august 21 lights out

 Lights out.  Most of us know the agony of waiting for the lights to come back on. How we have adapted to the luxury of electricity.  Most Americans don’t know what it is like to not regularly have electricity.  Some of our elders were raised in a world without electricity but most of those have gone on to their reward. Or to their punishment. If our enemy knocks out our electrical grid with an EMP bomb it is estimated 90% of us would be dead within a year.  God has been merciful to America.  Other countries have threatened our liberty more than once.  Many Americans have stepped up to defend our country. We thank God for them. It is estimated that more than 1,185,596 Americans signed up to defend our country and never came home. Over 1 million people have died defending our country. Satan tried to put out our light. Brave heroes stopped us from speaking German or bowing to a Japanese emperor. Many people have asked why has God blessed America so much while other countries such as South America are not as blessed? Some have speculated that many people went to South America looking for gold and the fountain of youth. Many people came to North America to find God. Unhappy with a government church these believers wanted to worship God as He put His will in their heart. Seeking religious freedom, many suffered greatly to come to America. The Statue of Liberty is a beacon of light reminding us that many, many people sacrificed all they had to come to America. We are far from being a Christian nation, but I believe the sincere Spirit filled Christians who came here and those who continue to live here are a preservative to our country. Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Our salt is being compromised. If we lose our purpose by letting the world get into the church, we will have lost our purpose. And our preserving mission. Many of our higher learning institutions founded on the Bible are Christless. Many of our churches are no longer preaching the reality of hell and the necessity of being washed in the blood of the Lamb. Compromised Christians. Jesus removes those who let their light go out. Revelation 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.Do I need to repent? Daily. Sometimes several times a day. Matthew 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Is your light out?
   

 He wasn’t interested.  His daughter and son-in-law asked Jesus to save them and joined the church. His wife, already a Christian joined the church.  I talked to the father/husband about his relationship with the Lord. He was not interested. Repenting and coming to Christ was the last thing on his mind. What can we do when someone is uninterested in salvation?  Do we pester them? No. Do we shun them? Of course not. What did Jesus do with those who did not want to follow them? He let them go.  John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Jesus draws all men to Him. John 12:32   And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.He is drawing you to Him. Perhaps you have felt His call and have fallen at His feet confessing you are a sinner asking Him to save you. There is no other way into Heaven but this way. If you have rejected Him, he probably is still knocking on your door convicting you to let Him in. Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.I say probably because many people have hardened their heart so many times, Jesus has stepped aside to let them live and die as they please. Genesis 6:3 And the LORDsaid, My spirit shall not always strive with man… We prayed for this man whose family was following Christ, but he would not. Can we pray Jesus into someone’s heart? No. Each person has to make a personal decision about receiving Christ. However, I believe when we pray for the Lord to convict someone of their sin, He convicts them to repent. When you pray for someone to repent you are asking God to get their attention. They may become ill. They may lose their job. Someone close to them may die. God hears your prayer for their salvation. God may get their attention, but they still must repent and call on Him on their own decision. The man this devotion refers to came down with cancer.  As his body became weaker and weaker his fear of death became stronger. Finally in the middle of a hurricane I was requested to come to their house and show him the way to salvation. On his knees, hardly able to get down on them or up from them, he prayed asking Jesus to save him. I believe Jesus did save him. Many people put off salvation thinking they have plenty of time to be saved in their last years. Those last years never come for many people. Trust Jesus while His Spirit is dealing with your heart. 2 Corinthians 6:2 …now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
 

 Noah, Daniel and Job.  Three men of faith. We find their story in the Old Testament. Noah was chosen by God to build a ship large enough to take at least 2 of every animal so they would survive the coming flood. God reached a point of “enough is enough” and decided to destroy the wicked world. Only Noah and his family survived this judgment. God promised to never again destroy the world with a flood. As a reminder He gave us the rainbow. Genesis 9:13  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. Satan uses many to use a fashion of the rainbow as a pride flag promoting sexual perversion. When Christians see the rainbow, we are reminded that God keeps His Word.  Daniel was carried off from Jerusalem as a slave to the Babylonians. God protected him and used him to point many pagans to the true God of Heaven. Daniel 2:47  The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.Job was a righteous man who was tempted way beyond the normal temptation humans face.  All of his children killed at a birthday party. All of his business’s went belly up. Covered with boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Even his wife was convinced he was being punished for sin. He knew he was not being punished. His attitude was Lord, you may kill me, but I will be faithful till the end. Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Perhaps you have stopped reading your Bible and going to church because you were mad at God. Job maintained his ways. Kill me if you desire. I love you. You have been so kind to me. How can I expect sunshine and lollipops and no problems? (Not in the KJV.) Job 2:10 ...What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. Why talk about Noah, Daniel and Job? Ezekiel 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.The Lord was about to bring famine against His people. These saints of God could be examples, but the people had to make their own decision as to obey God or not. Ezekiel 14:19Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.We cannot save our children. Or relatives. Or neighbors. Each person must decide personally to obey God or face His wrath. I pray you repent and put your faith in Him.   

 Sodom’s sins.  Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God for their wickedness. God sent two angels to pull Lot and his family from Sodom before the fire and brimstone destroyed it. The men of the city demanded Lot hand these two angels who looked like men over to them. They desired homosexual sex with them. Against their will.  Genesis 19:5  And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. That we may “know them.” Hebrew. “yada”  (1) to know by observing and reflecting (thinking), and (2) to know by experiencing.   Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words. Genesis 4:1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain… Genesis 4:17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived… The word “knew” here refers to sexual intimacy.  The homosexuals in Sodom wanted these two “men” for sexual pleasure. Lot influenced by living with these wicked people, offered them his two virgin daughters. How pathetic. These depraved men turned down the daughters preferring the men. The angels blinded those outside the door and pulled Lot into the house safely. The very word “Sodomy” means sexual intercourse involving anal or oral copulation. The angels pulled Lot and his family to safety before Sodom was destroyed for its sins. Lot’s wife was told to not look back, but she did and became a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26  But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. However, sexual perversion was not the only sin of Sodom. Ezekiel 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. Perhaps you are not guilty of sexual perversion, however how do you measure up to strengthening the hand of the poor and needy? Are you filled with pride? Do you have a full tummy causing you to not pray for your daily bread and promoting laziness? Are you idle? How many hours a day do you spend playing games on your phone? Or scrolling through social media?  Do you make time to read your Bible every day? Are you faithful to your Bible teaching church? Do you care about helping others less fortunate than you?  We can point out the sins of others and feel good about ourselves, but how does God evaluate your life? You will stand before Him some day. Are you ready? Perhaps now is the time to make course corrections in your life.   
 
 
 
   

 Does Satan hate you?  We have all sinned. Luke 6:43  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.Let’s think for a moment about corrupt fruit. Any of these sins hit you? Adultery. Gluttony. Loss of temper. Cussing. Taking God’s name in vain. Gossiping. Slander. Pride. Deceitfulness. Lying. Lust. Coveting. Self-righteousness. Vanity. Haughtiness. Unforgiveness. I could continue but I suspect you get the point. None of us are perfect. Since we have all sinned, we have all turned our back on God and stand condemned. He is holy. We are not. Satan becomes our friend when we turn against God and do things we know we shouldn’t. However, when we consider our sinfulness and listen to God’s small still voice in our heart and read or hear His Word and believe and repent and cry out to God for mercy, Jesus saves us. Now Satan is no longer our friend. He is our bitter enemy till death. But with Jesus living in our heart the pain that Satan brings us doesn’t compare to the joy, peace, self-control and Christian family we enjoy as Christians. The more we grow in grace and become like Christ the more the powers of darkness hate us. Satan tries his best to keep us too busy to read our Bible, pray, minister to others, be faithful to Sunday School and church and in general submit ourselves to our new Commander. How much of a turn coat are you? In other words, how much like Jesus have you become? Some pretend preachers in the New Testament got beat up by Satan’s powers for claiming to be Christs servants. Acts 19:13-16  Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. Satan and his demons must submit to the authority of Jesus. These “pretend” preachers learned imitating a Christian does not make you a Christian. The demon knew Jesus. The demon knew Paul. Does the devil and his powers of darkness know you? If you live for Jesus, they hate you. Do they hate you?
 

