The thief came that he might steal, kill, and destroy

 

January 26, 2022

 

Psalm 34:13-22

 

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.  Turn away from evil and do good;  seek peace and pursue it.   The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.  When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.  The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.   Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.  The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

 

 

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 

 

Do you believe that is an easy task in 2022?  If you read the New York Times, or your local newspaper, and quote from them as truth, be very careful. What about TV shows, not new ones, they are all selling a godless agenda, but the older, like “Touch by an Angel”  During my downtime with Covid, this show has entertained me, but my daughter, kept telling me it makes by Hollywood you’re not expecting it to be true and in keeping with the Work of God?  Today the Head Angel told a little girl there were many ways to God?  That is not even close, Jesus said in John 14:6, Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  A word from Jesus; Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.  What a promise to those who are in Christ.  The sad truth is that many young men quick the ministry because they do not allow Jesus to do it all for them.  He calls us sheep for a reason, we do not know how to carry burdens, he never refers to us as donkeys.

 

But often the Father, through in a verse like 34:20, He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken, where else is this told us about Jesus.  For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.” John19:36  We have John 19:33, that gives us the reason, “but coming to Jesus when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

 

From, the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Danites Take the Levite and the Idol

 January 31, 2021

 

Judges 18: 1-10

 

Danites Take the Levite and the Idol

In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.   So, the people of Dan sent five able men from the whole number of their tribe, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to explore it. And they said to them, “Go and explore the land.” And they came to the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there.   When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?”  And he said to them, “This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest.”   And they said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed.”   And the priest said to them, “Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the Lord.”

Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw the people who were there, how they lived in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing that is in the earth and possessing wealth, and how they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone.  And when they came to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?”   They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you do nothing? Do not be slow to go, to enter in and possess the land.   As soon as you go, you will come to an unsuspecting people. The land is spacious, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth.”

 

Ephraim reminds me a little of the nation of Costa Rica, no military they are dependent on the USA for their protection.  Jan and I were there a few years ago on a mission trip and a little vacation and the people of Costa Rica were quick to point out that their literacy was much better than the USA and I ask could that be we spend our money to protect you and most of the worlds, nations from people who would enslave you. 

 

As we go further in the chapter you will see the relevance of my commits above.  So, these five dudes come to Micah's home and find the Levite and ask what he is doing and he tells all that he knows, often wisdom comes with age, but not always, I know many old guys did not have any.

 

What the five men observed was a people living in peace with great land and plenty of wealth, and no army.  The men of Dan took an army and went to take the land.  The rest of the story is tomorrow.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Micah and the Levite

 January 28, 2021

 

Judges 17:1-6

 

Micah and the Levite

There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.   And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.”   And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.”   When he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.   And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.   In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

 

Last night was a good night of rest, which has not been the norm for most of this week, but around five my sleep had ended, and I thank the Father for my rest.  I tried to go back to sleep but felt the need to get into the Word of God, and I’m writing in Judges chapter 17, and verse 6 got my full attention.   Samson is dead after being God’s judge over Israel for twenty years.  In the 17^th chapter, we are introduced to a man named Micah, a thief who stole from his mother, and then returned the silver to her sometime later.  She had a metal image made with some of the money and gave it to her son, and he made it into a household god and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

That was not what grabbed my attention, it was the last part of the fifth verse and verse six.     In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  

 

When it comes to the new administration in our national capital, I have heard the word used that Biden and Harris, or the fictitious President and Vice President, that the election was a sham, and that no one knows who is really pulling the strings, but it is not that poor sick man, Joe Biden.  I believe with all my heart that millions of USA citizens believe that to be true and that many of them are people of faith, but the question is it is the government or God?  Whose kingdom are you engaged in, the Kingdom of God, or the one you have on earth? 

 

Let me be clear, I am in full agreement with them, but do I have the right to do as the people of Israel did in the time of Micah?  That is the question each of us who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ must come to grips with.  It is found in verses 20-21, in Proverbs 19.  Will you open our minds and hearts to those verses; “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future?  Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”  As you ponder on that verse, you must give thought to Romans 13:1, ESV: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

 

Did you get that there is no authority except  God, and if you have knowledge of the Scriptures, you come to understand that God has often used bad kings to bring His people to repentance?  The apostle also addresses this subject, being led by the Holy Spirit, and has this information for those who are followers of Christ.   ^“Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor^] as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.   Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”  

(1 Peter 2:13-17)

 

Biden and Harris may not be your cup of tea, not mine, not even close, but so far they are not doing what the Roman emperor did by burning followers of Christ to death or putting them in a coliseum and watching the lions tear them to pieces.   And still, the Holy Spirit said to honor them, and you are asking how, the only way is allowing Jesus to do it, your flesh will never desire to do so.  

 

I do believe we may see much of our freedom and civil rights disappear in the next four years, you must remember 1 Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

 

Acts 5:27–29, distinguish between ''submission'' and ''obedience.''  These are instructions for all who are followers of Christ; ^“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,  saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.”   But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

A call to the Lord

 January 27, 2021

 

Judges 16:28-31

 

Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”   And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other.   And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So, the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.   Then his brothers and all his family came down and took him and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had judged Israel twenty years.

Many of us who entered into or were drafted into the arm services never took seriously that we had agreed to die for our nation at all cost.  Many of us were 18 0r 19 years of age and death was not what we had in mind.  As you reflect on the Christian army many of them around the world face death or great hostility for being a member of that army.  But not so much those who are in the American Church, that is until now, but we are seeing publicly for the first time in our history as a nation, governors, and mayors taking actions to close down the Church.  We see a media that has no fear of God and a large group of the Washington establishment who have disdain for any who would follow His leadership.

 

A question I have been asking myself is, where is the line; Peter and John draw in the sand with the religious leaders.  You will find the account in Acts 4:18-20.  “So, they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.   But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,  for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 

 

So the question each of us must look into the mirror of our hearts and ask is, do we have a line that we will not step over.  And by doing so we will answer the question, am I in the Christian Army or just another poser?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Covid/Sodium

 Covid 19

 

Covid got me to the hospital and, after two weeks of trying other things, I listened to my brother and went to the hospital.  Six days in ICU, and two more in a regular room.  If I had not done so I might be in real trouble. 

 

My sodium number was below 100 and the doctors at the hospital had not seen numbers that low, they told me I should have had seizures or died.  The reason for the six days in ICU was they had to bring my sodium up very slowly.  When it comes to Doctors that not only minister to me, they prayed for me, Dr. Banks and Dr. Judy Tullberg.

 

The nursing staff was amazing, one that was named Kenny stood out. 

 

It was the Lord who protected me, who put into my brother's heart to tell me to go to the hospital.  Once more He showed me how special  I was to Him, and I had time to be thankful that He knows my name, and cares for me.

 

For now, let me close, more to tell later.    

3M Aura Particulate Respirator 9205+ N95, 10/Pack, White

Visit the 3M Store

4.5 out of 5 stars   

From the Back Porch, I had no clue of what was coming.

 

Bob Rice