Friday Notes: Encountering Evil

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good,
and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil,
for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45 ESV

It’s hard to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Even harder to make a stone-filled heart pliable. But in this world these are the folks dealt with on the Christian path. Hopefully our homes and circle of friends have had stoney hearts made new in Jesus. And these dear ones are those we trust. As for the rest, it should be pretty easy to see what lies in the heart, though I don’t think it is. Evil takes on an image not its own. It hides within. It lurks in corners. It even hides in plain sight. We’ve all heard the expression wolf in sheep’s clothing.

A new heart and a good circle of friends doesn’t take me out of the world; eventually I leave my circle. It isn’t if, but when, I encounter evil in some form, and my heart is pounced upon. It all seems unavoidable. What’s to be done?

Prep. Prepare. Like cooking, it’s all in the preparation and the presentation—how I prepare myself and how I present myself to those I encounter.

On the way out of the bathroom, The Fonz of “Happy Days” (sitcom on American TV) would look at himself in the mirror with comb in hand. Then, without even a touch up, seemingly satisfied with his appearance, head on his way.

Before setting out, out into the world of the others, do I check myself to see if within myself I harbor some hidden wickedness, some hidden evil? Do I check my attitude? Am I “prayed up”? I don’t think I always do this. Seems to me before I head out, before I assume I might come across evil, I need to look in the mirror and check my heart, my attitude. To use an expression adapted from a friend: Do I have my halo on straight?

Have mercy on me,a O GOD,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
Psalm 51:1,2

But before I go out into the world, let me also pray:

O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!
Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
keep watch over the door of my lips!
Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who work iniquity,
and let me not eat of their delicacies!
Psalm 141:1-4

Am I ready to face the world?

Apostle Paul teaches that our battle is not against the individuals that we may meet on our roads we travel. Hence, we need armor. We are soldiers in the Army of GOD. Like soldiers we need EDC—Every Day Carry.

“. . . take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. . .”
Eph. 6:13-18

Purging the self of those pesky pieces of flesh we find within the heart, prepared in prayer for action, step into the world for another day, like sheep among wolves, trusting that whatever happens, our LORD’s there.

On these treks in the world, outside the circle of family and friends, not everyone met, not every stranger with whom I engage, is necessarily a wolf. Commenting on Luke 6:45, Ellicott wrote: “Out of the “good treasure of his heart” the good man would bring forth, not harsh or hasty judgment, but kindness, gentleness, compassion.”

Good advice would be: Wear the armor prepared for battle, but mouths must speak from the the knowledge of GOD’s mercy and grace bestowed upon us. Be kind. Don’t return evil for evil.

When it becomes apparent that people met along the way have issues—I love how Jude puts it:

“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our LORD Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garmentg stained by the flesh.”
Jude 17-23

I go out into the world. I win; I lose. I come home to lick my wounds like a dog. I acknowledge the wins are because of Spirit’s guidance and strength. I acknowledge failures are sins, are evil, and they are mine, all mine, and mine alone. I find refuge in Jesus.

O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,

“There is no salvation for him in GOD.” Selah

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.

Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my GOD!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
Psalm 3

L-RD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Wednesday, “Who am I?”

Praise, Worship, Prayer. . .
Self-Portrait by Terry Wil Robinson

Above all, put on love — the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
—Colossians 3:14-17

Pastor Thabo revisits the topic of who he is.

A previous blog of mine in which I explore Identity.

Monday Memories: Screams in the Night

Dreams. . . All too often they inflict themselves well into the day. Lurking, waiting to capture moments of joy. Willing to toss souls to the ground, to be stomped upon. Over. And over. Again!

BUT. . . in Messiah the willing mind is no longer bound. The Soul is Free to accept not the deceit of the haunted old self.

May all the righteous in Messiah understand from where we’ve come, and Who has delivered us. Thank You Jesus, LORD and Messiah!

Friday Notes: Watch

In a Forest Service tower a lookout watches for smoke. Once seen, he calls it in to the Forest Dispatch Center. A small Forest Service engine might be sent to monitor the fire, if the area is still wet from a storm, if the cause is from lightning.

If the engine crew sees the fire spreading too far and too fast, it will call for additional fire crew and begin to suppress it.

This last week I listened to one of Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s newly discovered sermons. He’d titled it Watchfulness. Just as a forest lookout has various tools to employ, so has a Believer. Pastor MLJ gives us four: Reading and studying the Bible; don’t believe all spirits; pray to not faint—lose hope and courage—and pray for self; and to examine one’s self.

As to the devil’s strategies, Pastor says they are routes of attack that include: our minds, which is our knowledge; they are experiential, that is in the realm of feelings, emotions, desires; our practice, which is the things we do and don’t do.

According to Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the primary attack is through throwing us off balance. For instance, we begin to feel we aren’t doing enough, not involved enough, in Christian Service. We push to do more. We become out of balance in our lives by excluding other important things, such as family and friends. We may become exhausted, and then become ill.

https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/book-of-ephesians/watchfulness/

Friday Notes: Living Quietly and Abundantly

The Apostles, in their letters, wrote both doctrine and practical instructions. Many instructions were to counter problems within a newly established group of believers.