 Do I provoke you?  Provoke; stimulate or give rise to a reaction or emotion, typically an unwelcome one. This car provokes me. It is old and undependable. Arguing children provoke me. Drunk adults provoke me. Hearing others take the Lord’s name in vain provokes me. We all have things that provoke us. Sometimes us sinners intentionally provoke others just for the fun of it. Shame on us. Fathers are instructed to not provoke their children. Colossians 3:21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Provoke; Greek erethizō  to excite, stir up  to stimulate(especially to anger) Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.  Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words. Dr. J. Vernon McGee says: Had the Law developed in the parents a dictatorship rather than a directorship?   Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee. Are parents to be dictators or directors? We are to direct or teach our children about God and encourage them to put their faith in Him. Many parents are dictators and break the spirit of their children for never praising them and continually putting them down. Children need discipline. But they also need encouragement and patient guidance as they grow up.  All too soon our influence is compromised or gone when they leave home. Provoke. Some well-meaning Christians provoke others as they try to lead them to the Lord. Some people hate to see some people coming their way because instead of love and patience they are met with condemnation and coldness.  Jesus spoke the truth. Some accepted. Some rejected. He let them choose for themselves. Christians are commanded to provoke one another. Hebrews 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:Provoke; Greek paroxysmos  incitement(to good), or dispute(in anger)  Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. "a sharpening," hence "a sharpening of the feeling, or action  Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words. In the good sense “provoke” in this verse means to incite or encourage others to love and do good works. Do you associate with Christians who encourage you by example, patience, kindness and a love to do good works? We learn by imitating others. Drive a car. Print or write cursive. Even learn how to talk by imitating others. Hang out with Godly people who serve Jesus. Learn from them. We are to teach each other by our actions as well as our words. Don’t let a hot head make you a hot head. Proverbs 22:24-25  Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: 25  Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.Hang out with Christlike Christians. But never forget they are human too and sooner or later will disappoint you. Keep your eyes of Jesus. He alone is faithful and true. But try to encourage others to live a Godly life.
  

 Living Nightmares.  A friend called asking me to come over one night. Horrible things were happening in his house. Something was poking its head through the wall and terrifying him and his wife. Then the “something” brought it’s head up through the floor.  My friend’s wife had shut herself up in the bathroom terrified to come out.  They had been doing drugs.  Hallucinations. Hallucinations or demons?   Demons are all around us. Ephesians 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Here two people who tell me they have trusted Jesus to save them are not wrestling with these principalities, they are flirting with them. And they were terrified. Satan is the father of lies. John 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. The devil lied to Eve. She believed the lie and brought sickness and death into the world. Adam followed her leadership.  The devil continues to lie and lead people away from God. All of us have yielded to temptation and turned our backs on God.  Man is continually searching for “truth.” We try this. We try that. Down, down, down we go until we seek God. We discover that God is already seeking us. John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. If when we comprehend that the God of creation cares about us and if we look up to Him for guidance, He will provide it. James 4:8-10 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. If you want to be lifted up out of the pits of despair and guilt, He is the only one who can help you. If you continue to dabble in witchcraft, you will continue to be used by Satan.   Galatians 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft,hatred, variance…  Witchcraft in Greek is pharmakeia. medication(“pharmacy”) magicsorcery, Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. You can continue to choose drugs voluntarily until your blood vessels in your brain turn to jelly or until you overdose and die like so many well-known actors and singers. The “high” for a season is not comparable to the “high” of being filled with God’s Holy Spirit. Repent and be saved. Then your living nightmares will be replaced with Galatians 5:22-23 …love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance:

 

