Flight Paths

The earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods, Psalm 24:1,2.
 
            Many scholars believe that the twenty-fourth psalm was written by David to celebrate the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant to his new capital, Jerusalem.  When you read 1 Chronicles 13 and 15 and see the great amount of singing and worshipping going on, and then read the words to this psalm, that supposition makes good sense, and the ancient writings of the rabbis attest to it as well.

            However, even here at the beginning of the psalm David sees a danger in settling this manifestation of God’s presence in one location—the people would be tempted to think that God was stuck there, that He did not reign over the rest of the earth, much less any other people.  So he begins this psalm with the passage above to remind them that God could not be put in a literal box, and certainly not in a figurative box of one’s own expectations and understanding.  God made the whole world, and therefore rules the whole world and every person on it.

            David was right to be so concerned.  Ezekiel spent several of his opening chapters trying to get the same point across to the captives in Babylon by the canal Chebar, who believed that God was no longer with them, but still back in Jerusalem.  He is right here with you, Ezekiel told them.  That is the point of that amazing vision in chapter one—God can be anywhere at any time.

            Do you think we don’t have the same problem?  We keep trying to put God in a box called a church building or a meetinghouse or whatever your own bias leans toward calling it.  That’s why we have people who compartmentalize their religion.  They think “church” is all about what happens at the building, and the change in their behavior when they leave that building is the proof of it. 

            A man who can recite the “plan of salvation” in Bible class will cheat his customers to his own gain during the week.

            A woman who can quote proof texts verbatim on Sunday morning will turn around and gossip over the phone every other day of the week.

            A couple who appears every time the door is opened will carry on a running feud with a neighbor and treat each other as if none of the passages in the New Testament apply to anyone with the same last name. 

            What? God asked His people.  Will you act like the heathen around you six days a week “and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations?”  Jer 7:10.  David used the middle of this psalm to remind the people who was fit to come before the presence of the LORD—only men of holiness, honesty, and integrity, not just on the Sabbath, but always. 

            Because they put God in a box called after the covenant He made with them, they thought that their behavior only counted in His presence, forgetting the lessons that both David and Solomon had tried to teach them—God cannot be confined to anything manmade, not even the most magnificent Temple ever built by men, much less a comparatively miniscule box.  As David proclaimed in finishing Psalm 24, Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!...The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! — Selah. 

            Selah--pause, and feel the impact.
 
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? ​He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation, Psa 24:3-5.
 
Dene Ward

Every fall, usually in late September or early October, we make our first trip outdoors on a cool, clear evening to eat by the fire.  It is usually hot dogs and chips, but occasionally chili or soup or stew, or sometimes just a cup of cocoa and a few homemade shortbread cookies. 

Chloe knows the drill and as soon as she sees the wooden tray that Lucas made in high school shop class loaded with paper plates, plastic cups, and bags of chips, or maybe a tall stewpot and some bowls, or perhaps just a couple of steaming mugs, she follows close behind.  Does she beg?  No, she does not.  She sits a small distance from our lawn chairs by the fire and carefully watches.  Her eyes will follow the franks as Keith skewers them on the three foot long fork, or she will monitor me as I ladle out the steaming chili.  Whatever it is we have, she quietly sits and watches with eyes gleaming in the firelight. 

But as soon as she sees me load up the tray tables next to our chairs, she bounces up on all fours and her tail begins to wag.  After well over twelve years, she knows what is coming.  As I head back to the wooden tray one more time, she finally begins hopping a tiny bit back and forth on her front feet, and licks her chops.  "Good girl," I tell her.  "Here you go," and hand her a Busy Bone, usually the Chewnola variety, which we have learned over the years keeps her happy the longest.  Usually, we all three finish eating at the same time.

Because we have always given her a treat while we eat, she trusts us to do it again—every single time.  So she sits and waits patiently with a Biblically defined "hope"—assurance that what is promised will come.

God expects no less of us.  But before we get too far along in this, let me say this.  "Patience" in the Bible is not about being quiet and never complaining.  James talks about "the patience of Job" in 5:11.  If you have read Job, you understand that he did not take things quietly.  No, patience in the Bible is about endurance, steadfastness, never giving up no matter how difficult things may get.  Job certainly did that.  God expects that of us as well, in all sorts of situations.

He expects us to wait when people have been evil to us.  Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.  Prov 20:22.  Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.  ​Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.  I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!  ​Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psa 27:11-14

He expects us to wait when the evil are prospering and we are suffering.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.  ​He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.  ​For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.  In just a little while, the wicked will be no more…Psa 37:5-10

He expects us to wait even when the world is reviling his name.  How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?  Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!  Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.  Ps 74:10-12

He expects us to wait in the midst of trials and persecutions.    When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne  They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer…  Rev 6: 9-11

And why do we wait patiently—without giving up on God no matter what happens in our lives?  Because of all the promises he has kept in the past.  Because of a land and a nation that came into existence after more than four centuries.  Because of a Messiah who finally came after thousands of years to fulfill that very first promise:  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Gen3:15  Even because of the care he has promised and given us on an everyday basis.

And now we wait for one final promise:  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God…1Thess4:16

And so we wait, even more eagerly than Chloe waits, I hope, with even more assurance that the promise will indeed be kept.  After all, God has been so much more faithful to me than I have been to him.
 
  For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, o that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…Heb 6:13-19
 
Dene Ward

The first publication of Fahrenheit 451 occurred on October 19, 1953.  In this picture of a dystopian society (one that is unpleasant and dehumanizing, according to one definition I found), books are banned.  All books.  Firemen do not put out fires—they start them, burning down houses and buildings that contain books.  The title comes, not from the burning point of paper, but from the auto-ignition point—the temperature at which paper will catch fire without being exposed to an external flame, and even that varies according to circumstances.  Still, it makes for a catchy title.
 
             One fireman gradually becomes disenchanted with his job.  He begins to see that his society is obsessed with frantic consumption and shallow entertainment.  If all books are subversive, why is it that the secret book readers he comes across are the only people who can carry on intelligent and profound conversations?  Eventually he flees his life and becomes part of a group that preserves books by memorizing them. 

              How many ways can we go with this?  Far too many for one short post, so let's just keep it to a couple of obvious ones. 

               First, I checked to see how many places ban the Bible.  The answer is complex because there are exceptions to the laws, but the Gideons, the group known for handing out free Bibles, says they are not allowed to operate in Afghanistan, Algeria, China, Comoros, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.  In some of those places churches can order Bibles but not individuals.  In some they can be printed but only in certain languages.  In some places you can import but not publish.  So the answer is not short and easy.  Still, it proves that ready access to the Word of God should not be taken for granted.
 
             Let's take a moment to caution everyone about articles on Facebook.  Many people jump the gun before they read the fine print and assume things that are false.  Evidently that happened with a proposed bill in California.  Someone posted that the bill would ban the Bible.  From my research, that does not seem to be the case.  However, there have been instances where students in various parts of the country were told they could not read their Bibles at school.  In some cases, the outrage brought an apology, but the Devil starts small until he weasels his way into our culture.  Look at the things that are now accepted that at one time everyone disapproved of.  When I was a child, I heard someone on television say that one day it would be a crime in this country to read your Bibles, but it would be legal in Russia.  At the height of the Cold War that seemed preposterous.  Now I am not so sure.

              Let's also consider this:  if it were to suddenly become illegal to own and read a Bible, if "firemen" did make their living burning the Word of God, how much difference would it make in your life?  If you don't read it now, why should you even be upset about it?  Seems a little hypocritical to me.

              And if you were to run away to find a group of Bible readers who had memorized the Scriptures so they would not be lost forever, how much could you offer them?  Yes, I know memorization is more difficult as you grow older—I forget words I have known for decades.  But I know my address, my phone number, my passwords, my social security number, and the last four digits of three or four credit cards.  Don't you?  It all boils down to what is important to us, doesn't it?  I have no right to become outraged with the premise of Bradbury's novel as it relates to the Bible, when the Bible doesn't mean enough to me to read it, to know it, or to live it.

              One of these days, Fahrenheit 451 may indeed come to pass for Christians.  Let's make sure there are enough people around who still care.
 
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts ,knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2Pet 1:19-21
 
Dene Ward

On October 17, 1963 the Beatles recorded "I Want to Hold Your Hand," the first of their songs to catch on in America.  "Love Me Do" and "She Loves You" had already been released and, though hits in England, flopped in this country.  This one not only caught on, it became #1 on the charts.  It is still the best selling Beatles single in America. 

              It may have been a romantic gesture in the song, but holding hands means much more than that.  Every time we pray in our assembly of saints, two hands instantly reach for mine and hold them until the amens echo around the building.
 
             The hand on my right is my husband’s.  After spending over forty-five years together, it seems only natural.  We are always touching, patting, and hugging.  To walk past one another without some sort of physical contact is unthinkable.  What has made this relationship even more remarkable though, is the spiritual sharing and touching.  When two people pray for the same things, hope for the same things, and endure the same things with the help of the same Comforter, two people who were so unalike in the beginning that several people tried to talk us out of this marriage, the closeness can only be with the help of the Divine Creator who united us in far more than holy matrimony.

              The other hand belongs to a friend, someone I have known for several years now, who has supported me in every way imaginable, who has stood by me and has lifted my name up in prayer, who has shared her own trials with me and allowed me to help her as well, someone who lives nearly fifty miles from me, whom I would never have known except that we share the same Savior and the same hope and a place in the same spiritual family.

              Some people view holding hands in prayer as nothing more than an outward show of emotionalism.  To me those hands signify the unifying power of the grace of God.  That unity began with 12 men who would never have come together in any other way, and soon spread to add one more.  Some were urbane city dwellers who looked down on lowly Galileans.  Some were working class men while another was a highly educated Pharisee.  Some had Hebrew/Aramaic names while others’ names bore the influence of Hellenism.  One was a Zealot and another his political enemy, a tax collector.  Yet the Lord brought them all together in a unity that conquered the world.

              I have held black hands, brown hands and white hands.  I have held plump soft hands and rough calloused hands.  I have held the tender hands of the young and the withered hands of the old.  I have held the hands of lawyers and doctors and plumbers and farmers, teachers and nurses and secretaries and homemakers, hands that hammer nails and hands that type on computer keyboards, hands that cook and sew and even hands that carry a weapon on the job.  We all have this in common—our Lord saved us when none of us deserved it.  That is His unifying power. 

              The hand of God is the one that makes all of our hands worth holding.
 
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Romans 15:5-7
 
Dene Ward

Several years back we camped at Cloudland Canyon one autumn week, enjoying the new varieties of bird, the mountains carpeted with fall colors, and the spectacle every morning of clouds wafting through the campground from the cliffs just beyond it, cliffs high enough to look down on hawks as they soared by. 
 
             The neighbors twenty yards away were a small family, a man, his wife, and two little boys, the older about 7 or 8, and the younger just barely past the toddler years.  This was obviously a planned family outing, one that probably didn’t happen very often but that the parents were determined to make a good experience.  They did everything in a planned and almost regimented fashion.  “It’s time to light the fire.”  “Now it’s time to tell ghost stories.”  “Now it’s time to roast marshmallows.”  In between all this, the mother was on her cell phone every hour or so, sometimes for as long as a half hour, seeing to her business. 

              And both parents became impatient at the drop of a hat.  If the boys didn’t react to every activity as they thought they should, they became frustrated and almost angry.  (Who should be surprised if a ghost story terrified a four year old?)  They had mistaken the stereotype of a camping trip for the spontaneous fun of the real thing.  They had probably fallen for that “quality time” myth.

              And because we can’t seem to stop helping out, we offered them a few things, like some lighter wood to help get those campfires going more easily, and we occasionally stopped by on the way back and forth from the bathhouse, to talk and reminisce with them about the times when our two boys were that age.  They seemed appreciative, especially the father, who, we discovered when we got closer, was about 20 years older than the usual father of boys that age, and quite a few years older than the mother.

              As we talked we noticed that the older boy always wore Baylor tee shirts and sweat shirts and had a Baylor hat, so Keith talked to him some about football and asked how Baylor was doing.  The father sighed and said, “He doesn’t know anything about Baylor football.  He just likes the color green.”

              They left after just a weekend, and it sounded like they were leaving one night early, perhaps disappointed that this hadn’t turned out quite like they had expected. 

              You can learn a lot yourselves, just considering this family.  It’s always easier to judge from a distance.  But that little boy can teach us all something today.  Why is it that you assemble where you do?  Why did you choose that place?

              We would all understand the fallacy of going to the handiest place, regardless what they taught.  But how about this:  Do you go where you are needed, or to the place considered the most popular in the area, the most sociable, the one where you wouldn’t mind having people see you standing outside hobnobbing?  Do you go where the work is hard or where the singing is good?  Do you go where the preaching is entertaining or where the teaching is scriptural and plain?  Do you go expecting the church to do for you, or because you want to do for them?

              Too many Christians look upon a church in a proprietary way, as if they had the right to judge everything about it and everyone in it, especially the superficial things—the singing, the preaching, the way the people dress and their occupations and connections in the world.  The way some people choose congregations, they might as well go because they like the color green. 

              The church belongs to Christ, that’s what “church of Christ” means.  It belongs to God, that’s what “church of God” means.  Christ’s church is there to give me an outlet for my service and a source of encouragement toward doing that service.  It is not there to serve me and my preferences. 

              Someday that little boy will grow up and learn to examine the football programs he roots for, choosing them for their character and integrity instead of their colors.  Maybe it’s time we grew up with him.
 
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Pet 4:9-13     
 
Dene Ward

Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!  Psalm 107:1
 
              Have you ever had a friend who made you wonder how you would be greeted and treated on any particular day?  Have you ever had a boss who one minute nominated you for employee of the year and the next left you in fear of losing your job?  Have you yourself ever woke up one morning and bitten everyone’s head off just for being alive and daring to smile?
 
             Moody people are difficult to deal with.  You never know how to act.  You never know what to say and not to say.  In fact, you do your best to avoid people like that if at all possible.  And when you recognize that you have done it to others, you loathe yourself for it.  It isn’t right; it isn’t fair; it certainly isn’t kind.

              This brings me to the verse at the top, a promise we all too often read without thinking, as if it were a meaningless refrain.  “His steadfast love endures forever.”  It isn’t just that God will love us forever, though that is reason enough to praise Him.  That word “endure” also carries with it the idea that His love is consistent and will never waver.  You will never find God in a bad mood. 

              You don’t have to worry that one day He has a headache and might be a little short-tempered.  He won’t ever get up on the wrong side of bed and snap at you because you dared to talk to Him before He had His morning cup of coffee.  He won’t decide on a whim one morning to hand you a pink slip.  God’s love is consistent—nothing can cause it to vacillate as long as you serve Him with all your heart.

              If we truly want to be more like Him, we should love Him the same way—whether the day brings good or ill, whether we feel well or not, and even when we suffer.  It’s not like He didn’t suffer for us, and not only did His love not waver then, it is precisely because of His unwavering love for us that He suffered.

              And if we want to serve Him, maybe we should do our best to get past those bad moods we foist on others.  There is no excuse for pettiness, for mean-spiritedness, for spite and malice, no matter what we are going through at the time, certainly not because we just happen to be in a bad mood that day.  As servants, we don’t have the right to be in a bad mood--we must be in the mood to love and serve Him every day, which means, according to Matthew 25, loving and serving others that way. 

              Unwavering, eternal love—that’s what He gives, and that is what we should return. 
 
Love is patient and kind…it is not arrogant or rude. It is not irritable or resentful… 1 Cor 13:4-6.
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.  It is lengthy, but oh so worth it.

What is our hope and is it secure? Can we rely on our hope? These are some of the things I want to address. First, we need to define "hope." In Greek, the word "hope" is elpis which means expectation or confidence. So, when Paul or Peter were discussing hope, they didn’t mean wishing, but rather something expected, in which they could have confidence. A backwards example of what I mean comes from Paul’s voyage to Rome:

Acts 27:20 “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.”

They lost hope of being saved because there was no reasonable expectation of living through that storm. It is in the next few verses after this that Paul tells them that God promised they’d be saved. Before that promise, however, there was no reasonable expectation of surviving, so they abandoned hope. While most undoubtedly wished for something to save them, there was no hope. That’s the difference between wishing and hoping, at least in the New Testament.

Our hope, of course, is set on God and because of that, our hope is not built of flimsy wishes:

2 Cor. 1:9-10 “. . . But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. . . On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”

If God is able to raise the dead, surely He can be counted on to fulfill His promises. Abraham certainly felt that was the case:

Rom. 4:18. “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’”

It’s interesting how Paul writes this “in hope he believed against hope”. There was no reasonable expectation for Abraham to have children. He was past the age of begetting children. Sarah was past menopause. She had also been barren all her life. Everything Abraham knew about the birds and bees told him to give up all hope in children, but God had promised. Abraham knew that the promises of God were sure and so he believed in the promise of God despite what earthly knowledge told him. That is how secure the promise of God is: we can reasonably believe in it when all other reason tells us it doesn’t make sense. So Abraham held to his hope and received the promise.

Abraham hoped for a seed. What is it that we hope for? I don’t know about you, but I hope for salvation from Hell. I have sinned (so have you) and the consequences of that is a ticket to Hell unless I am saved by God. In His love, He has effected this salvation and promised it to us:

Eph. 2:7-9. “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

To emphasize what Paul wrote, salvation is by grace through faith. More pointedly, it is not by works. Grace is translated from the Greek word charis which means gift or liberality. It is often redundantly defined as unmerited favor. It is benevolence bestowed to those who don’t deserve it. If salvation is by grace as stated in Ephesians, then there is nothing I can do to earn it. It doesn’t depend on my efforts at all. And this idea doesn’t come from an isolated passage in one epistle, either:

Rom. 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE AS A GIFT, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Rom. 11:6. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.”

So, God is saying that salvation is His gift to us, offered freely to all who will have the faith to accept it. It is not by works and I CAN’T EARN IT. Either this is true, or God is a liar.

Now, let me slow down a bit to state some obvious things. We are saved by grace through faith, but how do we show our faith? James 2 makes it clear that saving faith is active faith, that because we believe in God, we work for Him. In John 14:23 the Lord says that if we love Him we will keep His commandments. Romans 6 says we are the bondservants of him whom we choose to follow: sin to death or God to life. So as our faith leads us to God we become His servants and servants obey their Master. So, there is work to be done, but none of that earns us salvation.

Luke 17:10 “Even so you also, when you shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do.”

As someone who used to study accounting, that word “unprofitable” jumps out at me. How are we unprofitable? Let me ask you a question: What was the price God paid to purchase us? 1 Cor. 6:20 clearly states that we have been bought with a price, what was the price? The death of God’s Son, that’s what the price was. If that is what it cost God to obtain us as His servants, is there any amount of work I can do to pay Him back? If every second of my life is devoted solely to Him for the rest of my life, would that balance the books? No, regardless of my efforts I am an unprofitable servant. So God purchasing me unto salvation is always benevolence granted, no matter what I do. I CANNOT EARN SALVATION. So, my hope should not rely upon how well I am living right now. My hope, instead, is in His grace

1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

And

2 Thess. 2:16-17 “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”

According to Peter, I should set my hope fully on God’s grace. Paul tells the Thessalonians that they could take comfort is the hope of grace. In other words, God has promised us that His grace will secure our salvation. So, hoping in His grace is hoping on His promises. Which leads to the question, can we trust the promises of God? That isn’t meant to be blasphemous, but rather a reasonable question. If my hope, or reasonable expectation, is to be based on His promises, I need to know that it is reasonable to believe Him. I could spend hours nailing down from the Old Testament example after example of how God always keeps His promises, but two New Testament passages based on all that history will have to do for now:

1 Cor. 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God is faithful. He is trustworthy. He does what He says He will do. Paul can confidently write that because he knew of the OT history I mentioned previously. God always followed through.

Heb. 6:17-18 “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”

Notice the phrase “it is impossible for God to lie”. So, God has a long history of fulfilling all His promises and it is impossible for Him to lie. I think it is safe to rely on His promises.

So, if my hope of salvation is not based on how good I am at any particular moment, but instead is based on the grace of God, then I can have peace. I don’t have to be constantly worried about “making it to heaven”, but can be at peace. This is how God intended it. Notice that Paul describes the Gospel as the Gospel of peace in Eph. 6:15. In fact, the readiness of the Gospel of peace are the shoes we are to wear as part of our “armor of God”. In Phil. 4, we are told to be anxious about nothing. Why, because we can take all our worries to God and He will handle them and give us the “peace of God”.

Christians should have no fear or anxiety about their salvation. I think one of the saddest things on the planet is when I hear Christians say things like “Well, if I make it to heaven. . .” or “maybe I’ll make it”. No, there is no maybe if we walk in faith. Why, because my hope isn’t in me or my righteousness but in God’s promises! Your hope isn’t in your righteousness but in God’s promises. If my line of argument isn’t good enough to convince you of that, perhaps you will listen to Peter:

1 Pet. 1:21 “who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

“Your faith and hope are in God.” So, to be saved I don’t have to figure out how to live perfectly every moment of every day. My salvation doesn’t depend on me, but on His grace. As an unprofitable servant, I can’t be saved no matter how careful I am, so I should gratefully trust in His grace and be at peace. Now, let me hasten to say that I am not trying to justify sin. I am not giving you an out for living your life however you want. If you are in sin and you know you are in sin, you had best repent and return to living faithfully before the Lord. But as it says in 1 John 1:7, if we are walking in the light his blood will cleanse us from sin.

