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WILD FIRE

There are few things that are as frightening or as formidable as a forest or prairie fire.   It can spread very rapidly, doubling its size every minute, or much faster depending on the circumstances such as intensity, wind speed, and fuel source.   Once it starts to spread, it can be very difficult to contain without adequate equipment and manpower.   The fires raging in the Palisades region of Los Angeles recently are a good example of a wild fire.   Santa Ana winds blowing in from the US’s western deserts have hit speeds of 80, and even 100 miles an hour.   These winds are driving the fires on, and making it impossible for the fire crews to contain them.   When I was quite young, I had a firsthand encounter with a large fire.   Two friends and I started a small campfire on a slope in a small forest in our town.   The slope was covered with dry leaves which we used to start the fire.   Before long, we had quite a blaze going, and wer...
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CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. " (Romans 12:1, 2).   The word "conformed" is translated from the Greek word "suschematizo" which means to fashion oneself according to another's pattern.  Notice the root "schemat" or "schema" is contained in this word and is the same root that we find in our English words “scheme” and "schematic."  So, literally, Paul is saying that we must not mold or fashion ourselves after another's worldly scheme or pattern.  And just whose worldly pattern is it that the Apostle Paul is warning us against?  It's none other than Satan, the god of this world, as he is referred to in 2 Corin...
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HIDE AND SEEK

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:18-20).   During my daily quiet time with the Lord this week, I was struck by the enormous love of our Father God for us His children.   While the prodigal son in this parable was still a considerable distance from home, the father spotted him as he was making his way back to his father's house.   It was not by coincidence that his father saw him; his father had watched for him since the time that he had left, waiting hopefully for his son's return.   Then, when the father saw his son, there was no hesitancy and no second guessing of what his response should be: he ran to his son, embraced h...
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