God is my refuge

Psalms 7:1-7

Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me apart like a lion and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.   Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands— if I have repaid my ally with evil or without cause have robbed my foe— then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.  Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies.  Awake, my God; decree justice.   Let the assembled peoples gather around you, while you sit enthroned over them on high.

Jesus speaks to all who will listen telling us who wants to harm us, who our real enemy is but then He explains very clearly why He came to Planet Earth to take on the form of a man, you will find this in John 10:10.  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  The thief is only one of his names, Satan also goes by the devil, and he is not all knowing.  He does not know your thoughts, but he does have the ability to talk into your life, and his voice sounds like yours.  So often, we the followers of Christ have ideas that come into our mind and we take ownership of them.  They go like this your so much better than these people, you deserve better than _________ and you fill in the blank.  It may be a job, your wife, church, or family.  A follower of Christ needs to stop and ask where did that thought come from?  Or the thief may tell you, you are a loser, have no worth to anyone and the world would be better off without you.  I ask once more this question, is that coming from Jesus, and the answer is a big no.  It is coming from the one who is the deceiver, and his end goal is to destroy you.

One would be wise to cry out to the Father as David has done, make sure you are taking refuge in the Lord, knowing you are no match for this enemy, but Jesus is, for He has taken victory over him when He shed his blood on the cross as a covering of sin.  Yes, Satan was defeated at the cross and he knows his time is short, so he is after you and all that you hold dear.

Did you notice that David has searched his soul we are told in 2 Corinthians 13:5-6, these words from the apostle Paul.  “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!  I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.”  

This should be the prayer of every follower of Christ, for the enemy is very real and has his sight on you and your family, so run to Jesus!   Arise, Lord, in your anger; rise up against the rage of my enemies.  Awake, my God; decree justice.    My prayer for you and me is that we awake to our need to run to the Father and ask that He fight our battle against this evil enemy that is always trying to destroy us, and the body of Christ, His Church.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Only Jesus, only Jesus

January 17, 2019

Psalms 6:1-10

“Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.  Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.   My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?  Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.  Among the dead, no one proclaims your name.  Who praises you from the grave?

 I am worn out from my groaning.  All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.  My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.  Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.  All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.”

David knew God, King David often made a mess of his life much like you and I do.  Yes, he made some bad choices, and yet like you and I he knew these truths that God had an unfailing love for him.  David also had a fear of the Lord and when confronted by his sins, was quick to seek God’s forgiveness.

It is very early in the morning and as I lay in bed not wanting to get up because I have a busy day, the book “Valley of Vision” came into my mind.  It is a book of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, and on page 96 I read this prayer. “O God, I bless thee for the happy moment when I first saw thy law fulfilled in Christ, wrath appeased, death destroyed, sin forgiven, my soul saved.

Ever since thou hast been faithful to me: daily have I proved the power of Jesus blood, daily have I known the strength of the Spirit, my teacher, director, sanctifier.

I want no other rock to build upon than that I have, desire no other hope than that of the gospel truth, need no other look than that which gazes on the cross.

Forgive me if I have tried to add anything to the foundation if I have unconsciously relied upon my knowledge, experience, deeds, and not seen them as filthy rags, if I have attempted to complete what is perfect in Christ; May my cry be always, Only Jesus only Jesus!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Have you overcome the World?

Psalms 5:7-12

“But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence, I bow down toward your holy temple.  Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—make your way straight before me.  Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues, they tell lies.  Declare them guilty, O God!  Let their intrigues be their downfall.  Banish them for their many sins for they have rebelled against you.  But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.  Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

I know your first thought is that the Psalmist is writing about lawyers or the Congress of the United States of America, you would be wrong.  Yes, they had lawyers very religious ones, but I believe the king is referring to his enemies that want to destroy the nations of Israel and some of the turncoats in his military that refuse to trust in God to be a shield of protection and victory.  Do you recall what the apostle John said in 1John 5:4, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.  And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”  Now if you stop reading you have missed the point, it was not faith in the King, or the military, no it was in Jesus Christ, as the only Son of God.  It was the object of their faith, both then and now.

It has been more than two thousand years, and the enemies of Israel still want to destroy them.   And until the end, the last battle after Jesus has established his throne on the earth and a thousand year reign, the one Jesus calls the thief, the devil, or Satan is released, then the final battle and Judgment.  You will find that in Revelation 20:1-3, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while.”

If you like the end of the story, keep reading in Revelation 20-22, and yes it is faith in Jesus Christ that overcomes this sinful world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

LORD I am in great need of your attention

January 15, 2019

Psalm 5: 1-6

“Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.  Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.  O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.  For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.  The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

The Psalmist is crying out to God in prayer and also songs of praise, but King David is saying LORD I am in great need of your attention, for only you can meet my needs.  Not knowing the situation, but it may be one of the many times when King Saul was trying to kill him.

Now you or I have anyone out to kill us or do we?  For Jesus tells us the thief, meaning the devil, has come only to kill, steal and destroy; you find that in John 10:10.  I’m sure you, like me understand Jesus cannot lie, so when He tells us the devil is out to destroy us it is true.  I’ve come to know in my own life, that the thief does not recognize my thoughts, or what my action will be to his deceitfulness.  But the dude has watched us for thousands of years, and he knows what buttons to push, he understands our fleshly desires.  And that being true, should that not make you and me needy and dependent on our God every moment of the day?

A busy life requires planning, and I’ve found that no plan equals little or no success.  Proverbs 21:30, gives clear counsel to the statement above; “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.”  Just maybe a wise person would run the plans of the day before the Lord and see if your intentions are the same as the Lord’s.

Do you understand that God has no place in His kingdom for evil and the proud and those full of self and those who make a practice of lying will not stand before God?  People who enjoy taking the life of others and the deceitful find themselves unable to approach a holy God. 

If you find yourself described above, there is still time to make right all of this, and the answer found in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”  It is not and I’m sorry, for God is not fooled by our words, He looks at the intent of the heart.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Anger and the lack of silents steal our Joy

Psalms 4:1-4

“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!  You have given me relief when I was in distress.  Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!^!  O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame?  How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? “Selah” ^But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.  Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.”

Would you be so bold as to pray in this way, I believe many are, but many also who have not given any thought to a holy God until they are in despair.  Yes, hopelessness often happens in this life, the doctor tells you that it’s not months but weeks that you have left, or worse is a child has only weeks to live.  It becomes easy for the person who does not need God to cry out to a righteous Father, but does God honor that prayer?

Well this I know God hears the prayers of His chosen, and the Psalmist tells us these facts; God had given him relief when he was in distress, and that God has taken ownership of the godly, and the Lord hears when he calls on Him.

 In the Scriptures, we are told to wait on the Lord and to call to Him, but also to be still and listen for His voice.  Many a follower of Christ has not learned how to sit still in a quiet room and wait for the Lord to speak.  And often we do not hear God because we have not trained ourselves to turn off the noise.

Verse four states this so well; ^“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.”

Verses 5-8

“Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.  There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?  Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”  You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.  In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ has made it clear to all it’s not about what you have done, no it is all about what He has done!  So what are the right sacrifices, keep reading for the remainder of the sentence states clearly who should be the object of our trust?  In the book of Malachi 3:8, “Will a man rob God?  Yet you are robbing me.  But you said, ‘How have we robbed you?  In your tithes and contributions.  If I have a life verse it is Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Many in the church are like the people of Judah who want God to perform and only bless them, though they never look to him until the storms of this life come on them.  Listen to the Psalmist, he lives in joy because of his relationship with God, and lives with peace, and does not fear what is coming.  He understands that God has promised His children; I will never leave you or forsake you.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

An Enemy inside the Family

Psalms 3:1-8

“Lord, how many are my foes!  How many rise up against me!  Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”

 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.  I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.

 I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

Arise, Lord!  Deliver me, my God!  Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.  From the Lord comes deliverance.  May your blessing be on your people?”

This is a Psalm of King David, but his battle is not with the Democrats and the press, as is Donald Trumps.  King David’s battle is from one of his sons, Absalom, who has turned the people and much of the military against his dad.  I never was blessed with sons, but I have a beautiful daughter, and I cannot get my mind to go to the place David found himself.

This is the same David that got in all kinds of trouble with King Saul when the women sang Saul had killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands.  But King David is a man after God’s heart so ponder on the verses above and learn how to cry out to our God and Father on your worst day.

The first thing David does is report to the Lord that there is a lot of fake news that is saying; God will not deliver me, that I’m toast in God’s sight.  But David is not buying into the false news; no, instead he is proclaiming God’s faithfulness.  Listen and learn from this for your day of trouble; ^“But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.  I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.”

We live in a world that operates in fear, and yet David tells us that he is not

Overcome with fear and is sleeping very well.  So David comes to a place where we all come, a place of dependence, and cries out to the Lord to fight his battle.  For David understands this truth, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.”  Have you come to this place in your life, if not, why not today?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“Stupid is as stupid does,”

Psalms 2:1-6

“Why do the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains
 and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.  He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,  “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

Now when God asks the question why, it is not like He is searching for the answer, as often you and I are when we address the why.  No, our Father is all knowing and why is a rhetorical question, asked to produce an effect or to make a statement rather than to elicit information. 

It is hard to understand how a ruler of a nation can be so stupid but then I recall Forest Gump’s mommy saying, “Stupid is as stupid does,” and that covers most world leaders, Hollywood, and the Congress of the United States. 

 A fearful place to find our self is in a nation with such foolish people and leaders who have brought about God’s wrath.  I’m concerned, we the people of the USA, are in such a spot, and it is time for the followers of Christ to awaken and pray for God’s mercy and not the deserved judgment of our silent and prayer less lives.

Now it is time for the good news; God has established His King, the only Son of God, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the one the Jewish people are still waiting for.  This time His coming will be very different, we find these words from the Father in Psalms 2:7-12.   ^“I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.  Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.  Kiss his son, or he will be angry, and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Blinded to the Counsel of Scripture

Psalms 1:1-6

One door and only one and yet the ways are two, yes this incredible gift God has given mankind is called free will, to choose blessing or curses, to choose righteousness or wickedness.  The problem all began with one man named Adam, and he decided to reject God’s best, wanting to be like God, and his action was wicked in God’s sight.  But, God had an answer a second man, His name is Jesus Christ, and He is God’s only Son, and over many years and generations, God makes it clear through His prophet and priest that without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness of sin. 

I’m sure you have read in the gospels that Jesus the Messiah, yes the promised Messiah would come into the world. But the chosen people had waited so long and those who still were waiting for Him, did not want God’s best, a child born to a teenage virgin, a poor girl in a dirty stable, but most were looking for a King to be a great warrior and free them from all enemies.  In the gospel of John 1:10-11, ^“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

Not much has changed since that time so long ago, mankind is still wanting to be a god, and even missing Jesus by looking for a messiah that they want.  So let’s explore the choice that makes a person righteous or evil in God’s sight, found in Psalms 1:1-6. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”

The person who chooses to receive the gift of God’s Son will be blessed if they follow the leadership of the Spirit of Christ that lives in them.  But the man/woman boy or girl that rejects God’s gift will be blind to the counsel of Scripture and will look at it as not relevant for one who is seeking a world they desire.  The ways of God are foolishness to them, and like Adam, they make a choice that God calls wicked.  C.S. Lewis give us this quote; “Two kinds of people, those who say to God “Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right then, have it your way.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“The Great Day of the Lord.”

Malachi Chapter 4

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.  But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.  And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rule that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

I prefer the English Standard Bible, and before chapter four it is titled in this manner; “The Great Day of the Lord.”  Verse one is clear that day will not be a good day for the arrogant and all evildoers, what they value the most before that day was themselves, what they had done, and what they had acquired.  You understand good stuff, I mean like big homes, lots of them all over the world, and money and all the many things it can buy, parks and roads that were given their names, and yes they have gained the world, but on that day they lost it all.  It is not a good day for the arrogant and all evildoers.

You want to make sure you're not one of them, you want to be as He describes in verse two;  “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.”  I’m in that group; I was born into the world depending on God to provide me parents that would nurture and train me in righteousness and after a time of trying to get my needs met outside of Christ, I ask Jesus to forgive me and come into my life an takeover the management, and He did.  I have most days allowed Him to lead me into an understanding that I can’t, but He can, and once more I’m dependent on Jesus and the Father to meet all my needs.

When we read in Isaiah 41:10 these words; “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  It is my understanding that God is referring to the fear this world will put on you.  As I’ve studied the Scriptures, I have an extreme fear of my God, of love and awed whose thoughts and ways are vastly different than my thoughts and ways.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Father's treasured Possession

Malachi 3:16-18

^“Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name. “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

The requirement of being a follower of Christ is a broken and contrite heart where you say to Jesus, something like this: I cannot live this life in my power, at my best I fine self wanting to be in charge.   As I examine my life I confess that you alone are God, you cover sin with your blood, and if I confess my sin, Jesus you have promised to forgive. You are my filter that Your Father sees me through, for it is Your blood that has covered my sins.

