Scripture
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
~Psalm 37:1-2, NIV
Quote
Man’s conflict with man has been an expression on the human level with his conflict with God.
~Billy Graham
Psalm 37:32 really jumped out at me yesterday. It reads like this, The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, intent on putting them to death. Immediately, I thought of the Jews and their contempt for Jesus. In John 8:40, Jesus said to them, “You are trying to kill Me right now.” He was right, they had hate in their hearts and He could see it as clear as day. Unfortunately for them, they interpreted it differently: it was not hate, it was righteous indignation. It was hate! We are all evil in a sense. Jesus told His own disciples, “If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children.” We all have the inclination to sin. We are all selfish and vain. But the term ‘wicked’ in the Bible denotes those who wills are set against God’s. They live in active rebellion. They have no fear of God and no desire to be righteous. Case in point would be the Sadduccees who were basically the crime bosses of Jerusalem and the rulers of the Jewish nation. They controlled the priesthood, the Sanhedrin and the Temple. They were evil men and intent on eliminating Jesus. It got to the point that they didn’t care how, or how much it was going to cost, just get Jesus out of the picture.
Well, how did that work out for them? They will never admit it, but it didn’t work out in their favor. But like their master the devil, they do not give up and they refuse to confess Christ. They persist in their hatred for Him today. They are antichrist or as I say, Christ-haters. The ACLU is a group of Jewish lawyers, backed by wealthy Jewish aristocrats {Sadduccees} who hate Jesus. They hate the bible because the bible is about Jesus and contains the history of their hate and abuse toward Jesus and His followers.
Call me insecure, call me paranoid, call me whatever but I was anxious about the inauguration and getting Trump in the oval office and getting those 200 executive orders signed. They used the weather as an excuse to go inside but the real reason may have been security. The American people love Trump but the bureaucracy hates him. They make up the minority that has been ruling the country for the past 50 years. I hope none of my fears materialize but I am convinced that the only thing standing between the righteous {those who want to do right} and the wicked is Jesus. They are too big for us to handle, but they can’t do anything about HIM. They have been trying to erase Jesus from history and memory for 2,000 years but they can’t get rid of Jesus! Amen, hallelujah, I think I am going to shout. All hail KING Jesus! So let them plot, scheme, connive, pervert, and send good men to jail and let criminals go free: it will not keep Jesus off the throne. He will still be Jesus and they will remain under the curse for rejecting Him.
Extra
I guess we adapt to the weather; it didn’t feel that cold walking to the office. The wind was not blowing very strong. The wind makes a huge difference. I will tell you one thing. I don’t want to be an animal or homeless. I like being indoors when the sun goes down. June has been taking care of Lara dogs, Duke, Nano, and Kip. I went with her night before last to put them up. As soon as the garage door gets 6 inches high, they scurry under that door like mice. It is a sight to see. Tyler has them a bed and an infrared light fix inside a little cage. As soon as you open the cage door they are on the bed waiting for you to turn on the heat. June went over to let them out the next day but two of them wouldn’t move, they wanted to sleep in, so she went back later and let them out. If I was going to be a dog, I would want to be Woody. He sleeps inside in the bed with Mandy and Jason. He has his own TV.
Thank God for the return of our youth. Josh and Too Tall were tickled to be home. I think that had 14,000 youth at the retreat and just over 1,000 decisions. Grace Point had three POF’s. Thank YOU Jesus! Are we not blessed to have these men take off and carry these kids to the Mountains. We had 50 in our group which is unbelievable.
Forty-Niner fellowship Friday: our meat will be brisket and fried chicken. We eat at 11:30. If you are off, join us, we always have a plenty.
Mid-week worship tomorrow night at 6:30.
Off to Madison is a few minutes: going to the root canal doctor. I may have to have a second one.