A Devotional Verse From Ezra

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.     Ezra 1:2

The LORD God of heaven (a.k.a. the One true God, the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ) gave a charge, a responsibility, to the Persian king, Cyrus. That charge was to build a house for God at Jerusalem. So he sent Israelis, willing to return to Israel from Babylon, to Jerusalem to begin building that Temple. Understand now, this is a pagan king, who worshiped false gods, who acknowledges the God of heaven, states that his own position as king of the kingdoms of the earth was given to him by the LORD God of heaven, and announces that God had given him a charge. This is a big deal. This is an amazing confession by a man who doesn’t even worship the LORD God of Israel.

Now here is a lesson: government leaders, even those who do not worship the God of the Bible, are in the position they are in because God allows, or raises them, as he did Cyrus. Though their charge may be specifically different than that of Cyrus, the general charge of government is to be righteous, to suppress evil, and to do good for their people and the people of the world at large. The charge includes (among others issues) respecting the national borders of other nations; stopping persecution and beheading and crucifixion in the land they rule; ending corruption in government; using foreign aid as it is intended; breaking down racial and religious barriers; providing religious liberty for all people; establishing freedom for all their people.

Sounds like a dream come true, and it is literally a possibility held in the hands of the world’s leaders. What will they do with it?

A Devotional Thought From 2 Chronicles

For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.     2 Chronicles 28:19

This verse illustrates two things. One, it points out that the ruler (King, President, Premier, Governor, dictator, Chancellor, Czar, warlord, gang leader) can be the determinative factor in whether a nation (or organization) thrives or dives, hits the heights or sinks in the mud. Judah suffered hard times because Ahaz did not do right in God’s eyes. A nation following a wicked leader is headed for hard times, if not a disaster.

If you are ruler, in a big or small way, do what is right in the eyes of God and your people will be blessed. So will you be! If you don’t you are leading your followers down the primrose path to some sort of earthly perdition. The record and assessment of history will put you right down there with Ahaz, not up there with leaders like George Washington.

Secondly, this passage has an intuitive warning to people who have the privilege to choose their own leader. As much as you have occasion influence your nation toward the wise and godly leader, otherwise you throw your nation under the bus as much as the Ahaz-like leader does.

Christmas Truth In The Christmas Songs

A great line in the carol O Holy Night sings, “And in His name all oppression shall cease.” One day that promise will be globally fulfilled. Look at it from the perspective of history.

You Romans and your brutal power and occupation will not last. Though you rule the world your kingdom shall pass. Ho, Ottoman Empire your time of rule will end. Nazi Germany, your Third Reich will not last the 1,000 years you expect. When you think of 1,000 years think of Christ’s millennial kingdom. That Kingdom will be a 1,000 year reign and Jesus will rule the world in peace. Soviet communism you will fall no matter the number of your bombs or iron curtains. Isis, and terrorists of all sorts, one day you will be gone, and if you exist at the time of Christ’s coming He (not Christians, Hindus, or other Muslims), He, Jesus Himself, will rule you. He personally will require peaceful and decent behavior. He will make you stop killing and start helping others to better lives. He, Jesus, will do it. Any place oppression reigns: China, Iran, Kenya; anywhere oppression is strong it will one day cease in His name. The name of Jesus. “He shall reign where e're the sun doth his successive journeys run.”

Christmas is the promise that one day this earth will be set right. Whenever anyone, believer or not, sets up Christmas lights, a Christmas tree, sends a card, sings a carol, tastes a candy cane, or celebrates “Winter Holiday,” they are by that action, whether they desire to do it or not, they are noting the existence of Christmas, and, thus, recognizing the promise. The first advent heralds the second. Jesus is coming again, and He will rule and literally all oppression will cease. All!

Christmas In The Carols

The 14^th century Latin Christmas Carol, one of my favorites, Good Christian Men Rejoice gives us the clear understanding that Christmas (the coming of Christ) is life. True Christmas in the heart gives eternal life. Christ is Christmas! He has come, and if we truly trust in Him as Savior and Lord “Now ye need not fear the grave.” God is with us to save us! And, He calls us one, and calls us all to gain His everlasting hall. All, every person in the entire world is invited to eternal forgiveness and life by making Christmas real through trusting in the Savior who came among us to save us. Those are the good tidings the angel spoke of to all people. Those are the tidings that bespeak God’s good will to all men.  To be right with God it is not enough to put up decorations, or to despise the holiday because you belong to a different faith, to know true Christmas one must know Christ by asking Him into your heart to save and change, and enlighten you. As the apostle Paul put it: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (Acts 16:31).

Modern Herods

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.     Matthew 2:16-18

The wickedness of men today is no less than Herod’s was when he destroyed the innocents of Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth.

Rachel, as representative of all the mourning mothers of this dangerous world, is still weeping for her children. Islamic terrorists butcher 132 children in a school in Pakistan, wounding another 121. Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria routinely behead and crucify children who are Christians. Terrorists attacks on Christians, children (and adults) around the world continue to multiply, and mothers continue to weep.

Herod was killing toddlers for the sake of politics, though I would not put it past that wicked old man to explain it away for some other reason, even religion. Rachel’s tears meant nothing to his hard heart. The butchers of today’s children are doing the same thing. They claim their evil is part of their religious piety: honor God with the screams of children; paint icons with the blood of babies; build religion on the bones of their victims. Their monstrous acts are ultimately political, and give the lie to the claim that they are men of faith, or that their god is merciful. They are killers. They are murderers. They are monsters. What they do is unjustifiable, evil at its very worst. We know that many men and women of the human race around the world are evil and cruel, but that is no excuse for them, we must speak out against their sin for the true honor of the One True God of the Bible, and the protection of the innocents of all nations and faiths. The very reason Christ came to earth was to put an end to all death ultimately, and certainly to that caused deliberately by killers who give themselves over to to such sin.

Theology In The Christmas Carols

The story of Christmas is one of the most doctrinal sections of God’s revelation. The sentimental recalling of the Christ child’s birth points us to the fullest meaning of the Baby’s personhood. Charles Wesley laid it out clearly for us in a carol we sing each year “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th’incarnate Deity, Pleased as men with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.” Do you get it? Jesus is God, God manifest in the flesh, fully God and fully man.

Many years ago a grandfather in the congregation I was serving at the time told me something his granddaughter, then around eight or ten years old, said. Referring to the pulpit ministry in the church. She asked something like, “They always talk about Jesus here. When are they going to talk about God?” That question represents those, and I think there are a some in the church, and many outside it, who do not get what the Bible makes plain in the Christmas passages. It’s all summed up in one scriptural name: Jesus is Emmanuel. Emmanuel means, literally, God with us. When you get that, you get Christmas!

A Devotional Thought From 1 Chronicles

Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps with psalteries and with cymbals;…    
1 Chronicles 25:1

It is interesting that, of some of the music ministers in the temple, there was the expectation that they would prophesy the truth of God through their music. I don’t know how that worked in the temple, whether they prophesied or preached already revealed truth of God through their music, or whether God sometimes revealed new truth through Psalms later incorporated in the Scripture, but it seems clear that the Lord did minister to the hearts of the king and people through the music they heard, and, perhaps, sang themselves in their worship.

Certainly the gospel hymn writers of the past and our day, though not inspired in the same way that the temple singers were, bring us the truth of God in the great hymns and wonderful praise songs that bless the church. For example look at Bishop Phillips Brooks’ great stanza in his beloved Christmas carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

How silently, how silently The wondrous Gift is giv’n!

So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heav’n.

No ear may hear His coming, But in this world of sin,

Where meek souls will receive Him still, The dear Christ enters in.

One of the glorious things about the Christmas season, at least in America, is that you don’t only hear the gospel message in song in our church services, but if you keep your ear attuned to the background music in grocery stores, department stores, and even restaurants you may hear the gospel proclaimed in those public places because of the music of God’s people. How many people have there been, and how many more will be, impacted to let the dear Christ enter in because of the Christmas prophesies of the carols and songs that fill the air at Christmas?

Especially in the Christmas season sing the gospel: at church, in your home, in the stores, while walking the streets. Be a singing telegram from God.

A Devotional Thought From 1 Chronicles

For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.     1 Chronicles 12:22

     David’s followers and supporters came to him day by day, on a regular basis, building a ground swell of support that helped make his kingdom great. Wouldn’t this be a great thing for a local church pastor? To have people coming day by day until his congregation grew to be a great size and ministry to God, as King David experienced?

     Such a thing only comes about through the work of God, but, of course, God uses people. So what kind of leader and ministry might attract people like David did? A guy with a biblical calling. A strong expository preacher of God’s word. A genuine shepherd to his congregational “sheep.” A pleasant and joyous personality. A man in the world but not of it. A lover of Christ, His people, and all humanity. A man of God dependent on the Holy Spirit.

A Thanksgiving Sermon

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name.     Psalm 100:4
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.   
1 Thessalonians 5:18

If you come into church and silently pray “Thank you for saving me, O Lord. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!” you’ve got it right. First things first: The God of the universe gave His Son to die for you and completely change your situation from unsaved to saved. “Thank you for saving me, O Lord. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!”

Then, after you have said thanks from your heart, live thanks from your heart. Someone has said, “The art of Thanksgiving is thanks living.”

It is gratitude in action;

it is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly with faith in Christ;

it is thanking God for your talents and abilities by using them to His glory;

it is thanking God for the good He has done for you by doing good to others;

it is thanking God for happiness by helping others to be happy;

it is thanking God for your health and strength by taking good care of your body;

it is thanking God for opportunities by accepting them as creative challenges to mold your life and those around you for the Savior;

it is adding to your prayers of thanksgiving acts of thanks living. 

From the moment of salvation onward, it is living a life that is one long season of gratitude.

A Devotional Verse From 2 Kings

And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets.     2 Kings 24:2

When a man became king in Bible days, he thought he had it made. He was absolute ruler. The army, thousands of men, would draw their swords in his defense, and lay down their lives for him. He held the power of life and death. In recessionary times he still got the best food, and all he needed. People obeyed his every command. He thought he was safe and secure. He could do whatever he wanted, without fear of consequences, or so he thought.But when kings did evil in the sight of the LORD they were "crusin' for a brusin'" as we used to say in the 1950's.

Jehoiakim, king of Judah, was just one of many kings of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah who did evil in the sight of God. He also did stupidity, in rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. Before Nebuchadnezzar finally came and deported the Jewish nation to Babylon, this verse tells us that God sent against Jehoiakim gangs of terrorists, or marauders, so that even without his immediate problems with the king of Babylon he still had his hands full. This verse caught my attention because it mirrors the bands of terrorist and troublemakers roaming in the world today.

No king, or government, is safe without conscious vigilance to protect its people and property; without wisdom to avoid the stupid decisions that can hurt and disrupt a nation; and most importantly, without the realization that the LORD God not only ordains governments, but can bring them down as he chooses. The nations who seek the LORD, or, at least, seek righteousness and seek to do good to their people and the world are most likely to survive because of the blessing of God.

A Devotional Thought From 1 Kings

So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in the letter saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. And there came in two men children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city and stoned him with stones, that he died.     1 Kings 21:8-13

Ahab pouted because his neighbor Naboth refused to sell a vineyard that had been in his family since they entered the promise land. Jezebel, Ahab’s wife and wicked queen, said leave it to me. I’ll get it for you.