These new believers were coming out of a hedonistic, idolatrous, pagan social structure and, while doing fairly well, needed some further encouragement in various matters, both spiritual and physical.

“The basic desire for each of us should be to please God. That’s the key to the Christian life,” wrote Pastor Chuck Smith in a sermon on this chapter (1 Thessalonians 4) of Paul’s epistle. This overarching principle provides a wonderful framework for all believers. It was taught to the believers directly by Apostle Paul in his first visit there. It was reemphasized in his letter to them. Pastor Smith said it’s “the key to the Christian life.” Not just a key. It is “the key.”

One could ask: “What exactly is the Christian life? What does it look like?” The way Apostle Paul puts it: we are to “. . .aspire to live quietly, and to mind” our “own affairs, and to work with” our “hands so that” we “may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” —1 Thessalonians 4:11.12.

Pastor Smith put it this way: “Now this means to live sort of a quiet life. You know, with some people everything is a crisis, and they live from one crisis to the next. But he says, ‘Study to be . . . just live a quiet life.’ And that really is a simple life, and we need to learn to just live a simple life, a quiet life.”

Jesus spoke about living an abundant life, for which He came to give those who would believe in Him. When I think of abundance, I think first off of having more than enough of something. Food comes to mind immediately. I like food, mostly. Brussel sprouts might be an exception, but with enough hot sauce . . .

That’s as far as I got. It’s not from a scrap of paper; it’s from an unfinished post I’d saved to a flash drive a few years ago. Calmer times, those were. I hardly recall now, as things had not yet fallen apart; there was a “center” holding together this world. It was but a short time ago, yet like a dream those days fade into oblivion.

The other day I listened to a sermon by David Wilkerson given at Times Square Church a few years after America’s 911 wake up call. He spoke of more, and worse, disasters coming upon America. One of the things he reiterated is that our focus in times such as these should not be on physical preparations, for the answer is Spiritual.

Our quiet and abundant life isn’t necessarily in the physical world in which we live. It is in our right standing with our Father in Heaven through our Savior Jesus, Son of GOD and Son of Man. Proven through history, recorded to show us, GOD saves His People. Those who have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. That Life is the life that will be calm and filled abundantly. We partake in it today, amid pending chaos in America, in a very unique Spiritual way, by the power of GOD’s Spirit dwelling within us in fullness.

John the Immerser called us to repentance; now the Living GOD calls us to a Baptism of His Spirit through which we may lead that quiet and abundant life despite storms that devastate, plagues that sicken, and conflicts that wound. . . or kill.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Wednesday Begins with “W”: When All Else Fails

“Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or cell phones. It’s fun, social, educational, and can be a lifeline during times of need.” —ARRL

ARRL provides a wealth of information about Amateur Radio, what it is, the services Amateur Radio Operators provide around the world, how to get involved, and more.

My introduction to Amateur Radio came through a neighbor sometime in the early 1970s. Talking to my father at some point I discovered that my Godfather was operated Amateur Radio, and that my dad had once learned morse code. It took a few years, but after a fair amount of studying electronics theory and learning morse code—today there is less intense theory and no code required for a license—I earned my technician-class license.

The first radio I built was a kit, a Heathkit HW8, which allowed me to operate using morse code. It didn’t take long for me to gain morse code speed, and pass the FCC code test for license upgrade to General Class. With the upgrade, I was allowed to operate on a larger portion of the radio spectrum, and to operate with voice communications, as well as code.

Over the last forty something years I’ve talked with people from around the world from home, from various vehicles I’ve owned, from my Semi, from my sailboat, and from park benches.

Today there is a growing number of Amateurs who operate from State Parks and from mountain tops. With the increase of restrictions for antennas in neighborhoods, operators have found open spaces to set up temporary antennas in parks and mountains. It’s an added challenge, too, to operate from a small battery and a low-powered radio, that often is carried in a backpack.

Amateur Radio has allowed me to be involved in Emergency Services. Amateurs train for services during disasters by providing communications for a variety of events, such as parades, marathons, bicycle races, and more. During disasters they provide critical communications for those assisting in recovery efforts.

Many Amateurs “check in” to nets, making friends over the air waves. Nets are general moderated round table gatherings of people who chat on a particular radio frequency and a specified time, daily or weekly.

While there aren’t a lot of Christian nets, there are enough to enable casual listeners to hear Christians sharing scriptures and experiences with one another. This is one form of evangelism aimed at the Amateur Radio Operator Community. It is also a time of fellowship between Operators. A few of the groups gather for a long weekend during the summer in which they can further their friendships.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Monday Memories: 23 hrs 23 min in a Luggage Rack

Summer 1988 in India. Two Brits. Two Sweds. And me.

We met while clamoring aboard a train headed west out of Raxaul, Bihar, India. By the time we boarded there was no room to stand, let alone sit. We put our backpacks in the luggage rack and climbed up there ourselves.

The two fellows from Sweden were in their late twenties and spoke good English. They had been traveling in India for some months. The two from England had recently graduated from Secondary School, and were new to India. I’d been in India several months, traveling around.

