Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord – 1 Cor. 15:58 As many know and many more do not, at the end of June 2023 my family and I will be moving from Sundance to the city of Sedalia, Missouri. I was brought to this beautiful town by divine intervention and will leave in the same way. The past fourteen-plus years have been filled with countless people and opportunities, tragic, miraculous but in the end, good. I was taught by my e...
These are good reminders to keep us living and moving in a world filled with both brokenness and beauty. Only through God and a Biblical Worldview (foundation to hang and sift life through) can people reconcile the evil in the world and the goodness of God. Cling tightly to the LORD your God – Josh. 23:8 Years of obedience made Jeremiah STRONG & COURAGEOUS. Read old books from old men. Your personal history is shaped by your response to God. Your greatest need is spiritual. And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you res...
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9 We all have been tired and exhausted or soon will be. Weariness is a state of being that although is not uncommon, is never intended to be a set position in life. This condition goes much deeper than just being physical. It is that which has the capability to steal hope and gut the soul. This leads to weakness and produces vulnerability. The Apostle Paul encourages a continuing in doing good with the realization that in Jesus Chris...
Take firm (strong) hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life (Prov. 4:13). There are certain things in life that are good to hold on to. They are helpful, hopeful and heartful. The Bible is very good at showing what to keep (in memory), possess, retain, seize on and detain. These are necessary and essential items to assist in navigating life as they help in clearing the obstacles placed in our way. Here are several, may they hold you firm, fast and strong in HIM. Test (examine, prove) all things; hold fast what is good...
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Heb. 6:9). Good. A sufficient and solid word that often gets lost in settling for less or demanding more. Humanity finds trouble in thinking God is holding out on them and begins searching for more, without realizing additions are not always better. It is finding through a relationship with God (discernment) when, where and how to be satisfied. That ability to see, balance and experience the goodness of God. Good started from the beginning...
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” – John 14:6 Truth. Not something we desire it to be or can fabricate on our own. It is the necessity of living from and for, yet many attempt to skirt, bend and circumvent (lie). In dealing with truth there is the realization of fullness, goodness and soundness. It is the standard of life, given by the Creator of the universe. It is one small word but contains the largeness for living. Definition from the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary: Truth...
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” (Rev. 4:11) Existence. Life, reality, presence, subsistence, actuality. It is not something that is merely or non as the attaching of words before or after does not change it or you. It is who we are. The truth of the matter and all that matters in human life is that existence has always intended to mean something. It is from Someone, towards another for all. It’s the substance (not a shadow) of not only...
There are roughly over 31,100 verses in the Bible and of those I do have a few favorites or “life verses.” I never set out to make this list, they found me and took off the “rough edges” in my soul. A few of my favorites in no particular order. 1 Cor. 15:58: Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Jer. 33:3: Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. Ezra 7:10: For Ezra had prepare...
I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death – Rev. 1:18 Keys are important. They are essential to both opening and closing. Be it a door, concept or heart. The following are key verses in several books of the Bible. May they assist you in grasping that which God has always been faithful in providing. EXODUS 3:10: Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. JUDGES 17:6: In those days there was no k...
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding – Prov. 4:7. Wisdom. Skill. The key to knowledge (facts); understanding (insight); and instruction (discipline). It is the voice of God and the answer to life. Wisdom is principal or primary in our living, as it reveals the permanence and ultimate reality of God. It is much more than a concept; it is the foundation upon all must see the world as God intended. Wisdom has its foundation in the Word of God. Wisdom also finds its source in and t...
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8). It should be immediately noticed from the above verse who God is. He is love. On its own, humanity cannot sufficiently classify the totality of HIS love. This only comes through intimately knowing and experiencing God and is a crucial concept in the cosmic puzzle as well as a necessity for the soul. Love is not something the world gets to define on its own and place conditions upon, for in that there is no rest or freedom. This results in an unknowable, and unlovable God. Thi...
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). Freedom: autonomy, self-determination, independence, choice. All very desirable and rightly so, yet wrongly applied to the hurt of self and many. Freedom is recognizing proper authority and submitting to it. The rules, guidelines and those in charge are safety for our being and comfort to the soul. It is not personal preference and a life fueled (ruled) by feelings. It is knowing God’s truth and utilizing it in living. “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Hap...
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Gal. 6:9 Life gets weary. Tiring, wiping or wearing one out. The resulting disillusionment and jadedness can sap and exhaust an individual, slowly unraveling all that they are. If allowed to remain, this consuming process of indifference will create a world resembling a mundane desert of meaninglessness. Satan knows and exploits this. A weary indifference to life and the things in it will cripple the intention and goodness of what is pur...
Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him – Prov. 30:5 Postscript. Better known as “P.S.”, a postscript is used when someone wants to add information at the end of a letter or email. These are often simple thoughts, a pointed summary of the content of what was written or an omission that the correspondence cultivated during its composition. The conveyance is important as the author is leaving the reader with something seen as significant. Its placing is with meaning, weight, substance and is not inclu...
He makes my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on my high places. Ps. 18:33 All of us go places. The kitchen, store, post office, someone’s house or on vacation. It is coming or going, for better or worse. What often gets lost in the going is little is seen, heard or learned. All our places resulting in no gain. We end up existing merely to survive and miss what, where and why God has made, created and purposed us. When we begin to comprehend our positioning, we see, hear and learn what is needed to live fully. Reality solidifies, life t...
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. Dt. 30:19 It is interesting how words and statements significantly convey greater meaning and importance by adding a simple ending to them. Be it a question mark, exclamation point, comma or a plain period. Things are either in question, emphasized, paused or simply ended. The way we reason, speak and act can take on a whole new meaning and provide completely different consequences. Moses’ statement in Dt. 30:19 is s...
Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. (Ephesians 1:5) Many people, without thinking much about it, make a wide distinction between adopted children and “real” children, as though the adjective “adopted” signifies a different, slightly lesser status within the family. This is because adoption is a biblical concept that explains a key aspect of what has happened to believers in the reconciling work of God in Christ Jesus. The Reality is, we are all orphans, disconn...
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end – Ecl. 3:11 There exists purpose in life. This is not found in a procedure but in a process that works itself toward goodness (righteousness). This ultimate purpose of life is not something cheap, quick or easy, nor an item that we may fabricate on our own. It is lovingly placed into every soul by the Creator of the universe and fulfilled through knowing and believing in Jesus C...
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ~ Gen. 1:3-4 Light. The first thing God created and placed over the earth and declared good. Light. Provides the ability to see not only what is, but what isn’t. It simultaneously illuminates and illustrates the beauty of his creation. Light also allows humanity the comprehension of the where, even if not initially understanding why we are. Light permits God to lead if we are willing to follow His p...
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Gen. 1:1) NORMAL: Conforming to a standard, pattern, level or type. Considered usual, typical and routine. We’ve heard a lot about returning to a new normal post COVID-19. Whatever that is, whatever that was, we find difficult to define or desire to do. For many, the before was not very attractive, nor is the ahead. A reason for this apprehension of the prior and subsequent normal is that our soul may not be satisfied with the standard that was set and routine that followed. What is n...
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. – 1 Cor. 13:13 As we know, see and live, when there is no hope, when all is hopeless, nothing fits together. Hopelessness strips life of its proper perspective and creates a void that is insurmountable to ascend. Things lose significance, including life itself. The world is lived not as it was intended, but as what sin has created and what we often learn to accept. Without hope, faith and love have no chance to b...
I like to put puzzles together, it’s something I do. When all the pieces come out of the box, very little looks much like anything, yet it is all something. The relaxing effort of taking each individual piece and placing into its proper place speaks much of what life is: individual events that come together to produce a whole reasonable, purposeful, perspective. This month I have been handed many pieces that have yet to come together. I offer them to you to ponder in head, heart and find a place in your life. “A belief about God is really a bel...
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). IT: A pronoun used to refer to that one previously mentioned. We are often told in this world to get with it. A movie has been made named “IT”, and we are usually the last ones to realize we have lost it. One thing we all wrestle with on earth is how we decide to live it, and more importantly as Jesus stated, “to have it [life] more abundantly.” The life we live is consumed with making it (work, money, family), keeping it and the fear of losing it....
The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. ~ Ps. 116:6 Is anything in life simple? The answer is no and yes. The world, in general, is not an easy place. Since the fall in the Garden of Eden and the introduction of sin, what was once good is now complicated and corruptible. Here are several straightforward observations to assist in simplifying your life: There is no side-stepping the simple message of salvation and subsequent peace found in Jesus Christ. Simple to see...
I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life. – Psalm 119:93 Life is filled with many different experiences and observations. There is a vastness to investigate, and here are several “I never” situations I have come across in my adventuring called “living.” I will never say never, ever again. I never saw it coming. Often, we never do. I never expected the pain to be this great. I never thought I would get this far. I never thought I would see so clearly when darkness was...
