Keith and I have made a concerted effort to eat healthier meals this year.  We have not turned into rabid health nuts, the ones who look down their noses at your occasional cheeseburger and tut-tut your references to morning coffee.  Organic food is not in our budget and depriving yourself of a treat now and then just makes you want one more.  We have merely kept the fat and calorie intake to a modest level, substituted complex carbs for the simple ones, and made our servings smaller.  We have been rewarded with modest weight loss and better “numbers.”  The best reward is hearing the doctor say, “You’ve lost some weight.  Excellent!”

            Sometimes I daydream about losing another ten pounds, or maybe fifteen or twenty.  Thirty might be a little too much.  On the other hand, who would not want his doctor to say, “I think you need to gain a little weight?”  No doctor I have had in my entire life has ever said such a thing.  I am not sure the one I have now even knows how to string those particular words together in that order.  Even when I was two minutes old and weighed six pounds eight ounces the doctor wouldn’t say it, and that was probably his last chance in this lifetime.  But still, a girl can dream, can’t she?

            When you stop and think about it, there are a lot of words we often dream about hearing, and many of them we eventually do.

            “Will you go out with me?”

            “Will you marry me?”

            “It turned blue.”

            “It’s a boy.”

            “You’re going to be a grandmother.”

            “He’s here, grandma!”

            Words can be precious.  They can change your life in an instant.  Just wanting to hear certain words can change your life because you suddenly realize you won’t hear them if you don’t change it.

            There are many things I may never hear, especially, “You need to gain some weight.”  But if I really put my mind to it, I could.  If I changed my lifestyle drastically, I could.  It just depends on how much I really want it.  Dreaming alone won’t get it.

            There are some words that are worth a drastic lifestyle change.  They are worth the loss of pride involved in self-examination and the humility of admitting wrong and repenting.  They are worth losing family, friends and status.  Some have even thought they were worth losing their lives for.  Dreaming that I have the faith and steadfastness to do those things won’t get me those words, but if I really want to hear them, I can.  They make take that drastic lifestyle change, but they are worth losing it all, because in the losing you gain everything.

            “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of the lord.”
 
Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.  Woe to the wicked!  It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done unto him.  Isa 3:10,11.
 
Dene Ward
 

Masquerade balls have a varied and grisly history, depending upon which historian you believe.  Some say they were invented by the Venetian upper classes in the sixteenth century during Carnival season as a way to let loose without getting into trouble.  Others say they began in the fourteenth century in France when whole villages celebrated an important event, often a welcome of some high dignitary into their town.  Crimes were sometimes committed amid the anonymity, as well as immorality of all sorts, especially drunkenness, gluttony and lust.  The English took them up in the eighteenth century, though some considered them outings for “The Man of Taste.”  Then the Swedes discovered them, but on the night of March 16, 1792, King Gustav III was assassinated at his own masquerade ball by a disgruntled nobleman.  He died two weeks later on March 29 and due to an informant among the cabal, so did the murderer’s anonymity.
           
            God’s people would never try to hide their sins would they?  The people of God have always understood that as God, He knew everything they did, even the things done “in secret,” right?

            At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise, and disguise yourself, that it not be known that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who said of me that I should be king over this people. Take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what shall happen to the child,” 1Kgs 14:1-3.

            Consider the foolishness of this situation.  Jeroboam believes this man is a prophet of God, yet he thinks he can trick him, first by sending someone instead of going himself, and second by disguising that someone.  If God can do what Jeroboam believes He can, then how will He be fooled by a disguise?

            This isn’t the only instance recorded in the scriptures.  Ananias and Sapphira come quickly to mind.  But in my lifetime, I’ve seen Christians do the same thing again and again, and sadly, sometimes I have fallen into this trap too. 

            Usually it’s the obvious—Sunday morning Christians who seem to think that God does not know what goes on the rest of the week, as if He is bound by the meetinghouse doors.