Her plan was very simple. She put political pressure upon the leaders of the city of  Jezreel to get rid of Naboth. Suborn perjury she instructed: Get two wicked men to claim that he had blasphemed God, and the king also, convict him and kill him.

The pliant leaders did exactly that, and Naboth died by stoning, a tragic and wicked story.

Such things still happen today. Christian believers in countries dominated and ruled by other religions have often been accused of blasphemy against the dominant religion they do not believe in. They are convicted, jailed and even murdered in this quasi legal form at the word of one person, when the cause of unfounded charges may have been nothing more than a property dispute, or jealousy, or bad feelings between parties.

Sometimes the countries that allow these travesties have clauses in their constitutions  supposed to protect freedom of religion, yet they have these unfair blasphemy laws that essentially strip freedom of religion and certainly freedom of speech out of the culture of those nations. It often takes the outcry of the whole world just to save one of the many individuals who suffer this way. This is an area in which the United Nations should show its value to the world by supporting and enforcing religious freedom for minority religious groups in nations worldwide.

It is time to do away with the kind of actions committed by Jezebel and Ahab.

A Devotional Thought From 1 Kings

The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.     1 Kings 8:57, 58

Solomon’s blessing, for the people of Israel, at the dedication of the Temple teaches us a great truth. He asks that the LORD will be with them just as He was in the days passed when He brought Israel through the Red Sea, kept them in the wilderness, gave them the promised land, and raised up his father, David, as a good and great King. But the prayer for God’s presence had a purpose beyond feeling that God loves them. Solomon prays that in God’s presence with them God will incline their hearts to Himself and to walking in God’s ways, according to His directions, and keeping those things He commanded the children of Israel. God’s presence determines faith living.

It is so in our modern Christian lives as well, God’s presence determines faith living. There are those who would say they believe in Christ as savior, that God is a presence in their lives, and yet they reject certain of the directions in His word because the directions cramp the lifestyle they desire to live. For example, fornication, among other sins, is often committed with no appreciation that committing such sin is not walking in the ways of the Lord. Non-Christian society looks on such sin as akin to something like exceeding the speed limit and not getting caught. Hence, they say, it’s much ado about little, but such sinning calls into question an individual’s quality of Christian commitment.

Praying for God’s presence in your life, believing for God’s presence in your life, living with God’s presence in your life means living His way even if the non-Christian social order gives you permission to sin.

A Devotional Thought From 1 Samuel

With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright.     1 Samuel 22:14

David, a warrior of renown, and the face of his government, absolute ruler with the power of life and death, and an example of true “divine right” to be King under the one living God, tells us here that the one true God of the universe will be merciful to those who show mercy. If a person claims true faith he/she should be like his God: like God, like people. That’s the way Christians feel. What does it say that some people proclaim their own god is merciful, but they themselves never show mercy?

A Devotional Thought From 1 Samuel

     In a world where headlines scream: Ebola in U.S.; war in Ukraine; terrorists behead another; Christians chased out of Iraq; violence in the streets; cyber hacking again; riots in the cities; what should believers do? Follow the example of David.

     Once when he and his army had left their city, Ziklag (a temporary home), it was attacked by marauders and burned. The women and children, including his wives were captured and taken as slaves. As a result David’s own men were so distraught they blamed him, and considered killing him by stoning, a desperate situation to say the least. David’s reaction was: David encouraged himself in the LORD his God (1 Samuel 30:6).

     Believers in the God of the Bible need to encourage themselves in the Lord. God is able to carry them through. They need to strengthen their commitment, more and more deeply study and comprehend the Bible, God’s written word, and go forward in living a peaceful, godly life, facing as best they can whatever issues lie before them.

     None of us knows the joys or sorrows the immediate future holds, but we know that God is not mocked, that we walk with Him, and He will be with us even in the valley of the shadow. Christian encourage yourself in your God, Jesus.

A Devotional Thought From 1 Samuel

And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.     1 Samuel 3:1

      Let me make a comparative application: there is an obvious parallel in today’s modern society. In the USA, for example, there are thousands of churches and dozens of denominations and in many of them a distinct dearth of faithful preaching of God’s Word (hence, no open vision). Some even enact organizational  policies in direct opposition to what God has stated in the Bible. Some in the church culture, and in society at large, that once revered biblical morality, now blocks it at every turn and attempts to force  religious followers in  the aforementioned denominations and individual congregations into rejecting the teaching of Scripture. So then precious and rare is the word of God again, in some areas of the church. Can you imagine, people think that churches and denominations exist to preach the word of God and make clear the meaning of what God has said, and today depending on what church you walk into that may not be what you hear.

     Churches and denominations should faithfully preach what the Bible says no matter what nonbelievers outside of the church desire or legislate. The testimony of God’s church in this world should be “If  you want to know what God says go to church, you will always hear a message straight out of the Bible.” That should be true of every church, and every denomination, that calls itself Christian.

A Devotional thought from 1 Samuel

…them that honour me I will honour…     1 Samuel 2:30

I honor God. I give Him glory, I express my praise, I declare Him King. I announce His worthiness, I profess my sincere love, I reverence, respect, and worship Him. The one true God who reveals Himself in the Bible is holy, the Creator of the world, the Sustainer of the world, the Savior of the world. I honor God, and my testimony is that in His goodness and mercy He has honored me.

A Devotional Verse From The Book Of Judges

And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice.     Judges 6:10

          The book of Judges shows us a very important principle for national living. God’s chosen people had been led into the land of Canaan as their homeland. They were to follow, serve, and obey the God of creation, the God of the Torah, the God who had chosen them, but they did not always obey. They were often drawn away from the true God to worship false gods, and commit the atrocities that were associated with such false gods. As a result the living LORD would deliver them into the hands of their enemies, and they would suffer persecution and poverty. When they would return to the true God and call upon him for help, God would raise up a strong, believing leader (called judges) and would deliver His people from her enemies.

