have to have to be dumb as a rock or have a wicked heart. A teacher in high school commented that the roots of trees were sometimes as big as the top of the tree that you could see above the ground. I think this root and fruit thing is why most of the worst wickedness is concentrated in cities and the farm country has a lot less violence. In Medlock Hollow, our nighttime security was to make sure the screen was latched with a dime-store hook. Not so in the towns and cities.

If we want to have fruit of any kind, there will have to be a well-developed root. It’s always been that way and this is what the Bible is referring to in our text today. God would repopulate the land He had promised to the Jews and He would do it by growing the root first. They would have to rebuild their houses and establish businesses and trades. They would build a root that would sustain a larger population. Then there would be the fruit of thousands and thousands of new Jews. They treasured their children and had as many as they could.  Makes you wonder why Americans are so eager to kill 60 million babies in the womb. Europe has quit having babies and in 30-40 more years they will be a minority in their own country. Jews don’t think that way. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  (Psa 127:3)

In living the Christian life, the pattern is set before us: we must take root downward if we are going to bear fruit upward. If we want to be successful at living the Christian life, we must give attention to sowing the seeds of the Word of God into our hearts so the Spirit will make it take root and produce fruit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.  (Gal 5:22-23)  Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
September 28, 2017 – THURSDAY
A.M.  Isaiah 13-15   
P.M.  Gal. 6


(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Great Memory Verses:
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  (Deu 6:6-7

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;  (Deu 4:9)

Song for Today:
Holy, Holy, Holy & All Thank We God (5:21) (Royal Albert Hall)
                        

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ZfrO0UW_s
 

   

 Wait a few seconds. You may have to adjust the volume.


















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Milk and meat

9/27/2017

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Milk and Meat

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?  (1Corinthians 3:2-4)

The Bible tells us how to get to Heaven and how to live on our way to Heaven. These two subjects are related but they are not the same thing. It comes as a surprise to many new Christians that although they have been born again, they have some responsibility to become more on this earth than they are now.
 

A new Christian has been born of the Holy Spirit and has become a new creature in Christ: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  (2Co 5:17). The idea is reinforced in this verse: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  (Colossians 2:9-10) This “new creature” is “complete” in Christ and yet we are immediately introduced to the idea of “growing.” If we are complete, why must we grow? 

No problem. When we came from our mother’s womb, we were a complete baby. We had all of our fingers and toes and we wailed like we were the center of the world and everybody would have to be at our beckon and call for every discomfort that might come our way. Hungry? Somebody put something in my mouth! Wet diaper? Somebody come immediately and change me! Colic? Somebody come immediately and walk the floor with me! Can’t sleep? Somebody pick me up and fill up the empty void in my life.  We were born as a complete baby and were immediately in need of growth. We were complete as a newborn baby but we were not destined to remain a baby.
 

But, how are we to grow? 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:  (1Pe 2:1-2) Notice that before we are served the “milk of the word” there is something that must be done. Five things are to be laid aside so that the milk of the Word can do its work. Please look above and read them again. If we do not lay these things aside, the milk of the Word cannot be effective in our lives. We may memorize 50 verses but it won’t amount to anything until it is obeyed. Learn the Word! Obey the Word! That’s God’s plan for genuine Christian growth.

When we are “born again” of the Holy Spirit and of the Word of God, we are “complete” in Christ and ready to start growing immediately.  And just like newborn babies are expected to quickly grow into toddlers and to begin walking and talking, even so are new Christians expected to grow quickly so that our walk and our talk develops. Seems like everybody who has written a book can tell us how much of our total learning takes place by the time we are five years old. I don’t think anybody knows for sure, but it has been studied to death and the “experts” have an opinion they are glad to share with us.
 

A great portion of our lifelong learning has taken place by the time we are five; at least the foundational learning has taken place.  A China-born preacher told us: “the Chinese language is not hard to learn. Even our children speak Chinese!” Uh-huh. And how does a child in China learn to speak Chinese by the time he or she is five years old?
  

We all know this verse: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  (Pro 22:6) Someone has said that the above word: “train” would be in the context of the ancient mothers who “touched the palette” (the roof of the mouth) of their babies. The mothers would select the baby’s food, chew it for the baby and transfer it from the mother’s mouth to the baby’s mouth. It greatly aided in the digestion of the baby’s early food and created a familiar taste in the baby’s memory. It was associated with the life-giving mother who had nursed the child.
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Training the baby’s palette established the baby’s preference for food. (No, my mother didn’t do this either but don’t knock it ‘till you think it over.) Gerber’s and packaged baby food had not been invented yet. Apparently, chewing the baby’s food for him/her worked to the child’s good, whose digestive juices were not yet fully formed. Touching the palette. This is a good term to remember.
 

I have a confession to make: although my mother didn’t do it for me, I saw several mothers do that when I was 3-4 years old. (I can remember my age 3 because I can remember my Grandpa Carr who died before I was four.) At that time, I was “stuck” with my mother to go with her every place she went and that included sitting down with her among the other women who were taking care of their babies and toddlers.
 

At our country church dinners, some of those women would chew the food for the baby in their lap and “spoon” it to the baby while the mother carried on a conversation. (I hope this doesn’t offend the elite among us.) They had no refrigerators and knew nothing about “store-bought” baby food. Besides, the amylase enzyme from the mouth of the mother gave a head start on the digestion of that food for the baby. It was better for the baby than if it had been ground in a food grinder.
 

