Month: February 2025

John 1:14-17 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 12:6-11 For whom the lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Isaiah 5:16 “But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.”

In “The Problem of Pain” C.S. Lewis wrote the following about society’s skewed perspective of our Lord:

“What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, ‘What does it matter so long as they are contended?’ We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven – a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves’, and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all’. Not many people, I admit, would formulate a theology in precisely those terms: but a conception not very different lurks at the back of many minds.”

Modern secular society is satisfied with a grandfatherly deity – one who is characterized by senile benevolence and is seeking general human contentment. That is not our God!

He is a mix of grace and truth. He chastens us because He loves us and has taken the responsibility seriously to guide us into growth to be partakers of holiness. His correction is to be viewed as joyous not grievous as it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO REVEAL TO OUR SECULAR SOCIETY THE FATHERLY CARE AND CORRECTION OF OUR LOVING AND JUST GOD. The Lord is molding us through his loving correction. He is an active participant in our growth and maturity, and not a deity characterized by senile benevolence.

Psalm 121 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.”

II Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God”

On the way to church a few weeks ago, we noticed a pickup truck in front of us with an unsecure load. The mattress and box spring in the back were not properly tied down and were dangerously flapping around in the bed of the truck. We kept our distance and eventually diverged to another route as the pickup truck continued on an elevated section of the road. That’s when the cargo took flight, with the box spring falling down onto the exit ramp in front of us and striking a car. As we drove past the struck vehicle we circled back when it was clear that the damage was substantial.

The poor driver was in shock. The corner of the box spring had struck the passenger side of her windshield and shattered the glass such that the shards covered her and the unoccupied passenger seat. We stayed with her until the police arrived and the paramedics were on the scene. All said, she was physically fine but had just been through a traumatic event. A slightly different trajectory by the flying box spring could have caused it to strike her side of the windshield, and at highway speeds the results would have been fatal.

Our lives are always tenuously on the line with factors that are completely out of our control. The world around us is dangerous, at the individual level and the national level. Even when we are striving to be safe, we are at risk.

This doesn’t mean that we should live in fear, but it does mean that our sense of protection must rest squarely on the shoulders of the One who can ultimately provide and protect. In His role, He does not slumber nor sleep. His longevity is evermore.

Thus, we must live confidently in complete reliance on Him, while at the same time being strong and of a good courage. Our trust must remain fully and comfortably on the name of the Lord our God. Our sufficiency must not be in anything else but Him.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO LIVE CONFIDENTLY AND IN COMPLETE RELIANCE ON THE LORD OUR GOD. Flying boxsprings are all around us, but ever-present, ever-powerful protection and provision are always in the Lord’s hands.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Ezekiel 33:10-11 “Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”

Leviticus 26:39 “And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.”

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And ever one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Outside our home, chemistry and physics are active and illustrative. Actually, chemistry and physics are ongoing all around us – inside and outside our homes. But, we just recognized a particularly informative manifestation of science happening on the side of our home that’s visible in the picture below. The corrosive effects of environmental conditions had completely rotted away the metal at the base of the railing. As a result, it is no longer attached to the ground, relying on the structure in the non-corroded area to provide support. In Biblical phraseology, the base of the rail had pined away.

Sin is a massively corrosive element in our society and in our lives, and is a prevalent element of our prevailing environment conditions. It rots away our foundation and erodes our support. It causes us to become untethered and insecure. It causes us to pine away.

Jesus Christ is the only sure and steady foundation. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. A wise man firmly affixes his life thereon. Yet, the only way to remain attached to this unmoving and unmovable base is to carefully avoid and remove the corrosive elements of sin. Otherwise, you will pine away.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FIRMLY AFFIX TO A FOUNDATION OF CHRIST WHILE BEING EVER-MINDFUL OF THE CORROSIVE ELEMENTS OF SIN. We must do all we can to avoid the environmental-driven tendency to pine away.

John 15:1-5 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that is may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a natural wonder in the southeast portion of New Mexico. Its complex of nearly 120 caves is mapped to a maximum depth of 1600 feet below the surface. Three of those caves are open to the public.

Elevators can take visitors down to 750 feet below the surface to the public attractions where God’s subterranean beauty is on magnificent display. Yet, visitors are given an important safety warning before they visit – if the power goes out they must not take another step until the power is restored! In this situation, they should freeze in their tracks.

The rationale for this warning stems from a few important factors. First, at 750 feet below the ground and without artificial lighting, it is pitch black. With no ambient light source, the blackness is overwhelming and smothering. Eyes cannot adjust and instincts should not be trusted. Second, the terrain is rough, rugged, and steep. A small errant movement can place a visitor in a dangerous position and a harmful situation. Thus the emphatic warning – don’t take another step until the power is restored!

In our lives, we must heed this important warning apart from our enduring connection to God. When we are severed from the connection to the source of our power – the Lord Himself – we should not take another step until the connection is reestablished and power is restored. Without His lighting, the blackness is overwhelming and smothering. Our senses cannot adjust and our instincts should not be trusted. Furthermore, the terrain is rough, rugged, and steep. A small errant movement can place us in a dangerous position and a harmful situation. Don’t take another step until power is restored!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO MAINTAIN A STEADY CONNECTION TO THE SOURCE OF TRUE POWER. God offers an emphatic warning for when we disconnect from Him – don’t take another step until power is restored.