 The umbilical cord. Properly defined as, “The structure that allows for the transfer of oxygen and nutrients from the maternal circulation into fetal circulation while simultaneously removing waste products from fetal circulation to be eliminated maternally.” Your belly button is a reminder that you were born, not hatched. Consider walking through a field and finding an infant dying alone. Boody. Helpless. Her umbilical cord not tied off. Only moments before she dies. The Bible tells us God looked at Jerusalem that way. Ezekiel 16:3-4 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. 4  And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. Then God had mercy and tied the cord, washed the blood off, wrapped the baby and cared for her. Then she grew up. She was treated like a princess.  Ezekiel 16:13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.Then she chose to be sexually impure. She became a prostitute. Then she loved sex so much she paid her customers instead of them paying her. She was so beautiful that she craved attention. Ezekiel 16:15 But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. God brought judgment against Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness. Ezekiel 16:40-41 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. 41  And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. God punished His nation that worshipped idols. He chastens those He loves. Today the Jews, and the Gentiles, are saved when they turn from their sins and ask Jesus to save them. His Holy Spirit comes to live within us. His Word the Bible becomes the Bread of life and the Springs of living water. Christian, daily read your Bible. Similar to an umbilical cord it will nourish your spiritual life. Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom… Pray. Be faithful to your Bible teaching church. Be pure and let Jesus flow through you to bless others.  By the way Adam and Eve didn’t have belly buttons. That is unless Jesus went, “Bloop, you’re done.”    

 He kicked the bucket.  A term meaning the person died. Some believe the term originated in Norfolk many years ago. Wooden frames called “buckets” were attached to pigs before they were slaughtered. As they hung there and were slaughtered their bodies struggled and spasmed looking like they were kicking the bucket. Not a pretty sight for us city folk. Our neighbor cut the head off a living chicken, and it ran around the yard for a little while. I reckon country folk are entertained by us city folk when it comes to things like that. He kicked the bucket.  God gives life. God takes life. Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORDgave, and the LORDhath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. What an attitude Job had. Thankful for what he had. Thankful to be loved by God even though he was suffering unimaginable anguish. How could Job be so faithful?  I thank God for the example Job left for me to try to imitate. Someday each of us will kick the bucket. Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: I have an appointment with death. Two men did not die. Enoch and Elijah. God could make an exception and take me to Heaven without dying but I do not expect that. However, another possibility is I will be caught up to Heaven in the Christian departure. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. All aboard! That prophetic event could happen at any moment. Am I ready? Yes. And No. Yes, my body groans to leave this tent and be clothed in righteousness. But no. I have too much work the Lord has put on my heart to do. I want to protect and care for my God-sent wife. I want to help my family and church. But I have no fear of death. Unless I hear the trumpet sound I shall someday soon “kick the bucket.” What a joy that will be. Will the day you “kick the bucket” be a joyful day for you? 

 No choice. To the best of my recollection, I had no say so in my birth. I did not choose my parents. I did not choose what country I would be born in or even which state. It just happened. God made the arrangements. I just went along for the ride.  And here I am.  I realize that someday I will have no choice in when I check out. Some people take their life, thereby picking their departure time. But then again, many attempts to end a life end up a failure.  God has to give His permission for your departure. If you end your life, there is no turning back. Your destiny is sealed. However, if a despondent person turns to Jesus and begs for mercy and help, He is quick to hear and aid. Psalm 50:15  And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. This is a promise from God Almighty. Call upon me and I will deliver thee.  What a bold promise! And then He says we shall glorify Him. If we turn to Him when we are in trouble, He will hear us and deliver us. Then we will glorify Him. From hopelessness to praise. What a swing of the pendulum.  Satan drags us down. Jesus lifts us up.  Some things happen that we have no choice but to accept. Most of us don’t ask for sickness, car wrecks, mistreatment and despair. The choice we have is how are we going to respond?  Mope and pout? Complain and make things worse for ourselves and those around us? Are will we as a Christian remember Romans 8:28   And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Some things we have no choice in. (Rain on our parade). Things happen for a reason. Some people who were too late to board their airplane soon learned their plane was flown into the one of the twin towers. Roll with the punches. Some things you can’t change. Some things you just have to bring to the Lord and say, “Lord this is not what I want. My heart was set on such and such. I don’t appreciate you’re not intervening to make this come to pass but I love you and I accept you have a reason for this to happen. I love you. I will continue to love and serve you. I love you so much I want your will to be done. Whether I like it or not. When you have a choice, ask Jesus for wisdom to make the right choice. James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.The choice is yours.