            But there are a few more complex ways of disguising ourselves.  Some of us do the right things, but without the heart, or with entirely the wrong heart.  As long as God sees me take the Lord’s Supper every Sunday or attend whenever the doors are opened, it doesn’t matter that I hate every minute of it.   As long as I give, it doesn’t really matter if I do it grudgingly or not.  As long as I shake everyone’s hand, it doesn’t matter if I hate the very sight of them.  Really?

            But then there are those who raise their hands and shout hallelujah, who “give God the glory” every other sentence and hug everyone in sight, but who are quick to find an excuse for not doing exactly what God says He wants.  “It’s such a little thing…”  “God wouldn’t mind…”  “But God knows my heart.”  Yep.  He knows it’s a heart of self will that only pretends to love and worship Him as long as it gets things its way.

            Hypocrisy, legalism, ritualism, emotionalism—God wants none of these disguises.  He wants people who love Him and serve Him the way He wants to be served, because He is the great and glorious God who sees all we do and knows our hearts, and He alone deserves it.  God has never gone for masquerades.
 
The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds, Ps 33:13-15.
 
Dene Ward

I was searching through my Bible the other night, preparing for a class on how to overcome temptation.  I spent a considerable amount of time looking to the example of our Lord and how he managed it.  Maybe we will talk about those things another time.  However, I found in 1 Peter a passage in which I saw at least three methods to help myself overcome.
           
Take a moment now and read 1 Peter 1:13-21, just to save me space in this little essay.  In verse 13 Peter says to set your hope.  We have this nifty little definition we often use—hope is confident expectation.  I think we miss the emphasis on confidence.  It isn’t that we hope, maybe, if possible, perhaps, we will be saved—it is that we have every confidence that we will.  At least in the King James Version that Greek word is translated “trust” more times than it is “hope.” 
           
And notice on what we are to set our hope, our trust—not ourselves, not our own righteousness, not the great and wonderful things we have done for the Lord.  If that were the case, our hope would be hope-less.  We set it on the grace of God.  Now do you see where the confidence comes in?  Because I have trust in the grace of God I can more easily overcome sin.  I know it is not a “hopeless” cause.

Now look at verses 15-17—and this one I want to write down for you.   We often miss the point because of the parenthetical statement Peter includes.  I am going to skip that phrase so you will see what he is getting at.  But as he who called you is holy, be also yourselves holy in all manner of living, because it is written, “You shall be holy because I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father…pass the time of your sojourning in fear.”

Do you start your prayers, “Our Father?”  Remember who that Father is, a Holy Father.  I loved my parents as much as any child ever could, but sometimes it was remembering those parents that made me behave myself.  I had a very real fear—not simply respect—of their reactions if I didn’t.  When you go out in the world and temptation suddenly strikes, remember who your Father is, a holy one, who expects the same from you.  When you dare to call on him as Father, let that remind you to behave yourself.
           
Then in verses 18 and 19 Peter reminds us of the price that was paid for us.  When someone gives me an expensive gift, I take far better care of it than some little token picked up at the Dollar Store, don’t you?  The price paid for our souls was the blood of Christ.  Do you think so little of it that you would throw it away like so much rubbish?  Are you that ungrateful?  I doubt it.  But sometimes we need to be reminded of things we already know.  In moments of trial, it is far too easy to forget.
           
Set your hope, your trust, on the grace of God, not yourself.  Remember who your Father is.  Remember the price that was paid for your soul.  I hope these help you get through the day, and perhaps a few more to come.
 
 For the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that one died for all, therefore all died, and he died for all that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again, 2 Cor 5:14,15.
 
Dene Ward

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
Neh. 9:6 “Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preserves them all; and the host of heaven worships thee.”

When I went on my trip out west, I traveled through some of the prettiest and most awe inspiring country I’ve ever seen. The morning I headed west out of Albuquerque, I drove through a series of low mountain ridges with valleys opening up below and stand-alone mountains dotting the distance. There were mesas and multi-colored cliffs all along the way. I could see for miles across incredible vistas at times, and other times I was traveling through a narrow pass and my view was limited (but still gorgeous). Of course, the most awe inspiring view was the Grand Canyon. Perhaps the most beautiful things I saw were the alcoves in the Carlsbad Caverns. The neatest things, to me, were the great sequoia trees.

Ps. 104:24 “O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.”

While I was traveling through the West, marveling at God’s creation and trying to learn some of what it could teach me about His wisdom and power and love for beauty, a thought occurred to me: most of the people who have ever lived on this planet had no idea these things were here. This is especially true of Carlsbad Caverns. To get to the main formations of stalactites and stalagmites and curtains and columns and their beautiful colors takes a hike of about an hour and a half from the main natural cave entrance. And it is DARK down there. There is absolutely no light whatsoever. In the days when torches or candles were the best forms of mobile light sources, it just wasn’t practical for casual explorers to go down that far. It’s only been the last 100 years that people have been aware of the incredible beauty to be found over 700 feet below ground.

Jer. 10:12 “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding hath he stretched out the heavens.”

Even the Grand Canyon, which is both above ground and larger than the state of Delaware, has only recently begun to be seen and enjoyed by anything close to large crowds. The North American continent has always been sparsely settled and, historically speaking, only relatively recently. As far back as we know (not very far) there have been Native American tribes living in the area engaging in spiritualism at the Grand Canyon, but that was only a relative handful of people. The first European didn’t see the canyon until the 1500’s and the second not until 1776. Tourism didn’t begin until the late 1800’s.

Is. 45:18 “For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens, the God that formed the earth and made it, that established it and created it not a waste, that formed it to be inhabited: I am Jehovah; and there is none else.”

So, what is my point? Well, God conceived of the Grand Canyon, with its immense vistas, multi-layered and multi-colored walls and general awesomeness, and put it in a part of the planet where most of humanity would never be able to see or enjoy it. Or even hear of it. He created the stone formations in Carlsbad Caverns, with their incredible variations in colors, shapes and sizes – and they are truly glorious when lit up – and He put them underground in the dark where it was impossible for any to find or enjoy them until this last century. My point? God is a lover of beauty, such a lover of beauty and beautiful things that He can’t help but create them even if there will be no one to see or marvel at His creative genius for millennia.

Our God is a God of beauty and glory.

Ps. 68:4 “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.”
Ps. 57:11 “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.”
Ps. 8:9 “O Jehovah, our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth!”
 
Lucas Ward

It must be a Southern thing.  We have a tendency to call the people we love after food—honey, honey pie, honey bun, and honey bunch; sweetie, sweet pea, and sweetie pie; muffin, dumplin’ and punkin’, baby cakes and cupcake, sugar and sugar plum.

            Speaking of sugar, that’s my favorite term for hugs and kisses from little ones.  Whenever a child is in my lap, I will kiss the top of his head every 15 seconds or so and not even realize it.   My own children probably have indentations there from several thousand kisses a year, just counting church time.  My grandchildren are learning it now.  And they love it.  I remember kissing Silas’s cheek once when he was two and having him run to his mama to tell her, “Grandma got sugar!” with a big grin on his face.

            Little Judah especially loves the sugar game.  The last time we were together after I had leaned over and gotten some “neck sugar” and “cheek sugar,” he grabbed his buddies and started kissing them.  First Tiger, then Marshall, and finally he even balled up a wad of blankie and gave it a kiss.  “Are you getting sugar?” I asked, and he smiled his contented little bashful smile and nodded his head yes.

            Children revel in the knowledge that they are loved.  It feeds a healthy self-esteem and gives them the feelings of security needed when they are out there trying things out and learning about their world.  Failure doesn’t matter when you are loved.

            And that is why a patently obvious love is absolutely essential to discipline.  If you are the kind of parent you ought to be—setting boundaries and punishing inappropriate behavior from early on—your child needs to know that you love him more than life itself.  He needs to hear those words and feel the warmth in your voice and your arms and your heart.  Then it won’t matter that you punished him yesterday.  He will know you love him and will try even harder to please you.

            It isn’t all hugs and kisses.  The older they get, the less that works.  But you can still show it with words of appreciation, pride, and approval.  Have you ever told your children how much it means to you when they behave in public?  How wonderful it is that you don’t have to worry what they might do in someone else’s home?  What a special gift it is in the middle of a stressful situation to know they are one thing you don’t have to worry about, that you can take them anywhere any time and they won’t act up, that it makes you want them with you even more?  Do you think that saying those things might help them behave a little better?

            If all they hear are complaints, growls, screams, and great heaving sighs of frustration and anger, all of them hurled in their direction, what do you think they will think about your feelings toward them?  Even when they are very young, they can feel the tensions.  Even when they do not understand the words, they will know something isn’t quite right.  And they will always think it’s their fault and that’s why you don’t love them.  Even when it’s your fault for not having disciplined them correctly or soon enough.  Three or four hugs will get them past a deserved and justified spanking.  It will take thirty to undo the hurt of an angry, sarcastic parent.

            The last time Silas was with us I told him how proud I was of him, the way he took his medicine without fuss, the way he sat still in church and behaved in Bible class, the way he always brushed and flossed his teeth without having to be told.  I told him how proud I was of how he took care of his little brother.  He looked up at me the whole time, his attention never wavering, with his eyes shining and a big smile on his face. 

           “I love you, Grandma,” he said.
           
           And of course, I got some sugar too. 
 
As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him…and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, Ps 103:13; Titus 2:4.
 
Dene Ward

I have just spent an inordinate amount of time on the telephone with a person I have never met in my life.  I let her tell me what to do and I obeyed instantly.  I believed everything she said.  I trusted every decision she made for me.  And this is not the first time I have done this.  I have made it a habit in the past ten years.

            I have decided that you need to have a bent for technology in order to get along in the world now.  Gone are the days when you can go out, buy something, take it home, plug it in, and it works.  Everything has to be set up, programmed, deprogrammed, downloaded, uploaded, or in-loaded.  I obviously do not have the mind for it.  When my computer asks me a question, I cannot even comprehend the words much less know the right answer.

            But those techs on the phone are amazing.  They can understand my poorly phrased, obviously ignorant questions.  They can tell me exactly what my computer screen looks like, what to click on, and what will pop up next.  They can find their way through twenty different steps I never even knew were there, and magically make my computer do what it’s supposed to do.  It has happened over and over for ten years now.  That’s why I go to them as soon as I have a problem, and do exactly what they tell me to do, no questions asked. 

            We have never carried on personal conversations.  I have no idea what their qualifications are.  I have never taken a regular computer class from them. All I can see are results--when I need help, they always have an answer and it always works.  And so I even listened to them the time one said, “Ma’am, you need a new computer.”  We went out and bought a new computer.

            I wonder if we can’t learn something about evangelism from all this.  Maybe it isn’t about your qualifications as a Bible scholar.  Maybe it isn’t about people wanting to sit down and study with you on a regular basis, at least not at first.  Maybe it isn’t about you being able to come up with Bible verses for every occasion.  Maybe it isn’t even about the fact that every Sunday they see you load up the family and head off to church.  Maybe the thing that matters is your life.  Maybe because they see that you can handle whatever situation you find yourself in with grace and endurance, they know you have something they don’t have.  Maybe because they see your marriage last for years and years in spite of the trials of life, they know that the two of you have more than just a commitment to each other, but to something larger.  Maybe because they see that your children have turned out to be good solid citizens, they realize that what you believe as a family has lasting value.

            Because they see all that, they will come to you for advice.  They will ask how you do it.  And when they do, then you can talk about those scriptures in the Bible.  Then you can discuss the eternal purpose of God from the foundation of the earth.  They don’t want what you have to sell until they see the results in you. 

            Do you want to save souls?  Show them how it’s done.  If you cannot save yourself, why should they listen to you?
 
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…Phil 1:27
 
Dene Ward

I am still walking on that elliptical machine I told you about a few years ago.  With another measureable loss of vision lately, it becomes more and more the only safe way to exercise—you don’t step in any holes or trip over limbs or vines on an elliptical machine

            I stepped off one day a couple of months ago and looked at the read-out.  It informed me that I had “walked” three and a half miles in 30 minutes.

            “Wow,” I thought.  “Not bad.”  And then I thought to myself, “Wait a minute.”  Thirty years ago I only managed five miles in 48 minutes JOGGING.  That’s over nine minutes a mile.  And thirty years later I am supposed to believe I beat that rate WALKING?

            “Hmppph,” I muttered with my new perspective, “If that’s true, I’m a Martian.”

            Looking at myself through the eyes of cold clear logic, I cut the read-out figures almost in half.  Maybe I managed two miles—maybe.  I don’t have much faith in that read-out now.

            But—can I be just as clear-headed when I examine my heart?  Can I see with cool logic that my words and thoughts give me away?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, Matt 12:34.  Can I see the flaws, the weak spots, the chinks in my armor?

            Believing the best about myself may seem “healthy. “   It may feel good.  It may give me a boost, and surely it’s more important to be encouraged than depressed, isn’t it?  Spiritual buoyancy is not the way to Heaven.  In fact, it will lead you the other direction quickly. 

I need to see clearly.  Deluding myself about my faults won’t fix my soul any more than walking two miles will burn the same calories as walking three and a half.  And one is a whole lot more important than the other.
 
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise, 1Cor 3:18
 
Dene Ward

Not too many weeks ago when I had a check-up with the cornea specialist, she discovered that my vision had decreased markedly and my eye pressure had more than doubled.  My other doctor, the one who deals with the rare things, was away, so she made an appointment for his next available opening, less than a week from then.  They gave me the time and day and said, “Will that work?”

            This has been a long journey with a lot of pain and anxiety, but I was relatively calm.  If I became hysterical every time I received a bad report, I would have completely worn myself out by now.  But maybe that is why they felt the need to ask—to make sure I was taking things seriously.  “I will make it work,” I told them.  If it had meant canceling a dozen other plans or walking the whole thirty miles I would have made it work.

            Too many times we don’t take our sin seriously.  We act like it is no big deal, except big enough to get mad at anyone who might actually point out our faults.  We know enough to say “I am not perfect,” but certainly let us not admit a specific fault under any circumstance.  Do we think it will simply go away?

            If I had ignored my appointment, the pressure would not have gone down.  It would have risen to the point that I lost my vision almost immediately, instead of over the long haul.  So why do we think ignoring our sins will make them go away?

            Israel did the same thing in the Old Testament.  Though there were priests and prophets who could heal their spiritual ailments, they not only ignored them, they persecuted them and even killed them.  Along came the later generations of the New Testament, and they killed their Physician too. 

            How ridiculous is it when people will not take their medicine just because it tastes bad, and so they become sicker, or even die?  And how ridiculous is it when we will not take care of our spiritual illnesses just because we are too proud to admit we might be wrong about something?

            Yet they both happen.  I would say, though, that most of us take our physical lives far more seriously than the spiritual.  One day we will understand how misplaced those priorities are.  I hope that bit of wisdom comes soon enough.
 
For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored? Jer 8:21,22.
 
Dene Ward

This is part 4 of a sporadic series on lessons the inspired writers thought important enough to “rerun.”
 
This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly, 2Pet 3:1-7.

Before we get to the meat of the matter, please notice the beginning of this little reminder Peter wrote.  He wanted us to remember “the commandment of our Lord and Savior through your apostles.”  Did you catch that?  A lot of people out there insist on red letter editions not so the words of Jesus will be obvious to them, but so they can ignore anything in black and white.  “Only the words of Jesus,” they say, are worth listening to.  The apostles and their teaching do not matter.

Oh yes we do, Peter says.  Where do you think you got those words of Jesus?  We reported them to you.  We wrote them.  As Jesus Himself said (in red letters) “Teach them to observe all things I command you,” Matt 28:20.  If you ignore the words of the apostles you are ignoring the words of Jesus, whether they are red or purple or blue with pink polka dots.