So, I am not trying to give you assurance that you can continue in sin and be fine before the Lord, but rather that we don’t have the pressure of living a sinless life. We shouldn’t have the anxiety of hoping to die in between sins, right after we’ve prayed for forgiveness. As Christians we should be continually growing as we walk with Him. I don’t know about you, but as I’ve grown I’ve realized that some things I had been doing I probably shouldn’t be doing. That there were things I should be doing that I hadn’t been doing. That certain passages applied to me in ways that I hadn’t realized before. What if I had died before realizing those things? Would I have gone to hell? NO. Since my hope in not on my righteousness but on His grace and since I was walking in the light as best I knew how, and continuing to grow I have no doubt that my salvation was secure. Having learned to be better, however, I now need to make those changes to continue to be “in the light”. No matter how we look at it, salvation is God’s gift which I can’t earn. If we are following Him as best we can in faith according to His word, we WILL be saved by His grace. We should be at peace about that because our hope is secure in His grace, in His promises, which cannot fail.

I once heard Dee Bowman describe how he’d feel if he happened to live to see the return of the Lord. He did not mention fear. There was no dread or worry. He described jumping up and down in excitement and joy hollering “Yes! Yes! Come on, Lord!” That is the kind of faithful assurance we should all have, knowing our hope is not in our own righteousness, but instead in the promise of God. God’s promise not only assures us of salvation, it grants us peace.
 
Lucas Ward

We started out in a ten by fifty trailer we bought from another Florida College Bible student couple.  They had moved on to his first full time work.  The next year we did the same and passed the trailer on to yet another.

              That first move put us in a little shoebox of a house that the small Midwestern church supplied for us.  It was far superior to the trailer, even though it only had one bathroom and the third "bedroom" wouldn't even hold a double bed.  The huge pantry more than made up for those small inconveniences, especially since there were only the two of us anyway.

              Another move, another church, and we actually bought the only truly nice house we have ever lived in—a three bedroom, bath and a half, family room with fireplace, brick home on a half-acre lot full of climbing roses, irises, azaleas and dogwoods.  But it wasn't to last.

              Three years later we were on to another church.  This one owned a brand new 24 x 60 doublewide with a large built-on utility room.  It was plenty roomy, if flimsy, with thin walls, leaky pipes, and a low ceiling that made it so hot in the summer you wanted to just crawl through it, especially in the narrow kitchen.

              The next house I have written about before, just a few weeks ago, in fact (see 8/29/2019 in the archives).  That one may be the most memorable for the freezing temperatures—inside, not outside--and the faulty wiring that gradually ate up our appliances.

              But for the past almost thirty-eight years we have been in this house—another double wide, not as large as the previous one, but much better built, and carefully tended and mended by us.  We never really thought we would still be here, but God has a way of making plans that are different from yours.  Another thing I always thought was that someday I would have the nice home my mother and sister eventually had, and that it seems most of my friends did too—and the Lord laughed once again.  But let me tell you what I have learned about that.

              This little 1300 sq ft box was good enough to keep me and my family warm and dry, at least when there wasn't an active leak.  It was good enough to raise my boys in, and they were never too ashamed to bring their friends, even after one of the bathtubs developed a crack in the bottom and you had to straddle it while you showered so you wouldn't fall through to the ground underneath.  (Yes, we finally got it fixed.)

              It was large enough to take in several weary travelers whose car gave up the ghost in the wee hours one morning.  It was good enough to hold more than a few Bible studies in.  It was good enough to show hospitality to probably a hundred or more brothers and sisters, neighbors, family, coworkers, and friends over the years.  It was good enough to host a shower or two, a church small group meeting, singings, and several other meetings of various stripes.  It has been plenty good enough to counsel struggling souls many times.  It has even been good enough to share with complete strangers who needed a hot meal and a place to stay.

              None of my guests ever complained about the small accommodations, sometimes not even a room to themselves but an air mattress on the living room floor or a pillow and blanket on the sofa, and a shower as small as an old-fashioned phone booth—one Superman could not have even turned around in, much less changed clothes.  None of them complained about the meals—and they weren't all great, let me tell you, especially in the early days.  None of them acted like they were anything but satisfied with what we had to share. 
 
