Saturday Night Musings

“Boys, she ain’t what she use to be”! The feminist movement has watered down old fashioned Motherhood to the level of a 9-5 career woman working her way up the corporate ladder to becoming a new CEO. The kids are in a day care center, the house keeper keeps the house clean as a whistle and hubby will pick up the children and the chicken before Mom gets home by 6pm! They live next door to the Osbourne Family. 

The dysfunctional family is a growing problem today in this new 21st century. One way to fix this dilemma is to have in the home “holy women” who are worth their weight in gold in the sight of God. Holy Women whose beauty remains untarnished as she meets a higher standard for that of wives and mothers. 

The ideal family is found in a  Christian home. A home where both Dad and Mom know the Lord as their personal Savior and are rearing their children to know Him too.  Peter is saying if there is an unbelieving husband, the believing wife (Holy Women) or mothers by their chaste manner of living can win their husbands and their children. Their role as a holy woman and  living a life style that is pleasing unto the Lord, coupled with modesty and reverence, will impact the earthly and heavenly to the fourth and fifth generation..  

“Pretty woman walking down the street…, Pretty woman, I would like to meet. Mercy! (Roy Orbinson) What makes men’s heads turn and keep turning is not what Max Factor or Victoria Secrets can do for women, but what a meek and quiet spirit from God can do. Holy women are pretty women. Beauty comes from a Christian’s heart, not from a mirror. The outward flesh is in a state of deteriorating, but the inner person is being renewed constantly. A little bit of paint will help any old barn, but the ornaments that draw attention is gentleness, holiness, righteousness, and meekness. Her price is far above rubies and her husband will safely trust in her. Her children will rise up and call her blessed. Holy women walking down the street are always attractive. Mercy! 

Holy women are women who trust in God and by trusting in Him, they are able to fill their roles and responsibilities without ever becoming inferior. They have no problem following the leadership of the Holy Spirit or their own husbands. Holy women have a major supporting role, without them, any home can crumble. They seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. They live y faith, and they follow the Bible as their mandate. Holy women make great wives and great moms. No one can take their place!

 Holy women are Godly women who give hope to their sons and daughters. Even as Sarah—the kind of women who are under control, not out of control who can safely train and teach. We need examples of womanhood today whose stereotypes are not of the likes of a Rosie O’Donnell. “It Takes a Village”, (Hillary Rodham Clinton; 1996)—is not the text book for the home or our kids today. Dr. Spock will spook your kids. It takes a virtuous woman like Hannah to turn out children like a Samuel. “For this child I prayed”! 

It seems to me when kids are “home alone” and the world lies at their finger tips with the click of a mouse, vulnerability suddenly become a war zone. There needs to be a two-pistle-packing mama whose law is the law of the Bible and to break it means you might come to within a whisker of dying! Holy Women will always safe guard the nest. Strangers beware!  

Visit: www.cliffhartley.com

 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. James 3: 6, 8

Man was made in the image and the likeness of God (Gen. 1:26),— after the similitude of God (Jas. 3:9). He was both fearfully and wonderfully made. He alone, of all of God’s creatures, has the power and the ability to talk. Man may be deaf, but he is not dumb! His speech however, at times shows just how absurd he can be. With words and works we were made to honor God and help man. Then along came Satan with his subtlety and taught a new language how to condemn God and curse man—”My brethren, these things ought not to be”.

My brethren—have tongue trouble and it gets all tangled many times. We say the wrong thing at the wrong time. With that said, we can only wish we had those words back. A story is told of a woman who slandered her pastor with vicious words throughout the church. She became sick and sought the forgiveness of her Pastor for all the lies she told on him. He said I will gladly forgive you, if you will comply with a one wish on mine. She said, just name it. Go home kill a black hen and scatter her feathers on every windy corner in town. Having complied to his wish, he then said, now go and gather them all back up again. She said, that would be impossible. The pastor said, While I forgive you gladly, it will be impossible for you to undo the damage you have done with your tongue.

My brethren, you will be the same as a perfect man (Jas. 3:2-12) if you learn how to talk. A man who can not control his tongue is out of control like a wild horse without a bit in his mouth or a strong ship without a rudder in the most fierce wind storm. The tongue is a little member that controls the entire body. The tongue is the avenue to which the issues of the heart travels, a heart which is desperately wicked, which no man can know it’s depth. It is like the opening of a boiling volcano which belches blistering scars on the spur of a moment. James says it can not be tamed, it is unruly, filled with deadly poison. It would be interesting to hear Peter’s comments on this passage when he used his tongue to bless Christ and then used it to curse that he ever knew him.

My brethren, you will be the same as a wise man (Jas 3:13-18), if you learn when to talk. Like Peter, many times our speech betrays us, for it reveals the heart. “For from within, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…all these evil things comes from within” (Mark 7:21-23). A new heart in an old man will seek the wisdom of God as to when to speak. There is a time to keep silence and there is a time to speak (Ecc. 3). When the timing is right, your speech will be as pure as the driven snow, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, productive, and helpful to all. Children of God are peacemakers, not trouble makers. My brethren, the Devil will try to make you turn stones into bread. Tell him, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Brethren, you are made after the similitude of God, emulate Him. 

It seems to me since we have two ears and one mouth, we should listen more and talk less! Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Psalms 141:3). 

Visit: www.cliffhartley.com

 Unlike any other nation, yet like other nations, we have and are facing some dark clouds on the horizon. There are as we speak both physical and spiritual war fares that are ongoing to utterly destroy this great land and to leave it a desolate waste land. There is a designed under current that is eroding the moral fiber of this land to the point where we know no longer know how to blush.  Unethical standards of morality have destroyed in recent days the lives of renowned politicians, revered pastors, and once respected people from all walks of life. The foundation of the home is under attack unlike any other day in our nation’s history. States now have same-sex marriages. The school system which once stood for unblemished behavior now teaches that homosexuality is a normal lifestyle and should be regarded as such. Teenage purity has been lost by many of our kids by giving up that which they can only give once to the right person in the right place. Churches have gone from old fashioned preaching and worship services to drama programs and counseling sessions. Someone somewhere has gone to sleep at the switch and have moved the ancient landmarks which our fathers have set. It seems there is a soft, gradual, calm slide on a slippery slope that is taking this great land down to a level unlike we have ever seen before. Can a divided house still stand? 

If the foundations of life, security, family, justice, and churches be destroyed, what can the righteous do? While 50% of Americans do not believe that God exist, there remains the other 50% who do. As long as our crowd stays the salt of the earth and the light of the world, we will be a reckoning voice to be heard and a voting block which will not go away until he comes and calls us away.  This know also, that is the last days perilous times shall come. Our side will still trust in the Lord no matter what comes our way, no matter what! We are not going to tuck-tail and fly away. We believe the Bible when it says he will never leave us or forsakes us. When the wicked in-for-hells try to weaken our soul, we will run to the Lord in prayer, he is in his temple and still on his throne. The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. When God rains down fire and sulfur, the righteous will have a way of an escape. When the righteous loves righteousness more than popularity, we will have God’s power. When the righteous remains the head and not the tail, we will win, and the wicked will loose. His eyes have been, are, and forever will be on His children. The righteous will continue in the things which we have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom we have learned them. We will not bow, bend, and we will not burn! Visit  www.cliffhartley.com

Nelson Mandela was in London recently celebrating his 90th birthday expressing his gratitude for a vigil that was in place for him at the South African Embassy during the apartheid years. He spent 27 years in prison for his role as an anti-apartheid voice. Upon his released from prison he became President of South Africa from 1994 until 1999. Among those he invited to his inauguration were his captors. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to him in 1993. He was considered one of South Africa’s greatest leaders of all time and is respected around the world.  

One of the most like things of God that can be found in anyone’s life is that of forgiveness. To forgive is divine!  To forgive one who has wronged you to the extent of forgetting what was done and restoring that one to a position that excelled any previous relationship is only a work of God. Out of the little New Testament Book of Philemon, is found the most practical aspect of the Christian life…if any has wronged you, forgive him God’s way.

 Question: Have you ever been wronged by anyone? Another question: Have you ever wronged anyone? I can relate to that!  

Enter Paul’s friend,Philemon, a dearly beloved and fellowlabourer for the gospel of Christ. One in whom was a Christian heart for the saints of God and bearer of many good things. One of his slaves, Onesimus had run away and ran right into Paul. Paul led him to Christ and wrote to Philemon about conversion. Paul writes if he has wronged you; accept him as you would me. If he owes you anything, Paul says, I will pay it.

 When a wrong has been done, it takes all involved to make it work and to make it right. Paul wanted to keep Onesimus as a staff member, but had to send him back to Philemon. Onesimus wanted to stay with Paul but had to go back to his master. Philemon, who was wronged by Onesimus now, must forgive him as he has been forgiven.

 A hundred years from now it won’t matter. Living with anger, bitterness, hate, and revenge is not good for the soul of a Christian. To settle this in your heart, you most likely will be the one to make the first move. If a brother has wronged you, then go to him, do not wait for him to come to you. If he has wronged you, then forgive him. If he has wronged you 7 times in a day, then forgive 7 times 70—we don‘t need to do the math on this do we?  

Never forget how we wronged Jesus. Remember how we were sometime foolish, disobedient, serving diver’s lust of our flesh, enjoying the pleasures of sin, with malice towards those who offended us, and having hate in our hearts. Remember the time when we too became aware of our sin that nailed our Master to the cross. Remember how our lives changed when we believed the gospel story. How Jesus suffered for us, died for us, and raised from the dead for us. Remember how we saw him many times in our lives leading us, keeping us, protecting us, and…forgiving us. When we see an Onesimus, do we see Christ making the unprofitable profitable for ministry sake? When we see an Onesimus, do we see what we once were? I hope so. 

It seems to me the best thing that can happen to those who have wronged us is for that person to find the forgiveness of Christ. If Christ can forgive them, we can too! 

Visit: www.cliffhartley.com