october 11 the clean crib

 The Clean Crib.   Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. Cleaning the cat box becomes an unpleasant chore.  But I am thankful the cats use the cat box.  No oxen in the crib means there is no clean up necessary.  How pleasant.  No car in the driveway means no oil spots to clean.  No insurance, inspection, and registration to pay.  No on-going gasoline and maintenance expenses.  How wonderful it would be to not have a car.  But wait.  The above verse also says, "but much increase is by the strength of the ox." A field would be hard to plow without an ox.  A heavy load can be moved easily with an ox.  So, there are benefits to having an ox...or a cat...or a car.  Do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks?  Many times, yes.  In fact, most positives in our lives also have negatives that are associated with them. Look at friendship.  No friends.  You don't have to be concerned with offending others.  No arguments.  No expense trying to help others in need.  But that seclusion brings loneliness.  There are times when we need the help of others.  Plus, the joy we experience when we can be a blessing to help others in their time of need.  Remember Jesus said:  Acts 20:35 It is more blessed to give than to receive.  The Dead Sea takes and takes but never gives.  Therefore, it is dead.  A person who takes and takes and never gives to be a blessing to others misses the blessings that come with giving. Life is made up of give and take.  Most good things have the potential of bad things closely associated with them.  Then look at marriage.  Oh my!  My poor wife.  None of us are perfect. As a matter of fact, the closer we grow to Jesus the more we should be disgusted with ourselves.   Production comes with oxen.  Oxen come with needs.  Accept the fact that you will never have perfect friends...a perfect mate...or even a perfect church.  Just learn to groan...appreciate the good...forgive much...and love much more.  The crib needs to be cleaned from time to time...but much increase is by the strength of the ox.
 
   
 

  How I got right with God.   Pretend I am on an island by myself.  My appendix ruptures.  Sick and barely able to think or move I give myself an appendectomy.  I cut open my stomach and surgically remove the ruptured appendix.  Then I clean out the wound and sew myself up and hope for the best.   You say..."Absurd. Impossible."  Yep.  You would be right.  Now lets examine another impossibility.  I have a hard heart.  Sins I have committed have turned it as hard as stone spiritually. Far from God.  I get fed up with my condition.  So I decide I want a healthy heart of flesh.  What can I do?  Go to church.  Give money to the poor.  Do good deeds everyday.  Visit the orphans, widows and elderly.  Be kind to those who are unkind to me. Read my Bible everyday.  Turn over a new leaf.  Clean up my tongue.  Clean up my thoughts.  What else would you add to my  “To Do”  list to get right with God?  The list could go on and on for pages.  In reality as I could never give myself an appendectomy neither can I gain forgiveness by my good works.  How then can I get right with God?  Simply put... Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.Repent.  In your heart you know you have done things that you should not have done.  Are you sorry that you are sorry?  You must be sorry before you can repent.  When you repent you pray to Jesus and ask Him to save you. and be baptized  When you believe that Jesus can save you...when you repent from your sins and pray asking for forgiveness...you will be baptized with the gift of the Holy Ghost.  John the Baptist said Mark 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And believe me...when you get baptized with the Holy Ghost, you know you have been baptized with the Holy Ghost.  A right relationship with Jesus is a know so relationship.  Not a hope so relationship.  Do you know your heart is right with God?  Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.How is your heart condition?  

 They Come That Way   A preacher was telling us how his candy bars kept missing at home.  He asked his young daughter if she had been eating them.  “No sir” was her respectful answer.  Then the next day another candy bar was missing.  Opening the door to her closet there she was on the floor eating it.  Disappointed he later asked the Lord...Why did she lie to me?  The Lord's answer...Son they come that way.  Another preacher told us he asked Jesus to save him when he was six.  You ask, what sins had he committed?  Said he...”I loved to see flat tires.  I let the air out of tires because I thought they looked better that way.”  We come that way.  One evening before church I was walking down the hall of our educational wing in the church I was pastor of in Hillsboro.  As I turned a corner, I saw several children standing in the hall with their ears pressed against the wall.  “What's going on” I asked. Startled I heard...”Oh nothing dad.  Nothing at all.”  As I made my way to open the door to the classroom the children blocked the door begging me to not open it.  Then I heard a thump.  Relieved my daughter said "Ok dad.  You can open the door now.”  Inside the ceiling fan was spinning at full speed. They had stuck a dart in the end of a fan blade and left the room. The last one out turned the switch by the door to turn on the fan.  Then they would wait until the all clear thump was heard.  Is it true they come that way?  Yes.  Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Everyone able to read this devotion has reached an age of knowing right from wrong.  And everyone of us have done wrong. We come that way.  Examine your heart.  Are you a sinner?  That is step one in getting right with God.  Step two in getting right with God is to seek His truth.  Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. The final step is to believe in Jesus, repent and pray asking Him to forgive you.  Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Please believe, repent, and call on the Lord while you still can.    Copyright © 2023  by Tom Owen    
 

