The Lighthouse

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? – Psalm 27:1.

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. . . . If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.” – Luke 11:33, 36.

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” – John 8:12.

Back in the beginning of 1971, just a couple of years after I gave my heart to the Lord, a Southern-Gospel group, the Happy Goodmans did a live release of a song written by Ronny Hinson the year before in 1970. It was entitled, “The Lighthouse” and it became a number one song in the hearts of Gospel music fans all over the world.

Chorus:
There’s a lighthouse on the hillside that overlooks life’s sea.
When I’m tossed it sends out a light that I might see.
And the light that shines in darkness now will safely lead me home,
If it wasn’t for the lighthouse, my ship would sail no more.1

I loved that song and soon took up my guitar and started singing it in church. As time went by, I still loved that song, but the theology behind it started to change in my mind a bit when I started studying the Word of God and becoming more personally intimate with the Lord.

I want to briefly share with you some of those thoughts in the hope of encouraging and inspiring each and everyone of you to let the light of Jesus Christ shine out to a storm-tossed and chaotic world.

Part of that song as it goes along tells us that Jesus is the lighthouse and that is the part I want to center on for a bit. It will always be a great and inspirational song to me as it has truly become a Gospel classic over the past fifty years.

The Bible tells us that Jesus is the light of the world as shown in the Scriptures given at the beginning. He is the light from the very beginning and I could go on with a lengthy lesson just on that fact alone. However, keep in mind that fact; Jesus IS the light of the world.

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Think back now to what Jesus told the disciples concerning His followers and light. We aren’t the light, but we have the light, and since we have the light, what are we to do with it? Jesus tells us that if you truly have the light, you don’t hide it. You don’t place it under a bed, in a clay pot or cover it with a basket. Rather, you take that light and you place it on a stand so that it lights the whole area, thus chasing away the darkness. I gave you the Scripture from the gospel of Luke, above, but Matthew states it slightly different:

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:14-16.

Jesus said that you, speaking to His disciples, of which all believers are, are like a lighted city on a hill, simply put, at a vantage point allowing all to see the light. In other words, we are to carry that light and allow it to shine from the most advantageous spot for all to see.

Now we all know that lighthouses are always constructed right where the greatest storms have a tendency of passing by. They are constructed, not so that sailors can see the lighthouse itself, but rather, the light reflected from the lighthouse. When a ship is going through a ravaging storm, the waves are crashing all about and the lightning is illuminating the clouds above, the sailors don’t see the actual lighthouse, but they do see the light. Especially if it sits high or on a hill.

So consider this; when a lighthouse is constructed, it has to withstand gale-force winds and crashing rain. It has to stand solid, so many lighthouses are constructed on bedrock, the stones that are nearly impossible to move or shift. Who is our bedrock? Who is it that is our rock on which we stand and are built? The Psalms tell us specifically:

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. – Psalm 18:2.

It is God, through Christ Jesus, who is our bedrock. He is our firm and steady foundation on which we are to build our lives. He is the foundation that cannot be moved no matter the storms that life sends our way.

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Now here is the thing. We are built on that foundation, but what kind of structure are we to be? Jesus said that we are to be the vessel to shine His light to all the surrounding area. We are the vessel, the construction, built by Him on His solid foundation to reflect His light to the world and especially through the storms of life. We aren’t built so that others can see what grand constructions we are, rather, we are built upon Him, to shine His light so that as we raise Him up, His light will draw all peoples through the storms of life to a safe haven (John 12:32).

So, in essence, we, as disciples and believers are the lighthouse. We are built upon the solid rock, the foundation built upon the Chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. We are the vessel or construction built to shine forth His light to all those around us.

One last thing I have to point out; the light, for it to shine forth at its brightest has to have a power source. Jesus Himself is the power source, but, for us to shine it forth, the power has to come from within the vessel or construction itself. Think about that for a moment. Jesus is the powerful light, but for the lighthouse to reflect that powerful light, the power has to come from within and that power necessary for us to shine the Light of the Lord has to come from the Holy Spirit. The power source, within us. (Acts 1:8) Only when we are tapped into that power source do we as vessels, as lighthouses, have the power to reflect to the world the light of Christ Jesus. We can’t do it within ourselves, but on Him the solid rock, we are built to house His power in the form of His Holy Spirit and shine forth His light to a world tossed with storms and chaos.

In closing, I have to ask, are you tapped into that power source? Is that  power source abiding within you so that you can reflect the light of Christ Jesus throughout the whole world? Don’t be like those abandoned lighthouses that we sometimes see, with no power, no light and therefore no use. They can’t help anyone through the storms that do come by them.

