The Lord Knows His Own

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2Timothy 2:19

The Lord knows His own. Like the true Shepherd that He is, He knows each one of us, and we have a seal. Yet do we know one another? How can be be sure the person to whom we speak is a true-born believer in the Lord Y’shuaJesus?

It’s a valid question, especially today with deception seeming lurking at our own house. A few years ago I spent the weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. I’d hauled a load of heavy equipment into the city, unloading on Friday, but had to wait until Monday to get another load going out. So on Sunday I went to a small, non-denominational church that was a short walk from the truck stop. It seemed nice inside, though it was what we call a store-front church, located in a shopping center. The service began with praise songs intended to lead toward worship. Before worship approached, the pastor began his talk. And toward the end of the sermon, I realized that there was something missing. Not once in the praise songs was the Name of Jesus spoken. Not once during the sermon was the Name of Jesus spoken. I think Y’shuaJesus had been left out of this church.

On the other hand, I’ve met people that seemed to radiate a Spiritual warmth. Their eyes light up, and they easily speak of The Lord. Occasionally I hear people say, “Have a blessed day.” I think it’s code for G-d Bless you. [which increasingly is becoming a sort of taboo in these United States of America. While we say we have freedom of speech, hard won and maintained for two hundred years, over the last few years political correctness has taken a heavy toll on our liberties.] Once, many years ago, I met a pastor I just knew was a great general in the Lord’s Army. There was something about him. Perhaps it was the way the Lord had sealed him that it just exuded The Spirit.

If you watch a sporting event, there is an announcer that gives the names of the players. There are often programs with players’ names and numbers listed. But we, as Christians, don’t have a program to look at in which the names of The Sealed of G-d are listed. As I pondered this all earlier today, I recalled a song from my days with Calvary Chapel in Susanville, California. One line of the song is, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

There must, therefore, be a unique form of love expressed only by those who are true-born believers, sealed by The Lord Y’shuaJesus. Let us apprehend this love. Let us express this love. Let us be known as disciples of the One Lord, Savior, Y’shuaJesus, by this love.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Who’s the Deceiver

“Amid honor and dishonor; in defaming and evil report and in praise and good report. We are branded] as deceivers impostors, and yet vindicated as truthful and honest.” 2Co 6:8

“For there are many disorderly and unruly men who are idle vain, empty and misleading talkers and self-deceivers and deceivers of others. This is true especially of those of the circumcision party who have come over from Judaism.” Tit 1:10

“For many imposters seducers, deceivers, and false leaders have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge confess, admit the coming of Jesus Christ the Messiah in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ and the antichrist.” 2Jn 1:7

Here in America, shortwave radio isn’t too popular. While many cars in other parts of the world are able to receive shortwave broadcasts, most cars in America only receive “AM” and “FM” bands. There are a lot of good broadcasts on shortwave, too. There is a shortwave broadcast around 9 MHz that I listened to the other day on my ham radio that I’m not too sure is good, however.

The “pastor” spoke about deception. He called Mr. Scofield and Mr. Ryrie liars and deceivers. He quoted from 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.” He then “explained” how the Mr. Ryrie in the Ryrie Study Bible mistranslated a word from the Greek, and that he used that to say that Baptism wasn’t necessary for the remission or rolling back of sin. This “pastor” then quoted Mr. Ryrie as saying: “[the word] for [in the scripture] may here mean “because of,” as in Matthew 12:24.” Again this “pastor” called Mr. Ryrie a liar.

This “pastor” spoke about the false belief that we need not be baptised to remove our sins. He spoke about Christian sects that believe that way, and that it is so wrong. He said baptism is for the forgiveness of sins.

Okay, so I got home in the afternoon and dug out my Ryrie Study Bible to have a look. The complete comment on Acts 2:38 is as follows:

Repent. To change one’s mind; specifically, here, about Jesus of Nazareth, and to acknowledge Him as Lord (= G-d) and Christ (=Messiah). Such repentance brings salvation. There is also a repentance needed in the Christian life in relation to specific sins (2 Cor. 7:9; Rev. 2.5). be baptised. . . for the forgiveness of sins On baptism see note on Matt. 3:11. Water baptism is the outward sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is through faith in Christ, not through the act of baptism (for may here mean “because of,”. . .

So, this “pastor” crying out about deception and liars took a small piece of Mr. Ryrie’s comment on Acts 2:38 to run off about. What I hear happening is this: Tear down the work of such people as Mr. Scofield and Mr. Ryrie and substitute a dependence upon themselves for the “correct” interpretation of the scriptures. This, I believe, is happening all over today. Little by little, earlier work is being denigrated, maligned, abused. Eventually these pastors and leaders and teachers gain a foothold in the minds of G-d’s people and will lead them astray. Y’shuaJesus said this was going to happen. And so it is.

What I “hear” Mr. Ryrie saying is that we are forgiven by Lord Y’shua and this is a work within us; We then outwardly display our faith and forgiveness through baptism. Don’t you see the difference?

Let us beware. Let us take all things in devout prayer to our only Savior, our Lord Y’shuaJesus. Let us be gentle yet also wise. Let us investigate what we hear, what we read, what we are encouraged to believe. If we were to be asked by our Lord, “Why did you. . .” What would we reply. Would we say, “Well, the pastor said this was the truth.” Would Y’shua just say, “Oh, sure, okay, no problem.” If we are questioned, we must be able to give answers based upon what we believe, and what we believe must come from our faith, and our faith must come from our Lord.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Unstained by the World

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (James 1:27 NASB)

Unstained: unblemished, without spot. In the Greek it is Aspilos, used as an external blemishes, of being examined and nothing found to base a claim against.

On a trip north across the state of Wyoming, I was stopped at a commercial vehicle inspection station on the northern leg before entering Montana. The inspector requested me to bring all documentation into the office for her to check. She checked my commercial driver license, medical certificate, truck registration, trailer registration, bill of laden for the load I was transporting, and finally my log book. Everything was in order. Then she looked carefully at eight days of logging my time. She checked the time I entered Wyoming, where I registered at the southern inspection station the day before. She looked at my entries of the times and places I stopped, where I stayed for the night, where I ate breakfast. Finally she said, “I just can’t find anything wrong.” She hesitated a moment, made another check, saying she would take another look to see if she could find anything. I felt relieved when finally she hit the computer button that finished the report and printed a copy for me that contained the words “No Violations Found.”

The inspector could find no cause to cite me for a violation. My paperwork was unspotted, unblemished. Not only did I not have to pay a fine for some error in my paperwork, but my company pays $25.00 (USD) for a “No Violation” report.

A commercial driver license comes with the obligation to accomplish certain tasks, such as keeping paperwork in a prescribed manner. At some time in our lives we accepted eternal life through Messiah Y’shuaJesus. The author of Hebrews wrote:

“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to G-d an acceptable service with reverence and awe.” (Hebrews 12:28 NASB)

So then, our lives are offered to G-d. What type of life should we offer? Unblemished! Unspotted! “When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.” (Leviticus 22:21 NASB)

We have one another and the Spirit of G-d to bring this about. We act. And if we act wrongly, our brothers and sisters of the Gospel, and the Holy Spirit, are charged with helping us. We confess and turn from our blemishes. This is an act of having our feet washed. Y’shua washed our lives at the time of our salvation, now we need only our feet washed as we walk in the dust of our journey.

Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy toward us. Enable us to live an unblemished, abundant life. Amen

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

There are No Walls, only Sign Posts

“. . . but satan hindered us.” (1Thes 2:18)

In an email I mentioned something about coming to believe there are no walls, only sign posts. When I think about this a bit, I get a mental picture of a person banging his or her head against a wall, then looking at me and saying “So, what’s this I’m hitting?” I might answer, “Well, yes, I suppose it looks like a wall. It’s really a sign. Really.”

In Daniel chapter five, we are told of the handwriting that appears on the wall as a King Belshazzar’s feast. The King is terrified. None of the King’s men are able to translate it. In comes Daniel, again. It is from this story that we get the expression “See the Handwriting on the Wall.”

So, first we must see the handwriting on the wall. In my earlier mental picture, the man or woman must stop banging against the wall and read the writing upon it. And every wall has some writing on it. If it’s not readily apparent, as in Daniel, perhaps the fingers of a man’s hand will appear to write the message. And we ought pray that it is the Hand of the Lord that writes His words on the wall.

While seeing is believing, it doesn’t mean that we understand the writing, does it? In the case of the terrified King Belshazzar, the Lord used Daniel to translate the words on the wall. In the case of each of us, too, the Lord must reveal His word to us, translating the message into a language from which we can make meaning.

The great evangelist to the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, wrote to the Thessalonians that he wanted to come to them (1Thes 2:18) time and again. Was Paul banging against a wall. Paul says, “satan hindered us.” Eventually Paul’s group “thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy. . .” to establish and encourage the Thessalonians in their faith. (1Thes 3:2)

If it seems that I bang against a wall, if it seems as though no sign of direction appears from the mystical hand of the Lord, might I not take heart from Paul’s own words about his head banging. In perseverance we will receive a word from G-d, we will not only see the handwriting on the wall, we will understand it too.

It occurs to me that walls are signs and also boundaries that direct us along a pre-assigned course, a destiny. As boundaries, they may not even be visible, as in one of Paul’s adventures, recounted by Luke in Acts 16:6,7: “Now when they had gone through Pyrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.” We aren’t told how the Spirit prevented their preaching. But later we are told that they were directed to Macedonia to preach there.

There is one other example of a wall/sign/boundary that might be helpful to think about. Paul, himself, put up a wall to his own freedom. He’d wanted for some time to visit Rome. On his way to Jerusalem, it was prophesied that he’d be bound and imprisoned if he continued on his journey to Jerusalem, and indeed, once there, we was jailed. While in prison, he appealed to Caesar. (Acts 25:11). At his trial nothing was found to hold him. “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” (Acts 26:32) So Paul was sent to Caesar, in Rome. Paul got a free ride to the place he wanted to visit, to evangelize, and along the way evangelized onboard the ship and in Malta after the shipwreck. I suppose it wasn’t exactly first-class ticket and accommodations, but some great things did happen along the way.

Walls, both invisible and invisible, provide a channel to guide us along in our life. Exciting isn’t it? The Creator of the Universe, Creator of us all, loves us enough to save us from ourselves and guide us in our new, abundant, resurrected lives. And in all this He takes pleasure in us. What a journey. How awesome is our G-d!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Walking, Growing, Becoming

English: U.S. Forest Service fire lookout towe... — Image via Wikipedia

“For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.” (3 John 1:3 NASB)

“Be it ours today, O gracious Spirit, to be ruled and governed by thy divine authority, so that nothing false or sinful may reign in our hearts, lest it extend its malignant influence to our daily walk among men.”—Charles H. Spurgeon

Walking in the truth. I continue to be fascinated by this topic, returning often.

Spurgeon also wrote, “Truth must enter the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or else it is of no value.”

I’ve also been reading “The Pursuit of Man,” by A.W. Tozer. He speaks of the two “Christians” in our churches. On one side are the common Christians that believe and do nothing more. They believe but are not changed. On the other side is the Christian that believes in his/her heart, responds, and is changed. He/she becomes truly a new creature.

It seems clear from the Scriptures that, after we accept the initial offer of salvation, we are saved from eternal condemnation. However, it is equally clear from the Scriptures that once we are saved we must become a new creation. New wine is put into new wine skins—containers that will expand without bursting. So then, we are saints in Y’shuaJesus now, in the eternal scheme, but still we are becoming saints while we remain on Earth. It’s a process of being transformed, and it continues until we leave Earth to be with Y’shuaJesus or He comes to Earth to reign. For only then will we truly be complete.

The process of being transformed is a bit like an ascent up a spiral stairway. Let me illustrate.

Many years ago, while maintaining communications systems for the U.S. Forest Service, I climbed lookout towers. On many towers the stairway led up one level to a platform, reversed direction, and led upward to the next platform. This continued sometimes over a hundred feet (thirty or so meters). As I would ascend, I’d see tree-covered mountains in the distance. At each level, I’d see farther than I could see at the previous level.

Consider our lives as ascents with many levels where we view the landscape in a different way. Consider those towers upon which I climbed and reversed direction at each level. When looking forward, I’d see the landscape in a particular direction only on every other platform. If I take the tower illustration and apply it to my live, which has often felt as though I’ve changed direction, I begin to understand that it still ascends higher and higher, offering me a better view, a better vantage point.

Thinking about ascents can be applied to all aspects of our lives in Messiah. Take reading the Bible, for instance. We read from the Books of Moses, those of the prophets, the Psalms, the Gospels, the letters of the Apostles. They are not novels we read once and put on the shelf; they are living Words that we read and reread as we ascent the tower of our lives. We read. We walk. We read again. We gain new insight from each reading as we are able to see farther on the landscape of our lives.

Y’shuaJesus is the Truth. May we walk His way.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25 NASB)

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Way of the Cross or Ffordd y Groes

Way of the Cross: Die Daily; Rise Daily

“. . . unless a grain . . . dies. . .” (John 12:24)

I’ve said this before, but it really has been such a blessing to drive across America. I’ve seen and experienced many things. Most dramatic is the cross, and how I’ve changed in my view of it. It has taken 80,000 miles/125,000 km to develop a love for this incredible symbol of our relationship with our Messiah, our Savior, Y’shuaJesus.

