MEMORIAL DAY, 2017

“87 years ago, the Founding Fathers created a brand new country here based on the idea that everyone is equal. Now, we are at war with ourselves, and this war is testing whether that kind of country can survive.  A battle of this war was fought right here where we are standing.  We are here today to dedicate a part of this battlefield as a cemetery for the soldiers that died here. This is the right thing to do. There is no way that we can ever bless this ground today more than the soldiers that died here already have.  We can’t even come close.  No one is going to care or remember the words we say here, but no one can ever forget what those soldiers did here.  It’s up to the rest of us that are still alive to dedicate ourselves to finishing what these soldiers have started.  It’s up to us to dedicate ourselves to saving the country, and remind ourselves that people have died for this cause.  We have to promise that the soldiers here did not die for nothing. We have to promise that this country, under God, will be free again.  We have to promise that a country that is made up of the people, was created by the people, and made to serve the people can exist in this world.”

Does the above paragraph sound familiar?  Being a traditionalist, I would usually not promote something written over a hundred and fifty years ago to be rewritten in modern language, but sometimes we need to do so to teach our youth the true meanings behind the writing when it is in phrases that are no longer used today.  I came across this rewriting of the Gettysburg Address and was impressed with how it got President Lincoln’s intent across, yet in today’s language.

Have you ever read the Gettysburg Address for yourself (other than memorizing parts of it for a program while in grade school)?  With today being the day we celebrate Memorial Day this speech came to mind, especially the last few sentences.  IT IS UP TO US to remember the sacrifices the men and women of our military have made, whether we agree with the politics that sent them into harm’s way or not.  Right or wrong they obeyed orders and they sacrificed all.

Today, as you enjoy your trips to the beach, the lake, the barbecue, and family gatherings, take a moment to remember the people who gave their all so you could enjoy such freedoms.

What price Freedom?!

The Gettysburg Address in its original language:

http://www.gettysburg.com/bog/address.htm

Where I found the Gettysburg Address in modern language:  https://www.flawlesswalrus.com/2011/02/gettysburg-address-modern-translation/

HONEST

Which following group of synonyms (words with “like” meanings) would you connect with the word “honest”?

#1                                    #2

Deceitful                            Genuine

Fraudulent                          Sincere

Unscrupulous                      Trustworthy

That is an easy question to answer…group #2.  Now, which group would you associate with the title, “Honest John’s Used Cars”?  Most of us would choose group #1 because the word “honest” has been perverted in our world until we view it associated with its actual antonyms (words with “opposite” meanings), especially in connection with commercial and political agendas.

Let us take a moment to lay down our preconceived ideas about the word “honest” and have a look at what God’s Word has to say about it:

“I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” – 1 Tim. 2:1-2 KJ21

The Greek word for “honesty” here is semnotes (sem-not-ace) which means gravity, serious, and probity.  Probity is a noun which means “virtue” or “integrity that is tested and confirmed”.

With this in mind we can sum things up as follows:

One who is “honest” (or has honesty) in the ordinary sense (in man’s view of being good) is disposed to act with regard for the rights of others but one who is “honest” (or has honesty) before God is one whose life and actions reflect an inner-heart attitude of being changed day by day by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:6, 28-30) and with this change of the inner heart comes the attitude of “reverence” and adoration of the Lord.  To put it in a nutshell:  “honesty” is worship.  So today let God change your inner heart and be set free from the ways of this world to give Him the respect, adoration and worship He deserves!  Once you do you will find delight in exercising true honesty.

CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY…God’s Rest

How should we feel when faced with adversity?  What does God’s Word say?  We could do a “word study” on adversity and we would find that a brother was made for adversity (Prov. 17:17), that adversity follows sinners (Prov. 13:31), that people blame you for the adversity that befalls you (Job 4:5), and that God brings adversity upon believers who abandon Him and worship other gods (1 Kings 9:9; 2 Chron. 7:22).  These are just a few instances in the Bible that speak of adversity but today I would like to share about the very thing that will either deliver us or see us through adversity:  God’s Rest.

“Blessed [with wisdom and prosperity] is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, And whom You teach from Your law, that You may grant him [power to calm himself and find] peace in the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked and ungodly.” (Psalm 94:12-13 AMP)

Finding “peace in the days of adversity” is the key.  How do we find this peace?  What do we have to do to obtain it?  Nothing we can do will grasp this peace, this rest.  You cannot sit and try to work it up with a mantra, “Today I will live in peace and rest…today I will live in peace and rest…today...etc.”  Its potential use was placed within us when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

It is a free and freely given gift from God, but consider this; when the mail man delivers a package for you and you are not home he (or she) will leave a note in your mailbox that there is a package too large for your box and it may be picked up at the Post Office.  He (or she) leaves a key that opens a large mailbox at the Post Office in your mail box.  What happens if you do not take that key and go pick up your package?  You will probably get another note in your mailbox but after a certain amount of time the unpicked up package is sent back to the sender.  Well, God’s rest is like that.  The key that God has left in the box of your soul is “uniting with faith in God”.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior the Lord then placed that key in us.  All we need to do is exercise our faith in God.  The Israelites did not do this; they sought their own ways and other gods so they were not able to enter into the rest (Psalm 95:10-11).

Heb. 4:1-3a AMP…”Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late.  For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard.  For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power]...”

The more I daily read His Word, spend quality time with Him (uniting with faith in Him), and have fellowship with other believers, the more I FEEL His Presence and enter His rest.  Occasionally?  No…it is a DAILY walk in Him that truly brings that rest.  You see, God has placed that “key” in me for me to use EVERY DAY.  I have found many a treasure waiting for me when I use the “key” every day.  Truly the treasures are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-24).  That way when something happens to me on any given day that would normally devastate me instead it strengthens me and even draws me closer to Him.  THAT is God’s promised rest!

Deut. 30:14-16a AMP says, ”But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.  Listen closely, I have set before you today life and prosperity (good), and death and adversity (evil); in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments (precepts)”

Josh 24:15 AMP says “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW20-fLe-y0

Do you desire to triumph over adversity?  Choose this day (and every day) whom you will serve.  As for me, I serve the Lord and I now live, reside, and have made my home in His Rest!

BURNING IN MY SOUL

I re-posted a post this past week on Facebook originally posted by Georgian Banov where he experienced the love of God as a fire burning in him:

“God's love for you burns wild, it's not just a warm fuzzy feeling.

It's all-consuming!

When I encountered the burning fire of His love and presence for the first time I jumped in a cold puddle in the middle of winter to try and cool off!

I didn't even think twice about it, I just dove in!

I was so hot I thought I was going to physically burn to dust.

I begged Him to stop for fear I would die! And He did, and I was suddenly very cold and wet, with an aching regret that I'd ever asked such a blissful encounter to stop.

That's when I promised I would only ever tell Him "More!" If I was going to die, what a wonderful way to go!

I declare fresh encounters over anyone whose heart is responding to this right now. Such real and tangible expressions of His love for you. More, Lord, we say, more!"

I said I would share this week about when I first experienced this deep, personal, burning love in this week’s blog article so here goes:

Other than feeling overwhelmed with peace when I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on October 31, 1973, I found a deeper experience of this during my quiet time with the Lord at five in the morning one day in the fall of 1987, at mission school.  I was in a prayer room by myself and had just read in Psalms.  There was no particular scripture that stood out that morning so I sat down on the floor beside the prayer bench and started talking with the Lord.  Suddenly I was overwhelmed with the thoughts and feelings of how deep His love was for me.  I actually felt like he had picked me up and set me on his lap to hold me close.  It was so all-encompassing that I could have rested there for hours and hours, and I thought I had but come to find out it was only about 20 minutes.  Finally I said, “Lord, I am so overwhelmed.  It is too much for me to bear.”  He gently let me go but lingering with me all day was this spark of burning deep inside my soul.  He had touched me and it was so strong I was determined to never let Him go!

Was it the only time I connected with Him so deeply?  Praise God it was not!  I sat on his lap and was comforted many many times since then:  when I went through the loss of my Mother, then my Dad, then my illness, to say a few…but even this morning as I sang along with a Shirley Murdock CD I became so overwhelmed with that burning love that I had to stop and wipe my eyes as tears of joy freely flowed.  You have heard the old hymn, “I Keep Falling In Love With Him, Over & Over & Over & Over Again”?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gq9w2B-fto  This is what that fiery love is like, a spark that is forever fueled, forever fanned, and forever growing – like the bush Moses saw…continually burning by the power of God but never consumed and turned to ash.

You may ask, “How do I obtain this fire of love”?  Beloved Brothers and Sisters, you cannot “work it up”.   You already have that spark within you…allow the Holy Spirit to cause it to grow.  Dig deep into His Word; it is His “love letter” to you.  Fall in love with Him “over and over and over again.  Spend quality time alone with Him and ask Him to give you a fresh encounter…then allow yourself to be touched every day, throughout the day, by the wonder of it all.  You will start to experience this “real and tangible expression” of His love for you!

God sent His mighty pow’r

To this poor, sinful heart,

To keep me ev’ry hour,

And needful grace impart;

And since His Spirit came,

To take supreme control

The love-enkindled flame is burning in my soul.

Tis burning in my soul,

Tis burning in my soul;

The fire of heav’nly love

Is burning in my soul,

The Holy Spirit came,

All glory to His name!

The fire of heav’nly love

Is burning in my soul.

“More, Lord, we say, more!”