Never expected to be a witness to this Time

Psalm 112

“Praise the Lord.  Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.  Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.  Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,
for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.  Goodwill come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.   Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.  They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.  Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.  They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.

The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teeth and waste away;
 the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.”

All of us who go by the name Christian are messed up; we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  But we are not wicked, for the wicked are those who have no fear of a Holy God.  Many in the Church at this time take up the label Christian but they have no spiritual fruit, and often their lives at home and work expose them as posers.  

I live in a time of evil, where good is called evil, a time I never thought I would experience.  A time where truth has no relevance and both men and women exchange truth for a lie, if the lie meets their goals.  That is the world I am experiencing, but I will not be moved, I anchor my life in truth.  Jesus tells us in John 14:6, the following; “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Many a foolish person has said, to restrictive, I will earn my way to heaven, I will do good works, give money to the poor and be nice to my neighbors, and God, if there is one, will feel honored to have me in His heaven.  Sounds like a winner, only one thing is wrong that’s a lie from the evil one, who came to kill, steal and destroy.   God has made clear in the Scriptures that all our good works outside of Jesus are as filthy rags in His eyes.

I found great joy in a healthy fear of the Lord, in looking and doing what Jesus has commanded, and I am a witness of my daughter and son-in-law and their two sons of the promises of His blessing.  It has not been a life free of trouble, but often I’ve found that it was me trying to do what only God could do that brought them on me.  As Isaiah said in chapter 6:5,  “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice