JOTS FROM OLD JAKE
HONEST AS THE DAY IS LONG
Monday, Jun. 18, 2007 - 2:33 p.m.
My dad managed a feed store. As a youngster I had spent a lot of time with my dad at his work place� Old farmers used to come in and do a lot of talking in the office while their trucks were being loaded with feed for their livestock. On occasion I would hear one of them mention a certain person and refer to that person as being, �honest as the day is long!� Then they would stress that they would trust anything that person said and would do business with them anytime. Those words stuck in my mind and I thought to myself, �self, I hope people will talk about me that way when I am an old man!� Well I did strive to earn that reputation. Alas, I did fall short of my goal. It seems that regardless of how hard I tired I just couldn�t live up to the standard I had set out before myself. There were times that I would not think about what I was doing and stray from the path to the goal. Many other times what I did would be twisted or appeared differently to on-lookers and accusers. Wow did that bring discomfort! You know the ole saying, �it�s the thought that counts!� Will try this� just think about giving a gift to your spouse on their birthday but not do it! In most cases that can cause a lot of tension in the relationship of the local union called home.
The point I am trying to make here is: it is easy to sit and ridicule others who have and do mess up; when you look into your own life you will not see a clean slate. BUT! Don�t stop there! When you come to the Lord and ask for total forgiveness, you are cleansed by the Blood of Jesus and the Lord can no longer see your defects and you are washed white as snow�
The arc of the covenant was made up of a box with a lid on it and on top of that lid were the two angles with their wings spread out over the arc. The lid is the mercy seat and is the throne of God. The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on that mercy seat and in the box was the original Ten Commandments, both sets. This means that the shed blood covered the law and the broken law as well. The arc that was here on earth is only a replica of the real arc which is in heaven and where our Lord is seated now.
You see I could not be perfect, nor can any son (or daughter) of Adam be perfect. But the Blood of Jesus, the supreme sacrifice, makes us perfect in the eyes of God. That is if we are covered by the Blood of Jesus!
Like all good offers� there is a time limit. You must respond before the rapture, or you die. Which ever comes first. It is so simple and so easy, all you have to do is to pray to Jesus and ask him to come into your life and to fill you with the Holy Spirit! You don�t have to give up anything you just follow the leading of your own spirit once you have received Jesus into your heart and He has filled you with the Holy Spirit. You may change the way you do some things. Not because you have to but because it is more pleasant to you to do it. I know that just prior to me doing that, my mouth was a gutter mouth. I punctuated almost every sentence with the f� word. I didn�t realize I had changed that until someone mentioned it to me. It was automatic� with me anyway. I guess I just didn�t see the need to talk that way anymore. I didn�t have to guard my mouth when I talked to anyone� Prior to that when I was talking to the kids I was teaching or to certain people I had to put a lot of effort into keeping some of those words out of my mouth.
I don�t get all upset when I hear the words either� sometimes I just pray for the person and ask that they will be drawn into the Love of God and change their heart for them also. �Matthew 12:34 �for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.�
Memory verse for today:
1 Corinthians 1:21 (KJV) For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Maybe a little more clear!
1 Corinthians 1:21 (Amp) For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him], to save those who believed (who clung to and trusted in and relied on Him).
Ulterior thought:
Today is the first day to the rest of eternity! Be fruitful and wise in it for it sets the pattern for a long long time!
May You Be Blessed by the Holy Spirit to Overflowing!
Bye for Now!