  Don’t evaluate by appearance.  We naturally enjoy looking at attractive people.  That in itself is not a sin.  I enjoy looking at airplanes, motorcycles, fire trucks and more without lusting or coveting.  The sin in enjoying attractive people and things is when we lust or have covetness in our heart. Matthew 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.You have heard the phrase, “Cut off the nose to spite the face.”  In the twelth century when Vikings raided Scotland Saint Ebba gathered her nuns together and urged them to follow her example and cut off their nose and upper lip to make them sexually unappealing to the invaders.  The Vikings were so repulsed that they burned the monastery down with the nuns inside.  Don’t evaluate by appearance.  A Baptist preacher with a pony tail repulsed me until I learned he was a street preacher.  His pony tail perhaps helped him witness to people who would never talk to me.  I have met many motorcycle evangelists who are far from “clean cut” but do a greater ministry than I do.  The message is what is important...not the messenger. 1 Samuel 16:7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seethnot as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Look deeper than the outer appearance.  A good example of judging a person by their looks and then realizing their first opinion was wrong is a video of Susan Boyle.  Look up on the internet, “Susan Boyle’s First Audition.”  After the first 2 minutes of this video you will probably agree that first impressions are not all ways a good thing. Ask the Lord to help you to not evaluate by appearance.  Oh and by the way.  If you are not that handsome or beautiful in the eyes of the world, you are beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.  Don’t let your appearance stop you from serving Jesus.  The message from your heart is more important than the way you look on the outside.

  Don’t jump the gun.  Picture six runners lined up at a track waiting for the starting gun.  If one runner jumps the gun his start is invalid.  In life we must be careful to not jump the gun.  Balaam was  gifted to prophesy.  Balak, the king of Moab, tried to hire Balaam to curse the Israelites as they journeyed to their Promised Land. Numbers 22:6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; ... for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.Balak persisted three times.  Finally the Lord told Balaam he could go but could not curse the Israelites. Numbers 22:20  And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, Ifthe men come to call thee, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thou do. 21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. The Lord was angry with Balaam and caused his car to break down.  Well, sort of.  The donkey Balaam was riding saw an angel with a sword and ran into a field.  Balaam smote the donkey.  Next time the donkey saw the angel it fell against a wall crushing Balaam’s foot.  Another beating.  Hitting the steering wheel fixes the car every time. Right?  The third time the donkey saw the angel she just fell down.  Baalam beat her with his staff.  Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak.  Numbers 22:28 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? Balaam had a conversation with her until the angel made himself visible. 2 Peter 2:15  Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet. I believe Balaam angered the Lord because he jumped the gun and did not wait to see if the men shall come.  Balaam’s attitude was “show me the money.”  Most people today are more interested in money than the will of God.  Especially some preachers. How do you jump the gun?  Come to a conclusion without hearing both sides?  Premarital sex? Divorce without Christian counsel? Go deep in debt?  Inadequate preparation before starting a project? Interrupt someone because you think you know what they are about to say? How rude. Make plans without praying?James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: ... 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. Be careful to not jump the gun.      

  Fire from Heaven   2 Kings 1:14 Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. Ahaziah, the king of Samaria,  was injured in an accident and was in bed sick.  He sent messengers to the temple of Baalzebub (a pagan god) to see if he would recover. The Lord instructed Elijah the prophet of God to intercept the messengers and tell them that Jehovah said to tell the king that he would die.  The king did not like the message from the Lord and decided to shoot the messenger. (so to speak) The king sent a captain with 50 soldiers to arrest Elijah. Elijah's answer was:  2 Kings 1:10  If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.Jehovah, the only true God. sent fire to destroy all fifty-one soldiers.  The king sent another fifty-one men to bring Elijah to him for justice.  Fire from Heaven crispy fried this second group of fifty-one.  Then the king sent another fifty-one men to arrest Elijah.  However, this captain pleaded with Elijah to spare him and his men. therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.  At this point the Lord instructed Elijah to go with the soldiers.  Elijah rebuked the king for turning to a pagan god instead of turning to the God of Israel.  the only true God.  Elijah told the king that he would die...and he did.  What are the lessons we can learn from this?  1. If you want the truth go to the source of truth. Jesus. John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.Jesus knows what tomorrow holds.  Men look elsewhere for answers but only Jesus can control tomorrow.  By humbling ourselves and falling before Jesus in repentance we can be forgiven for our past.  That repentance and faith will change the course of our future. 2. When you are rebuked by God do not resist and try to retaliate.  You can either fall broken because of your sin on the stone and beg for forgiveness...or someday that stone (Jesus) will fall on you and crush you. Matthew 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 3. Elijah was not afraid of what man could do to him.  He obeyed the Lord. May we follow his example.  4. Be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  This third captain of fifty went to get Elijah as the king had commanded...but he knew what had happened to the previous one hundred and two soldiers and he was afraid of judgment day. Elijah listened to the word of the Lord and went with this humbled captain and his soldiers to see the king. Sometimes the Lord leads us into dangerous places.  Trust the Lord.  Stand firm in His truth.  Be faithful to His church.  Expect the enemy to be upset when you live for Jesus.  Live the Christian adventure.  And one last point.  Do not wish evil on others.  James and John asked the Lord if they could call down fire from Heaven to destroy those He offended.  Luke 9:54 Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? May we seek the salvation of others instead of wanting to see them punished.  Jesus said...Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.  May we follow His example.    

 Get out of my church.   3 John 1:9-10  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. 10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Even God's church has bullies.  People who insist they are right and others are wrong.  To the degree that they cause others to leave the church.  My way or the highway.  Understand no two of us will see eye to eye on every subject.  The only way we can get along is to be patient, loving, forgiving, Christ like, prayerful, kind and understanding.  Diotrephes loved the preeminence. (Being first) He wanted to be THE leader.  Not A leader. THE leader. He cast members out of the church who disagreed with him.  Those he cast out were doing what the Apostle John had instructed them to do.  Someone was wrong.  Was it Diotrephes or was it John?  I vote that Diotrephes was wrong.  What a shame.  Two thousand years later his name is a name of disgrace.  I would gladly name my son John...but Diotrephes, would not even be a consideration.  Do you have a Diotrephes in your church?  I have known many in 5 decades of being a pastor.  We must keep our eyes on Jesus...not those out of fellowship with Him.  These troublemakers are going to have a stern judgment at the Bema seat judgment for Christians.  That is if they are even born again believers.  We have many people in our churches who do not know Jesus personally.  For the lost their judgment will be at the Great White throne.  How terrible to be a church wrecker.  It would be better for them if a millstone had been tied around their neck and thrown into the deep.   Luke 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. How offensive some church members are.  Perhaps you have dropped out of church because of the selfish bullies.  We must concentrate on Jesus and not those around us.  God instructs us to attend His church. Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. It is not your church.  It is Gods' church.  Be thankful He loves you enough to let you be part of it.  Don't get too big for your britches.    
   

  “God’s gonna get you for lying in church.” Those are the words he spoke to me as he walked out of the business meeting.  He never came back to the church.  How do we respond to someone who has called us a liar?  I am reminded of the letters WWJD. What would Jesus do?  During the business meeting he had stated that I had said “unless you are a tee totaler you can not be a member in good standing in this church.”  I responded that I had never said such a thing.  He insisted I had.  I asked those present, “Have any of you ever heard me say you must be a tee totaler in order to be a member in good standing in this church?”  No one had ever heard me say that. I had never said that because I do not believe that.  Then I explained that I have made the statement that I am a tee totaler, meaning I do not drink alcoholic drinks, but I have never pushed my conviction on others.  In anger he left the church.  When we meet on the street we are nice to each other as I think Jesus would have us be.  Misunderstanding.  In another church I was pastor of another man misunderstood what I said.  After a guest speaker spoke I told the church, “ As your pastor I have a new vision for the church.  God is going to bless us and we are going to do much more than just survive.”  This man thought I said “I am here as pastor just to survive.”  He refused to believe me when I corrected him.  He was responsible for having the church vote me out. How Satan loves to cause division.  Do we realize that our words and actions are being recorded and someday will be played back at our judgment? Luke 8:17  For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.      Matthew 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. People lied when Jesus was on trial.  He didn’t call down fire from Heaven to kill them.  Instead they killed Him.  Sometimes we must remember that someday the truth will be made known.  Try not to let misunderstandings ruin your life.  Correct incorrections.  If the truth is ignored try to remember that someday God will make all things known. Truth will prevail.  Until then live in truth and ask, “What would Jesus do?”  And then do it.     www.heretheword.com/videos

