Saturday Night Musings

Mr. De La Villehuchet, grief-stricken over his 1.4 billion investment losses with swindler Bernie Madoff, went to his Manhattan office locked the door, slashed both wrists, and took his own life. They found him dead the next day with a garbage can full of blood.

But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night;

There is a multitude under tremendous stress of oppression and depression that are crying out for deliverance, but know nothing of how to be comforted with songs in the night that only comes from God. Paul and Silas were found singing praises at midnight when shackled to a wall.

In troubled times, God gives joy and peace with songs in the night. Sometimes it is not always God’s will to deliver us from present bondage. Everyone experiences night seasons. Anyone can sing in the day time. Only those who seek God’s presence more than his deliverance can sing songs in the night no matter what.

Knowing that it is God’s will for you to be bruised by Him, there is a song that says: The Lord’s our Rock, in him we hide. A shelter in the time of storm; Secure what ever ill be tide, A shelter in a time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land.

When diagnosed with terminal cancer and the doctors have told you there in nothing else can be done, try this one: I will sing of my redeemer, And His wondrous love to me. On the cruel cross he suffered, from the curse to set me free. Sing; oh sing of my Redeemer, With his blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon, Paid the debt and made me free.

Satan is the arch enemy of God and the accuser of the brethren. There are times when we are under demonic activity. It was Satan under the control of God who ushered an all out attack on Job. Job may have sung a song something like this: When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, What ever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say: “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Maybe there is someone who is under sin’s conviction right now. Your sins are many and you feel the guilt because of them. Bow you head right now and pray this prayer: Dear God, I am sorry for my sin, I believe you gave your Son Jesus to suffer and die for my sin on the cross. I believe you arose from the dead and many witnessed your resurrection.  I am asking for forgiveness right now, and help me to live for you. In Jesus name, amen. Now sing with me: My soul in sad exile was out on life’s sea, So burden with sin and distress, Till I heard a sweet voice saying “make me your choice,” And I entered the haven of rest. I have anchored my soul in the haven of rest, I’ll sail the wide seas no more; In Jesus, I’m save ever more.

It seems to me if you will sing songs in the night; you will make it through the day.

What has a world wide annual revenue three times more than the NFL, NBA, and MLB put together? Pornography—some say a total of 57 billion dollars (spelled with a B)!

The Bible says that Job was blameless, upright, one that feared God, and shunned evil. God said that there was none like Job in all the earth. Job said, God sees my ways, he knows where I’m walking, and he knows if I have been deceived by woman. He adds: If I have looked on a woman with lust, it is a heinous crime that I have committed. It is a sin that needs to be punished. It will bring destruction to my wealth, I will be despised among my friends, and I will have to answer a Holy God for this lust. (Job 31:1-15). To look on a woman with lust is planned wickedness.  Make a covenant!

Talk to David about what looking on a beautiful woman taking a bath did to him, his family, his kingdom, and his testimony. Look at Samson, blind and crushed under a house top after fulfilling his desire with Delilah. Consider Solomon, the wisest man in the entire world whose life ended in idolatry because he loved many strange women.

Jesus said: That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:28

Let me be clear:  red blood flows in the veins of every person. With that comes desires; sexual desires. To control these sensual desires, God has given to us the Holy Spirit, who is greater than anyone or any thing in this world. Holy matrimony has made marriage honorable and the bed undefiled. Make a covenant with your eyes.

Did anyone blush at the 66^th Annual Golden Globe Awards last week? Could you see enough? It was sheer nakedness for some which left no room for the imagination. Today, more skin is in. Nudity is almost everywhere: movies, music, magazines, toys, tattoos, and tabloids. It has come to the place where one can not buy or sell without it.

Someone said:  “If you look at it, it will thrill you”. If you look at it, it will kill you! It will destroy your life, it will cost you money, it will ruin your marriage, it will kill your testimony, and it will leave you as a worthless witness in your community.

So, settle it, make a covenant with your eyes. First, if you are not a child of God, become one now by confessing your sin and believe the gospel. Christ suffered on the cross, buried for three days, rose from the dead, and now alive to dwell in your in your life by faith. Secondly, pray like mad and ask for forgiveness. Claim the power of the blood. It will make you whiter than snow. Resist the Devil by reading the Bible, busy yourself in the house of God, get new friends, and win others to Christ. Think on good and pleasant things. Live as if Jesus were to come any second. This will work!

It seems to me if we made a covenant with our eyes, there would be fewer divorces, less crime; pornography would go out of business, and revival would break out.

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But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

The only fires the child of God will ever experience are those in this life—and then they are only for a moment of time. They will walk through the fires and they will not be burned. They will pass through the water and they will not drown. They will bed down with the lions and suffer no hurt. Weeping endures through the night, but joy comes in the morning. This too will pass, we will be better off, and God will be glorified.

He will always make a way of escape. He will never put more on you than he will put in you to hold you up in the face of adversity. Like Joseph in prison, he will be with you and bring you out. Like Jeremiah in a cesspool, he will lift you up. Like Jesus in a grave, you will come forth triumphing over the Devil.

He knows the way I take. He knows what is in us. Our Heavenly Father is aware when every sparrow falls to the ground and you and I are more valuable than many sparrows. He knows our trust in Him, He Knows our love for Him, and He knows our desire to serve Him. He allows bad things to happen to us. It was God who blessed Job with the abundance of substance and it was God who allowed it to be all taken away. He knew Job what was in him, He knew what Job was going through, and He knew Job would come through these fires twice the better. If we can praise Him when He blesses us, we will also be to praise Him as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

When he has tried me. God will never tempt anyone to sin, but he will test you for you to see what is in you. Can you take a direct hit from God? Can you trust Him to do to you what His plans are for you? The only way for one’s faith to increase is to encounter and endure fiery tribulations. Without faith in times of testing, it is impossible to please him. By faith Enoch walked with God. By faith when Abraham was tried, offered up Isaac as a sacrifice. By faith Moses refused the security of Egypt and chose to suffer the affliction with the people of God. When He tries you, trust Him.

I shall come forth as gold. Fires will never weaken the pure, only to prove its worth. Though it is heated seven times greater, you will walk out of it after having been thrown into it. And when you come through it, you will have something to write home about. Gold can stand the test of many fires. Having lived through your worst nightmare, you can face another equally as great. The grace of God will sustain you, no mater what. God was not testing Job’s failures or his weakness, but his strength. Read the last chapter of the Job.

It seems to me we should stop fretting when bad things happen to us. Just as the sparks of the fire fly upward, so does the rain fall on the just as well as the unjust. Do not loose focus. Do not loose your purpose in life. And do not throw in the towel. The prize is never won until the finished line has been crossed. Let God do for you what will glorify His name.

That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. Job 21:30

What does the Bible have to say about wicked people? (NJKV)

Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power? Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage. They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute. They spend their days in wealth, And in a moment go down to the grave. Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?’ Indeed their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me. Job 21:7-16

For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, But their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression; They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore his people return here, And waters of a full cup are drained by them. And they say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?” Behold, these are the ungodly, Who are always at ease; They increase in riches. Psalm 73: 3-12

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. James 5:1-3

The ungodly…, are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1:4-7

Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. Psalm 37: 1, 2

It seems to me we are headed straight for the ditch, if the Michael Newdow’s and the Bernard Madoff’s leads the way. We will be bankrupt spiritually and financially. They can’t pray in Jesus name, so let Rick Warren do it! Let’s be clear, it was the wicked people who slew and crucified our Lord. Destruction and wrath has been reserved for that crowd. While God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, if they make their bed, let them lie in it!

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