And his words continue on to remind us that God will indeed destroy this world.  When?  That we are not told, but do not, Peter says, forget it.  Do not count God as unfaithful to His promise.  The people in the time of the flood didn’t believe either.  And they only had 120 years to wait.

But think of this:  the Jews had been waiting for thousands of years.  They waited through the times of the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the growth of that family from one “only begotten son” to a clan of 70.  They waited through the slavery in Egypt, about 400 years.  They waited through the times of the Judges, another 350 or so.  They waited through the united and divided kingdoms, another 400 plus or minus.  Then they waited through a horrible destruction, captivity, and eventual restoration, and finally they waited through 400 years of absolute silence from God.

Yet the faithful were still looking when the Messiah came upon the scene.  Some seem to have given up, but the Joseph and Marys, the Zacharias and Elizabeths, the Simeons and Annas, the Salomes and Zebedees, there were enough still waiting, still believing, to form that first church on Pentecost.  And they found yet more.

We have been waiting about the same amount of time they did, and we have something more.  We have the examples of promises fulfilled, from the flood, to the Abrahamic promises, to the coming of the Messiah.  God kept all those promises and He will keep this last one. 

Our unbelieving society will tell you it’s just a myth, it won’t happen, if it does, it will be man’s doing and not God’s.  So go ahead and live your life as you please.  You are not accountable to a mythological being who doesn’t really exist anyway.  That is Satan talking.  He will use every ruse in the book and making you feel foolish for your faith is just one of them.  Don’t climb on the bandwagon with the rest of the world.  God has given us evidence.  Clear your mind and examine it. 

You can be among the faithful few who still looked, who still hoped, who still dreamed of the day when their Lord would come in power and glory.  They saw that Messiah come to earth, perform miracles, teach Divine truths as they had never been taught before, and rise from the dead.  Don’t give up hope, Peter says.  Remember all the times God kept His promises.  Remind yourself often.  It may be the most important rerun of a lesson you ever hear.
 
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed, 2Pet 3:9-10.
 
Dene Ward
 

Keith was having a religious discussion with someone once, a brother as I remember, but one he disagreed with.  I had come upon a pertinent scripture in my own study a few days earlier and gave him the passage.  “Here’s some more ammunition,” I said.

            That word came naturally to me.  Keith was a certified firearms instructor for the state.  He taught probation officers, and prison guards how to shoot.  As a probation officer he carried his own weapon, having to qualify every year.  He taught me how to shoot well enough to dispose of a dozen poisonous snakes over the years and he taught the boys too.  So the word “ammunition” came naturally.

            However, it nagged at me enough that over the next few days I began wondering if we don’t have that mindset much too often,  Yes, we are in a battle.  Yes, the scriptures talk about our “weapons,” weapons God Himself supplied for our warfare.  And yes, our fight is not just with Satan, but with his ministers as well.  But look at this passage:

            As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after you; neither have I desired the woeful day; you know: that which came out of my lips was before your face, Jer 17:16

            Jeremiah was NOT happy about Judah’s coming destruction—he did not “desire” the evil day.

            There’s an old story about a man who was converted after thirty years of different preachers telling him he was lost.

            “Why now?” someone asked him.  “Why listen to this preacher?”

            “Because,” the old man said, “he really sounded like he was sad about it.”

            Is that our problem?  Do we get too much pleasure out of the fight?  Are we just a bunch of gung-ho cowboys in our zeal?  Are we more interested in winning arguments than in winning souls?

            God gave Jeremiah plenty of ammunition, and he used it well enough that he was thrown into prison for it.  But he never enjoyed the job.  In fact, a good many of the prophets disliked their mission.  “I went in the bitterness of soul,” Ezekiel said.  In his confrontation with the priest of Bethel, Amos as much as said, “This wasn’t my idea.” 

            That’s a far different attitude than I have seen in some brethren, who delight in slinging bandoliers over their shoulders and spraying automatic fire in a drive-by.

            We’re supposed to be saving souls, not murdering them.  Let’s take stock of our attitudes when we go out to battle today.
 
​Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness. But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock has been taken captive, Jer 13:16-17.
 
Dene Ward