The close of the 46th Psalm speaks about the work and power of God. In verse 8 we read about the desolations in earth. These desolations are attributed to the power of God. Jesus, a short time before His trials and crucifixion, said to the Jewish people, “Your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). Why would Jesus make such a pronouncement? Because the Jewish people in the first century were rejecting the Son of God. A rejection necessary in order for Him to die for us. Their sins had grown and reached a point in which God would no longer accept them as His chosen people. The end would come in A.D. 70 with the fall of Jerusalem and the temple destroyed.

As we turn our attention back to Psalm 46, verse nine states that God makes war to cease. The bow, spear and chariot all lose their power to make war. When the Jewish people were taken into Babylonian captivity for seventy years, the land had rest. They went into that captivity because they rejected the rule of God over their lives. God then has the power to cause war to cease and the land be quiet. At this time in our history many are worried about the outcome of events here on earth. No doubt some will lose their faith as they realize that governments cannot solve problems that destroy mankind across the globe.

The appeal in verse 10 of chapter 46, is a call for the people of God to be still. A people not driven by the winds of war, hate or despair. It is good in the context of that time period for the people of God to stop what they were doing and consider God who is in control. It was the intent of God to present His will in written form (1 Cor. 13:8-10). Once the Bible was a finished product men would have a standard to which they could appeal to solve religious and or spiritual questions. How could we trust that standard if we did not trust God, Himself? Paul writes that once the Bible was a finished product we would no longer be children tossed back and forth from one doctrine to another (Eph. 4:14). The Spirit of God uses the same idea when He inspired Paul to write, “when I was a child, I thought like a child” (1 Cor. 13:11).

When those of the days of the Psalms were called to be still, what follows is the reason to be still. Stop what you are doing and know that God is God. We hear “voices” from the world that tell us that the Bible is not absolute but relative. They would have us believe that it does not concern God about how we worship Him. The Bible, the work of the Holy Spirit, responds by shouting from the plains of Mount Sinai, the events of Lev. 10:1,2. Why were Nadab and Abihu killed by God? They made the mistake of thinking it does not matter to God, how we worship. They paid for that mistake with their own lives.

The world mistakenly believes that government decides right and wrong. It is God who decides what constitutes marriage (Gen. 2:24). It is God who tells us what is immoral and what is moral. If governments agree with the leadership of God coming through the absolute rule of the scriptures, such governments will be blessed by God. No government or legislative body has the power or right to make laws that contradict what God has revealed. The Bible is our standard to decide about marriage, right and wrong issues, how we treat each other. God has given us the law to live by and it is called the law of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:2).

We pause then to recognize that no matter how bad the world becomes and how low it sinks in depravity of one kind or another, God is God and not man. Nebuchadnezzar came to grips with his own frailty of mind and body when Daniel told him that God rules in the kingdoms of men (Dan. 4:17). The turmoil of life around us should cause all of us as Christians to be still and know that God is God.

Seventy-three years ago on this day, our nation found out that one of our cities had been bombed by the naval forces of Japan. American lives lost on that day would have exceeded the number of three thousand. A nation that had been debating about whether to go to war or not, suddenly ceased its debate. The President of the United States rose to speak about the events of December the 7th being a day of infamy. Anger and then enthusiasm began to occur in the hearts of so many. Americans had been killed in an unprovoked attack. Action was needed and demanded for by most Americans at that time.

Those who hated our country did not have access to microphones to portray how evil the American people were. If they had got to a microphone they would have not been allowed to finish their diatribe. America was united in purpose and action. The flag was flown and being an American was a thing of great pride in the early days following that Sunday of December the 7th. Who died on that day? It is a popular thing in our time to designate different kinds of Americans. We have “African Americans”, “Mexican Americans”, “Irish Americans”, and “native Americans”. Who died that day on December the 7th, 1941? Perhaps you missed my point. Those who died on that day were AMERICANS. There was no hyphen, no separation, all were AMERICANS. They died because of who they were.

Dear friend, did it matter that the skin tone was different? Was it white, black, brown or red? The skin pigmentation was not an issue. The people who died were AMERICANS, no matter what color their skin was. When the towers fell in New York, the walls at the Pentagon and a lonely field in Pennsylvania in 2001, who died? What was the color of the firemen or policemen, or soldiers who ran to help the wounded and dying? Dear friend, it did not matter because of the over 3000 who died, they died because they were AMERICANS. There are people on planet earth today who hate us because of where we were born.

It is hate born because of the influence of television and Hollywood. Does the world really know what we believe? Or is it not the case that the world thinks we are what Hollywood, television and the news media tells them that we are. Why not go back to Normandy and walk across fields covered by crosses? Crosses indicating the burial sites of Americans who left families, homes and security to go and die on foreign soil to save others from terror. Why not reflect on places like Dunkirk, Korea and Viet Nam. Places where Americans died to save the lives and nations of other people.

Hollywood spends great deals of money to give the impression of big corporations making money off of war and soldiers fighting in those wars who were drug addicts or immoral people. The reason for the Gulf War was about oil and money to be made. I remember the Gulf War ignited by one large country invading a smaller country who could not defend themselves. It is not about oil, money or greed. It is about American military people who leave home and families to secure for others safety and to a small measure, peace.

As the President said back in 1941, it was a day of infamy. I see now a day of greater infamy. A day when four Americans are killed on foreign soil at an American embassy; when Amercians have their heads cut off in front of cameras for the internet; when American cities are burned because thugs do not like what a grand jury concluded. To me it is a greater day of infamy when we keep thinking that a person is who he is because of the color of his skin. It is time to drop the hyphens and pause to thank God for all those in days gone by who shed their blood and gave their lives so that we could be a free people.

There would be no American, nor us, without God. On this day we give Him thanks for where we live and I close this article and honor His Son and say we give thanks in the name of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, in His name, Amen.

Jesus came unto His own and they did not receive Him (John 1:11). It is a sad commentary on the first century world that men seeing the power of Christ and hearing His word failed to accept Him. The world indeed is without excuse when it comes to the issue of salvation through Jesus the Christ. Ignorance however, will save no one (Acts 17:30). We read about the growing hostility of the Pharisees and scribes toward Jesus. They had no means to argue against His miracles. They knew the people being healed were indeed sick of various diseases. They could attack His interpretation of the law and Him as well. They did so with great zeal that eventually led to Jesus dying on the cross.

John states that the things written down were enough to cause one of a reasonable mind to come to faith in Jesus as the Son of God (John 20:30,31). If one does not properly study and handled the Word of God then faith will not come (2 Tim. 2:15). It is obtaining the evidence from scripture and then making the proper application to what one has learned (Rom. 10:17). Some men may study but they do not understand nor comprehend what they have read (2 Cor. 4:3). The Word of God is lost on them.

Please allow me to take us back to the time of Matthew 8 beginning in verse 28. Jesus meets one who is possessed by a devil. The people of that village could not chain him nor even come to the place where he was because he was so fierce. The Bible speaks about a herd of swine that were a great way off (verse 30). The men who cared for the pigs would not dare come close to where the one possessed by a demon lived. It had to have an affect on the economics of the city. Water then was a precious commodity and for the pigs to be near there should be of interest to us. Water needed would have to be gotten from such a source.

Jesus confronts the demons and cast them out. They had asked His permission to leave the man and enter the pigs. Jesus granted them their request. Pigs run down a cliff into the water and are drown. Now the plots thickens. The men caring for the pigs go into the city and tell there what had happened. When the city turns out they find the man who had been healed. A man that had been such a threat now sits calmly by Jesus. A member of the community who had not helped nor blessed the city now is in a different frame of mind. Would not the city be so glad that this area once avoided could not be used?

The chapter closes with some very sad words. The whole city comes and asks or pleads with Jesus to leave their coasts. The meaning here is not just their city but they want Him to leave out of their area, completely. What is the justification for such an attitude? Jesus confronted demons and these people did not want that kind of battle taking place where they lived. They could have been thankful that the man was healed but in their mind a greater problem existed. As long as this man Jesus remained in the area other such battles may take place. They asked Him to leave.

Babylon conquered the city of Jerusalem and for the third and final time deported the population. Jews came back from other countries after the Babylonians left. The man left in charge was murdered and the people feared what might happen. They go and ask Jeremiah to ask God what they should do. Ten days later the answer came, do not go to Egypt. The response of the people was quick. No, we will go to Egypt where we will see war no more (Jer. 42:14).

They did not want war any more. It is the same with individuals today. They can turn on the television almost daily and get a dose of “everything will be fine”. It leads men in a spiritual context to avoid the battle thinking that quiet is a better path. The problem is that evil is never “quiet” but it always gets louder unless checked by those who love God through obedience. Too many today are saying to Jesus, “please leave”. Leave not just the area but leave us alone. May each of us learn the lesson. Endure hardness as good soldiers of the Lord (2 Tim. 2:3).

A day set by our forefathers was selected for November to be a day of Thanksgiving. It was to be a time in which all Americans were to pause and thank God for the blessings bestowed on our nation. Many Novembers have come and gone and we have witnessed a change in attitude for what our forefathers originally planned. The name of God would appear to be a foreign sounding word to many in Washington and other places. We have allowed a small group to tell all the rest of us how prayer in school is so dangerous. They even fear prayer at ball games or graduation services at our schools. Some resent our money having the words, “In God We Trust” place on them.

It is difficult at best to get a Bible to a prisoner in our country. Whereas if said prisoner asked for a “prayer rug” to face Mecca that must be taken care of quickly. A professional ballplayer expresses faith in God and within a year’s time he was no longer in the game. He had guided the Broncos to the first playoff game and later to their first playoff victory. Such a man speaking about faith was a danger to the league. Another player knocks a woman out in the elevator and we struggle over him losing four games in a suspension. On the college level a quarterback is in trouble with the law and we suspend him for a whole half of a ball game.

Four Americans are murdered in Benghazi and two more have their heads cut off and shown via the internet. The response from Washington was it was because of a video and attached to it such words like “tragic” or “horrible”. I would have never thought that murder of American citizens could be defined in such poor terms like tragic or something similar. Perhaps far removed from memory but I can remember a terrorist executed a man in a wheel chair and threw him overboard from a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Ocean. The terrorist would find sympathy in some place called Libya. Perhaps it has been too long but that is the nation where Benghazi is located.

In the face of such increasing dangers in the world and in our country, how can we pause to be thankful at this time of the year? Thanksgiving to God is not about what is lost or gained, but what we have received. The Christian, more so than the person of the world, should know that tribulations come because the world is occupied by those who have no regard for God nor reverence for the image He placed within man (Gen. 1:26). We therefore glory in tribulations because of where those tribulations lead us. They lead us to patience, experience and hope (Rom. 5:3-5). From that hope our hearts are filled by the love for God which is made known to us by what the Spirit has revealed.

I had an occasion some years back to be at Arlington National Cemetery for the changing of the guard. To have been part of seeing it and looking beyond to all those crosses and graves caused the tear ducts of my eyes to fill. I could not stand on such a day without thinking of the price paid for freedom by those so buried and by their families who gave up their sons and daughters. We pause to say “thanks” to our God, not for what we have lost or gained but for the gift of memory in our hearts as to the price of freedom.

We should, likewise, pause to remember what we have received from God for our spirits. The sinner to the saint because of obedience to the will of Christ (I Peter 1:22) From the catacombs of Rome to comfortable buildings in which we can worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-25). To be in possession of the right or freedom to stand upon the housetops and speak to the world what was said in private by Jesus to His apostles. To live in a time in which we can as parents turn off the televisions and/or computers and say, “let us study the Bible.”

We are to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, not just in November (Heb. 13:15). This verse also states what that sacrifice is. It is our lips giving THANKS to God to His NAME! Amen and amen.

The book of 1 Chronicles opens up by tracing the family lines of the Israelites. Chapter ten concerns the death of Saul, the first king of Israel. Chapter eleven is about David becoming king and capturing Jerusalem for his base of operations. Beginning in verse 10 of chapter eleven there is a list of David’s mighty men, all the way through the rest of the chapter. Chapter twelve is about the men who came to David before he was king and was being pursued by Saul. In verse 8 we are told about the Gadites. Here is what the Bible says about them. They were men of war, fit for the battle.

One of the exemptions for not going to war was fear (Deut. 20:8). The reason being if in the heat of battle, the man would break and run, he would cause others to do the same. The ones with David then were men of war who were fit or ready for battle. They understood the enemy was to be killed or made to serve. God desired to reduce the number of Gideon’s army in order for God to get the glory for the coming victory. God tells Gideon to speak to all those gathered and anyone who was fearful could leave. On that occasion some 22,000 returned home (Judges 7:2,3). Since 10,000 remained, it is safe to conclude that the majority did not want to go to war.

God, through Moses and Aaron, used a cloud to lead Israel from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. The land occupied by the Philistines was almost a straight course into Canaan. God would not lead them that way. Why did God choose a further route through Arabia? His reason was if the people saw war, they would repent and desire to go back to Egypt (Ex. 13:17). The heart must be prepared for war. They would journey under the leadership of God to Mount Sinai. From there they would make their way toward the land promised by God. The decision was made to send out men to spy out the land.(Num. 13).

They returned and told the congregation that the land was everything God said that it was. However, their report also involved the strength of those in Canaan, walled cities and even some giants in the land. The land flowing with milk and honey has a great sound to it. Taking the land, which meant war, was an idea that turned the whole nation. So much so that God declared that all those 20 and above would never enter in to Canaan (Num. 14:29). The writer of Hebrews calls it “unbelief” (Heb. 3:18,19). The unbelief came to the surface on the basis of what it would take to wage war and drive out those in Canaan.

Jesus’ work on earth was to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). How then do we understand this description of the work of the Messiah by Isaiah? Isaiah writes that He, the Messiah, would “…smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked” (Isaiah 11:4). Jesus is the Messiah and, therefore, a connection is made between seeking and saving the lost and Jesus destroying the wicked. How would such be accomplished? Ephesians 6 list the armor which the Christian has received from God. In verse 17, we are told that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.

The Christian then is to wage war with the Word of God as his tool. Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Cor. 10:4). The same verse also tells us that are weapon is mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Our weapon, which is the Word of God is to be used in love (Eph. 4:15). We do not seek the death but instead the life of men. The knowledge about Jesus the true Messiah brings men from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son (Col. 1:13).

The false messages presented over the “air waves” about having prosperity, wealth and health cloud the minds of many. It is minds that are clouded because the thoughts of “land with milk and honey” is not presented with the idea of war to take it. The war which is waged daily is for our own souls and the souls of as many as we can teach. It is the abundant life promised by Jesus that came about to those who are “men of war and fit for the battle” (John 10:10).

Events in Iraq point to growing hostility on the world’s stage.  This is not some civil war in that part of the world.  This is about the exertion of the will of one group over another with a view toward others.  A civil war is just that.  It is localized as one group seeks to have power over another.  However, if the efforts are to move beyond a local setting and spreading it out, it then ceases to be a civil war.  The message from Washington is that it is just a civil war.  It has already moved from Iraq to portions of Syria.  Washington is mistaken.

Who are these people who are striving to obtain so much power?  In days gone by anytime there was an effort on the part of those of the Moslem faith to act in a horrible way, the news media here, for the most part, declared that such were radicals.  I grant that they are radicals but I am forced to wonder what is it that they are reading which leads them to cut off the heads of children and innocent people?  One might conclude as per our news media that they are not interpreting the Quran in the right way.

Let us strive to simplify the situation.  Here are three leaders from the past: Moses, Jesus and Mohammad.  If I choose to read about the Israelites and how they conducted business I must read after Moses. If I choose to find out about the Moslem faith I then would read after Mohammad.  If I want to know about Jesus then I must read after His life as revealed in the New Testament.  God spoke to Abraham, long before there was a Moses.  God told him that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full (Gen. 15:16).  In fact it would be a period of over 400 years before the sins of the Amorites would reach the full point.

God, in sending His people into Canaan, wanted them to destroy every vestige of idolatry in the land.  The people were to be killed and/or driven out.  Their images, idols and places of worship were to be destroyed.  The kinds of sins that the people of Canaan were doing can be found out in a study of the book of Leviticus.  God did not want His people to be affected by the thinking of those people.  In that sense God placed a sword in the hands of Israel to drive out their enemies and make the land be holy as the people attempted to live holy lives.

Mohammad was a leader whose hand was filled with a sword.  As long as he was alive, the sword or subjugation of his enemies was the path he walked.  After his death, his followers continued to hold the sword in their hands as they made attempts to spread their faith into all the world.  Those today in Iraq are holding a sword in their hands that can be traced back to the man who began their religion.  One may argue that those who cut off the heads of children or others misinterpret what the Quran teaches.  I grant that might be the case but it is not a misinterpretation as to the meaning of a sword in the hand.

Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace but a “sword” (Matt. 10:34).  Same kind of sword as used by Moses or Mohammad?  Why not let Jesus answer for Himself as to what is meant?  Jesus in Gethsemane, surrounded by His enemies, had one of His disciples try to defend the Lord.  What was the Lord’s response?  He told Peter to “…put up again thy sword into his place; for all that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matt. 26:52).  Jesus in a few hours from this garden scene will tell Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36).  If His kingdom were of this world, then His servants would fight.  Beyond that point, Jesus is being nailed to a tree outside the walls of Jerusalem.  What a time for His followers to raise up with swords in hand to destroy the enemy.  No such action is taken.

Whether by a misinterpretation of their holy book or some hidden agenda, people today are being murdered by the “sword”.  Those who follow Jesus the Christ have since the days of Gethsemane, put their “sword” into its place.  The sword used today by the followers of Jesus the Christ is the sword of the Spirit, that is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17).  That sword touches the hearts of men when the truth is taught, understood and obeyed (Acts 2:36-39).  The sword of Jesus the Christ does not cut off heads but touches hearts with truth.  Who do you follow?