The New Testament writers had a problem with “growing up” the new Christians. They expressed their disappointment in their writings. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  (Hebrews 5:13-14)

The result of all the Bible teaching they were giving these newborn babes in Christ was that they might be able to discern both good and evil. Is that expecting too much? Do we have that problem hanging on today? How’re you coming along in being responsible for your growth in Christ?
  

It does no good to blame all the “bad preaching” we had heaped upon us as a child. I’ve heard a lot of bad preaching, myself. When you learned how to read and you had a Bible, what have you done with it? Do you think you can honestly blame the bad preaching you heard as a child as the cause of your being a “babe in Christ” after 20-30 years?
 

If you are a born-again Christian, it is God’s will for you to “get with the program” and make the Bible your daily companion. Your preacher is not going to be responsible for you at the Judgement Seat of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:10) If you can feed yourself a hamburger, you can feed yourself a Bible-burger. If this is too hard, please realize that you would be no better off if the Apostle Paul explained it to you. I’m very mild-mannered compared to that giant of the Faith.
 

I must give an account to the Lord for this letter today. So, I must ask you: “Is your Bible diet one of milk for babes in Christ or can you handle the meat of the Word of God? I pray that you are eating well and chewing well and obeying God well. And I pray that your real intention is to exercise yourself in the meat of the Word of God. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
September 27, 2017 – WEDNESDAY
A.M.  Isaiah 10-12   
P.M.  Gal. 5


(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Great Memory Verses:
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  (Deu 6:6-7

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;  (Deu 4:9)

Song for Today:
Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer (2:57) (Royal Hall??)


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofp6rdAgRrY                                                                     Wait a few seconds. You may have to adjust the volume.






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they that mourn

9/26/2017

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They that Mourn…
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.  (Mat 5:4)
“Blessed are they that mourn - This is capable of two meanings: either, that those are blessed who are afflicted with the loss of friends or possessions, or that they who mourn over sin are blessed. As Christ came to preach repentance, to induce people to mourn over their sins and to forsake them, it is probable that he had the latter particularly in view.” Barnes.

Last Sunday, the visiting preacher at Sulphur Springs used the above text as one of his verses... as a hammer to drive home “they that mourn.” Some verses are placed in the Scriptures for the purpose of engaging the soul in deep struggle. This is a “deep struggle” verse. It is for a time when mourning is the appropriate thing to do
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It is a good thing for sinners to mourn over their sins. The Psalmist said:  For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.  (Psa 38:18)  Paul said: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.  (2Co 7:10) I never read in the Bible of anyone laughing their way to God and never saw anyone laugh their way to God. It doesn’t work that way. Tears cannot save but tears are a good sign that something serious is going on in the soul.

Beyond the mourning and weeping over our personal sins, there is the vicarious mourning and weeping over the sins of other people. Sometimes well-meaning Christians may lash out at “them sinners over there” as though they have no sins of their own. Not good. It has no power to move sinners. Tears have more power to move sinners than smart-mouthing.
 

The prophet Ezekiel was commanded of the Lord: And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.  (Eze 9:4)

Everybody in town was not following the wicked crowd. Be careful about making excuses for your sins by saying “well, everybody is doing it.” You don’t read your Bible much do you? Everybody was not doing it. Some of the people were broken-hearted over what they were seeing people do in defiance of Jehovah God.  First, was the marking of foreheads of people who were mourning over the sins of their city.
 

There are plenty of people in America who are mourning over the sins of America. Why else is America still standing after slaughtering sixty million babies in the womb? Do we really think God has not noticed sixty million babies showing up in Heaven ahead of time? It’s not over when a doctor rips a baby apart with forceps and drops the bloody pieces in a bucket. There is no fear of God before their eyes.  (Rom 3:18) God will have the last word. Notice the next part:

And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.  (Eze 9:5-6) And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.  (Eze 9:10)

When a city or nation is to be destroyed, the children are sometimes included because in their setting they will grow up to be as wicked as their parents and their city. But, that is God’s decision and not up to mere men to make that kind of decision.

If the above verses offend you, I must hasten to remind you that… the wages of sin is death (Rom.6:23). There is a great contrast between those who are marked as those that mourn over the sins of the city and those who are marked for death and destruction at the hand of the Lord.

The whole problem here is unbelief. Adam and Eve did not believe God. They believed the devil. And that is what is going on big time in America. Only a few people believe God is going to do what He said and they need to mourn over what’s coming to the sinners all around them. 

Some people look at their children running wild and the parents comfort themselves by saying, “Well boys will be boys. Girls will be girls. They’re going through a stage right now.” One thing that hinders the situation are the parents who set out to be buddies with their children. Your children don’t need you as a buddy. They need a Mama and a Daddy who wear their authority figures well. You can do “friendly” things with your children but if you are no more than a friend or buddy, you have lost them before you get started.

And if the faith of their Mama and Daddy doesn’t take before they get into high school, then your recourse is to mourn on their behalf before the living God and exercise wise management of their day-to-day living. That’s your job: To mourn for your children and your grandchildren! “Mama and Daddy, you don’t trust me!” “I trust you to be the sinners God says you are and I will trust you as fast as you earn my trust. Trust is not free: trust is earned.”