Sometimes when someone is intentionally disagreeable I think to myself, “I can wait 100 years.  By then we will both be dead and we will see the replay and see who is right and who is wrong.     

 Good Preaching. A lady in another city visited our church when she came to see her mother.  When she retired they moved close and she joined our church. After several years she moved her membership to another church.  Word got back to me that she had said, “Now I get to hear some good preaching.”  Being human those words stung.  Please consider this:  1. The church she joined is about 2 miles from her house.  Ours is about 12.  It is more convenient to her.  2. What was the motive of the person who told me what she said?  Was it to sting me?  There is a saying that goes something like this...”If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”   3. Perhaps something happened in her life that embarrassed her and she felt uncomfortable at our church.  But there is a forth  point much more important.  4. How should I as a pastor respond to her leaving?  What do I want in life?  To please everyone?  No.  To please my Lord.  What do I want for any person?  Them to seek the Lord’s will in their life.  If I can help someone put Jesus first in their life I have accomplished my goal.  Perhaps my bad preaching forced her to find a better preacher.  If so my bad preaching accomplished my goal.  Presumedly now she is hearing from God through her new preacher. Perhaps my preaching stung her.  The Bible cuts. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When you read your Bible or when you hear the Bible preached expect to be cut. Preaching that tickles our ears is popular but not Scriptural.  Perhaps she wanted to sting me because I had unintentionally stung her.  But there is more to consider. Some preachers develop a three point sermon.  Others like me preach verse by verse.  Which is best?  Neither.  You see preachers have different styles.  Different presentations.  The Holy Spirit uses many types.  The one that God uses to bring you close to Him is the type you need. Was I happy to see her leave?  No.  Yes.  No I loved her and still do.  I want the Lord’s will to be accomplished in her life. But yes I was happy to see her leave if she is moving closer to the Lord.  Things that seem bad may really be good. Look for the good even when it seems bad.  

  He was sitting alone in the stairwell crying.  Word spread through the barracks that the recruits on the second floor had scrubbed him with brooms and steel brushes in the shower.  We were in Army Basic Combat Training at Fort Bliss, El Paso.  He had been drafted.  He refused to shower.  I didn’t want to be an odd ball and go talk with him.  A complete stranger.  But I was compelled to.  I sat down next to him.  He told me he was singing silently in his head words from the hymn “What a friend we have in Jesus.”  The verse he shared with me was, “Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?  Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms He’ll take and shield thee. Thou shall find a solace there.”  A conscientious objector, he was headed to become a medical corpsman after Basic and then probably on to Viet Nam.  It was 1966. The army was hungry for new corpsmen. I tried to explain to him that showering was a necessity in his new world and if he continued to refuse to shower his world would continue to be miserable.  Life throws many things that are unpleasant at us.  None of us are exempt.  Jesus allows His children to go through tough times for many reasons.  One reason is so we can help others going through tough times.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Jesus teaches us comfort first hand when we are in trouble.  Now He expects us to be on the lookout for others who are in trouble and come to their side to comfort them.  We are not alone in this world.  We all need the comfort and encouragement from others from time to time.  Perhaps others will not minister to someone the Lord puts on your heart because they are a disgrace to society.  “Holy” people stay away from people like that.  I am so thankful Jesus did not stay away from me because l was unholy.  And even to this day I cannot claim to be holy.  I have been washed in His blood.  I am saved.  In that sense He has made me holy. But I am still a miserable failure when it comes to being a faithful Christian. How I thank God for grace.  Friend, you need grace too.  And others around you need grace and comfort.  Search for those who are in trouble and come along beside them in the name of Jesus. You will be glad you did. www.heretheword.com/videos