Jehovah Jireh

If you read the Bible at all you should know the meaning of the words "Jehovah Jireh." They are ancient Hebrew words that mean "God will provide." You can find them in Genesis 22 where Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar.

God providing a substitute - a ram. A male lamb if you will. A foreshadowing of God providing HIS Son Jesus as a sacrifice for OUR sins.

"Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram a caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” - Genesis 22:10-14

A group of area men and I are restoring a disc golf course in a nearby town. On the course there is a need for a small foot bridge to cross a creek. One of the men in our group posed, "Maybe we could get to local Boy Scout troop to build a bridge as a service project." Fast forward a few weeks.

I was standing in line for some ice cream at a local drive-in a week later when someone called my name. I turned and saw my friend Jon walking up to me. He was wearing a Boy Scout shirt.

"Do you volunteer with the local Boy Scout troop?" I asked. I'm SO observant.

"Yes," he replied.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in doing a small service project for the high school disc golf course."

"Sure! We'd love to."

Do you see how God is working in this? Interestingly, the place where the Boy Scouts meet is in a building right next to the school. Each Monday night as we leave our work at the course we pass them. We think about asking them for help. Well . . .

Jehovah Jireh!!

"On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God and my country . . ." from The Boy Scout Oath

Invisible Things

When I was in the Boy Scouts and we'd go on camping trips, we would hear ghost stories around a campfire at night. The one about The Ultraviolet Monster was memorable. Invisible to human eyes, it would kill its unsuspecting victims, usually young teen boys, as they sat around campfires in the woods. Wait! WHAT!?!

Naturally, we all slept well after THAT story. Not! Every sound was amplified ten times as we knew for sure that we would be its next victim. Invisible monsters. Ha! Ridiculous. Right? That's what I always thought, until I read the Bible and found out they actually do exist. The Apostle Paul writes these words about Jesus. No, He's not the monster. LOL! But He DOSE create things we can't even see.

^"15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." - Colossians 1:15-18

Did you catch those words in bold print? God created invisible things! The devil is invisible . . . to us. He prowls around, not only at night, like that ultraviolet monster, but he also creeps around during the daytime too.

"Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8

The ghost stories of my youth were frightening at the time but they sure seem tame now compared to the forces that are work in the world we live in today. How can we be saved against such powerful forces whose only desire is to devour us?

Stand tall, stand firm, and call on the name of The Lord. The Ancient of Days will protect us. All honor and glory to our eternal, immortal King!

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1:17

Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise - Jaron and Katherine Kamin

Where Are You, Norman Rockwell?

Yesterday my wife and I went to see a Norman Rockwell exhibit at a local museum. It featured many of the Saturday Evening Post covers from the 20's-60's. As we strolled through the exhibit many of those covers sparked memories from my childhood.

I found myself thinking about my parents as I strolled along the walls of the museum with my wife. My mom and my dad subscribed to the Saturday Evening Post. Life was so much simpler back when I was a kid. Sigh.

Norman Rockwell, quite simply, had a gift. I have never seen anyone who could bring scenes to life and tell a story in just one paint the way he did. Others have tried but none have come close.

The images he created speak to a simpler time when life was less complicated. There was a trust we had for one another and for our government for that matter, that has now become the exception rather than the rule.

I'd like to show you a few pictures to see if you don't agree. The first one up there represents a respect for teachers. The group could be expanded to include others who serve as well - police, soldiers, firemen. Examine the detail in his paintings and you will begin to see how each person is different, and seems to speak to us through our eyes, then into our hearts.

Here's another one of Rockwell's covers. The topic is family. Nothing says "family" like Thanksgiving dinner! Examine the people at this table. All are happy, all are looking forward to a meal together with people they love.  This represents another thing that is dwindling in our country - the family. More and more families are split up, fatherless, motherless, broken, estranged, divorced or non-existent. Why? How could something so wonderful be so depleted to the point where it has become rare. The reason can be found in this last painting.

Another vanishing part of America these days is prayer. We have become a fast food society, seldom taking time to give thanks to God for all He has given us. Our trend lately is to just forget about God and try to handle life on our own. And where has that gotten us? There is disrespect for teachers and police, "family" has been replaced by Facebook & Twitter. The core values of our once great nation have been eroded away by the ruler of this world. The Bible calls him Satan.

I invite you to take a look at Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers. There's a link below. Perhaps you too will see something that has been lost in our society since the days when our country was a great nation. If we examine our past and examine our present we can easily determine a direction. We can also see what has been lost or forgotten and discover the things we need to make this country great again.

The recovery, I believe, begins with faith but it doesn't end there. Trust, hope, respect, honor, reverence also matter. That reminds me of another Norman Rockwell painting that can be found on the cover of the Boy Scout Handbook - circa 1964.

Inside the handbook you can find this: The Scout Law - "A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent."

What if we lived our lives like that? What if we lived our lives like God wants us to. Maybe the following Bible verse will sound familiar. It should. It's almost like the Scout Law you just read!

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." - Galatians 5:22-26

Amen to that!

Norman Rockwell Covers