I’ve seen crosses on the sides of mountains, atop church steeples, on the sides of churches, on houses, on advertising billboards, and even on trucks and cars. The tallest crosses I’ve ever seen, perhaps 300 feet/100 meters, are being placed in strategically visible places across America by a non-profit organization. In a country with modern Sodom on one coast and modern Gomorra on another, we have crosses nearly everywhere in between.

Let me briefly share how I viewed the cross before my trucking/evangelistic odyssey. Years ago, in a museum, I stared long and even photographed a sculpture of a First-Century victim being crucified. He we as suspended upon a pole. I’d heard before the talk of the cross as an vision of Constantine. I knew about the Egyptian life sign, which is a form of a cross. Most damaging to my view of the traditional cross is the translation of the Greek word for cross:

σταυρός stow-ros,’ a stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively exposure to death, that is, self denial; by implication the atonement of Christ: – cross.

Oh, to be sure I valued the Celtic cross, being Welsh-American and proud of my heritage. But as a symbol of Christianity I choose the sign of the fish. Its origin is with the persecuted First-Century church. It seemed to speak of faith. Yet seeing the traditional Twenty-First Century cross displayed across America, I am reaching toward it as a truer symbol of faith. The symbol is now universally recognized as Christian, universally identified with our Messiah. In fact, I’ve heard the symbol of the cross is offensive to many of the American “churches” who have fallen away from Christ as the only way to G-d. It is considered horrid by some for it symbolizes death.

Death. Precisely the point. We are to accept the death of our old way of living, believing, being. We are to accept a new life in Messiah. Thank You Lord, for the old way really wasn’t working anyway.

So the cross is not just a symbol of death, but of life. Following death on the cross, Y’shuaJesus rose to a resurrected life. We, too, baptized in His death, rise to new life. We are to life a resurrected life. We are here, on Earth, in old bodies, but our soul is resurrected. Our true life is a resurrected life.

The cross, then, is a symbol of overcoming death, of rising from the ashes of the fire and living beyond reproach, beyond approach by the enemy of G-d. If we are, as I’ve heard us described, a broken people, we better view ourselves as once broken, now mended by the Holy Spirit living within. Like a China teacup shattered upon a stone pathway, G-d puts us back together and holds us that way. We are His people. We have our new life in Him.

In my kindled love for the symbol of the cross, I look for it upon churches that I pass. I notice it more, and pray more for those institutions and people who display it. My pray is us all to live the way of the cross. To live the powerful new life the cross symbolizes.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

The Righteous are Bold as a Lion

“The wicked flee when no man pursues; but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
(Proverbs 28:1 MKJV)

In Daniel chapter three we learn of Daniel’s disobedient friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They had the audacity to defy King Nebuchadnezzar, to disregard the command to fall down before the gold image which the king had set up (v.7). When singled out and given the opportunity to do as commanded, they said to the king, “O, King Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to return a word to you on this matter. If it is so that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, then He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18 MKJV).

Now there’s bold. Like so many of our Biblical heroes, Daniels friends are almost larger than life. Bold. Moses faced the Pharaoh. Bold. David faced the giant. Bold. Deborah (Judges 4:4) a prophetess and judge of Israel battled against the enemies of G-d.

From where comes this boldness? A boldness from our G-d came to all these men and women, these Biblical heroes. It is a boldness that grew within them. It was nurtured like a mother would nurture her infant. G-d, as our Father, nurtured the boldness throughout their lives. They were once young, but they grew.

When thinking of King David, we need to remember he was once a small boy tending a herd of sheep. Remember that he learned to sling rocks to drive away the natural enemies of his sheep. Remember that he spent hours in the evening, alone and on watch, gazing at G-d’s handiwork in the sky—the splendor of the evening stars. He learned to trust G-d and what G-d had taught him. He spent hours praising G-d. He developed a relationship with G-d. David was bold, after being nurtured by G-d.
We, too, can be bold. But h0w? The Proverb says “the righteous are bold as a lion.” I don’t feel righteous. I’m just me, struggling to stay afloat in the waves of life’s sea, a stormy sea.

From where comes this righteousness? Let’s look at Abraham. “And he believed in the LORD. And He counted it to him for righteousness”(Genesis 15:6 MKJV). But that was Abraham, another larger-than-life hero of the Bible. Abraham, like David, was nurtured by G-d, raised to believe. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews, inspired by G-d, tells us to look “to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2 MKJV).

Think about this: 1) Our boldness comes from our faith, which comes to us from Y’shuaJesus. 2) Our righteousness comes from our faith, which comes to us from Y’shuaJesus.

And our faith grows daily as we submit to our Heavenly Father, the mediation of His Son, our Savior Y’shuaJesus, through His Holy Spirit. Our faith is nurtured with loving care through that which we experience, through the many situations into which we are placed. We grow in faith. Like a child learning to walk, we crawl, we stand, we stumble forward, we fall, we rise again. It is a process. G-d nurtures our faith.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

These are the Saints

Here’s another excerpt from my notebook, this one from December 6, 2006. It was Wednesday and I was on my way through Milan, NM, having a meal at the Kiva Cafe.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27 MKJV)

A man walked up to the restaurant with a tee shirt on which was a rodeo rider and his horse. Beneath the drawing it said, “No Scars, No Stories.”

Isn’t that true of our walk with Jesus. Look at Paul, and his many stories, his letters. He had many scars.

We are a people of stories. Some people have only one story: it’s a whining story of complaint. Others say few words, but when they do, their hearts are shared through their words. They have real scars. They’ve had real experiences with the Master, and they seek not themselves, but only to encourage or assist another. These are the saints.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

A Forward Look Behind

In looking back through notes written several years ago, this one stands out to me today. It was written on January 10, 2007. It was Tuesday in North Bend, WA, at Ken’s Restaurant in the Seattle East T/A truck stop.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.'”
(Luke 23:43 MKJV)

This verse is used in the Our Daily Bread devotional for today. And in another devotional, a verse is used about Peter, who after walking and sinking into the water, calls out to Jesus and is helped.

This day I set out to ascend and descend Snowqualmie Summit, [it is snow covered, and I’d waited until early in the morning to leave, avoiding the worst of the snow storm that passed through on Monday] to go to Salt Lake City, then on to Las Vegas. Y’shua has been with me on this journey–this journey ‘Into the Highways.’ And this day I’m reminded that any day might be my last on Earth, and might be my first in Heaven.

It is a time to remember there are things undone, left undone, that are worth noting. And once noting [them], it is worth undertaking these things so that they can be things done. This takes me back to “Be Prepared.” [The previous year, I spent quite a bit of time reading through Y’shuaJesus’s teachings on being prepared, and thinking upon this idea, trying to practice it.]

I think about my life examined. Not an examination by The Judge, however. I think about people I don’t know going through my things scattered along the road, if I were to be in an accident. It reminds me of Randy Travis’s song, “Three Wooden Crosses.” And I think, “It’s not about me living, but what is left behind.” It’s about what good was there. Did I reach out and grasp the hand of another who struggles on the hike up the hill of life?

Lord, take me from today, where I am, and guide me to where I am to be, until the time I join you at The Feast. Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Driver Training

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverb 22:6 (KJV)

Learning to drive isn’t easy these days. There are more cars and trucks on the roads today than when I learned to drive. People seem to be in a hurry every where they go, which throws patience out the window. So several years ago, I let my son drive off the highway, on a dirt road. He learned to basics. Finally, when he was nearing the age to apply for a permit to learn to drive, I gave him a book of basic traffic and driving regulations to study. To receive a learner permit, he would have to take a written test. And for one full year, he would need to operate a vehicle on the highway only with me riding along.

When the day arrived that my son could take his written test, he said some of his friends failed on their first attempts. He said he wasn’t worried, but I could tell he was. He took the test and passed. I said that his hard work studying paid off. He looked at me and declared that he really didn’t study the book I’d given him. I asked how he knew the answers. He said simply that he watched me drive, and the answers were just common sense.

He watched me drive? For how long? He watched my impatience at someone in front of me wouldn’t drive the way I wanted–faster? He watched my mistakes? And yet he did learn enought to be able to answer test questions. Something went right. Praise the Lord, for I didn’t know I’d been teaching my son to drive. Wow!

So, I had to ask myself, what else I have trained my son to do while being unaware of it? All the things I thought I was suppose to teach him, and not once did I intend to teach him to drive, yet. Oh, oh! This all makes me look very differently at the Lord’s injunction to: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverb 22:6 (KJV) I am a trainer, full time, in season and out. Hummmm. Sounds familiar, huh?

May the Lord grant my son remembrance of training that is proper, forgetfulness of things improper, that he may have learned from me and from others. Lord forgive me for not recognizing that all I do is observed and becomes training to others around me, especially my own children.

Lord grant us all wisdom to live righteously and centered upon Messiah.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .