My Journey

Psalm 126:1-6

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.  Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”  The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.  Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!  Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!  He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

This Psalms is telling about the returning of the Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem as an event that has already taken place.  It is telling how God restores Zion as the political and religious center.  It also tells about the restoration of prosperity to both the people and the land.  What has God done for you?  Let me share what He has done for me  and about my exit from Babylon and into a Land of Promise.

I was born into a family of five, Dad and Mom, brother and sister.  My early childhood was playing in the park, going to church when the doors were open, and in that we did not have a car we walked everywhere or took the bus when we went downtown.  We had a small grocery store at the end of our street, but H.E.B. was about a mile and a half from the house and we carried our groceries.  The church was almost 3 miles and sometimes on Sunday nights someone would offer to bring us home.

I now understand we were under resourced, we did not have toys, like the other kids, or new clothes, but they were always clean, and we never went hungry.  If we wanted spending money, we picked up bottles, a milk bottle that someone pitched out was worth a nickel and a coke bottle was two cents at the grocery store. 

Sundays were special because we knew that on Sunday mother was going to fry chicken or cook a chuck roast with a dessert, that is if Dad was not working shift work, if so, no dessert and maybe no meat.  By the age of six I was part of the work force, it seemed because I was the youngest, my brother and sister used me as the buffing machine when we waxed the wood floors.  They pulled me all over the house on a towel, it was not fun.  When we painted the house, I was always the one that had to paint the eves and each 2 x 6, I hated that job.  We also had to keep the flower beds clean and the grass cut, we had a push mower that had no motor, Freddie and I were the motors.  

Now when it came to my sister, she helped mother in the house, she never had patches on her clothes, and did not have an older sister to pass down clothes, what a blessing.  My mother was amazing she knew how to cook red beans 98 different ways and when my sister needed a new dress, Mom and Doris would catch the bus and go downtown to the big nice store and pick out the dress my sister wanted in the store window.  Mother would take out a pad and sketch the dress Doris wanted, go buy material and come home and make a pattern.  My sisters friends as she got in to middle school wanted mother to also make them dresses, as I recall she only did that once.

I got my first job outside of mowing lawns at the age of 12, working for H.E.B. and I got sixty cents an hour.  I worked for H.E.B. and Burt Themie, till I got out of high school.  Burt Themie and my dad taught me how to work, and it was something that blessed me my whole life.  I am so grateful to both, for they also taught me a job worth doing was worth doing right.  Burt taught me how to value the customer and to put their needs and wants first. 

I have shared that I saw little value in school and never applied myself.  In this day and time, I would be a special needs child, but one thing I did well was spend time in the Vice Principal’s office.  When getting out of High School, I worked first for Cameron Mfg. we sold upholstery stuff and I was the delivery boy and the custodian.  I did not want to be drafted so I joined the National guard and was sent to bootcamp at Fort Polk and then Fort Sam to learn how to be a doctor’s assistant.  I got through all that and came home and got a job at Corn Products cleaning out furnaces and doing grunt work, and I began Jr. College at Del Mar and my wife helped me pass English.

Jan and I got married after dating for two plus years and neither of us had a clue what we had entered into.  I got laid off from Corn Products two weeks before we married, but I’m a person who was taught to save money, so we had two thousand in the bank. I started to work for an oil field service company.  I took Jerry’s job in a very short time and became district office manager and warehouse and also went out on the wire line truck. Jan and I one night after working until midnight on the paperwork that had to be mailed to the main office in Houston, we figured how much I was making per hour and it was nineteen cents.  The best thing that happen to me was confronting my boss on a big mistake made in front of our best customer Exxon, and he fired me on the spot.

I began looking for a job and had many interviews but took a job with a company I had never heard about, 3M Business Products.  I was now a salesman in name, but it was all cold calls, carrying a forty-pound copy machine on every call.  I had a lot to learn about selling and yet knowing how to work made my boss stay with me.  I made ten calls a day and got rejected on all ten calls, copiers were a new concept, and I was sure each time for years I saw a person walk into the office they were going to get my job.  

Now it is important, I share about coming out of my Babylon, it happened in a Barber shop when my barber ask me to go to a Bible study, he was not a Bible study kind of guy.  I went only to see why Bob the barber would go to a Bible study, and after going I promised myself, I would never go back, nor would I let Bob cut my hair.  But God, I know no other way to explain it, each week on Wednesday I was back at that Bible study and began to visit the places where these men worked.  They were the real thing, what they said at the Bible study they were living out in the workplace.  It took me six months to ask Jesus into my life, it happened in a motel in Victoria, Texas.  

Jan saw such a change in my life and about a year later she also ask Jesus to come into her life.  When Jesus came into me an I into Him, he took away my desire to drink adult beverages and the filthy mouth I had.  But it took years for me to allow God to teach me how to honor and love my wife.  God kept sending men into my life who loved me and confronted me on being gentle with my wife.

Let me share that soon after I ask Christ into my life, I was loading a big machine into my car and I saw a sharp young man enter the office.  Once more fear entered into my heart and yet I was now one of the top salespersons in our Branch.  As I got into my car, I heard a voice in my head say Bob, I have given you everything you need to do this job, and you are doing a great job with what I’ve given you, fear not.  From that day on I never worried about someone taking my job.

3M Company decided to get out of the copy machine business after I had been there 16 years, and I was sure I would be looking for a job.  My boss called me and another salesperson into his office to assure us that 3M Company had other divisions and they would offer us jobs, but I was sure that they would not.  But once more it was fear and not trusting in my Big God, who loved me so much that He allowed His only Son to take on human form and die for my sins.  I had three divisions offer me jobs and I went with the Electrical division and watched God do amazing things for Jan and me.

We are so blessed to have had Natalie as our daughter, she has said that she grew up with us, and that  is very true.  She and I were the best of friends and at about thirteen she liked her mother a lot more than me and in fact was not my baby girl again until about 18 years of age.  But let me tell you what God has done, Natalie married a guy named Byron, his profession is electrical Engineering, but his and Natalie’s identity is found in Jesus Christ.  They have two young men who are both in College and doing well, and the desire of our heart is to see them do as their parents and follow Jesus.  

If you are still reading this paper, let me proclaim that our Father is a great Father, and He knows all about us and loves us anyway.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

ALL HAVE SINNED - ALL NEED A REDEEMER

Psalm 125:1-6

“Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.   As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.  Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts!  But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers!  Peace be upon Israel!”

Israel considers Zion to represent the center of the earth and the place where the Lord dwelt.  All who put their trust in Yahweh will remain secure, while those who look to evil ways will be turned aside.  As the chosen people and nation of God, those who abide in His precepts and statutes will be protected.  Israel had the same problem you and I have, they often went after the little gods of this world, for they were not willing to wait on the Lord, they wanted it now.  Does that sound like you and me?

“For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.”  This verse is referring to the authority of evildoers, but as often seen in the Scriptures, Israel often desires to be trendy like their pagan neighbors.  For years I sought after being popular with my non-Christian friends and was silent about where I was putting my hope,  Jesus refers to one like I was, as being ashamed of Him.  The Jewish people knew the scepter and staff were symbols of kingship in ancient Israel. 

“Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts!  But those who turn aside to their crooked ways the Lord will lead away with evildoers!  Peace be upon Israel!”  What a great prayer, one each of us can and should pray, but never forget the heart of our Father.  It is found in 2 Peter 3:9-10, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.   But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”

A word to the wise is sufficient, so please pay attention to a great prophet of God, Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away.”  If I understand the meaning of all, we are all like one unclean, and we need a Redeemer, one who has paid our full payment to a Holy God.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Lord is on our Side

Psalm 124:1-8

The Lord is on our Side

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side—let Israel now say— if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us; then the flood would have swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us; then over us would have gone the raging waters.  Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth!  We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!  Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

I would like us to ponder on these two verses; “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.” (Acts 17:27)  Also Jeremiah 23:22-24, “But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.  “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”

In 1948 Israel once more became a Nation, and in 1967 they were 2 % in population of the Middle East.  Their neighbors were not happy about this small Nation, a nation that had its roots in Abraham, Isaac’ and Jacob, and the great King David, used by God to win every battle he entered and bring peace to Israel.  But this small insignificant nation had a greater claim than those listed, they were the chosen people of God.  And the archangel Michael is also the prince of Israel, who fights for them. You will find that in the book of Daniel 10:13, 21 and Chapter 12:1.

On June 5, 1967 Egypt, Syria, and Jordan declared war, and Israel Defense Forces launched preemptive air strikes that crippled the air forces of Egypt and its allies. Israel then staged a successful ground offensive and seized the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.  The war was over in six days it ended June 11, 1967.

In those six days the Arab states lost 10,000 military men, and Israel lost 800, but that does not tell the real story, of what Israel’s prince Michael was doing both in the air and on the ground, but go to Israel and talk with some of the pilots and tank commanders and they will tell you about enemy planes falling from the air when they had no ammunitions left to fire at them.  Make no mistake on this truth, Israel is and always will be the chosen people of God, and as a Rabbi told us many years ago when the people left Egypt to follow Moses only about 20% believed in the God of Abraham, and he said it saddens me to say the same is true today with the Jewish people.  That is sad, but our God is a God of promise, and He has graphed us into His chosen through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Who is your Master - Whom do you look to?

Psalm 123:1-4

“To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!   Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.   Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.  Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.”

I shared earlier about a time I was sinking in the mud flats while hunting duck, I was a teenage boy, Baptist in membership, but not in God’s family.  I had never bowed my knee to Jesus, I did not have a relationship with the Lord.  As I sank up to my waist in mud, who did I lift my eyes to, it was self and a friend who was hunting with me.  My master that day and for many years till the age of 27 was number one, until I came in contact with Jesus through His written word (Romans 10:9-10).  Since that day I’ve looked to my master who made the heavens and the earth and everything else.

Jan and I were discussing over breakfast how reading the Scriptures brings to mind things like sinking in the mud flats, or the time I turned on the wrong road and would have been killed but for a couple seeing a car coming at a fast speed, and turning on their lights.  That night I stopped about ten feet short of a 20-foot-deep and 20-foot-wide ditch. 

As I read these words above about the servant looking to their master’s hand, it reminded me of my visit to Saudi Arabia on business and visiting the Sheikh.  First, I was required to spend time with the General Manager before going into the Sheikh.  As I thought back on this, the others who were from Saudi were not allowed to go with me into the General Manager but were allowed to go into the Sheikh’s presence.  

I had a very nice time with the G.M. he was very interesting and got his college degree in the U.S. as did the Sheikh.  He was very thankful to President Bush for helping save the Saudi people from a possible invasion of Iraqi troops.  As that visit began, the G.M. ask if I would like a cup of coffee and my answer was yes, black please.  The Chinese young man who was his servant, ran and came back very quick with coffee.  As I took a sip, I must have frowned because the G.M. ask is your coffee ok and I said it is fine, but a little too sweet.  He did not say a word, but just looked at the young man and once more he ran and got a black coffee.  I did not know much about these people that come to Saudi to work, but my host told me as I related the story to him, that the young man lives in fear of being put on the street with no pass port and no one will employ him with out one.  I was now very angry with myself and I prayed that he would keep his job.

I was also very grateful to God for allowing me to be a United States citizen and to have a Father who knows all about me and what a rascal I can be and loves me anyway.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A very different paper

Psalm 121

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?   My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.   He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Note: Yesterday as I got this paper edited so you could understand what was written, it disappeared.  I’ve searched for it, but it is gone, and today I’m again visiting Psalm 121, and it is a very different paper.

In that last year when I wrote this paper we had not experienced the Pandemic of Fear, so my eyes are seeing things very different.  Jan and I made choices to respect the law of men up to a point, and when it comes to neighbors, be the very best.  Do not live in fear, help others and encourage everyone.  Be respectful of those who have locked themselves in their home, fearful of dying.  

At the beginning of this Pandemic, we went to the Scriptures, in that our trust does not lie in man, for all men are liars, and those are not my words but God’s.  Over and over we find in the Scriptures these two words, “Fear Not” example Isaiah 41:10.  Note: “I’m so sick of people saying our President is a liar, for God has stated all men are liars and Jesus is Truth.  Allow me to share a few areas that upset me, it also makes me angry when people who say they are Christ followers say bad things against our President, God placed him in that office.”  The Holy Spirit often confronted me on this subject when President Obama was in office.  In our search to understand we were reminded of Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  Many years ago, we came to an understanding that we could not even trust ourselves, much less look to men, so yes we believe God saw us before we were and that our time on planet earth has been numbered.  We also were reminded that this is not our home, 1Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

Have 

 I do want you to give thought to who you are putting trust in, the local paper, some doctor that claims to know all about the virus, your mayor, or just maybe yourself.  Let me be clear, I do not trust myself, I’ve made way too many mistakes and had to many bought lessons to do so.  Where does your help come from, the New York Times, Fox news, the Government, if so that’s an unreliable source, as the Psalmist states; My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

He coming back and not as a Baby

Psalm 122:1-9

“I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!  Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.  There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!  “May they be secure who love you!  Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”  For my brothers and companions' sake I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.”

Jesus has promised to return to earth, this time not in the form of a baby, but as a mighty warrior, His title will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It will be for a thousand years and Satan will be bound for that time.  Isaiah the prophet gives insight into this in Isaiah 2:2-4.  Isaiah tells us it will be in the last days and all nations will stream to Jerusalem, and it will be called the Mountain of the Lord, and they will go to Jesus to be taught His ways.  The nation’s leaders will come to Jesus to settle disputes and He will provide arbitration for many people.  The nations will also be at peace with one another.

Two things I do not worry about, first is Global warming, or now called Climate Change, caused by cows or man.  This world will have millions of people living on it when Jesus returns to reign for a thousand years.  The other is that Jerusalem will cease being, Jesus is coming back to His people and will reign for 0ne thousand years.  The other reason is the angel that is their prince is none other than Michael.

This is most important, Jan and I have been to Israel to Jerusalem and we do pray for the nation and the people, that they will not have to ask Jesus on His return visit where He got the scars in His hands and feet.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Just looking for my home

Psalm 120:1-7

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.  What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?  A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!  Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!  Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.  I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!”

I looked in the foot notes on page1002 in the ESV and it informs us about Psalm 120 and the 14 Psallms that follow it.  It is the first of 15 psalms of ascents, 120-134.  These psalms were designed for the pilgrimage processions to celebrate seasonal feasts in Jerusalem.

We are told in Scripture not to put our trust in men, look at Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.”  What about Psalm 146:3, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”  What about truth and lies; every man and every woman has lied and if they say they haven’t, then they’ve just told another one. Only God cannot lie because He is Holy and it’s against His nature to lie (Titus 1:2) for it is written “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind” (Num 23:19a) and the fact is its “impossible for God to lie” (Heb 6:18).  Taken from, “What Christians Want to Know.”

It seems some of the people were speaking lies while swearing by God that they were telling the truth –they would face severe judgment.  The bloom tree was a hard-stemmed plant and was used to make charcoal.  Meshech was located southeast of the Black Sea and was inhabited by Arab tribes.  When an Israelite lived there only as aliens, he was far from home.

We are told in Scripture that this earth is not our home, we are aliens and strangers, and we should have a desire to be seeking our real home. (Hebrews 11:13-16) I’m fearful that to many of us are like the Jews who left Egypt, they chose slavery over seeking home.  But you have a promise that this is not home, and Jesus our amazing Lord has gone to prepare a place for all who put their trust in Him.  Jesus gave us this insight in John14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Just looking for my home,

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

This Life = a Choice

Psalm 119:169-176

“Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding according to your word!
Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.  My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.  My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.  Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.  I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight.  Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.  I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.”

Life has so many opportunities to mess up or to choose to follow the statues and precepts God has laid out for us.  One road lead to contentment and the others leads to sorrow.  To whom are you crying out to, is it God who loves you and desires to enter into a relationship and fellowship with you; I pray it is?  

I’m not the best example of one who lives the Christian life, but I do seek to be a follower of Christ, for He is the only one who has ever lived that life, and He wants to live it in and through you.

As I write this paper, I just heard from my daughter that both boys are home safe and now she and I can go to sleep and I will in a little while.  My friend John Davis was on spot when he said nothing good happens after midnight.  My prayers once more were answered, and I’m so glad I have a Father who I can cry out to, one that hears my prayers.

Jesus Christ has placed a song in my heart of praise I long to learn His precepts, to understand His gift of life in the full now and the promise of eternity with Him.  I still at times lean to my own understanding and need the fellowship and example I see in my brothers and sisters in Christ.

We live in a time of rebellion and fear, and it seems that is not a new thing, it has been happening since mankind broke fellowship with the Father and chose a lie of the evil one.  We each have an understanding of verse 176, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.”  Once you understand, you can’t, and God never said you could, He can and He promised He would live the Christ life in and through you, then you also will cry out to Him.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Where is Your Joy Found?

Psalm 119: 161-168

“Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of your words.  I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.  I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love your law.  Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.  Great 

peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.  I hope for your salvation, O Lord, and I do your commandments.  My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly.  I keep your precepts and testimonies, for all my ways are before you.”

The Holy Spirit will guide us who listen, but have you found it very difficult to remove your mind from all the noise and urgent matters that flow into your thinker.  I began by asking the Holy Spirit to guide my thoughts and this verse came into my mind; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)   It matters not who you are, the King or the President of a large Company, in the United State of America, someone is wanting your title and authority, and power.  They will lie and work behind the scenes to have you removed, it happened in King David’s time and it is happening today.  If the King or President does not know the word of God, they are left with only the ways of this world, but the Psalmist tells us he only fears not listening to your word.

In fact, he finds great joy in the word of God, and compares it to finding great wealth.  He has no tolerance for the godless people of this world, but in God’s statutes and precepts he finds great joy.  In fact, God’s statutes and precepts are part of his life, and he looks to them for direction.  In doing so the Psalmist has found great peace in the middle of the princes wanting to remove him, even take his life.  

When we grasp the presence of God in our lives, we then want to learn about keeping His commandments, not just to be obedient but to enjoy the abundant life Jesus has promised each of us.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Not demanding - but Bold

Psalm 119-153-160

“Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.  Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!  Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.  Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules.  Many are my persecutors and my adversaries, but I do not swerve from your testimonies.  I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.  Consider how I love your precepts!  Give me life according to your steadfast love.  The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”

The Psalmist is not being arrogant, nor do I believe he is demanding but he is bold in going before the Supreme Judge and asking Him to consider his case.  Could it be you and I often find ourselves not following God’s instructions, so we do not address the Lord in this manner.  I’m not sure if the Psalmist is asking for life on earth without all this hardship from his enemies or eternal life, but I would guess both.  When I ask Jesus into my life, He never promised to give me life on planet earth free of problems, but He did give me life for He became my life, now and eternally.

Verse 155, “Salvation is far from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.”   It is so true and so sad, for the prophet Jeremiah tells us in Jeremiah 23:23, "Am I a God who is near," declares the LORD, "And not a God far off?”  As we look at verse 156, we find a time of thanksgiving, a time of reflection and acknowledgment of our Father’s compassion to His children.  “Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules.”  A life lived outside of God’s rules is dangerous, empty.  Like the person who has no regard for the laws of God or man and keeps going through red lights on the highway, they are going to have a wreck.  

Often, when we stand against the wicked, and I’m not just talking about those who kill and steal, but those who developed a life outside of God’s standards and rules, of independent living, and being your own authority, and having none above you.  This is the sad news many of them are your neighbors, family members, friends, and yes church members, but they have fallen back into a life of independent living. They have not examined themselves as instructed in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

My desire, and I’m sure it is also yours, is found in 159-160, ^“Consider how I love your precepts!  Give me life according to your steadfast love.  The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Where is your Hope?

Psalm 119:145-152

“With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord! I will keep your statutes.  I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies.  I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.  My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.  Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, according to your justice give me life.  They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law.  But you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true.  Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever.”

The Psalmist is calling to the Lord for help against his enemies and telling the Lord that he will obey God’s commandments.  His enemies are closing in and the Psalmist understands he is close to God’s desires, that he has an obedient heart, but his enemies are far from doing what God has commanded them.

How do you relate to these verses, are your enemies closing in on your family, job, business, or freedoms?  Let me be so bold as to tell you they are, and it is with the authority of Scripture that I tell you such, and it is also the words of Jesus in John 10:10. You will also find these words of Jesus in John 16:33, “ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Who are you going to run to, where is your hope, and yes, the answer should be Jesus, but is it?

For many it is a person, someone who has been there to help fix your broken toys, someone like mom or dad, but this is not a toy, it’s your child, or wife, business, or means of substance.  The Psalmist knows  whom he is addressing, and God who is all knowing, and cannot be deceived, so when he tells the Lord, I will obey your statutes, it’s a choice he has already made.

The first man that God entrusted me to, once I ask Jesus into my life, was an all-American football player, who had played pro-ball a couple of years and entered the oil business.  I did not know any of that till much later, he was just a man named Jack Archer, and I met him through a friend Johnny Anderson.  Jack was in his forties when he came to understand the hole in his heart could only be filled with him bowing his knee to Jesus Christ.  This is what Jack taught me, Jesus loves you, this I know for the Bible tells me so.  Do you know that Jesus loves you?  My problem was I understood that Jesus loved Jack and Johnny, but I struggled with how He could love a mess like me.

I had a lot of zeal for God, and acted often as if I was perfect and had all the answers, I like many others wanted to do great things for God, but I had no understanding of the ways of God, and guess what I spent many years studying the Scriptures, even teaching them, but God will not fit in my box nor will He fit in yours.

Let me close with Matthew 18:1-4, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice