EPAPHRAS: THE APPOINTMENT is now available!!

Did you read EPAPHRAS: THE INTERVIEW? Did you like it? Are you interested in finding out more about Eps or Teddy or ....just about anyone else mentioned in those pages?

Well the sequel, which is a prequel, is now available. EPAPHRAS: THE APPOINTMENT can be found now at books.by/millerwrites. You will find out more about the early lives of our heroes and perhaps see how they developed their worldviews.

With ten major characters developed in the pages of The Appointment, you are sure to witness many (fictional) examples of the ways God works in the lives of man, and always with perfect timing. God is out to get your attention and hopes to have a personal relationship with you. A vital, joy-filled relationship, based on your finding forgiveness (the theme of The Interview) and salvation in Jesus Christ. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

PS BOTH books are available at books.by/millerwrites

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W Is For Would You Believe I Have Finally Written More Of My TESTIMONY? Part Four

In the last segment of this testimony, posted almost two years ago, I was writing about my high school and college years.  This was the critical period in my walk with the Lord because over those few thoughtful years I came to know both my sin and my Savior.  Through a progression of observations I had come to realize, contrary to my early presumption, that my neighborhood was not perfect, that my classmates were not perfect, that my parents were not perfect, that my big brothers were not perfect, and even that priests and the church itself were not perfect.  Ultimately, and you may find this hard to accept, but I finally came to admit that even I...was not perfect!

I came to discover later that the Bible would codify and clarify what I had observed for myself.  In Romans 3:23 Paul speaks of what God had long known about people: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This understanding is only the first step in the walk of faith I had begun to take.

As the following years came and went, my sinfulness--my natural bent--was continually apparent. But God's grace to cover my guilt under the sacrifice made for me by Jesus Christ, and his forgiveness and redemptive power could handle it.

Over 35 years have passed since I stood up at a convention in Chicago, in response to a challenge given by Bill Bright, the founder and head of Campus Crusade, and gave my life to God.  I accepted the free gift of salvation offered by God, which I could never have earned for myself, but which Jesus did for me.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling."  This is not referring to some effort to EARN salvation; that is already accomplished.  But how do we APPLY this great gift to our lives? That is what we must be "working out" over time, and through the many challenges life brings.

My challenges?

Since my conversion that New Year's Eve in Chicago, so many and varied things have happened.

With my first girlfriend I sang at the Catholic "guitar mass" every week, but eventually broke up with her and the Catholic church.  My beloved Mom died about the same time, after just a few months struggle with cancer.  I met my wife, Kiki, at Mom's funeral.
I was flown to a couple of job interviews after graduating with a degree in Geology, but ended up working in a factory for a year. I then moved to Alaska and worked for a summer as a geologist in a mining exploration camp where I got to fly off to "work" every morning by helicopter, before joining the staff at a Christian school in Ketchikan.  Kiki and I were married there, that fall.  Victoria was born to us the following year, and one of the long term missions of our lives (parenting) had begun.
Through our nine years in Ketchikan we were members of a great church and found wonderful teaching, fellowship and ministry opportunities there.
I drove tour bus for two summers and was at the wheel when my bus load of 54 passengers rolled into a ditch. Several years of legal issues began (I was sued for ruining the sex life of one of the older couples!).  I began to work as a carpenter that year (1984).
We suffered a miscarriage in 1985, but Noah was born in '86 and gave us great joy!  We soon bought our dream home out in the country and near the ocean, and Josh came in 1990 to make our family complete.
A year later we decided to move back to Wisconsin, selling all and virtually starting over.  Dad died the next year ('92), as I was struggling to find the best work opportunity. We found another good church and rented several homes, including an old farm house we enjoyed for one year, and then moved again to a new town and a new church.
Raising kids and battling bills, and fending off medical mayhem filled quite a few years. The kids are all adults now so only two of the three issues pervade our lives today.

Through it all I have found that being a disciple of Christ and having a connected relationship with God is so very critical.  Temptations and threats and disappointments and failures and achievements and joys and drudgeries and pains and triumphs and peace.  These things all take their turn in relation to our bodies or our souls (mind, emotion and will), but when my spirit is in touch with God's spirit, walking with him in obedience instead of independently, the circumstances of life have little impact on the real me.

I have come to a few basic prayers that rather sum up my Christian walk:

"Lord, don't listen to me."

I pray along these lines to God when I recognize that what I might otherwise be asking him for is purely selfish and does not take into account what HE might see as the most important thing.  It is my way of confessing that my flesh is still sinful and greedy, and of saying, "your will be done, not mine."

"It's you and me Lord."

SO very often in this life we face frustration and disappointment because other people just don't get us. (Or is it just me?) Whether it's in the family or outside, there are always so many built in impediments to true understanding and deep friendship; basic linguistic blockages or hidden neurosis can interfere and leave a person feeling distant and lonely.  In a crowded room or on one distant edge of a shared bed, a person may feel horribly isolated, but our creator God would not leave us there.  GOD is never out of reach, or out of touch. Through the giving of his Son, Jesus Christ, and by way of our mere acceptance of this gift, God has opened a way for us to enjoy the very best of fellowship with himself!










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Prophecy

A few things about Bible prophecy.

A prophet is not necessarily a "future predictor."  Not a fortune teller, but in the Biblical record a prophet of God was simply one who spoke for God.  He said whatever God wanted him to say.  Sometimes it had to do with future events, but not always.

Once in a while someone came along who wanted to be God's prophet but was not called by God to be so. If he ever stood up and said "Thus saith the Lord," he was subject to the strictest standard in the community: if he claimed that God did make a prediction, but it proved false, the "false prophet" would be stoned to death.  His extreme presumption was punishable by death.  God is serious.

And yet dozens of men and women stood up as prophets.  Hundreds of prophecies were made "in the name of the Lord" and all were either fulfilled in their particulars or...will yet be.  Many prophecies are related to future, end time, events.

With God, of course, every bit of it is concerned with the Good News!  Yes, His wrath will (soon) pour out on the ungodly; those who are absolutely resolved to resist Him and His love.  But by His grace, He offers hope and peace and joy and forgiveness of sin etc. etc. to every one who simply repents and turns to Him through Jesus Christ!

Come back to God.  Be reconciled to God by believing in, and receiving Jesus as your Savior.  
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What is Faith?

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

There is the answer.  This somewhat poetic description of faith is found at the beginning of what is called the "Hall of faith".  Hebrews 11 goes on to list many heroes of the old and new testaments; men and women who somehow exemplified what it means to live, at least the main thrust of their lives if not every bit of it, by faith.

Before we look closer at the "definition" given in verse one, let me share this real life descriptor that I heard recently.  The guy was saying that because of his good marriage, he can be at work through the day and have "faith" that his wife is at home taking care of the children.  He knows his wife so well, and knows of her love for him so completely, that even without calling and checking every hour, he can "know" that she is there and doing what she regularly does.

How does this relate to verse one?  Of course the man hopes that his dear wife will do as she has committed to do for him and for their children.  But it is his faith that gives him confidence in that hope.  And it is his faith that assures him, even though he does not call or watch some security monitor, that all is well at home.

This analogy between a man's faith in his wife and a Christian's faith in God breaks down of course, because things might happen to a man or woman that interfere with the hope we have in each other.  Things that can never counteract the God of the universe, nor His ultimate good will.

When we hear glib cliches like "keep the faith" thrown about in the culture, we must ask; Faith in what?  Or in whom?  The value of faith is in the object of the faith, not in faith itself.  There really is no one and nothing on earth we can rely on perfectly.  We have words like heartbreak and tragedy and shock and even dismay, always ready for the occasions when either somebody we loved or trusted, or when the weather or planet itself, has let us down.  Only faith in God our creator truly suffices.

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The Fifth Conviction

Everyone seems to talk about convictions.

The DA is always looking for more convictions (prosecutorial success).

The drill sergeant is looking for men to promote who will live up to their convictions (bravery).

The pastor wants the Church's members to live according to their convictions (beliefs).

The best politicians are those involved simply because of their convictions (ideals).

But only the Holy Spirit can bring CONVICTION!  His is an all convincing forcefulness.  His facts are undeniable; His approach is potent; and his message is always relevant and valid.  There is no room for discussion or debate with the conviction of God.  Without submission and acceptance, there is only shirking and shunning.  Only dodging and disputing as a child might who has no more hope of outwitting his parents:  "Oh YEAH?" we say, but that's all we have.

Jesus said, in Mathew 12:31

And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

My understanding here is that blasphemy against the Spirit means denying His work.  The work of the Holy Spirit is to bring the comfort of conviction (as it does it's good work of promoting repentance and thus salvation) to the sinner's heart.  The only sin that can not be forgiven then, is the sin of refusing to ask to be forgiven.

Perhaps as an unbeliever you face your Christian contacts with all the punch and certitude in the world.  Utterly persuaded in your own convictions, you laugh and stomp on the stage of attack.  But as you lie in bed, or walk alone in the dark and quiet, that still small voice of God's conviction is winning the argument.  He wants you.  He is calling you.  He is right, and in His rightness He is calling you to come and be loved.  Allow the conviction to breach your resistance, and be forgiven.




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The Christmas Dilemma; Defeated!

A friend used to say, perhaps only half jokingly: "Life's a bitch, and then you die."  I say perhaps only half jokingly because within a year or two of his spouting what seemed to be a lighthearted quip, the 28 year old man, in the prime of his life, with a loving wife and two young sons, went out to the beach one night and shot himself.  Overwhelmed by life.  An impending lay off, rainy climate and light deprivation, chemical depression, car troubles, hang nails, sore feet, dirty dishes....whatever.

We all know the joys of life, but the hardships come more continually and in all shapes and sizes.  Tremendously difficult tragedies are rampant and if they are diluted down at all,  it is most often only by the medium mayhems, smaller sadnesses and ongoing obstacles of everyday, day-after-day, life.  If it weren't for the ability to find the bright side and see the glass half full once in a while; and without the near mental demand that we justify our troubles at least by listing hopes, we might all succumb to a night at the beach when the tide is lowest.

Now add the wonder and dread of the aging process to the mix and try not to despair because you will likely outlive your demented Grandparents by 20 or 30 years!  Of course we want to live as long a life as possible, but honestly, even in my 50's I have begun to recognize the inevitable crush of entropy upon my body, and am forced to imagine what its degrading influence will bring with more years.

To maintain a flicker of hope, try not to consider the race going on between our economy and the culture at large.  One is headed for the fiscal cliff (any current arrangement notwithstanding) and the other just might win, going over the moral cliff first, and never to regain what we then might call a high ground of rectitude, self-control and peace.

Even during the Christmas season, when smiles are expected and gifts are generously  given (if not prescribed); when commonly relished songs are beaten to death by planned delight, and white and silver and red and green should magically maneuver our moods, the reality of stress and poverty and disharmony triumphs, and we can only find solace in the lengthening of days.

I love the lengthening days, and have convinced myself that I can measure the nuanced difference by some sixth sense.  But my real comfort works equally well after the summer solstice when the days are shrinking.   This God-given comfort is one that overcomes culture's demands and personal shortfalls; one that holds me close through the hot and humid, the sneezy and rainy, the driving wind and rotten leaves, and even the depths of drifts and frozen finger mornings.  It is the simple birth of the Christmas Baby.

They can take away our manger scenes, and inhibit our "Merry Christmas" greetings all they want.  Friends may fail and brothers may die and joints will creak and groan.  Organs waver after so many years and even our minds may sink into a mire of forgotten recollections, but that baby, that Jesus Christ the Savior did come to us and in a form to which we can all relate.  He does not speak to us as through a vapid speech which may or may not have any truthful intent behind it.  Nor as a teacher, does He feed us facts and figures merely to be tested.  And not even as a dreamed of lover who may never really connect across the divide.

Jesus came to you.  And to you He can relate.  He came as a human being so that you could know, that He would know, what you already know  (That life's a bitch, and then you die.):  But knowing that He understands our plight, we might also believe in His Prescription!   The Good News (the Gospel) is that we can live our lives out despite all the disparaging and discouraging truths we are terribly familiar with, and rejoice in being reconciled to God through the Son!  Though our bodies are literally ravaged by time, we can choose to live renewed and forever with Him!  While our circumstances conspire to steal our happiness, His joy is made complete within, and can not be hindered!  He came, purposefully, that you "might live an abundant life"!

Many people suffer the most during the Christmas season because expectations are driven so high by outsiders, and delivered upon with such reality, by those who are the closest.  Jesus Christ came in the most humble of circumstances, but gave Himself for sinners, the most deserving of piles of coal, and seeks to deliver each of us into the wonder and beauty and glory of an eternal life in God's presence where we will be given imperishable bodies and where there will be nothing to cry about ever again!

My friend's line was understandable as far as he knew then, but a better summation of truth might be more like this: "Life is hard; God is good!"  Let your circumstances rattle and roar.  Let your body wither and die if it will.  But repent today of your own recognized sin and give your heart and life to Jesus Christ for His safekeeping and His good plans.






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The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 18th on Proverbs 18:9-12

[If you have been here before, in May, then you might want to skip down below the green for today's post.]

"Thirty days hath September, 

April, June and November

All the rest have 31

Except February which has 28

Except during leap year when it has 29"

NO I DID NOT WRITE THIS "POEM"!  (Talk about free verse!)

Why didn't somebody just point out that the four months that do NOT have 31 days (except February, and everyone knows all about February The Exceptional) come every other month except that there is no 30 day month between July and August?  The silly poem above mixes up the order just to hide the fact that the real 30 day months come in two orderly pairs: April/June and September/November.  Can somebody please write a non-silly poem for us that will make this clear, and stick in our minds, but without gooping them up with exceptions (and please just leave February out of it!)?

And to make matters (far) worse, MILLERWRITES has created a Proverbs Pull-A-Part Plan that decimates that fine collection of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, by spreading commentary on each chapter out over 7 months (the good 31 day months)!  Oh don't ask me to explain his system.  You can try to decipher what he said about it at the top of any P31P posts from January or March if you like, or just follow along this month and figure it out.

All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied here from Biblegateway.com

REMEMBER: My ideas may be oh so mesmerizing, but you will get more benefit from simply reading the chapter itself!

So here I offer my amateur comments on verses 9-12.  Today's inspired verses are in red, and my comments are neither       (neither inspired, nor red).

PROVERBS 18

1 An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends
and against all sound judgment starts quarrels.


2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.


3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt,
and with shame comes reproach.


4 The words of the mouth are deep waters,
but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.


5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked
and so deprive the innocent of justice.


6 The lips of fools bring them strife,
and their mouths invite a beating.


7 The mouths of fools are their undoing,
and their lips are a snare to their very lives.


8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.

9 One who is slack in his work
is brother to one who destroys.

9) That's because of entropy.  The tendency of all things is to fall apart; to separate, rather than join; to scatter instead of gather and join; to move from order to disorder.  Look at your desk.  Since you last organized the whole thing, has it randomly become more, or less....satisfying to look upon?   We must put intelligent and deliberate "work" in every day just to maintain a certain amount of cleanliness and organization.  If there actually was any observable natural tendency for things to become more systematized, and more greatly advanced (then I MIGHT consider the presently outrageous claims of evolutionary theory), then the common movement of all things toward "destruction" would be obsolete, and we could watch our rooms get cleaner and more orderly while we all just sat around getting better looking and more adorable!

10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

10) Is there anything "chasing" you?  Guilt?  Fear?  Insecurity?  Sin?  Riches?  Vanity?  Temptation?  Run to "the name of the Lord" and find refuge in that "tower"!  He knows all about it, and wants to be your shelter.

11 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

11) I like the subtlety here.  Can't you almost hear Solomon laughing at the idea the wealthy have about the power of their wealth?  I hear his chuckle turn quickly into loud guffaws, and see him ROFL as the rich are shocked and dismayed when their treasures disappear in a flash.

12 Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
but humility comes before honor.


12) So I gather that in God's order, it goes like this:  A person is HAUGHTY (naturally), he has a major or minor DOWNFALL, HUMILITY is born (hopefully), and then he is HONORED!

13 To answer before listening—
that is folly and shame.


14 The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?


15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
for the ears of the wise seek it out.


16 A gift opens the way
and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.


17 In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right,
until someone comes forward and cross-examines.


18 Casting the lot settles disputes
and keeps strong opponents apart.


19 A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city;
disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.


20 From the fruit of their mouth a person’s stomach is filled;
with the harvest of their lips they are satisfied.


21 The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.


22 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the Lord.


23 The poor plead for mercy,
but the rich answer harshly.


24 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin,
but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother




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The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting May 13th on Proverbs 13:8-10

[If you have been here before, in May, then you might want to skip down below the green for today's post.]

"Thirty days hath September, 

April, June and November

All the rest have 31

Except February which has 28

Except during leap year when it has 29"

NO I DID NOT WRITE THIS "POEM"!  (Talk about free verse!)

Why didn't somebody just point out that the four months that do NOT have 31 days (except February, and everyone knows all about February The Exceptional) come every other month except that there is no 30 day month between July and August?  The silly poem above mixes up the order just to hide the fact that the real 30 day months come in two orderly pairs: April/June and September/November.  Can somebody please write a non-silly poem for us that will make this clear, and stick in our minds, but without gooping them up with exceptions (and please just leave February out of it!)?

And to make matters (far) worse, MILLERWRITES has created a Proverbs Pull-A-Part Plan that decimates that fine collection of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, by spreading commentary on each chapter out over 7 months (the good 31 day months)!  Oh don't ask me to explain his system.  You can try to decipher what he said about it at the top of any P31P posts from January or March if you like, or just follow along this month and figure it out.

All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied here from Biblegateway.com

REMEMBER: My ideas may be oh so mesmerizing, but you will get more benefit from simply reading the chapter itself!

So here I offer my amateur comments on verses 8-10.  Today's inspired verses are in red, and my comments are neither       (neither inspired, nor red).

PROVERBS 13

1 A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.


2 From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things,
but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.


3 Those who guard their lips preserve their lives,
but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.


4 A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.


5 The righteous hate what is false,
but the wicked make themselves a stench
and bring shame on themselves.


6 Righteousness guards the person of integrity,
but wickedness overthrows the sinner.


7 One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.


8 A person’s riches may ransom their life,
but the poor cannot respond to threatening rebukes.

8) "So Solomon; are you trying to tell me that the rich and the poor live differently?"  OK, so now that I'm done mocking (who me?) the wisest guy ever, I admit that I see his particular point.  One of the biggest distinctions between the rich and the poor is in their very survivability.  The super rich can buy their lives back from those who may threaten to take it.  But the very poor have absolutely no such resource, no leverage with evildoers; but must wait entirely on the good graces that may or may not voluntarily flow from the merciful. In fact, since such grace and mercy are borne from God, and are manifest only in those exercising His imprinted image, the poor are rich beyond compare, as they may better know and see God.  (OK, I don't  know that that was Sol's point, but it is one of mine.)
 
9 The light of the righteous shines brightly,
but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.

9) Like the rich and poor of verse 8; the "righteous" enjoy certain inherent and incomprehensible benefits in life, that set them vastly apart from the "wicked".  The wicked may even claim some comfort in the fact that they will be "snuffed out"  when death, and its supposed annihilation, comes.  Such a prospect would be comforting for those suffering life with authentic guilts, and knowing fears, and spiteful denials, and determined unconfessions; when annihilation is compared with an eternity of the same burdens multiplied and ever growing.

You are not rich enough in material or in spirit to ransom your life by bribing "the Judge" when that day comes.  Instead of stoically resisting God's conviction, why not admit its truth, repent, and go on to receive His offer of cleansing and healing and regeneration?  Trade being "snuffed out" for the free gift of "shining brightly"!

Furthermore, the "snuffing out" is just of the bright and warm light that is your life. The burnt and smoldering wick endures after the snuffing, and continues pointless, futile and regretful, forever!
10 Where there is strife, there is pride,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

10) I know this is a presumptuous question, but do you have enough wisdom to at least consider my advice from verse 9's comment?  Not that my comment is anything original with me; but reflects (hopefully) God's word to us all.

Do my comments provoke any angry division between us?  Some discord?  Some offense?  (Perhaps the FCC should control my "hate speech" before someone gets hurt.)  If so, then verse 10a is verified.  Our "pride", our claims of correctness, is causing "strife".  Oh well.  I can deal with it if you can.

11 Dishonest money dwindles away,
but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.


12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.


13 Whoever scorns instruction will pay for it,
but whoever respects a command is rewarded.


14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
turning a person from the snares of death.


15 Good judgment wins favor,
but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction.[a]


16 All who are prudent act with[b] knowledge,
but fools expose their folly.


17 A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
but a trustworthy envoy brings healing.


18 Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame,
but whoever heeds correction is honored.


19 A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul,
but fools detest turning from evil.


20 Walk with the wise and become wise,
for a companion of fools suffers harm.


21 Trouble pursues the sinner,
but the righteous are rewarded with good things.


22 A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,
but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.


23 An unplowed field produces food for the poor,
but injustice sweeps it away.


24 Whoever spares the rod hates their children,
but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.


25 The righteous eat to their hearts’ content,
but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.
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The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 11th on Proverbs 11:1-5

January 11;  Proverbs 11, Verses 1-5

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers.  My amateur comments start below the verses from Proverbs.]

Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month.  My simple mind balks at the idea of trying this pattern in any month with less than 31 days  (It just does, all right?), but there are 7 months every year that are suitable for the effort.

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses of each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and offer a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, so that by the time December comes around we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to be wiser than The Barking Owl at least, though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!

[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

Proverbs 11

¹ The LORD detests dishonest scales,
   but accurate weights find favor with him.

 ² When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
   but with humility comes wisdom.

 ³ The integrity of the upright guides them,
   but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

 ⁴ Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
   but righteousness delivers from death.

 ⁵ The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight,
   but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.

1) 'Dishonest scales'.  It's not enough for God to say 'be honest'.  He knows where we live and how we live:  In the nitty gritty details which offer so many simple temptations.  A thumb on the scale may 'earn' the butcher only a few extra cents, but God knows this is what kills the spirit.  Yes, the dishonest scale would cheat the customer, but the cheating of a customer cheats the butcher (or whoever is cooking the books, as it were) of his relationship with God, and God of His relationship with the cheater.

2) How many times in the Bible does God relay this same message?  You may know it best by "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall, which we will get to, by the way, on July 16th!

3) Why not be straightforward?  The more we connive and scheme, the more we get caught up and tangled in our own lies.  Life is so much simpler when the only question one must answer is "What is the right thing to do?".  Instead of recognizing that the right thing is uncomfortable and then plotting to simulate the right thing, or imagining how to excuse the wrong thing, we should just go ahead and simply be guided by integrity.  Duplicity leads to destruction, Solomon says!

4) With the possible exception of a well placed money clip, no wealth has ever stopped a vengeful bullet.  Maybe a blackmailer's bullet, but wrath is just plain wrathful , and it can not be bought off.  I don't think the abuser referred to in this song could have bought off Miranda Lambert! But more to the point; nothing we save or own or collect or have will impinge on the just wrath of God.  Only the righteous, wearing the white robe granted by the Savior, through grace, will be delivered.

5) Who are 'the blameless'?  Well, there are none.  Isaiah 64:6 says that

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."

Christ takes the blame for us, and only in receiving that gift do we become blameless.  Then, according to verse 5 we become righteous, and walk on a straight path!

ALMOST WORDLESS THURSDAY: Dehydration Synthesis Defeated!

Water is only an ALMOST universal solvent.  To be separated from sin, we need be washed in the BLOOD OF THE LAMB!