Let God be true!

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Isaiah 9:13
For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
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Isaiah 9:14
Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
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Isaiah 9:15
The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
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Isaiah 9:16
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
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Will we be the ancient and instructors who God will have to cut off, because we have not taught our children to honor? God brings the impotent and permissive parents to naught, who have not used His Word to instruct their children enough to keep them from Euthenasia. If the generation believes thus, it is the lack of the instruction of the ancient and the honorable. I had elders in our family who taught us to fear their word and their activity. I remember the sense of fear in my soul, in their presence, in the nursing home. How old were you in that picture, Aunt Iva? They were about to jump out of the wheel chairs, the three of them and smack me sore. I was not aware that I was insulting them by that question until it came out of my mouth. That is the power of the Word of God, being brought to bear on a young soul from its earliest moments. Children Honor! They are not right. They do not deserve worship or allegiance or camaraderie, if their deeds do not warrant it. But Honor, yes! God would stand by them, even in their wrongness. They were right in that one thing. Keep the children learning from the Word of God, or they will rise to kill you themselves. God will use your permissiveness as His own pruning hook to take down the bush of that nation who thinks that it is better than God to use other means to instruct children. We have taken over the air waves and inherited the wind, but only the meek will inherit the earth. God, have mercy on our generation for taking the Word of God for sport and the principalities of man for the instruction of our little ones. Do not give us over to our own wicked devices. Grant that our children will find You in the Corn maze that we have built, through the ignorance of Your ways. Don’t take us down like You have the children of Israel, the head and the tail in one day. Though we have many prophets and teachers, who speak lies and deceptions in our day, give us and our children eyes to see through the lies. Give us the love for You, to see Your light, through the lies that they purport as Your Word. Give the children a respect for their elders and teachers, though it has been subverted by the idols of the age that we live in.

I have tried to keep my children from the power of Babylon in the worldly system, but they have overtaken me. Have mercy upon me, sending them out to the idol worship den. Have mercy on their souls, though they learn the way of godlessness, before they even have the power to resist it.
Thank God for the teachers and administrators who attempt to inject God's principles into a system that is set against His Word.

As the Post War Generation, I think that sometimes we lose sight of the importance of battle.

When I watch the old movies with Errol Flynn and Earnest Borgnine, etc. I am caught with the shrewdness of men with a cause that is above themselves. I think that the me generation has made us individualistic and constant in our pursuit of the self benefit of any, if not all exercises. God, has also shown Himself to us, as we have to Him, hidden, if we are seeking Him for self and found only in the selfless endeavoring to promote His good and His glory. The taking of prisoners into the bottom of a ship and using them for the effort of a goal in the antithesis of their desired aim, we call slavery. Cultures in, earlier days used this means to accumulate wealth and vanquish foes. God, will certainly not be our slave. He is our goal and purpose and promises to be found by those who seek Him, with their hearts.
God has shown that His purpose and intention of His heart is the promotion and sustenance of His Bride the church upon the earth. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture when we work on His behalf. I am afraid that so many, as Jesus says will be found in those days confessing their allegiance with Christ and hearing Him say, I don't nor did I know you. A sad state for those, living unrepentant lives. Those whose aims were mixed, if not wholly devoted to self interest.
Use us, Lord to paddle for Your glory, though, if need be in the remotest part of the lowest part of the hull of Your ship, if it be the one headed for Heaven. Allow us not to be deceived in the wide road of the self interest guru's. Help us paddle to Heaven for the good of Your Bride and for the glory of Your Name.

Straighten our course, with every prayer, Let Heaven's breezes lead us there. And grant us mercy ever more, As we sail to Heaven's shores

Acappella!

Breathing in unison, is what happens in Acappella music. I do remember the first experience that I had learning to harmonize in a choir, to the glory of God. Not for my own glory. "I sing well and I want people to hear me" was my thought, before the grace of God arrested me. I sang in Church, about the same way that I sang at family celebrations. Joy and exuberance, but not for the glory of the Good and Merciful God.
I told my children of Becky. She stands as a memorable influence in my soul, teaching my soul to sing, in unison, for God, not for me. We had devotionals, we sang to worship God, in rehearsal meetings on Friday nights and although I had to fight and argue to get to rehearsal from my parents not agreeing with my choice of becoming Protestant, much less, Pentecostal. God would meet me, after the long battles and arguments with my parents, instructing and comforting my soul. I cried unto God with my whole heart there. Becky would wait for us, until we have sounded like we have cast our cares upon the Lord, before we would even begin our rehearsal. God spoke peace into my soul and mind that was close to being lost altogether. "Never Alone...", God used the songs of those days to remind me that the battle for my mind and my soul was His to fight. I often forgot and took up my emotional swords and picked doctrinal fights of some sort or another and felt the piercings, both of conscience and of spanks for my rebellion.
It was at rehearsal that we learned to pray and fast and seek the face of God in prayer and Acappella. Acappella, not without music, but breathing together, to God's glory. Breathing out blessings to the Great God of Glory. Breathing out worship to the most High.
Sometimes, Becky would hold her nose, when we were at some church or another, meaning that is totally off key. Harmonies are not what they ought to be, somebody is loud and strong and wrong. Check yourself. There was little more embarrassing than seeing Becky's disgruntled face, because we were off. One time, we were singing after a fast of convocation and a few of the young people fainted from weakness and fatigue. God doesn't demand such a sacrifice from His young people, but it is refreshing where you can find a bunch of young people devoted to serving the Lord and putting away their idols.
I remember the spiritual battles, what to sing to myself, when walking through the city. The power of all of the pop music that I had committed to memory and now I was taking captivity captive in the imaginations of my mind. Becky was a tool in the hand of God to teach me the struggle of the principalities and powers that had nearly taken my soul into Hell, if left to themselves. God had graciously redeemed my soul and now was tuning my heart to sing His praise. Becky and the YFC was the tuning fork. Bong!, no,Bong! no.
I don't know what people do without a Becky to tune their hearts. Mine was a severe case of music sickness, I can't say that I will ever be rid of this sickness, but, still I tune my heart and rise above my untoward past to try to glorify God!

Acappella.
Glad

Does God want to go to church with you?

Psalm 78:60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men. 61 He sent [the ark of] his might into captivity, his splendor into the hands of the enemy

Psalm 78 recounts the relationship with God and His people. The blessings and difficulties of His putting up with a people for His own posession. In the new covenant we enjoy His abiding presence, but still, must remember that we can encourage the presence of the Lord in peace and unity or we can grieve the Spirit of God, by our behavior and shamefulness.
I often think about going to church to meet with God, but, this morning I saw the gathering of God's people as the place where God goes to meet us. Are we there to meet Him, in truth? Does He want to be there with us? God cannot enter into a lie or the congregation of those who are consistent and unrepentant in their sins. God is alone praised and God is, alone the Way, the Truth and the Life. He can be among us in His wrath,or in His love, as we have seen in different eras of the church. Do we want Him here?

Come, Holy Ghost in Love, shine on us from above, Thine own bright ray,

We sing. I imagine that what makes God want to be with us, is our longing for Him. We need Your presence Lord, I imagine makes Him say, they are looking for me to be there. I cannot miss this time with them, I imagine Him saying. Shame on us, if we cannot notice the presence or absence of the Lord among us. The doctrine of the Laodicean era makes people comfortable at the absence of God in their worship. We can go to church and know that if God missed it, it is because we are lukewarm. The fact that people can believe such a thing and still go to church is beyond me.

Come, Holy God and blessed, Our most desired guest...Grant us we pray

Praise, my soul the King of Heaven. By Henry Lyte

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
To His feet thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who, like me, His praise should sing?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the Everlasting King!

Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress;
Praise Him, still the same forever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness!

Father-like, He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows,
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely as His mercy flows!

Angels, help us to adore Him,
Ye behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him;
Dwellers all in time and space,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace!

What if I have a persistent "ought"?

If you have ought against your brother...leave your gift on the altar and go and be reconciled to your brother!"

Lord, I pray, in spite of the persistent oughts in my soul. I pray that You would receive my offering.

O Lord, How Excellent is Your Name!

Stallwart Soldier's Birthday!

Years of time spent trying to understand this man, much my senior and finding that I had grown to love him immensely. Home, sweet Home he would say, as we pulled into the garage to carry him home. I remember my youthful zeal to try to serve him in his elderly crankiness and his cultural differences from me. Can I understand this great man who has 10 men reared and I am just a child. I cried many tears of misunderstanding. I will never get it. I will never understand. I will never please him. That was true. But God put him in my life for me and not for him. I do understand that now. His words chime back to me, as much as my own father's. "Let Jesus lead you... All De way!"