Through the years I have lost track of the number of parents who mourned over the waywardness of their children and held on until they lay in their casket.  I have heard many testimonies that said they were as mean as the boys and girls they ran with but could not get past the prayers they heard coming from inside the house when they entered the front door.

What if my kid goes astray? It’s not over. A praying mama and daddy are powerful forces for a kid to have to deal with.
 

Then, there are the political figures that need to be mourned over. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1Ti 21-:4)

You got any sinners in your family that need to be mourned over?  Got anybody in your church and neighborhood that need to be mourned over? God anybody in Washington that needs to be mourned over? Got anybody in the military that need to be prayed for and perhaps mourned over? Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
September 26, 2017 – TUESDAY
A.M.  Isaiah 7-9   
P.M.  Gal. 4


(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Great Memory Verses:
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  (Deu 6:6-7

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;  (Deu 4:9)

Song for Today:
Take My Hand, Precious Lord (2:29)(Jim Reeves) 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNrVed6dP6s 
 Wait a few seconds. You may have to adjust the volume.


 











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Stand by me

9/24/2017

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There Stood by Me the Angel of God
But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
 

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.  (Act 27:21-24)

The picture above appears to be of the disciples in a storm and a much smaller ship than Paul was talking about. Nevertheless, the storm is equally frightening and hopeless without the hand of God. There may come into your life such a storm that more than anything in the world, you want the angel of God, the hand of God to come and stand by you. I have been there more than once. It is times like this when God is about to become more than a story book picture or an idle tale you’ve heard repeated again and again. It may be at the hospital or it may be when the pink slips are passed out. Sometimes the telephone must have made a mistake. 

God does not send an angel for our entertainment or to teach us the fundamentals of the faith. It’s like in the Old Testament when a prophet of God showed up. They never showed up because everything was going smooth and the nation was at peace with God. When Elijah showed up, it was because God was at the end of His patience and He was now going to try one more time to get their attention. God’s ways are often past our understanding and He doesn’t always do it like we would have done it. Sometimes God plays it within an inch of our lives, not for correction, but to reveal Himself to us in a way that could not take place any other way. 

In the case of Jesus in the boat with the disciples, why didn’t God suppress the storm and prevent it from happening? Do you remember the famous picture of the children crossing a bridge and a board was out? The angel, unknown to them, was standing over them, protecting them from falling through the bridge. A woman looked at the picture and exclaimed: “Why doesn’t the angel just fix the bridge?” 

Yes, why doesn’t the Lord deliver us from all danger so that we never need fear what might happen to us? Well, that would eliminate the need for us to trust God, wouldn’t it?  It’s risky to have to trust God. The bottom line is that we don’t trust Him and we don’t want to have to trust Him. But God tells us: But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  (Heb 11:6)

Truth is, when we get saved, we are immediately enrolled into the school of faith. We find ourselves trusting God for little things and it grows until we are comfortable in trusting Him for the big things. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.  (Rom 1:17) We go from one level of faith to another level of faith. We never get beyond God’s plan for us to trust Him. 

In the case of Paul on board the cargo ship, Paul had warned the captain of the ship. The ship captain paid no attention to Paul. And now, that the ship is about to be lost, Paul gently reminds the captain that he told him already. But, Paul doesn’t dwell on it, trying to score points. He said: “Be of good cheer.” How is the captain going to be of good cheer? By believing that an angel from God had stood by Paul and told him that nobody was going to die from the ship wreck. The ship would be lost but nobody would die. 

The ball is now in the Captain’s court. There were 276 people on board. Paul told them all to eat something, which they did. When they were all fed, they began to throw the wheat overboard. A lot of money was lost that day. Why did God allow the ship and its cargo to be lost? We could ask the same thing about the recent hurricanes in Texas and Florida. It’s part of trusting God to be able to suffer loss and yet, like Job, declare that the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

We are used to being in control. God made us that way. That is not evil. But, when God steps in, we have to transfer our sense of security from ourselves to the hand of God. That’s a big step. We need to get this one prayer fixed in our minds: Stand by me! Someone wrote a song about that and Tennessee Ernie Ford sang it. He was born in 1919 in Bristol, TN and I was privileged to work in a church there a few years. Ernie Ford’s mama and daddy would sometimes visit the church on Sunday nights. Ernie was gifted with a great singing voice and winning personality. He came from a strong Christian family. 

He ended up as the bombardier on a B-29. He married and followed his gift of music. But, along the way both he and his wife were captured by whiskey and it took the lives of both of them. When he was the figure of the Ford Show for five years, for the Ford Motor Company, he insisted that every program would end with a hymn. They opposed him but he insisted. One of the songs he sang was: Stand by Me. There are 40 songs in the package and you can listen to as many as you like. I can’t separate them. So, when you get through, just shut it off. 

Read Through the Bible in a Year
September 25, 2017 – MONDAY
A.M.  Isaiah 4-6   
P.M.  Gal. 3


(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Great Memory Verse:
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  (Deu 6:6-7

Verse of the week:
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;  (Deu 4:9)

Song for Today: Stand by Me (Ernie Ford) 
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiCkKvYoUAE
                    You may have to adjust the volume.











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OUR FATHERLESS NATION

9/21/2017

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Our Fatherless Nation
And he (John the Baptist) shall go before him (ahead of or before the coming Messiah) in the spirit and power of Elias, (Elijah) to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.  (Luke 1:17)

Competent experts who study the fabric of our society have been warning us for many years that our nation is suffering a great wound of division and anger among young people because of the absence of fathers in the home. In our large inner cities, the absence of fathers contributes heavily to the formation of gangs and gang wars and killing such as Chicago is experiencing.
 

A nation at war always suffers from the absence of the fathers who have left home to fight in the war. When the population is mobile and lacks geographical stability, homes lose the presence of fathers. A mortgage company told me that the average length of a home mortgage in America is less than seven years. Another mortgage company gave me the same answer to that question over fifty years ago. When the father is absent from the home, the bonding between the father and children is either weakened or non-existent.

It is striking that the greatest effect of the ministry of John the Baptist is the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children. (Luke 1:17) When I was the principal of a high school in Florida, one day a young lady who had been a student at our school came by my office to visit for a few minutes. I could feel the hunger in her heart to talk, so I listened. She was twisting a little key chain in her hand as she leaned against the jam of the door. I knew the keys were to a new car her daddy had given her recently.

I asked her about the car and suddenly the tears began to course down her cheeks and her lips trembled as she blurted out: “But I don’t care anything about a new car or all the new clothes my daddy gives me to get rid of me! I just want my daddy! I just want him to have time for me! He has money and he buys me things but that’s not what I want. I want my daddy!”

I never got over that conversation to this day. It still tears me up after forty years.

In America, I believe the greatest need is for us to turn our hearts to the Lord. And right after that, the greatest need is for the fathers to turn their hearts to their children.
 

 “Let us understand clearly that although John the Baptist went forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, he was not Elijah. John would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. He was to bridge the generation gap. Our problem today is not so much that there is a gap between the adults and youth but that there is a gap between adults and God. If adults had a proper relationship with God, they would not have the problem with young people that exists.” (McGee)

“To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children - In the time of John the Jews were divided into a number of different sects. They were opposed violently to each other, and pursued their opposition with great animosity. It was impossible but that this opposition should find its way into families, and divide parents and children from each other. John came that he might allay these animosities and produce better feeling.

By directing them all to “one Master,” the Messiah, he would divert their attention from the causes of their difference and bring them to union. He would restore peace to their families, and reconcile those parents and children who had chosen different sects, and who had suffered their attachment “to sect” to interrupt the harmony of their households.

The effect of true religion on a family will always be to produce harmony. It attaches all the family to “one” great Master, and by attachment to Him all minor causes of difference are forgotten.

“And the disobedient to the wisdom of the just - The “disobedient” here are the unbelieving, and hence the impious, the wicked. These he would turn to the wisdom of the just, or to such wisdom as the “just” or pious manifest - that is, to true wisdom.
 

To make ready a people ... - To prepare them for his coming by announcing that the Messiah was about to appear, and by calling them to repentance. God has always required people to be pure in a special manner when he was about to appear among them. Thus, the Israelites were required to purify themselves for three days when he was about to come down on Mount Sinai, Exo 19:14-15.

When God the Son was about to appear as the Redeemer, he required that people should “prepare” themselves for his coming. So in view of the future judgment - the second coming of the Son of man - he requires that people should repent, believe, and be pure, 1Pe 4:7; 2Pe 3:11-12. (Albert Barnes) 

In listening to the stories of many troubled people, the absence of the father is obvious. When I say, “Talk to me about your father and mother,” we begin to get closer to problem at hand. There is no substitute for a loving, Godly mother and there is no substitute for a loving, Godly father. Some people have trouble thinking of God as a loving Heavenly Father because they had an abusive father or they never had a father at all.

John the Baptist would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. A fatherless nation is a troubled nation that cannot be healed so easily. The solution is what God told His people centuries ago: 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.  (2Ch 7:14) Ω


Read Through the Bible in a Year
September 22, 2017 – FRIDAY
A.M. Song of Solomon: 4-5    
P.M.  2 Corinthians 13

(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  (Deu 6:6-7

Verse of the week:
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;  (Deu 4:9)

Song for Today:
Huge Youth Choir & Orchestra: Come Thou Fount (Dan Sage 6:30)

One of the great pieces of music done by a big assembly of young people!

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repent of what

9/20/2017

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Repent of What?
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.  

For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (Eze 14:6-8)                  (This was first posted June 28, 2016)

Idolatry was the number one thing that came between God and Israel for hundreds of years and it is still the number one offense against God today, including among Christians. In the above passage, the issues are gathered in one statement. God’s concern is about one who set up idols in his heart but came to the prophet to enquire of the Lord.  This hypocrite kept his idol in his heart alive and working all the time. “Before his face.”  His idol possessed his thought life. That person was a double-minded hypocrite, trying to have it both ways. He was in deep trouble with God. The prophet wouldn’t need to answer that man because God Himself would answer the man and make an example of him to other people. It is a dangerous thing for one who pretends to serve God to hide an idol in his heart. When this happens, we need to repent.

In the New Testament, we have a similar warning: 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.  (Gal 6:7-8)

We notice that a particular idol or a particular sin is not named in today’s text in the Old or New Testament. It was understood that an idol was something that came before God in the heart of an individual. It broke God’s command: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  (Deu 6:5) 

Jesus repeated this twice in the New Testament: And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.  (Mar 12:29-31) See also: Mat.22:18.

Loving God is broad and failing to love God is broad. It’s the number one issue with the Lord. Today, we hear this statement a lot: “Well, what I’m doing is no worse than....” and the person names another sin.  Such a pitiful statement to fall from the lips of one who claims to know Jesus as his or her personal Savior and Lord. It doesn’t belong in the mouth of God’s children.  Nowhere in the Bible do we find such language. God does not let us off the hook because we think we are clever. We must look into His face and pray: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.  (Psa 19:14)  And  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.  (Psa 139:23-24)

With this background we can now consider what Ezekiel meant in the Old Testament and what John the Baptist and Jesus meant in the New Testament.  John the Baptist thundered his message by the Jordan river: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  (Mat 3:1-2) 

Repent of what? Repent of anything and everything that the individual knows is wrong. The sinner has the list. The preacher doesn’t need to name all the sins of the human race to deal with one stubborn sinner who is hanging on to his sin. We know what’s in our hearts that doesn’t belong there. Let’s not play games with God. God is not mocked.  Jesus had no sin but He submitted to John’s baptism of repentance as an example of what people ought to do.

 As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. That must have been a very hard thing on Him because we read: Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.  (Mat 4:11) Shortly after that, Jesus began preaching and what did He preach, first thing? From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  (Mat 4:17)  Jesus did not mention the things they were to repent of.  Every one of them knew what he or she should repent of. Their conscience had been shaped and influenced all their lives by the teachings of the Old Testament. 

After Jesus was raised from the dead and He was about ready to go back to Heaven for a while, He said the Holy Spirit would be sent: And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  (Joh 16:8)  The Holy Spirit knows every heart and it is His job to convict the souls of men and women and boys and girls of the sins they need to repent of. 


People will not repent because the preacher reads off a list of sins. People will only repent when the Holy Spirit convicts of sin and points out what needs to be changed.  The preacher needs to preach the whole Word of God and not cut corners and soft-pedal what God calls sin. But it is the Spirit of God that must convince the sinner to repent. 

Until that happens, we speak the truth in love and pray for God to grant repentance to loved ones and friends who choose to go their own way. Repent of what? Repent of what God convicts you of. But in the process, we dare not trifle with God for we must deal with Him personally. He will not be mocked.
 

The greatest need today in America is for Christians and the churches they attend to repent of any idols that are in our hearts. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. (James 4:8) Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 – THURSDAY          
A.M.  Song of Solomon: 1-3   
P.M.  2 Cor. 12

(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Memory Verse:
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).  (Isa 45:22-23) See also: (Rom. 14:11 and Phil. 2:10)


Song for Today:
The Love of God   (Acapella Choir)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeBSv4dQ6BU&list=RD2UnFNHWJ0tA&index=27 
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Preach to us smooth things

9/19/2017

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Preach to Us Smooth Things
…Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:  (Isaiah 30:10)   
(First published: November 15, 2016)

At the time of the above verse, both Israel and Judah were in danger of an imminent invasion from the strong Assyrian empire to their north. Their instinctive reaction was to make an alliance with Egypt to save them. They were deeply concerned but not enough to turn to Jehovah. Isaiah preached to Judah, the southern kingdom of two tribes but wrote about Israel, the northern kingdom of ten tribes also.

Not wanting to mend their ways to get the help of their Jehovah God, they were in the market for smooth preaching that would tell them what they wanted to hear. It was an early version of political correctness. “Preach to us smooth things.” Elijah preached to the northern ten tribes and proclaimed a long drought and then called down fire from Heaven but that resulted only in excitement and surface repentance. In the long run, it amounted to nothing. Israel had to admit they had had a prophet among them but they were joined to their idols.

Fast forward to America. We have an ocean on our east side and west side. We have a friendly nation to the north and south of us. In our earliest days, we could have considered ourselves safe. That security was short lived: British ships brought their redcoat army across the ocean.

With the rise of technology, our enemies half-way around the world can easily get to us. We are becoming increasingly infiltrated with those who would destroy us with long-range missiles and cyber-attacks that can destroy our power grid. We have the beginnings of terrorism within our shores and enemies in the middle east who have vowed to conquer Israel first and then the United States. Some military experts are telling us we have allowed our military strength to shrink to pre-WW2 levels. Many of our military planes are grounded for lack of repairs. Our economy, necessary to support military strength, is stagnant. We are not taking good care of our veterans.

We may not be in as much danger of foreign invasion as we are from our lack of unity and determination to remain free as a nation. It is for sure that our nation is in the grip of “preach to us smooth things.” We have lost our Bible and because of that we have slaughtered almost 60 million babies in the womb. Every abortion stops a beating heart. Our national belief in absolute truth is greatly weakened.
 

The percentage of babies born into single-parent homes is rising every year. This results in automatic poverty and teenagers who are incomplete, undirected, insecure and angry. Our inner cities are plagued with gangs of angry, misguided teenagers. We have a great crisis of missing fathers. In most homes, the Bible is never read and prayer is never made (based upon many surveys). Still….

America has thousands of smooth preachers that market a “soft” message to please the masses who do not want a God who demands repentance and holy living. Feel-good doctrine is selling well.

The folks in Isaiah’s day were in trouble because they had forsaken Jehovah. Isaiah was sent by God to tell them to repent or perish. Through the help of their smooth preachers they did not repent. Assyria removed the best of the ten tribes of Israel and dispersed them throughout the Assyrian empire. They had no national identity, no land, and no houses. They were in grinding poverty; dressed in rags. Smooth preaching was not serving them well. Smooth preaching was not a good thing for them.

Judah was left to guard the Temple and to think about the disappearance of her sister-nation now exiled into Assyria. But, after 150 years to think it over, Judah would copy the rebellion of her sister and be carried off in chains to Babylon to think it over another 70 years. Her beautiful Temple was destroyed and her beautiful city of Jerusalem was leveled to the ground.

Nobody is smart enough to run his own life. I have spent most of my adult life listening to sad stories. So, I must tell you, “You are not smart enough to run your own life.”  I read the Bible every day because I’m dirt-dumb. I’m not spiritual. I’m afraid to try to manage myself without God. The ultimate test is the grave and I don’t believe the party animals can raise me from the dead. But, there is one who has a track record of raising the dead and the Spirit of God who raised Him from the dead also dwells in me. He will raise me from the dead. (Rom.8:11)

The youth of every generation steps up to the plate and has a go at it. Before they know it, they are 50 and their energy is slipping. Parents begin to die off by the time the children reach 50 and they are shocked that they are no more invincible or immortal than their parents but are following lock-step behind them by a mere 20 years. Youth is destined to inevitable aging and death.
 

A middle-age man looks at the old man staring back at him in the bathroom mirror. He panics! A new red Thunderbird convertible with the wind blowing through his greying hair will fix it. He finds a younger woman which proves…something. His abandoned wife and nearly-grown children are out of the picture. Clearly, this man is not smart enough to run his own life. Preach to us “smooth things.”  
FIVE SPOKESMEN:

●PAUL SAID: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (authority over them): from such turn away.  (2 Timothy 3:5) 

●JESUS SAID: The world  hateth (me), because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.  (John 7:7)

●AHAB SAID: And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?  (1 Kings 18:17) Remember Ahab and Jezebel? They were such short-sighted fools!

●MICAIAH SAID: And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets (false prophets) declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good. And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.  (2 Chronicles 18:12-13)

●ISAIAH SAID: Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:  (Isaiah 30:1) Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year 
SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 - WEDNESDAY

A.M. Ecclesiastes 10-12   

P.M.  2 Cor. 11:16-33

 (BIBLE GATEWAY will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

A Good Memory Verse:
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.  (Luk 24:27)


Verse of the week:
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.   And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  (Eph 4:29-30)

Song for Today:
Cong. and Orchestra: Guide Me Oh Thou Great Jehovah(Royal Albert Hall, London)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofp6rdAgRrY&list=RD39ZfrO0UW_s&index=9 

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who reads the bible?

9/18/2017

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Who Reads the Bible?
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.  Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.  (1Ti 4:12-13)

America has the most Bibles per person of any nation in the world, But, I daresay that most of the Bibles in America are largely symbolic and unread. When I was ten and on into my early teens I heard several preachers tell this story. “A pastor was visiting in the home of one of the leading members of the church. 

After the family had talked a while, the father, wanted to show the pastor how much the family loved the Bible. So, he said to his five-year old, “son, please go get the book we all love so much and spend time reading together.” The little boy ran down the hall and quickly came back lugging the big Sears catalog.” 

This week, my school mate of the early fifties, Tom Wallace, posted a picture of his Bible on Facebook and was rejoicing that he had kept one of his New Year’s resolutions. He had read his Bible through in one month by reading forty chapters a day, finishing a day early. I contacted him and asked permission to post a picture of his Bible and his Bible reading story. Brother Wallace has read the Bible through many times, I’m sure, but this was a special occasion. Sharing it with us may encourage  us to read our Bibles.

I remember Brother Tom more as a bus captain at Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga. He has been a tireless worker as a Bible preacher and pastor. I’ve heard that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. “I’ll get saved tomorrow. I’m almost persuaded.” “I know I should read my Bible. I’ll do it tomorrow” 


I’ve never read my Bible through in one month. In our MORNING MINUTE, we always include: “Read Through the Bible in a Year” and provide a live link to read the daily passage at Bible Gateway.com. By clicking on the little speaker, you can listen to it. That’s the way I use it. I close my eyes and listen. He’s a good reader and I can meditate while he reads. 

Poll takers are busy asking Americans about their religious life. Bible reading is not doing as well as Bible buying and Bible giving for Christmas and special occasions. Preachers ought to read their Bibles for their own personal needs. I need to read the Bible, not to be spiritual but because I’m not spiritual. I need help. I’m not a good person within myself. I have to borrow spiritual strength and knowledge and counsel and I know where to get it: from the Bible.

In my earlier days it was held in educational circles, including secular colleges and universities that you were not well-educated if you were not thoroughly rooted in Bible knowledge. It’s encouraging that the nightly Jeopardy show emphasizes Bible knowledge. Some of the contestants shine and some of them tank.


The greatest need in America is a revival of Bible reading. Bible preaching churches are not strong Bible reading churches, usually.We Christians tend to be lazy and love to be spoon-fed.  However, most of America’s Bible reading is done by people in Bible-believing  churches.

As Brother Roloff built homes to house juvenile delinquents, he found that most of his young people were coming from the homes of pastors and church leaders and the family altar was weak in those homes.

Occasionally I played piano for Brother Roloff to sing with in Bible conferences and was in his home once in Texas. We talked a few times by phone. One day he flew into a storm, trying to get above it and the wind ripped the wing off his little plane at 20,000 feet. They found him on the ground, face down, clutching his King James Bible. I still miss him.


I’ve not read my Bible as much as I should have, but I have read it through several times; enough to have to replace several Bibles. I like the King James Study Bible and have gone through several of those. Barbara and I have read the Bible through together 12-15 times in daily Bible reading. We take turns reading a chapter and then we read our favorite commentaries. Barbara reads from the Morris Study Bible and its comments. Dr. Morris is especially good and strong the book of Genesis. Sometimes we read the MacArthur Study Bible notes and the Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord & Zuck of the Dallas Seminary. This is not a brag. My point here is that we try to practice what we preach.  

And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.  (Hab 2:2) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.  (Rev 1:3)

The weakest physical part of a Bible is its cover. It separates from the Bible and then the Bible comes apart. Someone has said, “When you see a Bible that has come apart, it’s owner probably has not.” Some people won’t mark in their Bibles but I do, and recommend that you mark in your Bible as you read it. Underline special verses and words and use a dry highlighter if you care. I like yellow and pink for highlighting. I usually keep an old plastic card (size of a credit card) in my Bible so I can use it as a straight-edge for underlining verses with a ball-point pen and making notes.

On our M-F MORNING MINUTE there’s always a good song to listen to. It runs from Handel’s great classics to old hymns to Christian Blue Grass. I was raised on Blue Grass. I like guitars but prefer a  big grand piano with rich harmony or a big full orchestra. Some of the singers have longer hair than I would wear and some have no hair, like me. I’m waiting for Heaven to hear the perfect music by perfect singers. Meantime, a lot of good Christian music of today touches my soul and that’s what I’m after. Church choirs are a great blessing to me and I love to hear children sing. 

Read Through the Bible in a Year
SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 – TUESDAY          
A.M.  Ecclesiastes 7-9   
P.M.  2 Cor. 11:1-15 

(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.  (Hos 4:6-7)

Song for Today:
 Larry Ford and Group: What a Friend We Have in Jesus (Gaither Group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coO5Sl8Vnlw&index=3&list=RDAghsSvQ_2B8 
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My son...

9/17/2017

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My Son…
In our joint daily Bible reading, Barbara and I recently read again in Proverbs, Solomon’s personal instructions to his son, Rehoboam. Chapters 2,3,5,6 and 7 begin with “My Son.” He warned him about several things and repeatedly about going after strange women. Some think this was written before his own colossal downfall in taking to himself over one thousand women and going after their gods. Surely, it was BEFORE he messed up himself! 
He says: “My son…” Did Solomon have only one son? God had carefully warned all the kings who would reign over Israel, to be careful how they lived. A lot depended on how the kings conducted themselves. In this 1897 picture of the worship of Molech, one of the foreign gods, they are offering children as part of their worship.

When Solomon began following his many wives into the worship of Baal, did he join in the sacrificing of his own children, even his sons?  (Chemosh, Milcom and Moloch are more-or-less the same god. These are all Baalim, the plural form of Ba'al.) It would be reckless conjecture to say that Solomon offered his sons to Molech but perhaps the question is not out of line. God does not charge him with this sin and it seems that He would have publicly charged him with it and left it in the public record.
 

Solomon did not stumble blindly into his egregious violation of God’s Word. He went into it with his eyes wide open. The Bible does not say why Solomon had only one son. It’s one of the strangest things in the Bible. If Solomon had active relationships with all of his wives, he should have had more sons than Saul, David and all the other kings put together. The registry of Saul and David’s sons are preserved for history to see. The registries of other kings’ offspring are listed and preserved. Either the records were tampered with or else Solomon had only one son. Moses plainly commanded the nation of Israel:

When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
   

Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.  (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)

Our purpose in calling attention to “My Son” five times in Proverbs is not to deal with the fact that he only had one son. Our purpose is to carry forward the good advice he gave to his only son. It is good advice for today. It is easier to teach single rules to children than it is to teach them principles whereby they can judge all of life that confronts them. The teaching of single rules will have some good effect on some children and others it will be wasted breath.

But, doesn’t the Bible say: Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  (Pro 22:6)? Indeed, the Bible says this and in a general way it works out that way. But there are many disappointments along the way where parents have invested heavily in their children only to be disappointed by the outcome of their children.  But this is one of those places in the Bible where we “rightly divide the word of truth.” (2Tim. 2:15) 

First, this is not part of the Law of Moses nor of the words of Jesus. We need to remember a far greater and much heavier precept of the Word of God is that God made man with free will that can be exercised against the will of God and can certainly be against the will of the parents. When Proverbs 22:6 was written, it did not do away with God’s endowment of children, men and women with a free will of their own. God will not go back on His gift to men and women of a free will.

So, what is being said in Proverbs 22:6 is that training is a strong positive influence in bending the choices boys and girls will make when they grow older, even to the point when they are old. It does not guarantee an outcome. God does not promise to give parents absolute control over the will of their children. Solomon implored and pleaded with his son to stay away from bad women and gave himself to a thousand bad women. To me, it is the most disappointing thing in the Bible. This is an illustration of the practice of some who take a verse of Scripture out of the context of the Bible and go away thinking they have found a whole truth. It doesn’t work that way.
 

To come to a solid conclusion, some things require that we know what the Bible teaches about a subject throughout its pages before we can come to a conclusion. There are some verses that contain a conclusion but Proverbs 22:6 is not one of them. Proverbs 22:6 is one spoke in the wheel of teaching that deals with this subject. We should be saying: “My son” and exhorting our children with much diligence. But we must remember that we cannot take their will from them or override their will that God gave them. Ω

Read Through the Bible in a Year
SEPTEMBER 18, 2017 - MONDAY
A.M.  Ecclesiastes 4-6           

P.M.  2 Cor. 10

 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.  (Luke 24:44)

Song for Today:
Because He Lives (2:29) (Gaither Trio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgzd__SSBY 
 

Begins with the 1970 history of the writing of: Because He Lives. This song continues to be one of the most loved Gospel songs. It undergirds the great mass of human tragedy Christians find themselves facing at the unexpected hour. There is a collection of songs like this, Amazing Grace and What a Friend We Have in Jesus, being two of them. There are Bible chapters like this: Psalm 23 and Psalm 91. Will your Bible and your song book strengthen you in your darkest hour, at the graveside? They must meet this test.  The world does not have a song for the darkest hour.
                        

                                              

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the preaching donkey

9/13/2017

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The Preaching Donkey
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
  

And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way. But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. 

And the angel of the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff. 

And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay.
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.  (Numbers 22:21-30)

This donkey had better eyes and better sense than the prophet Baalim. We should write that down in our brains. A preacher is no better than his adherence to the Word of God and we should hold him to that. For several days, I thought about “The Preaching Mule,” but didn’t find a way to begin an article with that. The donkey is always the father of a mule and his mother is a horse (equine) stock and at this point I speak of that broadly to include the Zebra. A mule cannot reproduce another mule.
 

Please allow me to digress a bit. A donkey is an amazing animal, in my book. On Sand Mountain, where we live when we’re not in Southern Pines, NC, there are a lot of cattle raised in small groups. There is also, usually, at least one Donkey in every herd of cows. That’s because we have a considerable number of Coyotes and a few Mountain Lions that prey on the small calves; sometimes, the larger calves.
 

The best and cheapest way to deal with this is to put a Donkey in every field with the cattle. The donkeys quickly adopt the cattle as their personal protectors.  But..he is not a large animal! No problem. A Donkey will watch a Wildcat or Coyote and quietly move in his direction. When he is close enough, in a split second he will lunge for the cat/coyote and clamp the head of the intruder in his mouth. They have tremendous strength in their jaws. They will pick up the intruder by its head and begin slamming it against the ground. As some point, he will release the head and look at his prey to see if it moves. By this time, the intruder’s eyes may be out of its sockets.
 

When we’re outside working in the yard we often hear the “head Donkey” bray in the pasture behind our house. I stay on my side of the fence because I don’t know if this Donkey knows I’m his friend. He might think he needs to beat the ground with me. I still think he is a marvelous piece of machinery. One thing for sure, if he lays hold of you, he will turn you lose when he’s ready and not when you’re ready.

This inborn trait is also passed on to mules, although not as much. I saw a video of a pack mule out west in the desert. A mountain lion sprang from a big rock toward the rider. The mule reared up and dropped the rider to the ground. Like lightening, the mule had the mountain lion’s head in his mouth and began to beat the ground with the mountain lion. He turned him loose and stood over him, looking down at the mountain lion. When the mule was satisfied that the mountain lion was dead, he was ready to move on with his rider.
 

From age eight or so, I rode mules going to and from the fields, and rode them to water. Looking back on those days, I believe the mules adopted me as someone they were to protect and not to attack. Grandpa didn’t want me to go in under the mules because if they swatted at a big horsefly on their belly with a back foot, I would have been history. I don’t think he was ever worried that the mule might bite me…or him.

He was always good to his mules: fed them well and looked out after their sores and put Watkin’s Salve on any bites or skinned places. One thing I overheard during those days, that Joe and Belle could not have any babies. And that’s the big statement God shows the whole world: mules are great workers but they can’t have babies. The evolutionists haven’t figured out how to go around that.
  

Back to the original Baalim and donkey story. I’ve always liked that story. It teaches me that God doesn’t really have to have me to get His work done. A donkey and one angel is all the Lord needs. We need not think we need to be eloquent and be great Bible scholars to go on a journey for God. If God can make a donkey talk and bring a man under conviction by the crowing of a rooster (the Apostle Peter) I reckon God can use you and me if we will turn loose and let Him be in charge. You think? 

Let’s get busy with God’s program of engaging everyone we can about where they’re going to send eternity. It’s up to the Lord what He does with our faithful efforts. John 3:16 is a great verse to pass on. If somebody’s lips begin to tremble or a tear courses down their cheek, then cancel out the rest of your day and work toward praying with them. That’s the program! Ω 

Read Through the Bible in a Year
SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 - THURSDAY
A.M.  Proverbs 25-27             
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Prov+25-27&version=KJV
P.M.  2 Cor.6
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Cor.+6&version=KJV
 (Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)

Memory Verse This Month:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.  (Luke 24:44)

Song for Today:
Burdens Are Lifted At Calvary (4:51) (Gaither Group)                        

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgkZznGP3dY  
                                                

You may need to adjust your volume

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    Author

    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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