          The principle that follows is that when any nation turns from the true God to the false gods of religion, pornography, deceit, criminality, violence, the dissolution of families, and so many of the evils that are perpetrated throughout the nations of the world, those nations find themselves falling on hard times. When a nation preserves, supports, and encourages its people to follow the traditional morality of the biblical scriptures that nation finds itself on a path to prosperity and peace. Even in those nations where non-biblical religion is dominant, the greater the amount of biblical morality held by that society, the greater their progress and prosperity.

A Devotional Verse From Joshua

 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;     Joshua 23:6

This verse from Joshua indicates an interesting thing true in Joshua’s day as it is in ours; it takes courage to follow the word of God. It takes a courageous heart of faith to follow and promote the teaching of the Word of God.

While it is evident that the moral and spiritual lifestyle advocated by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, if followed by everyone in the world would re-create human society and solve the majority of problems created by human sin, society at large is not open to scriptural guidance. It takes courage to advocate these things because modern day people in many cases do not like what the Bible has to say. They do not like the Bible’s definition of marriage and marital fidelity and fight against it. They do not like the Bible’s expression of an exclusive salvation that comes through faith in Jesus, even though it’s not forced on anyone but offered to them by faith. They do not like the concept that national governments are the servants of God to do what is good and right and to punish evil. They oppose the Bible’s teaching on sexual purity. They oppose the sanctity of the life of pre-born babies, and will go to almost any lengths to allow the termination of the lives of these children (presumably conceived in love). Drunkenness and dishonesty are popular despite the Bible's insistence that they are sin. Take any list of values from the Scriptures and the sinners of this world will reject and fight them.

So to advocate such things in this day and age causes those who believe and preach them to be ridiculed, branded intolerant, ostracized, even persecuted or killed. And yet our challenge is Joshua’s: Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and do all that is written in the book… When we present God’s word we do it in love, we do it in kindness, we do it to help and improve the world situation and make the lives of people in need better, so be very courageous! God’s word will not return unto Him void.

And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their fore heads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Revelation 20:4

John saw the souls of them that were beheaded during the tribulation for their witness to salvation through Jesus. It is clear that the terror of beheading  will be used against Christian believers by the forces of evil during that time of wrath some theologians call the tribulation. This monstrous form of execution is from the pits of hell and the most rotten part of the human heart. 16,500 people, among the thousands upon thousands who died during the French Revolution were beheaded. The Nazi’s records indicate that beheading was used in over 16,000 executions during their reign of terror in Germany and Austria. Islamic terrorists of the Middle East use individual beheadings in the most brutal way to attempt to terrorize the world. Underlying these examples, and, in my opinion, true in almost all historical uses of beheading, appears to be an ultimate satanic plan to oppose Christianity and terrorize and kill people who in any way have a connection, however tenuous, to Christianity or the God of Israel. The time will come when God’s justice will prevail and all unredeemed terrorists will regret and lament for eternity their personal evil and unbelief in Christ. Until that time the governments in existence around the world (according to Romans 13:1 ordained of God to be a terror …to the evil) have the responsibility before God to confound and eliminate terrorism of any sort, thus promoting a more stable, peaceful world, and protecting citizens of all nations, who seek to live and work without fear, from the murderous intent and actions of terrorists.

Devotional  Verses From Joshua

Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them and give him a place that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbor unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days; then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.     Joshua 20:2-6

Under the Jewish law, which was the most protective of the rights of individuals of ancient days and has been a model for the legal systems of modern civilized countries, there was a consideration for accidental death. Accidents do happen, God understands, and made a provision that in such a case the ancient idea of blood for blood and life for life could be set aside for the cause of justice. Yet, what people may not know, or may misunderstand is that the accidental killer did not get off without consequences. He could save his life from the family member called the avenger of blood by going to a city of refuge, but there he had to be tried to see if he really was innocent, and if he was he still could not leave the city until the death of the high priest who was currently in office. If the High Priest were quite old the accidental slayer might be released after a very short time, but if the High Priest had just come into office and was younger than the slayer, the accidental killer might have to spend his entire life within the city of refuge.  He had to leave his home and family (unless they moved to be with him), give up his way of life, and perhaps his profession, miss the birthday parties of his aging mother and father, the special community festivals, and all the blessings of his life before the accident. But his life was safe, and within the bounds of the city of refuge, whether it was Shechem,  Ramoth in Gilead, or any of the others, he was free. So even in an accidental killing there was a price to be paid. One of the problems in modern society is that there is so much crime and unintended tragedies that come from bad or reckless behavior, and often so little cost to those involved in these events that the same people repeat them over and over again. Modern society must find a way to make the cost for any kind of accident due to unlawful behavior, or what are called “minor crimes” be sufficient to be a deterrent to stupid and sinful activities.

A Devotional Verse From The Book of Deuteronomy

Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

Deuteronomy 29:9

Chapters 28 and 29 of Deuteronomy are filled with two lists: one of blessings and one of curses. The blessing list is wonderful, and the list of curses is horrific. God told his ancient people that one or the other of these lists would be their experience based upon whether they obeyed the rules for life that He set before them in their covenants. Do the things that God says and blessings will fill your life, do the things that God says not to do and curses will fill your life.

Today, the principle still holds true. Christian nations, or those who have Christian heritage and still retain some memory of New Testament morality and religious understanding, give away their best chance for prosperity, peace, and blessings, by turning away from the teaching of God (the one, holy, living, God of the Bible). The pleasure seeking morality of modern Western nations crumbles the will to stand and resist that which is evil, and the nation without a moral backbone can become prey to terrorist invaders of many sorts. As unpopular as it is in the current let me have what  I want to have and do what I want to do without interference culture of the West our greatest security and expectation of good lives comes from believing God and following His principles for right living.

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.     Hebrews 13:2

The persecuted Christians of the world are our family; our brothers and sisters. We need to be reminded as we are by this scripture to remember them. Pray for their protection and preservation by the God and Father of our savior Jesus Christ. In this world stricken by terrorism and hate, murder and death pray that there will be physical deliverance and a hedge about them. Pray that their suffering for Christ will lead those who have yet to experience, know, and love Christ to come to Him and be changed. Here is a prayer for persecuted Christians, and ourselves, taken from the old hymn "We Gather Together."

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender wilt be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation:
Thy name be ever praised; O Lord make us free!

Devotional Verses from Deuteronomy and Exodus

O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!     Deuteronomy 5:29

When God gave the law to his ancient people it was intended to be something that would be a blessing to them. If they would keep God’s commandments things would be well with them, their lives would be good, for them and for their children’s future. The law is a positive and wonderful thing. Obedience brings blessing, and what God’s people then and now need is blessing, in fact, the whole world needs blessing. One of the amazing things when looking at God’s law is the realization that if everyone in the world would, no matter their various faiths, would adopt  the laws God in  the 10 Commandments all the conflicts that cause so many of humanity’s problems would essentially cease. That’s an idealistic expectation, because humans are sinners and do not like to obey God’s law, but if they did the world would change overnight.

The 10 Commandments as given in Exodus 20:1-17:

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

The 10 Commandments have throughout much of the world become a part of the laws governing nations, and have been a stabilizing factor among men. They were given in part, I think, for that very purpose. No matter the different religious points of view extant in the world, the essential social law contained here fully implemented in the hearts of men and women and children throughout the world could stop war. Don’t murder anybody, don’t kill; be faithful to your wife and family; don’t take what belongs to others unlawfully; don’t lie about other people no matter how you feel about them; and don’t let the desire for what others possess possess you to the point of making you a criminal.

Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart, from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy son’s sons;     Deuteronomy 4:9

Letting the law of God depart from our hearts always sends mankind on a downward spiral.

                

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision:     Joel  3:14

I heard one commentator refer to ISIS and radical Islam as “a cult of death.” How accurate! These brutes love death better than life. Supposedly, they claim by their horrendous misinterpretation of religion that they are given the power of life and death over others who do not yield to their religious beliefs and religious rule. They kill with heartless abandon and delight in the suffering and death of the victims. Children, women, men who haven’t fought against them, and those who have, have been shot in the head, beheaded, crucified, and if these killers had the opportunity they would kill or enslave everyone of another faith throughout the entire world. And, they hide their wicked faces behind masks like men who loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil (cf. John 3:19). They do and they are.

You cannot appease such fanatical serial killers, merciless monsters Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:14-18). Neither can the nations of the world allow them to hold the world hostage to their evil warfare. The nations of the world have a duty to work together to cut this cancer out of the body of humanity so that others may live, so that some peace may bless the world by saving lives, lifting the fear of the sword from the lives of peaceful  people in every country, by increasing international, cooperation, and encouraging freedom for every human being everywhere.

If the nations of the world come together to stop this evil, I hope, their confidence can be what the LORD told Moses when he faced a similar enemy:  Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand… (Numbers  21:34). So the prophetic cry is: Nations of the middle east, nations of Europe and Asia, nations of North and South America, nations elsewhere in the world,  do the right thing, get together and work for the entire world’s self-interest by stopping the spread of ISIS butchery.

Devotional verses from the book of Leviticus

If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;… You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. … But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if you despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that you will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain for your enemy shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.        Leviticus 26:3,5b-6; 14-17

                     

This warning was given by God to a nation a long time ago, but the principle still holds true for nations today. Follow the commandments of God, don’t just give them lip service but do them, and blessing comes to the entire nation. Who are the people that must do the commandments? The individual, everyday people who live on your street and mine, who live in all of the towns across our country. When every individual is seeking to do what is right the nation will progress forward and everyone will be blessed. When people do not do the teaching of God concerning what is the good life, that nation will be hurting. Who are the people who bring harm to the nation? Any individual who breaks with God’s law: it might be one man who commits a robbery; or someone who fires a gun; or an individual politician who lies; or a family down the street dysfunctional because of drugs; or thug on the streets of a big city; or dishonest merchants; or anyone committing criminal or other sinful behavior in his or her individual life. You could make a list as long as your arm and your leg 100 times over. The sins that individuals commit often reach out and touch others around them, and can spread like a disease across the nation. How do we stop such a terrible outcome for our land? Every individual person, man, woman, child, must turn from evil and do good. Automatic blessing comes from that! And, when people do criminal acts and other sinful behaviors, automatic harm comes from that. Each one of us is responsible.

Devotional verses from the book of Leviticus

In the Bible leprosy is a representation of sin.

When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or a bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: and the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.  Leviticus 13:2, 3

As you can see these verses give a list of symptoms that indicate leprosy: a rising, a scab, or bright spot in the skin with the hair growing in that spot having turned white, and that strange spot appearing more than skin deep. Throughout this chapter of scripture symptoms are added: raw flesh (v. 14); a healed reddish boil with certain characteristics (vss. 18-20); in certain instances a spreading of these characteristics (v. 22); an evident skin disease with a thin yellow hair in it (vss. 29,30). By looking at the symptoms the priest was able to determine whether or not an individual had the disease of leprosy.

Let me give you some symptoms of the disease raging in our world today: chasing 30,000 - 40,000 people on to a wilderness mountain to die of starvation and thirst; execute them if they come down; chase all people of all religions but their own out of a land they occupy; execute captives in extreme atrocities; enslave women and children; leave a path of destruction and death; desire war and killing; consider peace to be when they have totalitarian control of the lives of others; despise freedom; hide missiles among civilians so the children will die as a public relations move; reject peace proposals; take the lives of their own female relatives in what some call honor killings. By my observation, I will tell you that such people are a plague upon mankind. They are a leprosy. They are a virulent bloody virus like Ebola.

The nations of the world have an obligation to all people to provide justice and freedom and life, and especially to those under such wicked domination. The nations are obligated to cure this malignant evil. All that it takes for such evil to flourish is that nations whose moral fiber has crumbled do nothing.

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.     Matthew 12:41

The destruction of the tomb of the prophet Jonah in Mosul, Iraq by the Islamic extremists attempting to create a new caliphate is a minor issue compared to what they are doing to Christians. America and so many nations throughout the world have been so blessed by the sheer goodness and kindness of the Christian faith that they impute this genuine goodness of Christianity to others who call themselves religious. Consciously or unconsciously they feel Christianity is such a good religion all other religions must be like it, good.

The religion of the caliphate, however, is not kind. To Christians they say you have three choices: convert, live as second class citizens paying taxes and being persecuted because you are Christians, or die.That's what they say! It is all over the news, and still there are westerners who will not speak out against such malevolence. They were not kind to prisoners captured during their incursion, executing, by various cruel methods, thousands. They are not even kind to their own Muslim brothers and sisters who might in some way express their personal Islamic faith differently.

A religion which denies the expression of faith by others, that persecutes Christians, Jews, Hindus, etc. just because they are what they are, that kills because others believe in Jesus Christ as savior is not good. All people, including those who believe Islam is the religion of peace, should express our moral condemnation of the immorality of the Islamic extremists.

The men of Nineveh will rise up in judgment against the men of the extremists of ISIS.

Devotional Verses From The Book Of Genesis

It is a scene from the story of Jacob and his sons. Jacob is on his death bed, And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days Genesis 49:1). He turns to his firstborn son and says, Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch (Genesis 49:3). After speaking to each son, and giving directions concerning his burial, Jacob died.

How could Jacob have known what Reuben was going to be like after he died? Well, clearly he could’ve been inspired by the Holy Spirit, and that may have been true in this instance, but if you look at the things Jacob says about Reuben, you recognize that a person’s future can be predicted from his past behavior. Jacob apparently did not expect a great deal from a son whose immorality had led him into gross sin. Jacob did not expect him to excel, that doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t do good things and have some success, but you could never expect him to be at the top of the moral ladder seeking purity, honesty, peace, and all the noble qualities that allow you to trust and depend upon a person or group. Jacob expected Reuben to always be unstable and do some things that would mess him, and others, up. While a true faith in, and a sincere commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ can change a person’s spiritual nature and behavior, not every person in the world has that experience, and so we must expect that people will behave pretty much, in the future, as they behaved in the past:

                How will the gang from El Salvador behave when their members get into the United States? How did they behave back home?

                How will the Palestinians comport themselves in their hatred of Israel? How have they done so in the past?

                How will the terrorists controlling an area of Syria-Iraq act now that they control a large swath of territory? How did they act in acquiring that control?

An equally strong list of illustrations could be put together about the behaviors of individual people, for example: a violent armed robber paroled without a change in character. Teaching us that governments, families, neighbors, travelers, what all, should not expect that for everyone the sins of the past are the sins of the past. In many cases, the sins of the past will be predictors of the sins of the present and the future.

Be on guard.

A Devotional Verse From Genesis

And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD  hath blessed me for thy sake.     Genesis 30:27

Laban had the good sense to realize that much of the good life he and his family enjoyed had come from Jacob’s presence in his life every day and over the years. Modern society should recognize the same truth as it pertains to Christian and Jewish faith. Most of the great principles of American life come directly out of biblical teaching.

Some of those great principles are:

A system of laws that hold in check the sinfulness of human beings, so that they are required to be honest and nonviolent, so that people who would otherwise be victims of crime can be protected.

A government expected by God to do good for its people, and obey the same laws all citizens are expected to live by.

A compassion for the least, the last, and the lost: expressed by the church’s being an example to government in feeding the hungry, rescuing addicts, advocating adoption rather than the terminating of life in the human womb, disaster relief, and tolerance of those with whom you might disagree.

The faith expression educates in religion, morals, and the personal responsibility of the individual to be a good person, a good neighbor, a good citizen, and a blessing to the world.

If a society wants freedom it must be a moral society that restricts behaviors that enslave people, and of course Christian and Jewish faith advocate that very thing.

Jesus indicated that his followers were salt. Salt was an important preservative in those ancient days, and illustrates the role of biblical principles preserving society. Remove Christian and Jewish contributions, and influence, from the societies of the world, and even the most modern nation on earth will begin to spiral down from being a peaceful, free land, filled with opportunity into fighting, destruction, fear, and grinding poverty.

A Devotional Verse From Genesis

And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.     

Genesis 21:6

Her first laugh, when she heard about God’s plan to give her a baby in old age, may have been a “Right, that’ll be the day” laugh. Now, “well stricken in age” about 90, with her baby in her arms, the fulfillment of God’s promise, Sarah laughed for joy. As absurd as the idea of a really, really, really, old lady having a baby is, nothing is “absurd” with God, or as the angel in Luke chapter 1:37 put it, “For with God nothing shall be impossible.”

Pray that terrorists will be converted to peace.

Pray that people who want to work will find jobs.

Pray that the cure for cancer will be found.

Pray that there will be a restoration of traditional moral values in America.

Pray that government leaders will put aside their personal political prejudice and do righteousness.

Pray that predators, persecutors, and other perpetrators of evil will have a change of heart and cease from troubling others.

Pray that illegal drug users will get clean by the millions.

Right, like that will happen! Talk about absurd ideas. Still nothing is absurd, incongruous, or impossible with God, and if some or all of these things happened wouldn’t the world breathe a sigh of relief and join in Sarah’s happy laughter? Pray to the living God of Abraham, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, every good and perfect gift comes from Him, and nothing is impossible with God.

Two Lessons From The Story Of Sodom

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs to be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. … And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughter’s, and said, Up, get you out of this place: for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law all.    Genesis 19:9, 14

The men of Sodom knew they were doing wrong, “now will we deal worse with thee.” Yet to them Lot’s temerity in saying their behavior was wrong was worse than their own sin. How dare he be a judge? Sadly, western civilization has come to that point. To call a sin a sin is worse than committing the sin. To say a wrong is wrong is what is really wrong. How dare you, Lot, or whatever your name is, express some opinion that recognizes and identifies evil as evil? If you speak your mind you will be punished, not the perpetrator of the sin. So keep your mouth closed.

There was a time when being like the men of Sodom would’ve been shunned by a community considering itself moral. Now it is accepted, probably by more people than we can imagine.

Then having been warned by the angels of Sodom’s imminent doom, Lot attempts to save his married daughters and sons in law by warning them to get out of the path of destruction (the fire and brimstone about to pour down). The fact of God’s coming judgment seems to them a joke. Perhaps they were thinking: These are modern times, that’s old time religion. This is a big city, it could never be destroyed in a single day. That happens in other places, not here. If there is any destruction, it will probably happen to someone else. How can you believe a good God would do that?

It doesn’t say in the Bible, but I would guess that Lot’s sons in law, before they died, regretted their refusal to believe. How long will it be before western civilization regrets its refusal to continue to believe God’s, the God of the Bible, moral code.

The spirit of Jezebel still afflicts modern denominations

It is hardly new news that denominational bodies throughout the world are taking a sympathetic view towards what God's word calls sin, and clearly denotes as false theology. At the least it goes back to the church in Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29).

Rev. 2:20  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Some bad teaching was going on in the church. It was propounded by a woman called Jezebel by the Lord.

We don’t know if that was her given name, or Jesus is giving her a nickname that describes the awful person she was, comparing her to Jezebel in the Old Testament who was truly evil.

Instead of talking about God’s pure morality, she was telling people it was O.K. to be sexually immoral.

Instead of pointing people to the cross and calling them to believe and worship Jesus, she was leading them to make sacrifices to idols. Jesus speaks out against such teaching.We need to know that there are things in our individual lives, hopefully not this bad, that Jesus is not O.K. with, and there are things being taught in some denominations, and even more sadly in local churches that Jesus is not O.K. with.

The Christian church has to be careful about what it teaches. We’re about Jesus. We’re about the cross. We’re about the new birth.We’re about walking with Christ day by day, all the days of our lives.We're about forsaking sin. We’re about looking for His coming back, because he promised to do that.Those are the things we want people to hear when they come to church. Unfortunately Thyatira was a church that had goofed and allowed a false teacher to be part of their ministry.

If a woman, or man for that matter, comes to a church and offers to teach some "higher knowledge" than the Bible has she/he is offering some form of an ancient heresy called Gnosticism. Any so-called spiritual teaching that disregards the meaning of the Bible is not Christian. Needless to say, she/he should not be allowed to teach in a church that names Jesus as it's Lord. I wish the church at Thyatira had done that: Oh, no, you can’t teach that stuff in this church, we’re a Jesus church. I wish all churches and denominations who have fallen for false faith had done that. We’d all be better off. You, and your church, have to constantly be on your guard. There is a right and a wrong, and God decides it, not denominations who have left the Bible's teaching, not Hollywood, or Jezebel, or our increasingly immoral society.

Jezebel would have said, O don’t worry about it, it’s OK. Let me warn you: Whenever somebody says it’s O.K. don’t worry about it, worry about it until God’s Spirit uses God's word to convince your heart it is really O.K. Have you ever had one of those situations where you couldn’t put your finger on it, but you said to yourself, “In my gut I know this is wrong”? Well, you are the gut of the church, when you have a feeling always check it with the Word of God, and let the Spirit of God convince you of whether it is right or wrong.

  

Interesting the reaction of Jezebel and her people, to Jesus’ grace.

21  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

The grace is I gave her space to repent. Interesting today people say “I need my space.”

She still would not get right with Jesus.

Hey, if there is something in your life that shouldn’t be there,

Don’t be like Jezebel.

Turn away from it and get it out of your life.

There were bad things coming for Jezebel, and those who followed her and would not repent.

What is good in God’s eyes brings a good end, but the bad in God’s eyes brings a bad end.

Jezebel bad things are coming.

Wrong doing has it’s rewards, and they are not something you want, if you want the best of life.

 22  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

23  And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

Bad news for Jezebel.

A Devotional Verse From The Book Of Romans

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.     Romans 1:16

All of us who believe and preach the gospel of Christ are in the same boat as the apostle Paul. In those days there were two kinds of religious people in the world: God’s chosen people the Jews, and all the pagans and nonbelievers of the Jewish God who fell under the label Gentiles or Greeks. Both of these groups rejected the gospel, one because the gospel of Christ is an issue of the faith and not of law, and the other because they saw the message as foolishness, that a man should be God in the flesh, die and come alive again. I can imagine some of the slurs against Paul. “How can you be so foolish and unpatriotic as to go beyond your national, historic faith, as we see it? You are not being loyal to your people. You should be ashamed of yourself.” “How can you be so anti-intellectual as to believe the story of a dead man rising, and that by having faith in him you will be put right with God? You should be ashamed to preach that simple story.” And those two statements are probably very mild as compared to what was actually said against Paul and the gospel of Christ. But Paul’s reply was “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” He goes on to say, in so many words, that whether others like it or not, God uses this story as the dynamite power to break the power of sin, and bring the believer into salvation. Well, that’s where we all are, those of us who preach the biblical gospel of Christ, no matter what you think of us we are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ

A Devotional Verse From The Book Of Revelation

Let the Word of God speak for itself:

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:15

A Devotional Verse From Revelation

He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the Saints.     Revelation 13:10

Believers in Jesus will be in a most difficult position during the days of the tribulation period. The one called the beast will be the world power, and will make war against those who believe in Jesus during that time. The believers (saints) will wait for deliverance, and will expect (believe for) those who persecute them to receive justice. They will. In that day those who take, for example, Christian girls captive in places like Nigeria will be captured and led away captive themselves. Those who murder Christians or others, murdering one or massacring hundreds as happened in Kenya recently, will be killed in judgment themselves.

While this passage deals with the future, it is apparent that if governments are doing their duties as governments accountable to God {see Romans 13 where we are told that governments, all governments, are meant to be a terror to evil (3), be ministers of good, and be God’s servants (4)} the same kind of justice will be imposed on such kidnappers and killers today, and justice will, in some measure even in today's violent world, protect victims from such terrorism. It is reminiscent of Jesus’ words to Peter in the garden of Gethsemane, observing that  “…all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matthew 26:52).

Citizens of any country with a legitimate government can and should be able to expect its government to give them protection and dispense true justice. The governments of the world, whatever brand they are, have a heavy responsibility to God to protect their citizens from violence in the streets, terrorism and war, and promote and provide peace.

A Devotional Verse From The First Letter Of John, The Apostle
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
1 John 2:12
     This verse clearly answers the question "When a Christian sins why can they be forgiven?" Look at the scripture verse: We are not forgiven because we've been good. We are not forgiven because we are Christians. We are not forgiven because God owes it to us. We are not forgiven because we had a good roll of the lucky dice. We are forgiven for his name's sake.
     Earlier in the chapter we are told that He, Jesus Christ, is our advocate with the Father (2:1). An advocate speaks up for another. Then we are told that Jesus is our propitiation (atoning sacrifice NIV 2:2). This is why we are forgiven for his name's sake. Because of Jesus God forgives the sinning Christian, but, of course, the back story is found in verse two also because we are told that He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, so that we understand we are forgiven of our sins and saved for his name's sake which makes us into Christians, and then when we confess our sins while living the Christian life we are forgiven them daily for his name's sake.
     This, to the Bible believing Christian, is a very simple concept, and yet it is so hard for people who do not know what God says in the Bible to understand, because they feel they have to do something to be forgiven, or they want to do something to know that they are worthy of being forgiven. According to God's word it is not possible for us to be worthy of forgiveness or do anything that would require God to give us forgiveness. If you want to get forgiveness, and you, or anyone, can have it if you want it, then Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,... (Acts 16:31) ...because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

A Personal View  Of The 9-11 Memorial

The weekend of Memorial Day 2014 I visited the 9–11 Memorial, the fountains of running water that fall into the “foot prints” of the twin towers of the former World Trade Center. The cascading waters in the gaping emptiness shine and gurgle in the sunlight bringing to remembrance the lives taken by the terrorism of that awful day. 2606 people, most of them Americans as well as visitors from numerous world nations, had their lives turned to ashes when they went to work. They planned to go home to their families that day, eat dinner, help with homework, kiss their spouses, go to work again on the morrow, pay their bills, save for college for their kids, and live long, peaceful lives. They were victims in the war declared by radical Islamists. They were Jews and Christians, Muslims and Hindus, blind, black, white, brown, and Asian. They were men and women, young and old.  Islamic radicals, to achieve their despicable ends killed even their own Muslim people among their victims. Terrorists are brutish monsters with devilish desires of destruction. Human life has no value to them, they are without mercy and without heart.

The 911 Memorial declares that our nation, founded on the principles of the Bible, places great value on the lives of our people and those who dwell among us. Every life counts with us, and we are a land of unity in diversity, freedom, and peace, unless aroused by the attack of enemies who desire war. We hearken back to the portion of scripture engraved upon our Liberty Bell (Leviticus 25:10) “proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Note the phrase “liberty…unto all the inhabitants.” Anyone who will live according to the rule of law, granting to others the same freedoms of peace and safety he/she desires for himself, can become an American citizen and seek the fulfillment of the American Dream in his/her life and family. Terrorists attacking them attack all of us. The 9 -11 Memorial says, at least to my thinking, we remember what you did to our people, we will keep that memory strong and let it inspire us to vigilant defense of this country and this people no matter what it takes.

I thank the God of the Bible that such a nation, and such a government exists, “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil”(Romans 13:3), “For he (the government power) is the minister of God to thee for good” (Romans 13:4).

Devotional Verses From The Book Of Hebrews About Jesus
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Hebrews 9:25, 26
Awesome! Awesome is an over used word in this 21st century, except when it is used of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Devotional Verses From Hebrews
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings, and blessed him;
Hebrews 6:20; 7:1
The author of Hebrews, in the midst of his discussion of the superiority of the new covenant to the old covenant, brings up the name of Melchisedec as he introduces the high priestly ministry of Jesus. It struck me that as, in a sense, this name comes into the discussion "out of right field" so to speak, it is clear that the writer of Hebrews expected the Christians he was communicating with to be conversant with the holy scriptures. He expected they would know the Biblical account of the historic story of Abraham (then known as Abram) saving Lot from the four kings who had captured him, and then meeting this mysterious priest of God named Melchisedec. They would know that Abraham was blessed by Melchisedec and "gave him tithes of all" (Genesis 14:19,20). Since they knew this history from the scriptures they could then put it together with the truth being expressed in Hebrews to grow in their knowledge of Jesus Christ. The lesson I would draw from that is simple, and is the same message that is often heard from Bible preaching pastors the world over, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ and want to grow in understanding you must make the Bible a priority in your life.