The Sword of the LORD

In the 28th chapter of Genesis, we find Jacob on the run from his brother Esau, who was seriously considering killing him because of the deception that Jacob used to secure their father's blessing. Jacob was forced to leave his home and his family to seek a wife, and a new life, in Haran, where his uncle Laban lived. On his journey, Jacob came to a place called Luz and camped for the night. As he slept, God gave him a dream. In the dream he saw a ladder that was set on the earth and reached to heaven. On the ladder were angels climbing up and down between heaven and earth. God Himself stood at the top of the ladder and said, "I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

"I will praise Thee: for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation." (Psalms 118:21) During the time of Elisha, a prophet of Israel, there was a woman of some means who lived in the village of Shunem, which was part of the tribe of Issachar. On his journeys around Israel, Elisha would often pass through this village as the Lord would direct him. On one of these occasions, this woman from Shunem stopped Elisha and constrained him to come to her home for a meal, and so it happened that, from that time forth, when Elisha would pass through town, he would stop at the woman's house to eat. After some time had passed, the Shunemmite woman said to her husband, "Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither." (

"The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." (Psalms 118:22) "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." (Isaiah 53:1-3) It is incredible to think that the very children of God, the Israelites, who searched the scriptures continually, and who looked for the signs of the coming of their Messiah, could miss His appearing altogether. Even when they were told plainly that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, they not only were blind to the facts and the prophecies, but they rejected Him co

Recently, my wife, Terry, and I had the pleasure of escaping the humdrum and driving to Columbus for dinner. We had a wonderful time enjoying one another's company and relishing some of our favorite foods. One thing that helped make the experience memorable was the server that took care of us. We have learned that the right server can make the difference between an enjoyable and a vexing time dining out. Believe me, we have had some bad servers before. There are those who serve your meal ok, but then don't show up again till it's time to settle the bill. It's too bad if you have dirty utensils, are missing something, or have a fly in your soup! I've had to flag down another server before to help us because ours couldn't be found. Then there are those "hoverers" who think that they aren't doing a good job if they don't check on you every five minutes, which would be alright if they did it unobtrusively; but they feel they must interrupt

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High." (Psalm 92:1) This is the time of season when Americans stop to consider all of the blessings that have been bestowed upon them, and to give thanks to the Creator for all of His benefits. The emphasis, however, is on being thankful for the abundance of things that we possess. Might I suggest that we learn to be just as thankful for those things which God has withheld? And might I further add that it is important for us to thank God during our trials and hardships? "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1Thessalonians 5:18) We, as humans, too often become discontented with what we have, and desire to have more. Even when we are blessed with an overabundance of possessions, we crave some new toy or gadget, and take all that we already have for granted. Isn't it strange that the season of thanksgiving is foll

"Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up." (Daniel 3:1, 2) Once all of these officials were gathered together, it was commanded that they bow down and worship the image of gold that the king had set up. Anyone who did not do so was to be cast into a fiery furnace and burned alive. It would seem that the king meant business, and expected compliance! Among the crowd that day were three Hebrew boys who were part of the group of people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away as captives when he destroyed Jerusalem in the 6th century B.C. The names of the three were

"So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah [bitterness]. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them." (Exodus 15:22-25) God sent His servant Moses to lead Israel out of the bondage that they found in Egypt, and to bring them into the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God worked a great miracle of deliverance when He divided the Red Sea, and caused Israel to pass over in safety while Pharoah and all his host were drowned as they pursued after the Israelites to destroy them. What

I was recently given some very bad news. It was the type of news that was life altering, but not life threatening. It affected only my job, not my health. I must admit, though, that I was shaken by the news, and by what it would mean for myself and my family. I thank God for fellow Christians - for family and for friends - who brought comforting and faith- inspiring words to me. Most of all, I thank God for speaking to me. In my initial shock, He led me to two verses in the 16th chapter of Acts. "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed." Acts 16:25, 26 I have read these verses many times before, and even expounded on them frequently. I know the importance of prayer and of praise in my life when things are difficult. I know the importance of

My wife, Terry, was telling me about a recent episode of "The Dog Whisperer" that she watched. She said that on this particular show, Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer, was called to help with a dog whose owners said that he was showing some very aggressive behavior. The owner's grandson had given the dog a soft toy to play with and every time anyone would get near the toy, the dog would growl, snarl, and snap at them. This was, of course, intimidating to the family, and they would back away from the dog when he would act this way. When Cesar Millan arrived at the home and witnessed the dog's behavior, he had a simple solution. He merely walked over to the dog's toy, put his foot firmly on it, and would not move. At first, the dog snarled and even nipped at Cesar's foot, but soon realized that Cesar was not budging and slinked away submissively. When the family members would try this same tactic (including their 14 year old grandson) the effect was the sa

"And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." (Ezra 3:10-13) The children of the captivity, who

When I was quite young, my father was watching me for the day, and had to attend a brief meeting in town. Not knowing what else to do, he took me along and asked me to wait in the car until he came back. He parked the car on the street near the building where he would be so that I could see where he was, and went to his meeting. I'm certain that he was not gone for much more than 15-20 minutes, but to me it was an eternity. As I waited for my father to return, I began to grow more and more frightened. Before long, I convinced myself that I had been abandoned, and that my father had forgotten about me altogether. In my desperation, I searched the car for a pen and a scrap of paper, and I scribbled out, "Help me!" on the paper, and placed it in a window. Fortunately (or maybe not so much for me), my dad returned before some stranger saw the sign and decided to act to save this poor abandoned boy. Needless to say, my father was not very happy with me, and let me know

"Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom." (Psalm 51:5) God desires that we be honest with Him. He is interested in both what we do, and why we do it. Our actions may seem good on the surface, but the Lord searches out our innermost intentions. He examines our motives to see if our works are wrought in Him, or are "self" propelled. In another Psalm, David says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23, 24) David realized that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; therefore we need the Lord's help in discerning what makes us tick. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul explains that if he were to possess the faith to move mountains, or give all that he had to the poor, or even give himself up as a martyr to the Lord, yet, if he didn't hav

There are many promises in the Bible that are addressed specifically to "him that overcometh." They include: • To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. • He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. • To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. • And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. • He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. • Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of My God. • To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also ov

"And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying, If Thou be the king of the Jews, save Thyself. And a superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us." (Luke 23:35-39) "And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself, and come down from the cross." (Mark 15:29, 30) Oh, the wisdom and the depth of God's great love! His plan for our redemption was such that it could not be comprehended by the all the forces of evil. To think that a virgin would conceive, and bear a Son, and that that Son