You Don't Believe What?

You say you don't believe in the Great Flood of Noah's Day? Neither did they.

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered

into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Luke 17:26, 27

What could they have done? Repentance would have been start.

What were the sins that brought the fires of wrath on Sodom? [the whole world the next time]: Jude: 7 Even 

as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and 

going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 ¶ Likewise 

also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

Or in the days of Noah: 14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, 

the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that 

are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard 

speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking 

after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration 

because of advantage.

Or as Peter puts it: 2Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and 

delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in 

the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making 

them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

7 ¶ And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to 

day with their unlawful deeds;)

9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of 

judgment to be punished:

10 ¶ But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. 

Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before 

the Lord.

But, of course, this is all irrelevant if we have our own religious opinions. Isn't it?

Hungering after Wisdom and Understanding!

Meditation on Proverbs 2:1-6 “1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with

thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou 

criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and 

searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the 

knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and 

understanding.”

O precious Father in Heaven, How precious are Your words and Your commandments. They are very pure,
and are more necessary for us than our daily bread. But we confess, O Father, that we do not hunger 

and thirst after them the way we should. We do not pant after them as the deer pants after the waterbrooks.

We desperately need to be taught of You, O Father, for we naturally incline our ears to the folly of the world

and do not seek the understanding of wisdom Teach us to cry after knowledge; to lift up our voices for 

understanding. That we might cry out from the depths of our souls, “Teach us wisdom, O Father. Open our 

ears to understanding. Give us teachable hearts and minds that we might humble ourselves before Thee, O 

God.”

Oh, that we may be as greedy for wisdom and knowledge as the carnal man is for silver and gold. Men sail 

the seas, explore the mountains seeking for silver and gold that they may be counted great in the earth, but 

Your children are often indifferent to the treasures that are to be found only in Your words.

Ah, that You would teach us the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God, for this is eternal life, as said 

Your Only Begotten Son. Only from Your mouth comes knowledge and understanding. We do not live by 

bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

How ignorant and destitute are so many of those who name Your Name, for they do not hear Your word 

nor are taught by Your Spirit. Send forth Your Spirit, O Lord, and renew Your church in wisdom and 

knowledge, lest the curse smite the earth and all that is therein.

In the Name of Our Redeemer, Jesus of Nazareth.  Amen.

Shall You Sin Aganst God and His People?

Yes, it is a commandment that you attend public worship on Sunday. The requirements for worship,

entering into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus, are set forth in Hebrews 10:

19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil 

conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: 

and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

This passage follows the doctrine that the old has passed away--or will shortly by the destruction of the 

temple and the end of the Mosaic order. What then is left is the new and living way described briefly in these 

verses, but expanded more at length in the pastoral epistles and other writings of the New Testament.

What the writer of Hebrews has described in brief form is the substance of the Ten Commandments: To 

love God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength and to serve no other; to do good works before men 

and to let our light shine, loving the people of God and rejoicing in the church that He purchased with His 

blood.

We still have a priest and a house of God, described in Eph.4 and 1 Timothy 3:15. Do not sin against God 

and His people. To say there is no church is to say there is no Christ and no Christianity.

Verse 32 warns that despising the church will bring greater judgment than despising Moses in the days of the 

law, for that would involve trampling on the blood of Christ..

Yes, it is a great sin to forsake and despise the weekly gathering of the people of God, especially if it is
accompanied by self-righteous and wicked judgment upon the ministry and the people of God.

Prayer and Meditation on John 14:21

Prayer: John 14:21 April 28, 2014

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be

loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (Joh 14:21 AV)

Precious Heavenly Father, we do not have Your commandments unless You teach them to us. We go astray
in our own thoughts and ideas and we wander off to the left or to the right, either thinking that You do not
require us to obey You, or thinking that obedience is a thing easily achieved by the flesh.

We know that we must have Your commandments in our hearts, for they are Your commandments and our 

love for You attaches to Your commandments. When we come to faith, Your Spirit works the love of God 

in our hearts and begins to work in us both to will and to do of Your good pleasure.