 I’ve come to understand this quote by Major Ian Thomas, “I can't, you never promise I could, You can, and You promised you would.”  I am no longer under the control of sin, but as the apostle, Paul so stated in the book of Romans, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:21-24)

As a follower of Christ, I no longer use the title Christian, for it has become too convoluted.  But this quote from Major Ian Thomas gives us an understanding of the Christ life, “Jesus Spirit living in you and me.  To be in Christ - that makes you fit for heaven; but for Christ to be in you - that makes you fit for earth.  To be in Christ changes your destination, but for Christ to be in you - that changes your destiny! The one makes heaven your home - the other makes this world His workshop.”

And because of what Jesus has done in and for you and me that makes us the Father’s treasured possession.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Heart

The Heart

Sunday, as people shared about the heart, it made me wonder do they have a Biblical understanding of the heart?  The physical heart is an organ, a muscle that pumps blood, much like the brain is not your mind, it also is an organ and both play a very important function in our body.  As people talked about an emotion, a feeling they had and talked about how they felt it inside of their chest, I wonder if maybe I was the only one in the room that had not experienced a feeling inside of my chest cavity?

I was taught by a very wise man that the real us is our soul and it is comprised of three parts: The Mind, it is how we think, and it analyzes data and makes recommendations to your will.  The Emotions are the way we feel, and responds to various stimuli and exerts influence on the will.  The Will makes decisions.  It works like a light switch; it is either on or off.  You don’t actually “make up your mind” about anything; you make up your will.  The Body (what my friend Bill called an earth suit is what houses your soul and spirit while on earth. It is a vehicle by which we relate to others.  Key Concept – you are a spiritual being with a soul in a body, not a physical being with a spirit.

So, with that background of who we are, I went to the Bible dictionary, to see if what was being said held true to what I believed.  You will find this of interest, taken from Baker’s Dictionary of Biblical Studies.

The Heart is the Center of Hidden Emotional-Intellectual-Moral Activity.  "Man looks at the outward appearance, " says Samuel, "but the Lord looks at the heart, ( 1 Sam 16:7 ) The king's heart is unsearchable to human kind. (Proverbs 25:3), but the Lord searches all hearts to reward all according to their conduct (Jer 17:10). In the time of judgment, God will expose the hidden counsels of the heart (1 Cor 4:5).  Jesus says that the heart's secrets are betrayed by the mouth, even as a tree's fruit discloses its nature (Matt 12:33-34). "A wise man's heart guides his mouth, " says Solomon (Prov, 16:23). Most important, the mouth confesses what the heart trusts (Rom 10:9; cf. Duet 30:14.)

Moderns connect some of the heart's emotional-intellectual-moral functions with the brain and glands, but its functions are not precisely equivalent for three reasons.

First, moderns do not normally associate the brain/mind with both rational and

no n rational activities, yet the ancients did not divorce them (Psalm 20:4.)

Second, the heart's reasoning, as well as it’s feeling, depends on its moral condition. Jesus said, "from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21). Because the human heart is deceitful above all things ( Jer 17:9 ) and folly is found up in the heart of a child ( Prov 22:15 ), the Spirit of God must give humans a new heart ( Jer 31:33 ; Ezek 36:26 ) through faith that purifies it ( Acts 15:9; cf. Eph 3:17 ). Third, moderns distinguish between the brain's thoughts and a person's actions, but the distinction between thought and action is inappropriate for the heart. "The word is very near you, " says Moses to a regenerated Israel, "in your mouth and in your heart” (Deut 30:14).

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "HEART" IN SCRIPTURE? The Bible uses the word "heart" primarily to refer to the ruling center of the whole person, the spring of all desires. ... The heart is the "home of the personal life," and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise (1 Kings 3:12, etc.), pure (Ps. 24:4; Matt.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Are My Action Speaking louder than My Words?

Malachi 3:13-15

“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?  But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly, evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

When reading the Scriptures, one must ask this question, who is speaking, and to whom are they talking?  A little history always helps, for God chose the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob from all the people of the world to be His chosen people.  So the one speaking is God and the people He is addressing are the sons and daughters of those three men.

Often our actions speak louder than our words, and again as a follower of Christ, have we not been chosen?  If you have any doubt go to 1Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

We are chosen, with God’s Spirit living in us, and the only thing God calls us to do is tell others and your family and friends what God has done for you.  Early this morning I was awakened and read from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young this thought; learn to say in all situations “I trust you, Jesus.” 

I know of no one who goes by the title of “I’m a follower of Christ,” that would say, ‘It is futile to serve God” but what about your actions are they speaking louder than your words.  Are you envious of those in the world that seem to have so much with no understanding of who gives them the mind and breath they use?  Do you live as if your needs must be met by your skills and hard work? 

If so your actions are saying, God, thanks for Jesus, now I’ve got to take matters in my hands and make sure the ship goes where I want.  It is time to go to 2 Corinthians 13:5, and do as it is instructing you.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Where has all the Kindness Gone?

January 3, 2019

Malachi 3:8-12

 ^“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.  You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.  Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.  I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.  Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.”

This morning someone sent me a paper that was full of interesting thoughts, and the questions that do have answer, like; why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a racecar is not called a racist?  If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?  Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?  But the question that follows made my thinker go into high gear for only a moment, and then the answer came.  If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

I’m not sure if you noticed, but kindness is not all that prevalent in our society, not to children or older people.  I’ve observed that many who are up in age are some of the most self-centered people I have come across.  But if you call yourself a follower of Christ, kindness should flow out of you as we are instructed in Ephesians 4:31-32.  “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” What are the others here for, and the answer is so clear, to live out the teachings of Christ, to allow the Holy Spirit to minister through your life.

Yes, man will rob God often we do not lend a helping hand waiting for others to step up to the plate, others like government.  But Malachi 3:8 makes it clear how you robbed God, in both your tithes and contributions.  Verse 9, tells us we are under a curse, and God is talking to those who go by His name, not your neighbor who never goes to church and believes he does not need God.

Now the good news to those who are obedient in this area of the Christ-life is verses 10-12.  Life is about choices, and today my brothers and sisters in Christ it is your choice, so be a blessing to all who come in contact with you!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“I the Lord do not change.”

Malachi 3:6-7

“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. ⁷ Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

If you are seeking God He will be found if you seek after Him with all your heart, do you know why I can make that absolute statement?  In Acts 17:27, we are told; “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”  Salvation that requires no conviction and no commitment but walking in front of the people sitting in seats and taking a preacher's hand is of no value, and it will not change your life.  I can testify to that in my life, I became a Baptist but thought I believed in Jesus, I did not ask Him to forgive me; I was meeting a requirement of the local church.

We live in a changing society and I have seen that change in 76 years of living on planet earth, and it matters not what you say all of us need bedrock that we can anchor on. “I the Lord do not change.”  The prophet Isaiah often spoke and shared what God wanted us to know about Himself; we find such information in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord; that is my name I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.”

What about what Isaiah was given in Isaiah 43:13, “From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.”  And this last word today from Isaiah: “Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me.” (Isaiah 46:9)

They ask this question; “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’  In Psalms 51:17, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”  My friend Bill often said you have got to mean it; I mean as if your life depended on it.  That brings one to this promise found in Romans 10:9-10,  ^“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

What did you do with Jesus?

January 1, 2019

Malachi 3:5

Both you and I have a date set for our court hearing, and the judge is only going to make His judgment on truth and facts.  From birth, He has a video and audible record of your life, and the only witness for or against you is you, your thoughts, and your actions.  Did I tell you that I’m going to have a defense attorney that the Judge will listen to Him?  He's not going to say a word while each of my thoughts and acts is view by the judge, but before the sentence, He speaks up and says Father Bob at age 27 ask me to forgive him for living independently from me, and trying to be his on god.  I cover all his sins with my blood that I shed on the cross for him, and he clothed in my righteousness.  Do you understand why it is so important to have Jesus Christ in your life, for judgment day misses no one, and heaven or hell depends on only one question: What did you do with Jesus?

Malachi 3:5 give us a look at some of the things God is going to make His judgment.  “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.”

Yes, the only witness other than your life in that courtroom will be the only Son of God, Jesus Christ.  If you aren't informed of what the Scriptures say that is not an excuse, for God has stated in Romans 1:19-20, these truths.   ^“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

And these words from the mouth of Jesus Christ;  “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”  (John 6:44)  Jesus also said; “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

My prayer is that you remember the words of your Creator and bow your will to His.  I sang this song as a child, “One way and only one and yet the ways or two I’m on the inside and which side or you. One door, and only one and yet its sides are two, Inside and outside, On which side are you?
From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice