(notes from August 2010)

This morning, during my Bible study time, I read through the first and third chapters of Daniel. I’ve always loved the stories about Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego.

The third chapter starts off with King Nebuchadnezzar building a large golden image for everyone to worship. Anyone who doesn’t will be thrown into a fiery furnace.

In chapter 2, Daniel had interpreted the king’s dream to him, and the king had acknowledged that the God of Daniel was great and mighty; he had also put Daniel and the other three young men in places of power.

But the king builds this golden image, and commands everyone to worship it, and everyone does; everyone except the three Hebrew men. The other ‘wise men’ report them to the king. He gets very angry, but gives them another chance. They tell him they don’t even have to answer him, that they aren’t going to worship the golden image. The next words are so powerful, I want to quote them:

“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. ” Daniel 3:17-18

Make sure you realize what that says: they know God is powerful enough to save them, but even if He doesn’t, they’re going to continue to serve Him, and not false gods.

The king has the fire built up seven times hotter than normal, and has the men tied up; they’re thrown into the fire by strong soldiers, but the fire is so hot, it kills the soldiers. The men who were tied up are now walking around in the fire, and another man is walking with them.

The king even asks his men how are four men in the fire, when they only threw in three. He realizes the extra man looks like the son of a god. He goes to the mouth of the furnace and tells the three men to come out; they have been kept safe – their clothes aren’t singed and they don’t even smell like smoke!

Once again, the king realizes that the God these men serve is the true God, and makes a new law that anyone who even speaks against God will be killed and their house destroyed.

For some reason, the part about their clothes not smelling like smoke is just as amazing to me as them not being burned; how many of you have ever cooked on a grill? You smell like smoke the rest of the day… smells seem to stick with us. I can remember a trip Randy and I took with Joey and Jennifer. We stopped for gas at a little convenience store. I went to take a potty break while Randy paid, and the kids stayed in the car. When we got back in, Joey immediately said, “did ya’ll get fried chicken?” When I asked him why, he said we both smelled like it. We were only in the store a few minutes, but the smell got into our clothes and hair immediately.

So God had his hands around those three young men so well that the smell couldn’t even get through. You know, He loves all of us just that much- enough to keep even the smell of smoke off of our clothes. Remember that, the next time you’re walking through the fire: whether it’s someone talking about you, or you’re having financial troubles, or your best friend has turned their back on you. All those things hurt, but God is with you all the way through it- and He’s powerful enough to keep you.

Do you ever have those times when you feel like Someone is trying to tell you something?

I remember a sermon our pastor preached, where  he mentioned some scripture about a cloud the size of a man’s hand – this wasn’t part of his main scripture, but he just mentioned it in a side illustration. Then a couple of days later, I heard someone on a radio station mention the same phrase – “a cloud the size of a man’s hand”.

(For Those Born Again to Be Wild)

I ride first and foremost because God has called me to do so.

But, I also ride because I enjoy the freedom I feel from being exposed to the elements, the vulnerability to the danger that is intrinsic to riding, and the pure pleasure of it.

I do not ride because it is fashionable to do so. Thus, I ride my machine, not wear it. My machine is not a status symbol—it exists for me by the grace of God.

My machine is not a toy—it is a mechanical wonder of steel and glass and rubber. As a good steward, I will treat it with all due respect. So, I will strive to understand all the inner-workings of my machine from the most basic to the most complex. I will learn everything I can about my machine so that I am reliant on no one but myself for its operation.

I will strive to constantly better my skills and control over my machine. I will learn its limits and use my skill so that I may ride safe and stay alive. I am the master of this machine, and it is my servant. Working together in harmony, we will become a team.

My machine should last longer than I do. Therefore, it is a legacy. I will care for it so that future bikers can enjoy it as much as I have.

I do not fear death for my life is in God’s hands. He has ordered the day and time of my death. Such fear must to be overcome with confidence in my Lord. I will, however, do everything possible to avoid death due to my own carelessness, inattentiveness, or recklessness.

I do not ride to gain attention, respect, or fear from those that do not ride, nor do I wish to intimidate or annoy them. For such non-riders that do not know me, I simply ask for them to try and get to know me. And, for those that do desire to know me, I will share with them the truth about myself so that they might understand me and not fear me nor others like me.

I will not judge other bikers on their choice of machine, their appearance, or their profession–I will see them only as bikers. I am thankful to God for who I am as a biker and for the machine that I ride, but I will not flaunt such before others. If others ask about who I am or what I do as a biker, I will share with them.

I will show respect to other bikers more experienced or knowledgeable that myself. I will learn from them all that I can. Too, I will not show disrespect to other bikers less experienced or knowledgeable than I am. I will teach them what I can.

It will be my task to mentor new riders in the biker lifestyle so that our lineage may continue. I will instruct them just as I have been taught– thus, preserving and honoring the traditions of bikers before me–and I will pass them on unaltered.

I will never pass by a biker pulled over on the side of a road, but I will stop and be ready to assist as best that I can any biker that truly needs my help.

I will never ask another biker to do for me what I can do for myself.

I will never be the aggressor on the highway; nevertheless, should others mess with me, their aggression will be dealt with in a manner that will both honor Jesus Christ as well as protect other bikers and myself from them.

I am not a part-time biker. I am a biker whenever and wherever I go. I am thankful to be a biker, and I hide my chosen lifestyle from no one. I ride because I love freedom, independence, and the movement of the ground beneath me as well as to better understand myself as God has created me to be. But the main reason that I ride is because I have been called of God to glorify Him by sharing the height and width and depth of His love to the bikers that He brings across my path.

(author unknown)

There’s an old saying – “tough times never last; tough people do.”

And then there’s the country song that says,

“If you’re goin’ through hell, keep on going;
Don’t slow down, if you’re scared don’t show it.
You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there.”

That song isn’t exactly scripturally correct but it does encourage me to remember that when I’m in the valley of the shadow of death, I don’t have to stay there. I do have the ability to keep going.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Psalm 23

I think the Lord might be trying to tell me something…. I wrote about this scripture a few days ago; my pastor read it to us a few days after that, and  when I Googled ‘scriptures for tough times”, that was the first one to pop up.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going through tough times. I just told a very dear friend this morning that we’ve got two choices- either we can decide that all the struggles we’re going through are more trouble than it’s worth; or we can just keep fighting and trusting God, knowing that nothing happens outside His permission. I am too old and mean and set it my ways to quit now.

When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, God fed them manna every day. In fact, they were told to gather enough manna every day for that day’s use. Anything more than what they needed would mold during the night. And why would they need to keep it? They got it fresh every day!

The only variation on that was the Sabbath – since they weren’t to do any work on the Sabbath, they could gather enough for two days on the day before- and because it was a heavenly gift, on those days it did NOT mold.

But the Israelites weren’t satisfied…. they decided they couldn’t eat another bite of manna. They needed quail – they complained and griped to Moses about it. They mumbled behind their doors, they grumbled as they talked to neighbors.

So Moses went to God and told Him the Israelites wanted quail. And that’s just what God provided.

Soon there were quail everywhere; hovering just above ground level, so the Israelites could easily gather them up and eat. And eat they did. The Bible says they ate ’til it was coming out their noses.  Just ponder on that mental image for a minute…

And now consider this: manna was provided from Heaven so it was perfect food. It met all their dietary needs; it tasted good; it was easy to gather and as long as they followed the rules, it didn’t spoil. They got new manna every day, fresh.

But the Israelites chose to have something earthly- fleshly, if you will. They wanted quail and lots of it. And they got it.

Are we making the same mistake? Are we asking for fleshly things instead of the things of God? If we are, do we really want the same outcome the Israelites got?

Because the Israelites really should have thought about what happened to the Egyptians. They worked against God, and the gods they worshipped ended up filling their mouths too. Don’t believe me? Check the story in the Bible – fleas, flies, gnats, frogs- all so plentiful around them it was in their beds, in their food – and in their mouths.

We better be careful what we’re chasing after.

Matthew 15
22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. (emphasis added)  And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Bro Jerry Trotter was in revival in Grand Ridge a few days ago, and Randy and I were blessed to be able to go down on Sunday night and be with them.

He preached on the scriptures above; he made sure we saw that Jesus did not respond at all to the woman’s request about her daughter; at least not in the beginning.

Bro Jerry pointed out that even when God is quiet, it doesn’t mean He’s not working.

We want God to move on our timetable, but if you’ve been in a relationship with Him for very long, you know that God does things on His timetable, not ours. That may sound mean, but it’s not. Because, beloved, God knows exactly when to move and exactly what to do. He knows that the timing has to be perfect in order for His will to be done perfectly.

It’s hard sometimes, but we have to trust Him to know what He’s doing. He hung the moon and stars – he set the earth on it’s axis – He spoke the universe into existence.  He knows what He’s doing.

This old water tower is behind town hall in Rutledge. It was erected in the early ’50s and was used for many years to help provide water for the folks in town.

But like many things, it was no longer useful- two bigger water towers were put up in other parts of town. Because of regulations on how municipal water towers are maintained, it didn’t hold enough water to make the costs to keep it in shape worthwhile.

So now it sits behind town hall, waiting.  The town would love to see someone take it and make something useful out of it. Maybe sit on someone’s ranch or farm, and maybe like the one in Montgomery that graces the area where some swanky downtown restaurants are.

Do you ever wonder if you’re useful or not? Look around- maybe you’re just in the wrong spot!

Gen. 12:1-3 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Just a little something to think about:
-speak when you’re angry and you’ll make the best speech you ever regretted.
-make sure your words are sweet- you may have to eat them later.
-never say anything you’ll have to explain to your Mama, your spouse or your pastor.