As it turned out, we all intended to go to Dal Lake, Srinagar, Kashmir. I don’t really remember a lot about the trip. It was hot. It was cramped. Despite sleeping, it was exhausting. The company was good, though. We took turns getting off at the stops along the way. I noted the time when we finally left the train; 23 hours and 23 minutes in those luggage racks.

After a short bus ride, sitting in proper seats, we arrived in Srinagar. Some guys boarded the bus, seeing tourists aboard, and we were convinced to rent a houseboat for a week, all meals provided. The boat was large, docked next to the road, and way too close to a culvert that drained sewage from the town into the lake. But the food was good, and delivered to the boat.

During the week we took several boat trips around Dal Lake in long, narrow paddle boats to see the sites, walked around the town, and in the evenings relaxed on upper deck of the houseboat. We talked a lot about Jesus; I hope they came eventually to accept Him into their lives.

At the end of the week we parted ways, the Sweds off in one direction, the Brits in another, and I down to New Delhi.

Friday Notes: Disturbances

“Total commitment to whatever God wants. Such a beautiful way to live, because you learn that to accept whatever comes along. You are never disturbed, because you are always expecting to be disturbed. The man who is always disturbed is the man who never expects to be disturbed; he doesn’t really plan disturbances into his life. Thus, he is very disturbed whenever disturbance comes. But the man who is never disturbed is the one who is always expecting disturbances. So when a disturbance comes it doesn’t disturb him, because he is expecting it.”

—Pastor Chuck Smith

Disturbances. Add disappointments. Expect the unexpected. Trials of all sorts.

I wonder how far can this be taken without becoming a pessimist. Yet a Believer has Hope. A pessimist believes that this world is as bad as it could be and that evil will ultimately prevail over good. No hope!

The Believer’s Hope is Jesus. We’ll have trials in this world. But our Peace comes from living in Jesus, obedience to His Word, and “overcoming the world.” It’s a process. It takes time.

More time for some, like me. Still finding myself irritated at some interruptions. Not always. Just sometime. Disturbances I didn’t expect. I feel an irritation. Uncontrolled it shows and grows.

“Pray!” is what “they” say.

Deep breath. At myself and my irritation. And at what “they” say.

And Spirit brings a recollection¹ of what Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian Assembly of Believers in Jesus:

. . .we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God. . .

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

It’s not always as instantaneous as I make it sound. Too many times I let things bother me, grumble and complain to myself, and display irritation in the way I handle things. Then Spirit of GOD prevails. . . ↩︎

Wednesday Begins with “W” Wander

In a hate-filled slur, the Jewish people have been referred to as “Wandering Jews,” even naming a plant as such. Oh, but you say, no one means anything by it. Maybe. Or maybe not.

I suppose the term comes from a misunderstanding of the forty years Israel spent in the Wilderness after our LORD extricated them from slavery in Egypt.

Moving on. Wednesday is a day to write from a word beginning with “W.” So how about Wander?

Our Jewish ancestors didn’t wander. (Gentiles are adopted into Israel. Remember, one tree, wild and native branches.) Wander means: to move about without a fixed course, aim, or goal; to go idly about, i.e., wandering around the house.

One might infer that to wander means more than having no destination, but also having no guide or guidance.

Recall Abraham. Long before Israel’s enslavement in Egypt there was Abraham, father of Israel as a people, a nation. “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.” —Genesis 12:1—5

I like the word “sojourn,” for some reason. I’ve associated it with moving about, traveling, even wandering. Not necessarily so. Sojourn means a temporary stay. It may involve traveling to a particular place, but certainly not wandering. We see “sojourn” used in connection with Abraham going to Egypt for a time.

“Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.” —Genesis 12:10

Getting back on track. Forty years in the Wilderness. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.’ ”

The LORD is the guide. His Word to and through Moses is the guidance.

Like they say in those silly commercials, “But that’s not ALL!”

But first, an aside. Even GotQuestions calls the movements of Israel in the Wilderness wandering. “He cursed them with forty years of wilderness wandering until the unbelieving generation died off, never stepping foot in the Promised Land.” —GotQuestions.org

Harrumph!

Anyway. “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.” —Genesis 13:21

The LORD is the guide. His Glory in the pillar of cloud is the guidance.

No, wandering was not what Israel did in the Wilderness. Israel had a guide and a destination. There is a reason it took forty years. That’s for another time, though.

LORD Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Monday Memories: First Twenty Years

Some of my favorite photos taken of me and of me with some of my dearest and most loved people during my First Twenty Years. In pictures, from Hemet, California, held in the arms of my folks, Ted and Meg, through to Infantry Basic and Advance Training at Fort Ord, California, 1969.

I remember when Micheal and I dressed like our Dads, though I’ve forgotten the year.

At Northwestern Military and Navel Academy, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1963 with best friend Keith and a “blind” date, Jill, at the Fall Military Ball.

In the back of our camper, with Mom and friend Livia.

On a small island in Lake Tahoe with Mom and brothers Mark, Grant, Randy.

With daughter Miki and her Mom, Sharon, on Miki’s first Christmas.