             So remember this:  It does not matter how little you have to offer.  It does not matter how small, how plain, how uncomfortable your house is.  We once ate a meal at the home of a church widow whose kitchen was so small that by the time we put the extensions in the table, we had to take turns going around it to our seats, and if anyone needed to get out, everyone had to stand up and move out first.  That sweet lady was not a bit embarrassed because she was so thrilled that someone would actually take her up on her offer of hospitality.  Maybe that has always been in the back of mind as I considered my duty as a hospitable hostess.  Sometimes we have to do some skillful maneuvering around my table too!

              All you really need is a place full of love, a spirit of generosity, and a warm welcome.  Whatever you have is enough to fulfill the command to serve others.  Don't excuse yourself because you think you don't have what it takes in physical comfort and wealth.  And don't judge others so shallowly either.  I bet they would be thrilled to take you up on your offer.
 
Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Heb 13:1-2).
 
Dene Ward

Let me tell you a sad story.

            A long time ago, Keith had one of those “try-out” visits that churches offer preachers.  I’ve often wondered whether these things would go better if the church considered itself being “tried out” that weekend as well, but that’s another blog for another time.

            We had lunch and spent the afternoon with a couple who would probably have been considered “pillars” of the church, primarily because they were better educated, had more money, and could quote more scriptures. 

            The church sat smack dab in the middle of farm country amid acres of melons, corn, peas, and tobacco.  Most of the members lived in old frame farmhouses and had dropped out of or barely completed high school.  A remark was made about the church members that gave me pause, but I was very young, wrestling with a two year old and an infant so I didn’t trust myself to have good judgment on the matter or even to have heard it well enough to comment on, so I let it pass.

            I shouldn’t have.  We hadn’t been there six months before the same woman told me I needed to meet the “cream of the crop” in the county.  She proceeded to take me to a gathering of what she considered such women.  Having grown up with parents who told me that the best people in the world were those who sat on the pew next to you on Sunday mornings, I was shocked to see who this Christian considered “elite.” 

            As we ate our finger sandwiches and mingled, I discovered that they all had money, judging from their dress and jewelry, and later the vehicles they left in.  Most were professionals or married to one.  Some of the others were farmers all right, but not hardscrabble farmers or sharecroppers.  These farmers owned large farms or ranches, big business enterprises, or had inherited both the farms and the money from generations past.  And notice this—she and I were the only Christians there.

            Now consider David’s statement in Psalm 16:3.  As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.  David took delight in the saints in Israel, their social class notwithstanding. 

            Where do I find “social class” in that verse?  The word translated “excellent” in the psalm is translated “nobles” in 2 Chron 23:20 (KJV), and they are grouped with high ranking military officers and governors.  In Judges 5:15 it is translated “lordly.”  Jer 25:34 calls them “principals of the flock” and Psalm 136:18 says they are “famous.”  Just to make sure you know who we are talking about, Nehemiah complains in 3:5 that those “nobles” were too good to work like the common folk.  Now do you know who we’re talking about? 

            Our culture idolizes the cult of the rich and famous—how they dress, how they talk, how they live.  We call them “America’s royalty.”  We do the same when we show partiality in the church based upon wealth, popularity, education, and social status.  It is a tacit admission that we consider ourselves better than our brothers and sisters who do not have such “assets.”  It is the opposite of “each counting the other better than himself,” Phil 2:3.

            David says the true “nobles,” the “excellent ones,” are the people who fear God, who live the life they preach, with justice, fairness, kindness, goodness, and grace.  These people “delight” him.  Now ask yourself:  who do I spend most of my time with, especially in the church?  Are we as wise as David?

            One of the common questions in an interview is, “Who would you like to have dinner with?”  Journalists choose that question because the answer tells a whole lot more about that person than they seem to realize.  The person you want to eat with is the one you want to develop a relationship with, the one who interests you, the one you might even model your life after.  The answer to that question shows who you consider the aristocracy in your world.

            Who is on your list?
           
For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Ps 84:10
 
 
Dene Ward

It's hard to keep a good man down, but some wives are talented. (Ruth Hazelwood, The Challenge of Being a Wife)

If I greeted my husband half as enthusiastically as the dog does, maybe he would come home in a better mood. (Unknown)

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gen 2:18).