Jesus is the Light, but each of us can be the lighthouse that He constructed us to be to reflect His light to others.

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1 The Lighthouse © 1970 Ronny Hinson. All rights reserved. (Lyrics free for non-commercial use)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Food For Thought 1/24/2023

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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The X Generation

“Jesus said there would be a future generation with certain characteristics to indicate that the end is near. In other words, there is an “X generation” at some point in history where all the signs converge . . . Today it would seem that those signs are indeed converging for the first time since Christ ascended to heaven.”
~ Billy Graham

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The Death of Christ

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Tuesday January 24, 2023

Isaiah 53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul
an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure
of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

He who reads the Bible with the eye of faith, desiring to discover its hidden secrets, sees something more in the Savior’s death than Roman cruelty or Jewish malice: he sees the solemn decree of God fulfilled by men, who were the ignorant, but guilty instruments of its accomplishment. He looks beyond the Roman spear and nail, beyond the Jewish taunt and jeer, up to the sacred fount, whence all things flow, and traces the crucifixion of Christ to the breast of deity. He believes with Peter—“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” We dare not impute to God the sin, but at the same time the fact, with all its marvelous effects in the world’s redemption, we must ever trace to the sacred fountain of divine love. So does our prophet. He says, “It pleased Jehovah to bruise him.” He overlooks both Pilate and Herod, and traces it to the heavenly Father, the first person in the divine trinity. “It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief.” Now, beloved, there be many who think that God the Father is at best but an indifferent spectator of salvation. Others belie him still more. They look upon him as an unloving, severe being, who had no love to the human race, and could only be made loving by the death and agonies of our Saviour. Now, this is a foul libel upon the fair and glorious grace of God the Father, to whom forever be honor: for Jesus Christ did not die to make God loving, but he died because God was loving.

“T’was not to make Jehovah’s love
     Towards his people flame,
That Jesus from the throne above,
     A suff’ring man became.”

“T’was not the death which he endured,
     Nor all the pangs he bore,
That God’s eternal love procured,
     For God was love before.”

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C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Day One Publications, 1998)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Reflecting With God 1/24/2023

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.

Tuesday Reflecting

So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12.

Every day is a little life; and our whole life is but a day repeated: whence it is that old Jacob numbers his life by days; and Moses desires to be taught this point of holy arithmetic, to number not his years, but his days. Those, therefore, that dare lose a day, are dangerously prodigal; those that dare misspend it, desperate.
~ BISHOP HALL

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Daily Prayer & Praise 1/24/2023

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Lord, hear our prayer:

Lord, we praise you for the sheer size and endless variety of your creation. The more we discover, the more we realize just how little we do know. We scale mountains and plumb the depths of oceans; we reach the outer limits of space and we look back into history; we understand so much about our own world, our own bodies, our own minds. Yet, Lord, again and again we are confronted with the reality of how little is the sum of our knowledge. All-knowing, all-seeing God, we praise you because there is nothing you do not know, nothing you do not fully understand, nothing that is beyond your comprehension. Mighty, holy, wonderful God, we praise and worship you, Lord of all. But Lord, we praise you more that because of the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, we can know him as Saviour and through the Holy Spirit we can serve him as Lord. Lord, accept our praises, poor as they are, and keep our hearts and minds and lives focused on Christ, the source and reason and the power for our praises.

Amen.

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Some minor adaptation on some prayers.
David Clowes, 500 Prayers For All Occasions © 2003 by David C Cook Publishing
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Behind Every Bush

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. . . . For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:10, 12.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. . . . And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9, 11.

I read something the other day from a wonderful Sister-in-Christ and it reminded me of things I have heard and read personally for many, many years. It truly upset me because I have seen this over the years in my own ministry. I want you to read it before I speak to the importance of this:

I HAVE HEARD a lot of theories about mental illness over the years. One that comes up with alarming regularity is that mental illness is demon possession. When a believer is already struggling through the darkness of mental illness, hearing that is a devastating blow.

First off: Very few things infuriate me more than that statement. It is utterly unhelpful and incredibly cruel to someone already suffering in ways you can’t begin to imagine. If you have suffered from that blow as a mental illness patient, I am so sorry. I want to wrap my arms around and tell you that it is NOT true and that is not what God is thinking. The person saying it is probably trying to be helpful and simply doesn’t understand mental illness.

Second: If mental illness is demon possession then every other illness has to be too.  The brain is no different than the heart, the kidneys, pancreas, etc. Sure, it’s pretty complex but it is still an organ of the body. So  if mental illness is demon possession then so is diabetes, cancer, heart conditions, and etc.

Mental Illnesses are complex, difficult to understand, and can look a little scary. I think that’s where some of the stigma comes from. We don’t understand it so we label it. It looks a little weird and crazy at times, so people decide “hey, it must be demon possession” when it’s really just the balance of all the things in the brain getting a little wonky.  Those things don’t look as socially acceptable as diabetes, heart conditions, etc. BUT THEY SHOULD BE.

So to clarify at its simplest:

  • it’s insulin not working right
  • it’s a faulty heart valve.
  • it’s the immune system attacking the wrong thing
  • it’s just unbalanced chemicals. 1

brittany good 1

I can tell you that I have had experiences firsthand, personally and in the area of ministry (serving), with some who see, shall I say, “demons behind every bush!” Yes, you read that right. I have known many who believe that every little thing that is wrong, whether health-wise, mentally and/or emotionally, financially, and even in the area of relationships, if it goes wrong, it is caused by a demon! Have problems in your marriage, it’s the demon of divorce at work.

I don’t want to seem cruel or even crude, but those ideas come from spiritual ignorance. Now don’t misjudge what I wrote, I wrote ignorance, not stupidity. Stupidity is willful and has no cure except repentance. On the other hand, ignorance is a lack of knowledge and/or understanding. It’s cure is study, meditation and prayer, especially in relation to spiritual things relating to the Word of God, the Holy Bible.

As far as our created selves, God created a most marvelous and wonderful thing when He created humankind. However, as you well know, inherent sin, from our first ancestral parents, Adam and Eve, caused corruption in God’s beautiful creation and that sin affected all of God’s creation that mankind is a part of. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote:

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. – Romans 8:19-21.

What the Word is telling us is that creation itself is waiting for our complete redemption so that it also will be set free from the curses brought on by sin. However, this brings me to the point I want to make and stress. If we truly are brothers and sisters in Christ, it is because we have been set free from the spiritual bondage of that inherent sin. We also are sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption and before that redemption is complete, we have an Advocate with our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, who is standing at the Father’s right hand. Whenever you see mention of God’s right hand it simply means, that it is the power, strength, and authority of the Father in regards to His creation.

One of the scriptures I gave above assures us that “you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Does this mean that we are free from the corruption of the flesh? Absolutely not. We are “saved” spiritually from sin, we are born-again into a new creation spiritually (2 Corinthians 5:17-19) and reconciled unto God, but we are not yet redeemed from the corruption of the flesh. That means, there is still illness resulting in health issues, mental and emotional, there are financial issues, there are relationship issues, and there are spiritual issues that still plague us until we experience full redemption.

Jesus, Himself stated that our Heavenly Father “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” – Matthew 5:45. Things in the natural, do happen and will continue to happen on the saints and on the sinners, until full redemption is realized.

This leads me to something that I want to make clear especially and most importantly in the way of health matters. I personally have had peers actually tell me that the reason I have nerve damage in my legs and have to rely on a wheelchair for extended periods of time is due to unconfessed sin in my life. You know what that reminds me of? Job’s three friends, the ones we sometimes affectionately call his “comforters.” That kind of thinking would also lead some to believe that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh,” the messenger of satan sent to buffet him, was due to unconfessed sin and not to prove the effectiveness of God’s grace in Paul’s (and thus man’s) weakness as the Bible states (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). That thinking is just not scriptural.

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The Bible tells us that God gives His children power, love and discipline, or good judgment (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV). When you study the Word of God, you will see that He doesn’t promise a strong BRAIN, anymore than He promises everyone to have a strong HEART or strong MUSCLES. We need to actually study the Word and not make assumptions based on predetermined beliefs or assumptions. God is always faithful in His promises and He always delivers!

So to make it very clear, it’s not a demon that causes many of these health disorders; it’s a corruption of the flesh due to the inherent sin that we are no longer under spiritual bondage too. However, we are still affected by that inherent sin in the natural, and that is why people still get sick! This is why Jesus told us the sun shines on all and the rain falls on all. Things in the natural, good and bad, affect everyone born in the natural. The difference is all the spiritual benefits that come to God’s children despite the things in the natural.

If we are willing to truly understand God’s love for all His creation and especially those who are our sisters and brothers due to reconciliation with God, through Christ Jesus, we should truly be more loving and prayerful in our actions and words, rather than condemning and judgmental and trying to find fault with things we might not know much about.

