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  There is a wealth of intel made available to us in those first two chapters of the Book of Job. I’m not suggesting it is ‘easy’ to come to terms with what we can learn here…but it sure fills in a lot of ‘blank spaces’ when it comes to gaining a better understanding of this world we live in, especially in light of who we are told exercises power and influence over it. (1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:1-3; Acts 26:18). Do you remember those worksheets we used to do in school, where we would ‘connect the numbered dots’ on the paper…and as we did, a ‘picture’ would begin to form? There is a very clear picture that begins to emerge as we ‘connect these verses’ that have been laying in our Bibles all these years; and for those who are open to allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in this journey of learning more truth…there is the promise of greater freedom to experience as we come to ‘know the truth’ (John 8:32,36). In the story of Job, we begin to see a clear picture of what happens when God ‘rem...
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  As it is with many passages, stories, and books found in the Bible…there is no shortage of voices out there offering up their ‘take’ on them; and I’m fully aware that I am one of those ‘many voices’. So I know what I am up against when I post these daily messages. But I will continue to lay out for any and all who care to read for themselves what I firmly believe the Holy Spirit continues to compel me to share. I easily identify with what the early disciples who said “we cannot help but to speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). I simply share these things with you here, hope and pray that you will study for yourselves to see if the Spirit bears witness (Acts 17:11)…and then trust God to do His part. The Book of Job is one of those stories found in the Old Testament that many people turn to when they hit those ‘hard patches’ in life, that many. folks can all relate to. Job hit a really tough patch losing everything dear to him, including his own health. L...
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  Rarely, if ever… is it a good sign…when God ‘removes the hedge’. A couple of weeks ago, I drove up to the wine country which is about two hours north of us. I heard that they were harvesting the grapes up there and I wanted to go take some pictures. I’ve been up there a few times before since we moved out here, but I’m not sure I ever noticed on previous visits how so many of the vineyards have stone or brick walls built around them; or some other type of fence. It’s not that I was surprised by that, but for some reason they simply escaped my notice. So I found myself getting out and taking pictures of them. The concept of a hedge being erected around a vineyard is nothing new to me, as I’ve written about this before in previous messages. And stone hedges have been around for a long time, probably ever since people began growing grapes to make wine, and they discovered that hedges served as protective barriers for their valuable crops, keeping out predators, wild animals, or ev...
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  It wasn’t really an ‘assignment’ I left you with at the close of yesterday’s message, but I did suggest for anyone who wanted to ‘read ahead’, Isaiah chapter 5 would be where we would be headed today. And while I’m thinking of it, let me get this out of the way for anyone who wants to ‘go there’ – I am not trying to suggest or to twist scriptures to suggest that this chapter, or book even…is directed at ‘America’. We have been talking about ‘judgement’ though, and I asked yesterday if we even know what God’s judgement looks like? Would we recognize it if/when it showed up at our door? Many in the church today would probably agree that ‘judgment is coming’, and for ‘all the reasons’. Many sincere believers would point to the Book of Revelation and say there is no denying that God’s wrath and judgment are ‘on the way’; but they would also be quick to say that God’s people won’t be around for ‘any of that’ because they will be long gone, thanks to the ‘rapture’ that many believe ...
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  So are we as a country…under God’s ‘judgment’? Many today would suggest that, or at least heading in that direction. And if we are, what does God’s ‘judgment’ even look like? Is it possible that God has ‘allowed’ the ‘enemy to come in like a flood’, as Isaiah 59:19 describes it? And who is our ‘enemy’? Is it the flood of illegal immigrants who have snuck into our country? Or maybe its the growing tide of Muslims who practice Islam and are to many, ‘overstepping their bounds’ by building mosques and getting involved with local and national politics. Both groups seem to many... to pose a threat to our ‘way of life’ here in America, and many are raising up their voices of concern in opposition to them being here. So today, let me give you the benefit of the doubt and go along with this idea that both groups of people whom we have looked at the past few days…are indeed an ‘enemy’ (or at least a threat) to this country and our way of life as we know it. Were you aware that we h...
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  There is a story that has gone ‘viral’ this past week that has its origins here in San Francisco at a local Giants baseball game; perhaps you’ve seen it? During the game broadcast, the TV cameras cut away to a woman who was making her way back to her seat, carrying a load of concession food with her daughter strapped to her as well. She seems to be maneuvering her way through the seats where her husband takes the food from her, but doesn’t seem to be overly helpful in helping her get settled in. The TV broadcasters then unload on this guy, and from there…the story takes off across social media platforms as people weigh in and continue the dog piling as they unload on this dude for being a pathetic excuse for a man. Days later, the wife/mom responds…to set the record straight and it is the perfect example as to how ignorant humans can be in their rush to judgment based on what little they know, see, or hear. (I’ll post a link to the story below in the comments if you care to ...
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  There is an interesting backstory to the photo I posted here today to go along with my message. It was taken by me in the summer of 2014 while Kathy and I were down in Big Bend, TX. We had made the trek down that way in June for a few days to visit the area for our first time. We both remember clearly, the drive through some very inhospitable terrain, during the summer heat, and what we were talking about in the car that day while driving. That was the year there had been a huge surge in undocumented children…showing up at the southern border, many who had made the trip up from central America. What was hard to fathom was the fact that most of them were unaccompanied by adults, and somehow had survived walking through hundreds of miles of the very kind of terrain we were driving in at the time. I still remember Kathy and I discussing this very thing as we drove to Big Bend. How did these kids get here…and survive? Who…or what…brought them here? This humanitarian crisis domin...
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