This was decreed of us from before the world was, for we are Your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus 

unto good works, which You before ordained that we would walk in them. Because this decree is from 

eternity, the work that You have begun in us You will perform to the day of Jesus Christ.

Because we have been taught of God to love the Lord Jesus Christ and His commandment, we are beloved 

of You, O Father, and our Lord Jesus will love us and reveal Himself to us.

What a wonderful unity is Your work in us, dear Lord, and we are very far from having anything to boast in, 

for this is Your work from beginning to end. For this purpose You ordained and sent Your Only Begotten 

Son into the world to suffer and die, and rise again from the dead that He might be the Author and Finisher 

of our Father.

For You, Lord Jesus, are the way, the truth, and the life. We begin with You, and You call us to Yourself 

and we began to walk in the way of life.

As we walk in the way, we understand the truth that You have revealed and it becomes as a shining light
that shines more and more unto the perfect day.

When the light of Truth illuminates our hearts and drives out the darkness of sin, unbelief, idolatry and other 

unclean things, we find that we are truly free to give You all honor, and glory and power and the total love of 

our hearts, for You alone are worthy, O Lord, of the worship and love of men.

In the Name of Your Dear Son, Amen.

Morning Prayer, April 16, 2014. Psalm 39:3-7

Precious Heavenly Father,

I confess that I must know how frail I am before I can know anything else. I do not
know the measure of my days, or what the end of my life will be. Before You, my life
is but a vapor, a smoke wafted in the air, that appears for a few moments and then
vanishes away. All flesh is as grass and fades and vanishes away before Your heat....

We walk in a vain show, like shadows on the wall. We strut and perform and imagine
vain things; at our best state we are at most complete vanity and emptiness. The world
passes away and the lusts thereof, be he who does the will of God abides forever. This
I know and confess, Precious Father, for You are the reality; man is but an image
impressed upon the dust.

Your people pray, "Your kingdom come, You will be done, in earth as it is in heaven,"
but we act so contrary to that, seeking to build our kingdoms with the dry straw of our
own decisions. But we are like the chaff which the wind blows away. Vain Herods are
still eaten by worms; proud Nebuchadnezzers graze on the grass like oxen, Korahs are
swallowed by the pit; they all pass away for you have more means than we can
possibly imagine.

"Make me to know my end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know
how frail am."

Then I may yet hope in You, O Precious Father, What am I waiting for? Ps 73:25
"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside
thee." Why long I for vanity, when You are my shield and my exceeding great reward.

-----

4 LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I
may know how frail I am.

5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing
before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he
heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. Psalm 39

Trophy Hunters

 Musings on Trophy Hunting

Twice a year from days of old
Some arm themselves to seek a prey
Mid snows of winter in ice and cold
They seek the jolly elf to slay.

In spring when dafodils appear
The prey is changed but not the game
'Tis time for braves to trophies take
Of colored eggs and bunnies tame.

It matters not that elves and such
Have long ago been overcome
Remain as children's games and sport
To gain the funds: Grandpop and Mom.

"Tis dangerous to the spirit it seems
When children's games are thus engaged
Elves and buns and colored eggs
Must not take place at center stage.

'Tis best to dye our vanity of faith
To make it seem to reek God's Glory;
Better yet, to fill the church
With painted Christs and carv-ed saints

To spend the nights with lighted screen
To laugh with fornication and lust
To join with those that mock the faith
And castigate the faithful and the just.

Far better 'tis than eggs and buns
To garnish thus the cross of Christ
And gild it with the finest gold
To hide the blood of precious price.

To strain at gnats and dead men's idols
To lodge in Vanity and Babylon
To seek the praise of men and gods
By waging war in Tinytown.

"'Tis for the children," chant the brave
All the time they avoid the font
The promise of God to bless their child
By the Spirit of God, the gift of Christ.

Instead, the offering of eggs and elves
Of tiny bunnies to remove the wrath;
So much expected of so little
A pinch of anise; then down the path.

"But we have left all, to follow Christ!'
"All?" said the Master. "Is that really all?
Do I care about bunnies and eggs and elves;
Should not the dead bury the dead?"

Morning Prayer, April 11, 2014

Precious Lord Jesus, teach me Your Law, as you promised. When I learn from You, I
know that Your Law is the Truth, and cannot pass away. In learning from you, I
become much more concerned about my transgressions of Your law, rather than the
infractions of others, knowing that You must cleanse me from beams before I can
handle the motes.

You teach me that the law is much more significant when written in the heart than
when written on the hands. You write on both, dear Lord, but the works of the hands
become superficial if Your love is not written in our hearts.

How great and gifted was Your servant Moses, O precious Lord. He was sent to point
the world to the Lord Jesus, who would give us the Holy Spirit to direct our feet into
the paths of truth. Even so, do it in me, Dear Lord. In the Name of your dear Son, Jesus
Christ, we pray it of You, our Father in heaven. Amen.

April 10, 2014. Morning Prayer and meditation on Proverbs 28:26

Dear Lord, teach me today to trust in You for all things and not to follow the vain
sparks ignited in my own heart, for that would be to play the fool.

I commit my way unto You today, and pray that you would establish my thoughts in
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for these are the things of God
that we behold in the face of Jesus Christ.

Remove the veil from my heart and teach my feet how to walk in your commandments,
for this is the first miracle done by your apostles after receiving the gift of the Holy
Ghost. How precious is that gift: to know how to walk before You in the land of the
living.

Teach me, O Precious Father, by Your grace to live soberly, righteously, and godly in
this present world. Through the blood of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Pr 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall
be delivered.

April 9, 2014: Morning Prayer and Meditation on Psalm 140:6-8

“6  I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.
7  O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
8  Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.” (Ps 140:6-8)
--------------
Precious Father in Heaven, How precious are Your promises to me and to all Your
people.  I confess that You desire us to confess our faith in words that have meaning,
and we rejoice to “offer the calves of our lips.’  If we confess You before men, the
Lord Jesus will confess us before You and the Angels in Heaven.

But we always begin with You, O precious Father.  What we say before men, we must
first say to You.  We are “to take words  and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take
away all iniquity, and receive us graciously….”
How precious it is, Father, to lay hold on Your promises and say unto You, “You are
my God: hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord.” 

You have  given us such precious promises that if we being evil know how to give
good gifts to our children how much more shall You, our Heavenly Father, give good
gifts to those who ask.  If we knock, You will open; if we seek, we will find; if we ask,
we shall receive.

For You are our God, we do confess.  You are God of the whole world that You
created, but You are special to Your Own, those predestined by You, the Father; those
redeemed by the  blood of Your Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; and those called into
new life and faith by the Holy Spirit.  We confess and glory in the truth that we are
Your own people, called out of darkness into the glorious light of Your dear Son.

You, O Father, are the strength of my salvation.  The strength of my salvation does not
lie in any part of my nature, O Precious Lord.  Not in my intellect, for that ladder does
not reach to heaven;  not in my will, for it is in bondage to sin like my mind;  not in my
emotions which are prone to hate both God and my neighbor.  The power must come
from You, O precious Father. 

You are my helmet of salvation and my only defense from Satan and all his hosts.  You
are my salvation and the strength of my soul.  Strengthen me, O precious Lord, with
might in the inner man, for I am weak and without strength if You are not with me. 
Your rod and Your staff strengthen me. 

But You strengthen my inner man, according to Your glorious power, unto all patience
and joyfulness so that I can give thanks unto You, who have  made me and all Your
people able to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, for You have
delivered me from the power of darkness, and has translated me into the kingdom of
his dear Son, along with all Your people.  This was the result of no power in me, but
Your mighty Word and Spirit.

Hence, I can pray, O Father, that You will deprive the wicked of their desires; those
that boast against You and take Your Name in vain.  Their wicked devices will not
bear fruit, for You will not give Your glory to another, but abase the proud and war
against them.

For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.  Amen, in the
Name of Your dear Son, Whom we love and serve.

April 8, 2014: Morning Prayer and Meditation on Psalm 092:04-8

4  For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works
of thy hands.
5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
6  A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
7   When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do
flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
8  But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.” (Ps 92:4-8)
--------------

Our Precious Father in Heaven,  We know that men are like brutes, little better than
animals if they lack understanding in one important thing.  You are most high forever.  

Your works are very great, and your thoughts are very deep.  Fools do not understand
this, for they are locked into the folly of their own minds and are as the beasts of the
field that are slaughtered for food for others.

Because the godly have seen and understand that Your thoughts are very deep and your
works are very great, they are glad in their hearts, because they know that all of your
works are done in power and wisdom for the benefit of your people.

How great are your thoughts, precious Father!  You allow the wicked to spring up and
flourish as the grass because you have a purpose for them.  Because Your thoughts are
so deep, we cannot understand that purpose, but we know that when that good and
wise purpose is fulfilled they shall be destroyed forever and will no longer be
remembered.

We know that these things are good because through the everlasting covenant of
redemption you have purchased us from the kingdom of sin and darkness by the blood
of Jesus Christ, your Son.

Without the blood of Christ, we would be as  blind and brutish as any other and would
be able to see only the things of this world, seeking its pleasures, without God and
without hope.

We rejoice that you have taught us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this
present world, and to seek our hope in the world to come.  Amen.

This is good, O precious Father, and we esteem it to be good, for you are most high for
evermore.  You have created all things and all things are yours.  We will rejoice and
glorify Your Name forever and ever.

O the depth of the riches both of Your wisdom and knowledge, O God! How
unsearchable are Your judgments, and Your ways past finding out! 

For who hath known Your mind, O Precious Father, or who hath been Your
counselor?  Who hath first given to You, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 

For of You, and through You, and To You, are all things, and we will give You glory
for ever. Amen.

Not the precious Name, but the empty Name of Jesus.

Posted as a comment this morning to a friend's post.

Jack Burhenne I think the name of Jesus gives "love" a run for its money. From Francis Schaeffer's Escape from Reason -

"I have come to the point where, when I hear the word Jesus - which means so much to me because of the Person of the historic Jesus and His work - I listen carefully because I have with sorrow become more afraid of the word Jesus than almost any other word in the modern world. The word is used as a contentless banner, and our generation is invited to follow it. But there is no rational, scriptural content by which to test it, and thus the word is being used to teach the very opposite things from those which Jesus taught. Men are called to follow the word with highly motivated fervency, and nowhere more than in the new morality which follows the radical theology. It is now Jesus-like to sleep with a girl or man, if she or he needs you. As long as you are trying to be human, you are being Jesus-like to sleep with the other person - at the cost, be it noted, of breaking the specific morality which Jesus taught. But to these people this does not matter, because that is downstairs in the area of rational scriptural content.

We have come then to this fearsome place where the word Jesus has become the enemy of the Person Jesus, and the enemy of what Jesus taught. We must fear this contentless banner of the word Jesus not because we do not love Jesus, but because we do love Him. We must fight this contentless banner, with its deep motivations, rooted in the memories of the race, which is being used for the purpose of sociological form and control. We must teach our spiritual children to do the same.

This accelerating trend makes me wonder whether when Jesus said that toward the end-time there will be other Jesuses, He meant something like this. We must never forget that the great enemy who is coming is the Anti-Christ, he is not anti-non-Christ, He is anti-Christ. Increasingly over the last few years the word Jesus, separated from the content of the Scriptures, has become the enemy of the Jesus of history, the Jesus who died and rose and who is coming again and who is the eternal Son of God. So let us take care. If evangelical Christians begin to slip into a dichotomy, to separate an encounter with Jesus from the content of the Spriptures (including the discussable and the verifiable portions of Scripture), we shall without intending to, be throwing ourselves and the next generation into the millstream of the modern system. This system surrounds us as an almost monolithic consensus."