I hope that what my Sister-in-Christ wrote will stand as a learning experience, and a growth in wisdom when dealing with other brothers and sisters who are having to go through things in life just so they can learn that God’s grace “is sufficient for you, for My [God’s] strength is made perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9. This is one of the forgotten or often-times neglected blessings of living in the spiritual; despite things that come to us in the natural, God is still sovereign above all and will continue to bless those who are His.

Demons are real and at work in the world system, they always have been. BUT – they have no way to enter into a person that has accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, and has been reconciled to the Father through Christ, and has been sealed by His Holy Spirit; thus demons have absolutely no power over those who belong to and abide in Christ Jesus.

If you are going to believe that others are possessed by demons (which can still happen), you better be prayed up, devoted to fasting, and walking in the spiritual gift of discernment. Otherwise, with your accusations you are going to cause much more pain and hurt than any demons will.

I hope many will meditate on this and allow the Holy Spirit to correct the false and inerrant teaching that is becoming much more prevalent in the world today. Don’t be part of the problem, rather, become part of the spiritual solution!

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1 Brittany Good; Brittany Good Creative | Facebook
Website: Brittany Good Creative.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Scripture links open in a new window and are New King James Version unless otherwise noted.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Food For Thought 1/23/2023

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Death Row Gambling Refused

Three bandits went to the electric chair in Illinois, but the singular thing was the grim scene before the execution. They were offered a chance to gamble to determine the order in which they would die: Flip a coin. Many a time they had enjoyed gambling. Many a time they flipped a coin in the hazard of chance, to see who would win the money.

But this time the gambling was too forbidding. They refused. Allowed to choose the order in which they would go, they couldn’t bear the clink of the coin on the stone floor. They decided to walk to the chair in the sequence of their cells along death row at Joliet, the nearest man first, the farthest man last.

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Acquaint Yourself With God

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Monday January 23, 2023

Psalm 24:9-10
Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.

When viewed from the perspective of eternity, the most critical need of this hour may well be that the Church should be brought back from her long Babylonian captivity and the name of God be glorified in her again as of old. Yet we must not think of the Church as an anonymous body, a mystical religious abstraction. We Christians are the Church and whatever we do is what the Church is doing. The matter, therefore, is for each of us a personal one. Any forward step in the Church must begin with the individual.

What can we plain Christians do to bring back the departed glory? Is there some secret we may learn? Is there a formula for personal revival we can apply to the present situation, to our own situation? The answer to these questions is yes. . . .

The secret is an open one which the wayfaring man may read. It is simply the old and ever-new counsel: Acquaint thyself with God. To regain her lost power the Church must see heaven opened and have a transforming vision of God.

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Tozer on the Almighty God : A 366-Day Devotional (WingSpread, 2004)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Reflecting With God 1/23/2023

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.

Monday Reflecting

So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12.

Coming hastily into a chamber, I had almost thrown down a crystal hour-glass: fear lest I had, made me grieve as if I had broken it. But, alas! how much more precious time have I cast away without any regret? The hour-glass was but crystal, each hour a pearl: that, but like to be broken—this, lost outright: that, but casually—this, done willfully. A better hourglass might be bought; but time once lost is lost forever. Thus we grieve more for toys than for treasures. Lord, give me an hour-glass, not to be by me, but in me. Teach me the number of my days—an hourglass to turn me—that I may apply my heart unto wisdom.
~ FULLER

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Daily Prayer & Praise 1/23/2023

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Lord, hear our prayer:

Father, we come from a world where nothing is certain and where nothing is easy. We come to you with confidence, to offer a little more of our lives to you. We come knowing that you will ask nothing of us that we cannot face, nothing we cannot do, nothing we cannot give, so long as we rely on the presence and power of the risen Christ. Father, we ask that by your Holy Spirit you will enable us to offer you worship that is centered not on ourselves and our needs, but on you and on you alone.

Amen.

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Some minor adaptation on some prayers.
David Clowes, 500 Prayers For All Occasions © 2003 by David C Cook Publishing
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Christ In The Midst of The Church – 5

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Christ Jesus in our midst is the key to powerfulness.

When Jesus greeted them with His peace, the Word says, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” – John 20:22-23.

