FINALLY–another posting from Pastor Dale

 

 Psalm 119:3  They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. (KJV)

Since the days of Adam and Eve we have been given this choice:  We can walk  in God’s ways or in our own ways.  When Israel was about to go into the Promised Land, Moses told them,” if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do-to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him-then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.”( Deut. 11:22-23).  Romans 1:18 tells how much God hates unrighteousness.  ” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”  The word appears twice in v. 18.   Paul goes on in Romans 2 to describe unrighteousness like this:  Men did not like to retain God in their knowledge so God gave them over to a debased mind which manifested itself in things like ” unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.” (Romans 2:28-30)  Obviously those who turn away from God into unrighteousness are not walking in His ways.

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

 Each person must decide whose ways they will walk in-God’s or the devil’s.  Would my righteousness or the lack of it tell others anything about in whose ways I am walking?

Finishing Well by Pastor Dale

 In the entire 100-year history of the horse racing in U.S. events, only 11 horses have ever won the U.S. Triple Crown. It has been 35 years since Secretariat broke all the records and 30 years since any horse won the Triple Crown. After his impressive wins at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, everyone thought that Big Brown was going to be number 12, but he disappointed many fans by finishing last in the Belmont Stakes!Perhaps Big Brown’s owners and trainers thought that after two impressive wins the third race was a “gimmie” but it didn’t turn out that way. It underscores the truth that finishing well is important whether it is in sports or in life.

The apostle Paul understood that the race is not over until we cross the final finish line. He wrote, ” Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)  Paul had already told the Christians at Corinth that while many people ran the race “one receives the prize” He challenged them to run that they might obtain the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:4) How many baseball games have been lost with the winning run on third base? How many basket ball games have been won with a desperation shot just as the buzzer was sounding?

FINISHING WELL IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

When he came to the end of his life, the apostle Paul wrote, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

 

Another sweet nugget from Psalm 119 by Pastor Dale

“ Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. (KJV)People who observe the Lord’s testimonies are those who seek him with all their heart. Jesus warned about putting one’s hand to the plow and then looking back. Obviously that person is half-hearted about seeking the Lord. The shema (the central tenet of Israel) says “You should love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deut. 6:4-5) Jesus said that if anyone loved even his closest relatives more than Him he could not be His disciple. Paul said that he considered all of his religious and cultural benefits of less value than a pile of garbage in order that He might know Christ. It’s no wonder that Psalm 19 says that “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Ryrie defines “testimony” as God’s truth. This must go deeper than just observing as in reading, or casually looking at God’s truth. Jesus said that if a person hears His words and doesn’t do them, he is like a foolish man who builds a house with no foundation. The wise man is the one who hears them and does them. The Lord told Joshua to “observe to do all that is written in God’s Law.” It is instructive to note that the only two times the Psalmist uses the word like a beatitude is in relation to walking in the Law of the Lord.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Am I seeking God with all my heart or only half-heartedly? How is this evidenced in my life?

CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRIES…mmmmm

 

 

My dear mother-in-law who is now with the Lord loved chocolate covered cherries!  It was her favorite candy treat.  The outer layer of sweet chocolate was delicious-but it didn’t compare with the cherry that was hidden inside! 

Parts of the Bible are like that!  They have a “hidden treasure” inside.  Jeremiah, the prophet, understood that when he wrote, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart…” (Jeremiah 15:16)

Psalm 119 is full of very powerful nuggets!  There are 176 verses and they are divided into 22 sections-one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  Each verse refers to some aspect of the Scriptures and the psalmist tells us that the Word of God contains everything we need to know.

I have tried to “unwrap” some of these delicious treats and to make a practical application for each verse. (Don’t worry they are not all coming at once!)  Please let me know your thoughts by going to the “About” link and sending an e-mail comment.

Psalm 119:1

” Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” (KJV)

 

The only possible hope for anyone to be blameless is to walk in the way of the Lord.

 

In Psalm 1 we are told there are three things to avoid if we want to be blessed:

•   The counsel of the ungodly

•   The way of sinners

•   The seat of the scornful

 

The contrast between the righteous and the wicked is awesome:  The righteous are like a tree planted in a well-watered place where it is fruitful and strong.  The wicked are like chaff–the ground up bits of straw that comes out of a threshing machine after the grain has been removed.   Paul exhorted the Philippians so that they might “become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”  Psalm 19 assures us that        ” The law of the Lord is perfect restoring the soul,” and then goes on to say that by keeping God’s word we are warned and that there is great reward.

 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

 When people look at me would they conclude that my way is blameless or am I walking in conformity to the way of the secular world in which we live? Can I honestly say that I am walking in such a way that I am blessed?

 

WHY DOESN’T JESUS DO SOMETHING???

Franklin Graham sent an e-mail about the devastating Cyclone in Burma. He said “The death toll is reported at nearly 23,000, but some believe it could be as high as 100,000. More than 42,000 people are reported missing, and up to 1 million may have lost their homes after a 12-foot storm surge swept away entire villages.”

 

I’m sure many people are asking,  “Where is Jesus?  Why didn’t He step in and do something to prevent such a catastrophe?”   We all ask that question when things spin out of control and there are more questions than answers.

 

Mary and Martha asked that question of Jesus after their brother had died.  So did the disciples and friends of the family.  No one doubted Jesus’ love, they just didn’t understand why He didn’t take action to prevent Lazarus from dying.

 

They had seen Jesus perform miracles, teach profound truth and meet pressing need.  Why did He not either heal Lazarus from where He was as He had the nobleman’s son in John 4 or come and speak a powerful word of healing as He had to the crippled man at the Pool of Bethseda? 

 

It certainly wasn’t because Jesus didn’t care!  The shortest verse in the Bible says, “Jesus wept.”  (John 11:35)  Even the Jews who came to comfort Mary and Martha remarked how much Jesus loved His friend. They said, “Behold how He loved him.”  We can  count on the fact that Jesus loves us in the same way!

 

Jesus could have done what appeared to be the logical solution to the problem, but He surprised them by showing them that He had a better plan.  I’ve noticed that the Lord often does that!

 

Jesus strengthened the faith of the disciples.  He said, “ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.” (John 11:15)

 

Jesus comforted the heart-broken sisters.  Just before He raised Lazarus from he dead, He said to Martha, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (v. 40)

 

Jesus saved many people who saw the miracle.  “Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.”  v/ 45

 

If you are going through your own personal “cyclone” remember that Jesus loves you deeply and that when you can’t understand what He is doing, you can always trust His heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SMALL TOWN — SATURDAY NIGHT by Pastor Dale

 

 “Other sheep have I which are not of this fold, Them also I must bring.”

                               John 10:16.

 

Country/Western singer, Hal Ketcham, recorded a song called “It’s a Small Town Saturday Night.”  He sang about “howlin’ at the moon and shootin’ out the lights.”  In the song a young man named Bobby tells a girl named Lucy that he knows the world isn’t round–it drops off sharp at the edge of town.  The reason he knows is that when people leave town, they never come back. 

 The song made me think about my home-town.  It seemed like everyone came to town on Saturday night to grocery shop, visit, and watch the free movie in the park.  Many of us lived for the day when we would finish high-school and leave for what we dreamed would be a better and more exciting life

 I remember the day my Mom drove me over to catch the Rock Island Rocket for an overnight train ride to Chicago.  My life changed!  Left behind were my cowboy boots and hat, and I entered a whole new world.  As exciting as it seemed, I must confess there were several things I didn’t really understand

 I didn’t understand how important some of the “small-town” values really were.  Things like honesty,  a good work ethic, enduring friendships, personal faith and the importance of strong family ties are forged in small towns.  There is accountability.  If I did something ornery on the south side of town, my parents knew about it before I got home.  We didn’t have cell-phones-we had neighbors!

 I didn’t understand how small Alton, Kansas was until I got to Chicago.  There were 4 million people living there then-it is even larger now.   I told people I came from a town that was a “poke and plum” town-you poke your head around the corner and you are plum out of town!

  I didn’t understand how big and how needy this world is.  There are 6.5 billion people on planet earth.  One third of them are under the age of fifteen.  17 million of these children will die from malnutrition and starvation this year;  100 million live on the streets -orphaned, abandoned or runaways.  They have no home, no family, no school and no one to love and care for them.   That’s heart-breaking, but worse than that, many of them have never heard that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Hello World! A new chapter in my life — A blog

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HOW IT ALL BEGAN…by Pastor Dale

 

I was born on a cold December night in a small house on the wind-swept plains of Kansas.  It was long before the day of miracle drugs and when I was only six weeks old, I almost died from pneumonia.  Thanks to the Lord’s intervention, a lot of TLC from my mother, and some good old mustard plasters, I survived.  This is only one of many times that the Lord spared my life the hazards of growing up on a farm during the dust-bowl days of the 1930’s.

My mother never let me forget that the Lord must have a wonderful plan for my life.  She instilled in me a sense of destiny that has followed me for many years.  The Lord has proven that the words of Jeremiah have been proven true in my life.  “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11 – (New Living Translation)

The Lord’s plans were, in deed, good!  Carol and I have been in the ministry for 53 years and the Lord has permitted us to travel to Asia, Europe, and South America!  That’s quite a stretch for a cowboy from Kansas and a girl from Colorado!   Our paths have crossed with some of the finest people in the world—God’s servants who are on the front lines of Christian service.  What a privilege!

My desire in posting entries on this weblog  is that some of the things the Lord has taught me from walking with Him and studying the inspired Scriptures might be an encouragement to you in your journey of following Jesus—the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep.

My prayer is that “I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus…I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

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