April 7, 2014: Morning Prayer and Meditation on Psalm 34:1-3

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

-----------

Precious Heavenly Father, I make my vow before You to bless You at all times. There is no better fit
instrument for the praises of God than the mouth of Your saints.

I beseech You, therefore, dear Lord, that You purify my heart by faith from all idolatry and wickedness,
for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. If my heart is not tuned to Your praise, then what
I speak with the mouth is hypocrisy and deceit that is abominable to You.

Therefore, I pray that my soul will be purified from the pride and arrogance of idolatry so that I may
make my boast in the Lord alone. Those who have also been humbled by You will recognize Your work
in me and will be glad and we will have fellowship with each other.

Isa 28:3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet. You resist the
proud but give grace to the humble.

I will magnify the Lord. What! How shall I make You larger than You are, O Precious Father? What
shall I add to Your glory and Your power and Your greatness and Your strength and wisdom?

I can add nothing to them, but I can add them to my understanding of You, and teach other men so. That I
will do as long as I have breath. Work in my soul that this praise be not empty and vain.

O Father, may the dear people of God join with me in magnifying the Lord all the days that we live.
May we join hands and hearts and voices in the church of Jesus Christ which is the pillar and ground
of the truth, so that the glory and majesty of God will resound throughout the world, for God is worthy
 alone to be praised by the mouths and hearts of men.

Amen and Amen, in the Name of our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth, enthroned in the Heavens.

April 6: Morning Prayer and Meditation on Psalm 122

1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the
name of the LORD. --Psalm 122.

Precious Father in Heaven, how much richer is our joy in your house than David knew, for his house
was the house of Moses, while ours is the house of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church that He has built
of living stone.

Shortly we will be going to the House of the Lord, which Paul said is the church, the pillar and ground
of the truth, the New Jerusalem which is above, the mother of us all. We joy in your church and will
not forsake her assembly.

We will stand within your government and covenant, the gates of your kingdom. Your covenant is
certain and sure and the church is one, compact together, through the preaching of the gospel and the
ministry that you have ordained from heaven: “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and
compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of
every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” So wrote the Apostle Paul
of the church.

There in your church is the pillar and ground of the truth, the holy scriptures, the testimony that you
have given to your church, the testimony that can never fail. And we will give thanks unto the name of
the LORD for it is great. Amen and Amen. In Jesus Name.

April 5,2014: Morning Prayer and Meditation on Psalm 32:1-6

What a blessed message this is! O precious Heavenly Father. This is the joyful sound
that goes to all the world, the good news that the angels announced on that first
Christmas morning: good tidings that should be to all people.

I praise and magnify Your truth, O Precious Father, astounding though it is. What a
wonderful simple truth is that You by Your Own good pleasure have announced
forgiveness of sins to Your people. They are pronounced blessed, and their sins are not
counted to them.

I confess, O Lord, that Your word in this Psalm, which Paul quotes in his epistle to the
Romans, belongs to the righteousness of faith.

I was called out of darkness into light by this great gift of justification which included
two unearned gifts from You, O Lord, through Your Son, Jesus Christ by the Holy
Spirit. We know the meaning of this Psalm because You have taught us, and we could
learn no other way.

I praise You for the first unearned gift of full and free forgiveness of sins, so that all of
our sins, past, present, and future are not imputed to us, they are not charged to us
because by faith, which is Your gift, we believe that Christ died for our sins, so that He
who knew no sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God.

This righteousness is without the law, being witnessed by the law and the prophets.
This righteousness which declares us innocent before Your Holy Law is without flaw,
perfect and whole and we are adopted as Your children and given the Spirit of
adoption that Christ may be formed in us. This was your second great gift of grace to
us.

Your Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, O Lord, and reproved the guile and hypocrisy that
defined our life. You brought us to despair over our sins and transgression. We refused
to confess them, and condemned others for the things we did ourselves. We shut our
guilt within ourselves and justified ourselves before others, either pretending that Your
Law did not apply to us, or that we were innocent of sins. Your hand was very heavy
upon us and it was like we had died a kind of death, far from the water of life, dry
bones without hope and without God. The pride of our hearts kept us in chains to our
sins and misery.

But Christ had died for us when all our sins were future and we were without hope and
help. As God commanded the light to shine out of darkness on that first day of
Creation, so in a new creation You shined into our hard and barren hearts, generously
pouring out Your Spirit of life, the water of life, and banishing the dry bones of
hypocrisy, guile, and bitterness, which had come because Your hand was heavy upon
us, and we did not seek You.

By Your glorious Light, the good news of the Gospel, shined into our hearts, melting
them, changing us, bringing forgiveness and confession of sins, translating us from the
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

We are not alone in this, for this is the inheritance of all the godly, those in whom the
words of the apostle are fulfilled who was sent “To open their eyes, and to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in
me.” Acts 26:18

-------------------
“1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit
there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the
drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will
confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
Selah.
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be
found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.” (Ps
32:1-6)

How Much Does a Song Weigh?

My friend Brad Davis expanded my thought today. Thanks, Brad.

So, we live in an expanding universe. But what do we measure by? If one frog is the
only existence, who knows whether it grows or shrinks. The other day "scientists"
reported that it actually may be shrinking, that the universal constant is maybe wrong.
But how would you know?

Archimedes could find no place to stand, and could not move the world. Will we
measure the universe by the wind blowing through the vanity of our minds?

Isa 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that
bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his
might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.

2Co 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with
some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and
comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

When you divide any number into an infinite number of parts, how large is each part?
We can and must number our days and many things of creation. But what is the
dimension of thought; the depth of love; the weight of wisdom? Are these things not
real also.

Mic 6:11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of
deceitful weights?

Isaiah 40: 12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out
heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and
weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath directed the
Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?

14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.

16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

Little ships must stay near the shore.

April 4: Morning Prayer and Meditation on Psalm 34:11-16

Our precious Heavenly Father. We can learn the fear of the Lord only from You and
never from the precept of men. You have made our Lord Jesus to be wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption which is His gift to us by the Holy
Spirit. You have shown us what is good, what makes life desirable, rich and full.

Set a seal upon our lips, Dear Father, that evil will not be found on them; nor hypocrisy
nor self-deceit. We so easily deceive ourselves and You withdraw from us when we
love lies and wickedness.

Even if we are blind and silly, You are our Father in Heaven and know the difference
between the evil and the good. Your eyes are upon the righteous of the earth, those
who trust in Your Son, Jesus of Nazareth, and Your ears hear their prayers when they
cry to You for mercy and wisdom.

You also know those who are evil, who do not believe and whose mouths are filled
with filthy blasphemies against You and Your people. They will not be remembered in
the earth, for You will cut them off. You turn Your face from them as Your blessed
Apostle Paul wrote, “If any love not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed at His
coming,” for guile and vain pretense are exposed by a hard heart that does not love
Christ and His people.

But we do love the Lord Jesus, Your Son, because of the blood of His cross, which is
foolishness to those lost in their sins and misery. And we do love Your People,
Precious Father, and will by Your grace forever. In the Name of the Lord Jesus, Your
only begotten Son, Amen.
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11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of
them from the earth. from Psalm 34

Morning Prayer, April 3. Psalm 33:18-22

April 3, 2014 Morning Prayer and Happy Birthday to My Wife.

Our Precious Heavenly Father, we fear You because You eye is upon us and we hope
in Your mercy. This is not a vain hope, because it is based upon the certain work of the
Father in election, the Son in Mediation, and the Holy Spirit in application. Hence,
none of Your promises can fail.

Death has no eternal power over Your children, Dear Lord, and there is no famine
except that which comes from You, so we fear neither death nor famine. We wait
patiently for Your mercy and grace for You are our help and our shield.

From the depth of our hearts we rejoice in You, Precious Father, for Your name
represent all that is true about You: Existence, Omnipotence, Omniscience,
Omnipresence, Immutability, Love, Grace, Mercy, Unity, and Infinity and all the other
things that are revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

Our hope is not in vain, O Precious Father, and we shall never be ashamed, because it
cannot be that Your mercy will not certainly follow those who rely upon Your
promises and Hope in You. In the Precious Name of our Savior, Jesus of Nazareth,
Amen.

18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his
mercy;
19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.

Morning Prayer: 4/1/2014

“15 My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from
them that persecute me. 16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy
mercies’ sake.” (Ps 31:15-16 AV)

Dear Precious Heavenly Father: Everything in my life, all the good times and all the
bad times are in Your hand” You bring both evil upon the sons of men and You bring
good, and as Your children know these things, plenty and want, joy and sorrow, death
and living, hope and despair, winning and losing, and health and sickness.

But in a special way You hold the times of Your people in Your hand, so that they are
measured out according to our capacity and calling. You do not give us an excess of
good things, or we would forget You and forget the hope of heaven, and we would
treasure Your gifts more than You.

Neither do You give us more trouble than we can bear, but You also make a way to
escape that we are able to bear it. Hence, we can never be overthrown by our sorrows,
for they serve Your good purpose of making us strong, correcting our errors, and
making us partakers of Your Holiness.

So even in good times and bad times, Your face shines upon us, and we will not be
delivered into the hands of our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. Your
mercies are high above the heavens and nothing can take them out of Your hand and
take them from Your servants. We love You, O Lord Jesus, and we want no Lord but
You, no God but You, and we are content.

Amen and Amen.

10 But he [Job] said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh.
What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all
this did not Job sin with his lips.

Hebrews 12: 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto
children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art
rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son
whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for
what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Musical Idolatry?

Ps 33:3 "Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise." "skilfully" means with beauty and
pleasure [toward God, for the music is to be "unto him" as a spiritual sacrifice to His majesty and
greatness], "loud noise" means "alarm, signal, sound of tempest, shout, shout or blast of war or alarm
or joy."

Nowhere is music to be used as a protest dishonoring mothers and fathers and setting asides
grandmothers and grandfathers, and sowing strife and discord. Ps. 33 extols the glory and majesty of
God and begins, "Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright." "comely"
means "beautiful" [before God] and doesn't fit a fool: Pr 19:10 "Delight is not seemly for a fool; much
less for a servant to have rule over princes." Humility, truth, and sound doctrine are the foundation for
"comely" praise in music or in anything else, for gravity and seriousness must mark all of our worship
of the Lord, even our rejoicing. Hence, those who lead the church must be "grave" men [1Tim 3 and
Titus 2] The church is the temple of God, not a place for silly ditties and stupid doctrines.

The church is primarily a place to hear the voice of God. Hab. 1:18 What profiteth the graven image
that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work
trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb
stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in

 the midst of it. 20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him."

An idol can be an instrument of music, made of brass, or wood, or hide and can become an object of
veneration as though worship cannot take place without it. A guitar which becomes an essential for
"worship" is a false God, for the only essential for worship is lively preaching of the word of God and
humility and reception of that word in the hearts of the people. And yet thousands turn away from
sound preaching in order to have a guitar or any instrument of music and are idolaters as certainly
as those who enter the temple of Baal.

Erring Through Wine

Isa 28:7 "But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of
the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed
up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they
stumble in judgment."

If you have known those who are alcoholics, you know that you have not seen the real
person for years; you have been talking and relating to the alcohol. The alcohol distorts
his judgment, victimizes him, and makes him unfit to render judgment in church or in
state. When they sober up, you may be amazed at what a different person has been
hidden under the alcohol.

Alcohol swallows up people and turns them out of the way. This is the reason that
elders and overseers in the church must not be abusive of wine or strong drink, for how
can they be just with men when they err in vision and stumble in judgment?

Proverbs 31: "4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for
princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of
any of the afflicted."

Of course, the sin is not in the bottle or in any material thing: the sin is in the heart; the
lovelessness that turns to self-indulgence rather than doing the hard work of judgment
in church or state. It is an idolatry and rejects the world that God created in favor of a
dream world created by the drug.