Jesus breathed on His disciples and gave them the Holy Spirit. Now understand something, this was before the day of Pentecost, yet here we see the Savior of man, giving the Holy Spirit to those who believed on Him and awaited upon Him in obedience. Many point to the day of Pentecost as the beginning of what we know now as The Church, yet here, we see the resurrected (not yet ascended) imparting His Spirit to those who would start His Church. These were the ones that He imparted Life into to share with others who would become a part of His Body.

There is no doubt that when John wrote this, he was remembering the story of creation. The writer of Genesis states, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” – Genesis 2:7. The coming of the Holy Spirit is like a new creation. It is like the wakening of life from the dead. When the Holy Spirit comes upon a person, he or she is born again and recreated to do the will of God. That is what happened to those disciples gathered there when He sent them as the Father sent Him!

The Greek word labete is the word translated as “receive” in verse 22 of John, chapter 20. It derives from a word in the Greek that means to “take, to seize.” In other words, when Jesus breathed on His disciples, He was essentially saying, “Take, seize, the Holy Spirit.”

There is a natural reluctance on the part of Christians to take this gift of God, and don’t be deceived, a gift it is. We shrink from receiving this priceless possession of God’s presence in our lives because we feel unworthy. It reminds me of the a story of the first Emperor Alexander of Russia:

He once ruled all of Russia after his father was assassinated. It is said that on one occasion he presented to one of his lowly servants a rare and expensive golden cup. The poor servant (most likely a slave, really) drew back and said, “Your Majesty, it is too much for me to take.”

It is said that for a moment the Czar hesitated, but then he thrust the chalice into the hand of his servant, replying, “But it is not too much for me to give!”

This is the same predicament we put ourselves into. We shrink from taking the precious gift of God’s Spirit, saying, “I am not worthy; it is too much for me to receive.” But our matchless, loving Savior, with His nail-pierced hands, thrusts the gift of the Holy Spirit into our lives, saying, “Take it! Take it! It is not too much for Me to give.”

Today, anyone who has accepted Christ Jesus in obedience, as the disciples of long ago did, can look up into heaven into the face of the Savior and boldly, yet humbly state, with confidence and assurance, “Oh, blessed Lord Jesus, unworthy though I am, I receive the Holy Spirit. May He fill my life with His presence.”

The precious gift of the sweet Holy Spirit is ours forever for the receiving. All we have to do to receive it, is to take Him and seize Him with our whole heart!

Peacefulness, joyfulness, usefulness, and powerfulness are yours. Again I ask you, what and who is the key? The simple answer and plain truth, is, Christ Jesus standing within our midst, in the midst of His Church!

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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A New Year Wish

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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*Pastor’s Note: A.B. Simpson was a very well respected Canadian preacher, theologian and author who lived from December 15, 1843 to October 29, 1919. My prayer is that you will be blessed and inspired by his poetry as much as I am.

A NEW YEAR WISH

Ever may the Father send thee
More than fondest love can pray;
May His love and power defend thee
And His presence still attend thee
For thy farthest pilgrim way.

Better than thy best endeavor
Ever may thy future prove;
Evil touch or harm thee never,
Richest blessing crown thee ever,
Ending in the bliss above.

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From Songs of the Spirit: Poetry by A. B. Simpson. Public Domain
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Centuries of Meditations – First Century 33-34

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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33

The riches of darkness are those which men have made, during their ignorance of God Almighty’s treasures: That lead us from the love of all, to labor and contention, discontentment and vanity. The works of darkness are Repining, Envy, Malice, Covetousness, Fraud, Oppression, Discontent and Violence. All which proceed from the corruption of Men and their mistake in the choice of riches: for having refused those which God made, and taken to themselves treasures of their own, they invented scarce and rare, insufficient, hard to be gotten, little, movable and useless treasures. Yet as violently pursued them as if they were the most necessary and excellent things in the whole world. And though they are all mad, yet having made a combination they seem wise; and it is a hard matter to persuade them either to Truth or Reason. There seemeth to be no way, but theirs: whereas God knoweth they are as far out of the way of Happiness, as the East is from the West. For, by this means, they have let in broils and dissatisfactions into the world, and are ready to eat and devour one another: particular and feeble interests, false proprieties, insatiable longings, fraud, emulation, murmuring and dissension being everywhere seen; theft and pride and danger, and cousinage, envy and contention drowning the peace and beauty of nature, as waters cover the sea. Oh how they are ready to sink always under the burden and cumber of devised wants! Verily, the prospect of their ugly errors, is able to turn one’s stomach: they are so hideous and deformed.

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Would one think it possible for a man to delight in gauderies like a butterfly, and neglect the Heavens? Did we not daily see it, it would be incredible. They rejoice in a piece of gold more than in the Sun; and get a few little glittering stones and call them jewels. And admire them because they be resplendent like the stars, and transparent like the air, and pellucid like the sea. But the stars themselves which are ten thousand times more useful, great, and glorious they disregard. Nor shall the air itself be counted anything, though it be worth all the pearls and diamonds in ten thousand worlds. A work of God so Divine by reason of its precious and pure transparency, that all worlds would be worth nothing without such a treasure.

Thomas Traherne (1637 – September 27, 1674) was an English poet, Anglican cleric, theologian, and religious writer. Traherne’s writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he saw as his intimate relationship with God. His writing conveys an ardent, almost childlike love of God, and is compared to similar themes in the works of later poets William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His love for the natural world is frequently expressed in his works.

The work for which Traherne is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. Before its rediscovery this manuscript was said to have been lost for almost two hundred years and is now considered a much loved devotional.

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Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations. Public Domain
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Gideon, An Unlikely Hero – 13

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Charles Henry Mackintosh (October 1820 – November 2, 1896) was a nineteenth-century Christian preacher, dispensationalist, writer of Bible commentaries, magazine editor and member of the Plymouth Brethren. In 1843, Mackintosh wrote his first tract entitled Peace with God. When he was 24, he opened a private school where he developed a special method of teaching classical languages. Mackintosh went around preaching the gospel to the poor during school holidays. He wrote to John Nelson Darby on August 31, 1853 that the Lord had “called me into larger service than ever,” and he soon concluded that he must give himself entirely to preaching, writing, and public speaking.

Gideon, An Unlikely Hero Part 13

Having broken down Baal’s altar, Gideon is now led to encounter Midian’s hosts. “Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and Abi-ezer was gathered after him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.”

In short there was a thorough awakening. The tide of spiritual energy rose majestically, and bore hundreds and thousands upon its bosom. The work which had begun in Gideon’s heart was extending itself far and wide, throughout the length and breadth of the land. The Spirit of the Lord was displaying His mighty energy, and multitudes were stirred up to gather round the standard which the hand of faith had unfurled.

But just at this point, it would seem that Gideon’s faith needed fresh confirmation. It may be his spirit was overawed when he saw the mighty host of the uncircumcised mustering before him; and then, for a moment, his courage failed, and his heart craved a fresh sign from the Lord. “And Gideon said unto God, If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast said,” alas! The poor heart can place its unbelieving “if” right in front of the word of God who cannot lie, “behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and if it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.”

How marvelous! And yet we need not marvel if we know anything at all of our own hearts. Anything for the poor human heart but the naked word of the living God. A sign, a token, something that the eye can see. The word of God is not enough for unbelieving nature.

But oh! The matchless grace of God! His un-reproaching love! His tender considerateness! He graciously meets the weakness of His poor servant, for “It was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.” What condescending grace! Instead of severely rebuking Gideon’s unbelieving “if,” He graciously confirms his wavering faith by superabounding evidence.

And yet all this sufficed not. Gideon seeks still further confirmation. “And he said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once. Let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew upon all the ground.” Such is the abounding grace and patience of the God with whom we have to do. Forever adored be His holy Name! Who would not trust Him, and love Him, and serve Him?

Continuing on we see Gideon’s companions are brought before us; and their history, as well as that of their leader, is full of interest and profit for us. They had to be trained and tested as well as he. Let us ponder the narrative.

“Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.”

The clear and soul-stirring blast of Gideon’s trumpet had drawn around him a very large and imposing company; but this company had to be tested. It is one thing to be moved by the zeal and energy of some earnest servant of Christ, and it is quite another thing to possess those moral qualities which alone can fit a man to be an earnest servant himself. There is a vast difference between following in the wake of some devoted man of God, and walking with God ourselves, being propped up and led on by the faith and energy of another, and leaning upon God in the power of individual faith for ourselves.

To Be Continued

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Minor adaptation of excerpts from C. H Mackintosh, Gideon and His Companions. Public Domain.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible: King James Version (KJV) Public Domain.
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Speaking Out

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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For Saturday January 21, 2023

John 2:16
[Jesus] said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make
My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

“Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church.” Those are the opening words of The Cost of Discipleship, written by German pastor-theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Many know him as the author of this and other books, but not all know that he was executed by hanging in 1945 for the part he played in resisting Adolf Hitler’s Nazi government in Germany. As a Christian, he spoke out for what he knew to be true, though it cost him his life.

We could call Dietrich Bonhoeffer a modern Christian activist—and we could call Jesus of Nazareth the first one in history. When Jesus saw that the Temple in Jerusalem had been turned into a marketplace where unscrupulous vendors were profiting from the guilty consciences of worshipers, His righteous anger took over. Driving them out, He cleansed His Father’s house and incurred the wrath of those who valued their own interests above God’s (John 2:13–22).

The day may come when you are faced with something you know is not right. The temptation is just to pass by, to look the other way. But if you don’t speak up for God, who will? Be thankful that Jesus was willing to speak up for righteousness even though it cost Him His life.

It costs to follow Jesus Christ, but it costs even more not to.
UNKNOWN

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David Jeremiah, Turning Points with God: 365 Daily Devotions (Tyndale, 2014)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Do-It-Yourself Religion

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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IN a world in which the motto often is “do your own thing,” people frequently develop self-styled religious beliefs and practices. For some this means a pick-and-choose, take-it-or-leave-it approach to established Christianity. For others it means coming up with outlandish ideas about God and eccentric ways of living. Either way, the ultimate authority becomes the individual, who assumes the prerogative of ignoring any demand or discipline that feels too limiting or imposing.

A somewhat similar attitude seems to have characterized the Israelites as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. Apparently they were doing whatever was right in their own eyes when it came to religious observance (Deuteronomy 12:8). Not that they were necessarily turning away from God, but the lack of a permanently located worship center seems to have brought about a degree of laxness in regard to the ritual obligations of the Law. Moses warned them that that must change once they entered the land and God designated a site for worship (Deuteronomy 12:13-14). They were to follow the detailed instructions of the Law concerning sacrifices, holy days, tithes and offerings, and other elements of religious life.

Is the same true for Christians today? In answering that, it is important to note that NT instructions and descriptions of worship are not nearly as detailed as those given to Israel in the OT Law. There seems to be a great deal more freedom given to individual believers and to their communities of faith. But that does not mean a do-it-yourself approach to religion. Scripture gives us an objective set of truths to be believed and behaviors to be lived. There may be latitude within those boundaries for cultural, ethnic, and geographic applications, but all believers fall into sin when they move outside the clear teaching of Scripture. In whatever manner we worship God, He still calls us to worship Him “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).

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Courtesy of Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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The Need For Renewal

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. – 2 Kings 22:10-11.

But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. – Acts 19:9-10.

She stood in New York Harbor for ninety-seven years, welcoming seventeen million immigrants to her shores. As her century birthday approached, it was obvious that the Statue of Liberty needed restoration. Two thousand iron bars within her superstructure had deteriorated to less than half their original thickness. The skin had been thinned by acid rain and air pollution, and pieces of her torch had fallen off. Americans gave millions of dollars to restore the lady in time for the nation’s 112th birthday, July 4, 1986.

Human monuments, history, life, and morals must be constantly reinforced and resupplied, fixed and repaired. Everything in creation suffers constant deterioration. Likewise, our Christian lives demand constant reinforcement to serve at optimum strength. Always subject to influences that bear us away from God, we cast an anchor into his Word to hold us steady. Knowing that spiritual fervor is lost from slow leaks, not blowouts, we must constantly check our spiritual pressure by feeding daily on God’s Word and renewing our life through prayer. Revivals aren’t just convenient intervals in otherwise normal lives; they are essential reclamation projects for our souls.

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Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Saturday Prayer & Praise 1/21/2023

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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David Clarkson: Piercing Heaven – Puritan’s Prayers

Lord, I would be the most miserable person in the world if my hopes were only in this life. Why? Because I am hopeless without Christ’s righteousness. My life could never be comfortable, and there would be no hope at all of eternal life.

If you denied me that hope, I would be the most miserable one of all. I may be happy without worldly enjoyments, but all things in the world cannot make me happy without this.

So however you treat me in this world, whatever you deny me, Lord, deny me not this. I can be happy without riches and abundance, like Job and Lazarus were. I can be happy even if I am reviled and reproached, as was Christ and his disciples. I can be happy and comfortable in prison, as were Paul and Silas.

But I cannot be happy without the righteousness of Christ.

All the riches, places, or honors on earth will leave me miserable if I am without this. Even if I were rich and needed nothing, without this I would still be wretched and miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

If I had all things that that a person could desire on earth, what good would it do me without Christ’s righteousness?

What would riches do for me, if they came with the wrath of God? What comfort would honor bring me, if I remained a son of perdition or a child of wrath?

What sweetness would there be in pleasure, if I were on the path to everlasting torments?

What miserable comforts and enjoyments are these, without Christ’s righteousness!

Lord, however you deal with me in outward things, whatever you take from me, whatever you deny me—do not deny me Christ! Do not deny me a share in his righteousness!

Amen.

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God Is Sovereign Above All – 5

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Scripture Text – Daniel 1

Abraham called God “the Judge of all the earth” (Genesis 18:25), and King Hezekiah prayed, “You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.” – 2 Kings 19:15. In Daniel’s day, King Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way that “the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth.” – Daniel 4:32 (NIV).

The first chapter of Daniel’s book gives ample evidence of the sovereign hand of God in the affairs of both nations and individuals.

God Gave Daniel a Long Life and Ministry

Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. – Daniel 1:21.

The first year of King Cyrus’ reign was 539 B.C., but Daniel was still alive in 537 B.C., the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1). If Daniel was fifteen years old in the year 605 B.C. when he was taken to Babylon, then he was born in 620 B.C., and he would have been eighty-three years old when he received the revelations recorded in chapters 10–12. While reading the prophecy of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10), Daniel understood God’s plan for the Jews to return to their land and rebuild the temple and the city (Daniel 9:1–2); and he lived long enough to see this prophecy fulfilled! How long he lived after that nobody knows, nor is it important that we know. During Daniel’s long life, he had opportunity to witness to Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Belshazzar, and Cyrus, as well as to the many court officers who came and went. He was a faithful servant, and he could say with the Lord Jesus, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given me to do.” – John 17:4.

However, not every faithful servant of God is given the blessing of a long life. Stephen was probably a young man when he was martyred (Acts 7), and Paul was in his sixties when he was killed in Rome. The godly Scottish preacher Robert Murray M’Cheyne was two months short of being thirty years old when he died, yet his ministry still enriches us. William Whiting Borden (“Borden of Yale”) was only twenty-five when he died in Egypt, and David Brainerd, missionary to the Native Americans, was only twenty-nine when God called him home. “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12. We number our years, not our days, but everybody still has to live a day at a time, and we don’t know when that final day will dawn in our own lives.

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In order to accomplish His plans for His people, the Lord providentially works to put some of His servants into places of special honor and responsibility. When He wanted to protect Jacob’s family and the future of the nation of Israel, the Lord sent Joseph to Egypt and made him second ruler of the land. God had Esther and Mordecai in Persia, where they exposed a plot against the Jews and saved the people of Israel from being annihilated. Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer in Susa and was able to get royal assistance for restoring the walls of Jerusalem. I wonder if the men in high political office who assisted Paul were true believers in Jesus Christ? (Acts 19:30–31; Romans 16:23) Even if they weren’t, God placed them where they were and enabled them to accomplish His will.

The events recorded in this chapter should be a great encouragement to us when we experience trials and testing and become discouraged about the direction it appears we might be heading; for when God is not allowed to rule, He overrules. God is still on the throne and will never leave us nor forsake us.

Has the enemy destroyed the Holy City and the holy temple and taken God’s people captive? Fear not, for there is still a godly remnant that worships the true God and serves Him. Does the enemy attempt to defile that godly remnant? Fear not, for the Lord will work on their behalf and keep them separated to Himself. Are godly believers needed in places of authority? Fear not, for the Lord will see to it that they are prepared and appointed. Does the Lord desire to communicate His prophetic truth to His people? Fear not, for He will keep His servants alive and alert until their work is done. Are you in a place of responsibility and wondering how long you can hold out? Fear not, for the same God who called you and equipped you is able to make you “continue” until you complete the tasks that He has assigned you. “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:24.

Each believer is either a conformer or a transformer. We’re either being squeezed into the world’s mold or we’re transforming things in the world into which God has put us. Transformers don’t always have an easy life, but it’s an exciting one and as Jesus promised, an abundant one, and it should give you great delight to know that God is using you to influence others for His glory and His perfect plans.

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Adaptation of excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Resolute, “Be” Commentary Series.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Recovering The Opera House

Posted on January 20, 2023 by Roland Ledoux

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Shortly after the Crosby Opera House was erected in Chicago about 1865, its owner, Uranus H. Crosby, realized it was a financial failure and conceived an ingenious scheme to save his investment. Announcing that the theater was to be raffled off, he sold 185,000 tickets at $5 each and, after the drawing, promptly bought it back from the winner for $200,000. As the stunt made the house popular and successful, Crosby soon recovered the whole $1,000,000 that he had spent to build it.

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