Relationship

 

13 September 2020

Dear Phyllis,

The Word of God does not come to me in long well composed literary compositions, but I short emotion-packed burst of light. The other morning I opened my Bible to Isiah 42 and read, “Behold My Servant...in whom My soul delighteth...” and I burst into tears. It seemed this was the most beautiful thing I had ever read. There is nothing in heaven or earth more beautiful that the relationship between the Father and the Son. If we should never see anything else about the character of God, just a glimpse of this relationship is enough to satisfy our souls forever. In a world where everything is madness, we despair for sanity. It is like being in a category 5 hurricane where everything outside is a howling wind. Trees blowing over and sheets of metal flying by like shells from a bazooka, and then suddenly be transferred to a peaceful sunset on a tropical beech. Oh the joy of looking at that beautiful relationship.

There are only three times recorded in scripture where there was an audible Voice from heaven. The first time was at Jesus baptism when the Father broke His silence to audible say, “Thou are my beloved Son in whom My soul is well pleased” (Mk. 1:11). The second time was when God interrupted Peter on the mount and said, “This is beloved My Son – hear Him!” (Mk. 9:7). It seemed God was disturbed with Peter when he put Him in a category with Moses and Elijah. (“You don't put Him in with Moses and Elijah. THIS IS MY SON! Hear Him”) Is that clear? The third time was when Jesus said, “Now is My soul troubled. What shall I say? Save Me from this hour? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father glorify Thy Name. Then came Voice from heaven saying, 'I have both glorified and will glorify it again'.” (Jn. 12:27,28). How proud the Father was of His Son. Adam was the first man that God created and he was a dismal failure. Jesus was the last Adam. He came to restored the damage Adam had created. Jesus was spectacular. He suffered terrific temptation – infinitely worst that what Adam faced – and Jesus won. Oh, the Father was proud of Him.

In 1988 Dave was in high school in Colorado and I had a brief trip for a month to the states. Dave came down from Colorado to meet me at my sisters home in LA. From there we planned to drive back to Colorado. Dave was just 16 and bought his first car, an Audi (he was rich) and we had to get new tires for it. While we were in a garage getting the tires put on, the mechanic was talking to Dave and asked him, “Who is that fellow with you?” Dave replied, “That is my dad. We are planning to travel together”. The mechanic said, “That is sort of a bummer isn't it?”. Dave came back, “No, I'm really looking forward to it. I want to travel with him”. The mechanic put his tools down and came over to shake hands with me. He looked at me and said, “Sir, that is the greatest thing I have ever heard in my life”. I agreed with him and thought that was the greatest thing I had ever heard in my life. A son who was devoted to his father and preferred his father above his best friends. That relationship is beautiful.

Robertson and Muriel McQuilkin were the most devoted couple I ever met. Muriel loved her husband with a passion and Robertson was an icon in loving his wife. One time I said to him, “Sometimes I get the impression you are more concerned about the noble name of McQuilkin than you are the glory of God”. Robertson stunned me with his reply. He said, “Yes, I can understand that. You would get that impression from my wife. Thank you for mentioning that to me and I will speak to her about it”. I thought, “He's right. I got it from Muriel. She just bristled whenever anyone said anything negative about her husband”. I admired them both. And when she got older and contracted Alzheimer, Robertson stepped down form being the president of Columbia Bible College and a popular international conference speaker to staying at home to care for his wife. In an interview he was asked why he would resign from such a prestigious position to being a care-giver for his wife. Robertson replied, “She spent her life taking care of me. It is the least I can do is to spend a few years now taking care of her”. Oh they were beautiful.

But the relationship between the Father and the Son is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. What a joy just to look at it. But there is a third figure that appears here. It is so beyond comprehension that I am reluctant to mention it. There is nothing in human print like John 17. There simply is no bottom to it, It is further beyond our comprehension than the edge of the universe is from our telescopes. In Jesus prayer there are two main objects – the Lord's people and the world. In verse 6 Jesus said, “I have manifested Thy Name to the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. Thine they were and Thou gavest them Me”. In verses 9 and 10 Jesus prayed, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world but for them which Thou hast given Me: for they are Thine: And all Mine are Thine; and Thine are Mine: and I am glorified in them”. If this doesn't make much sense to you, it doesn't to me either, but there is a relationship here that is unthinkable. Throughout His entire prayer Jesus uses this language in praying for His own people. In His prayer in verses 20 and 21 Jesus prays for all Christians in saying, “Neither do I pray for these alone (first generation, 1^st century Christians), but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word (that's us folks) that they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee; That they also may be one in Us.” My goodness, this means that somehow the Lord has taken us into the godhead. How is this possible? Through marriage. By being married to Jesus the Father Has taken us into His family.

The other day I was talking with a brother who hasn't been saved that long, He told me, “Sometimes when I read the Bible it is like God has left heaven to step down to be with me”. Then he walked over put his arms around me and went on, “Sometimes I feel like He is holding me in His arms. When He does I break out in goose bumps all over”. I shouted, “Yes, YEs, YES! That is exactly the way the system is supposed to work!” Then I challenged him, “I doubt that you can find 1 Christian in 20 that has any idea what you are talking about”. This is the ultimate relationship. Christians are the Bride of Christ. Our relationship, on paper, is by marriage; but the day is coming when the Bride will be joined with her Husband in a relationship that we can only imagine by looking at what a Christian marriage should be in practice. Robertson and Muriel McQuilkin came close. If we can't experience it now it is a blessing just to look at the relationship that exists between the Father and His Son.

The other morning Jesus was sharing some jewels with me in His jewel box. I reached in to take one out to handle it, and I was terribly embarrassed. My hands were filthy. They were covered with mud, grease, and slime. Any jewel I touched defiled it by getting my dirty hands on it. I asked Jesus what I should do. He gave me a very good idea. He said, “Keep your hands in your pocket and just look and admire these jewel without handling them.” That is the best way to handle spiritual truth. Oh, His truth is wonderful, but when we take it out and try to handle it with human wisdom and understanding, the best we can do is defile it.

Gomen, Phyllis, I wish I could do a better job in sharing with you some of the wonderful things Jesus is sharing with me morning by morning, but these things cannot be expressed in words. It is like good ice cream. It can only be eaten.

Otherwise it has been a good week and I feel considerable stronger than I was last week. I have no idea what Jesus has in mind for me for the next few years, but whatever it is I know it is good.

Have a good one, bill

God Opens the Door

6 September 2020

Dear Phyllis,

How I wish you were here with me. This has got to be the best time of my life. Jesus has opened the door and taken me into a room to show me things I have never seen before. The problem is that the things He has shown me are indescribable. That means you can't describe them. I believe most spiritual truth is that way. On rare occasions the Lord has revealed some of His glory to a few prophets, They did their best to describe to us what they saw and their writings are ridiculous. The most notable are Ezekiel and John. How can you describe a rainbow to a blind man? This is what we are up against.

In a poor attempt to share with you what Jesus has been doing for me; it is an overwhelming sense of His presence, and He has made spiritual truth in the Bible so real it is stronger than actually being there. One intelligible thought Jesus gave me is: Forget supper. Supper can wait. Would someone please tell Martha to turn off the stove and join her sister Mary in the other room sitting at Jesus feet listening to what He has to say. I don't know what He is talking about but whatever it is is worthwhile hearing. We can eat later.

We all know that story (Lk. 10:38-42). We are what we are by nature (DNA). Our temperaments are all different. There are the Tim LaHaye Four Basic Temperaments – choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic. I have known about this for many years and found it quite helpful. There is another grouping of those who are job oriented and others who are people oriented. We need them both. Martha obviously is choleric and Mary is a real melancholic. Martha is job oriented and Mary is a people person. If we didn't have Marthas in the world the job would never get done. Mary, frankly, is (was) irresponsible. In one sense Martha was right in that Mary should have been in the kitchen helping get supper ready. But Jesus was clear which one He sided with. He said “Mary has chosen the better part that will not be taken from her”.

My times with Jesus are not long, but reasonably consistent. He comes to fellowship with me in the morning. It grieves me that our time is so short - how I wish it would last all day. But afternoons and evenings belong to You Tube. Oh, when Jesus is there the Word just comes alive. Much of the rest of the day is thinking about what an unbelievable mess America is in. I have spent an enormous amount of time in Revelation recently. I am struck by the contrast in the two different scenes. Most of Revelation is talking about what is going to happen to the earth. There are the Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, and Seven Bowels. All of this is related to the earth. But at the same time, John has given us a view of what is happening in heaven. With the exception of a couple verses that says the was a war in heaven and the devil was cast out (Rev. 12:7-12), nearly everything else is either worship or celebration. There is not a sour or pessimistic note sounded in heaven. As we watch America being burned to the ground, looking at heaven should give us a fresh breath of air.

I am greatly intrigued by the life of David. Two books of the OT are devoted to describing his life. 1 Samuel is pre-king, and 2 Samuel tell us about his life as king. Along with this we have the Psalms, Psalms has got to be one of the most difficult books in the Bible. David wrote 1/3 of the Psalms. Peter tells us that, at times, the prophets of the OT didn't know what they were writing about other than they were being moved by the Holy Spirit. I'm sure Isiah had no idea what he was writing about when he wrote Isa. 53. Likewise I doubt that David had any idea what he was writing when he wrote Ps. 22. But much of it was his own personal experience. So much of his psalms are about his troubles and enemies that I find it difficult to place this at the time he was king. If this is true that means that many psalms were written his first 30 years when he was being chased from pillar to post by Saul. I believe we can safely say the Lord was with David during both periods. He was with David when he was hiding in a cave and he was with David when he sat on the throne. Which was better? The environment and situation were much different, but the Lord was there during both times.

Our relationship of being with Jesus, or Jesus being with us, is abundantly clear in Scripture. This is the unnoticed, unsung, major messages in the Bible. His presence with us is almost the central point in both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both the book of Ezekiel and Revelation end on the note of God dwelling with His people (Ez. 48:35; Rev. 21:3; 22:3,4). That is the ultimate. It can't get any better than that.

But if Jesus is with us just as He was with David in the cave, why do we live such distant lives from Him. I love the song Be Thou My Vision - “Be Thou my best thoughts by day or by night; waking or sleeping Thy presence my light” Oh how I wish that was true. The trash and nonsense that fills my mind most of the time is outrageous. How I wish all that distraction was eliminated leaving only Jesus to be admired and praised.

Samuel Rutherford said, “Jesus shows me meat but will not allow me to eat it. He holds out an apple, but when I stretch forth my arm to take it He pulls it back. He tells me to seek His face but when I do He hides so I cannot find Him.” I know exactly what he is talking about. Much of that is my experience. There is so much I see in scripture, and yet I am unable to get it from the page into my mouth. But frustration is not a bad thing. Pangs of hunger only increases the desire to eat. Being filled with hunger for Jesus is a sign of a healthy believer. Dusty Bibles are a deadly sign. fact that I can see somethings is an encouragement that reality actually does exist

How we long for the day when we shall see Him as He is, but that should not distract us from the fact that He has come and He does live in our hearts today. In that sense we do have a greater privilege that David knew when the Lord was with him in the cave.

I have been badly down for the past month. Three months ago I was walking 3 km a day. Today it is doubtful that I walk 300 meters a day. Three months ago I felt I was running at at close to 100%. At present I am running at 5-10%. I have lost a great deal of weight. My pants are now about 4 inches too big. The sores on my cheeks have gotten noticeably worse. I have had one on both sides of my face for over four years but the one on the right cheek never bled. It is bleeding now. The sore on my left cheeks has grown considerably and a great deal of fluid is draining every day. But apart from lack of energy I feel fine and have absolutely no discomfort. I decided to go to the hospital yesterday, but when I got there I noticed it was a mandatory face mask place and got so mad I didn't go in. I get pretty emotional about face masks. There hasn't been one case of covid in Chiang Mai in months and yet they act like it is the bubonic plague and we will all die if we don't wear face masks. This has absolutely nothing to do with public health safety. In the states it is black and white political. Oddly enough my health is so far down the list of prayer concerns that it is almost off the list. I honestly can't pray with deep concern for healing but plead with the Father daily that Jesus might be glorified in my body. I have told Him that this body is His and He can do anything He wants with it. I also assure Him that I know He has made me the care-taker of it and I am responsible how I protect and treat it. I am so little concerned about my health that I really don't care which way it goes. Let Jesus make that call. Whatever He wants is fine with me. Only that Jesus be honored in my body.

Thank you for praying, bill

 

Revelation

30 August 2020

Dear Phyllis,

There is so much on my heart this morning I scarce know what to say. Oh, I saw Jesus this morning; He was wonderful. No I didn't see a vision, but He sure spoke to me in my devotions. What can I say?

Among other things I picked up my Bible and just glanced at Revelation. I was immediately struck by the first five words - “The revelation of Jesus Christ”. It is?! I remember talking with a sister telling her that when we read Revelation we should not look at the seven Seals, the seven Trumpets, and the seven Bowels, but look at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That sounds like good advice but I have been far more interested in the three Sevens than what little we see of Jesus.

To begin with, we might say that John wrote two books of revelation. The first one was his gospels. There are four records of the life of Christ and John is radically different, The first three are the synoptic gospels which tell the story of the life of Christ. John goes at it from a totally different approach. More than any other place, John tells about the heart of Christ. John was clearly Jesus' favorite. He was the closest to Jesus. He was the last one at the Cross and the first one to believe after the resurrection. John had an intuition that the others didn't have. When Jesus appeared at the lake after the resurrection no one knew who it was, but John said to Peter, “It is the Lord”. At the Last Supper we read twice that John was leaning on Jesus bosom (Jn. 13:23,25). Culturally, as Americans, that is a pretty difficult one for us to handle. That smacks of sexual perversion. Russia is a kissing country. It was a little difficult for me to handle to see two men kissing in church, but that is the culture. There is nothing wrong with it. (I mean a real smack right on the lips.) Vietnam is a hand holding country. So is Russia. The father of one of our Bible workers had been a soldier during the Vietnam war. He went with a team to Saigon and met General Tha Dam. The brother said he thought it was strange to see these two men holding hands while walking down the road. In Jesus' day in Israel it was a sign of closeness to lean on the breast of another man. (Not today in America.)

That is one view of Jesus in John's gospel but John wasn't leaning on Jesus' breast in Revelation. When he saw Him he fell at His feet as one dead (Rev. 1:17). In His prayer in John 17 Jesus prayed, “Father glorify Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” (Jn. 17:5). Obviously the Father has done that. The revelation of Jesus that we see in John's last book is; “all the kindred of the earth shall wail because of Him” (Rev. 1:7).

I thought, my goodness we have come along ways since the Garden when God came down in the cool of the evening to fellowship with His created being. What a radical change and astounding history of humanity for 6,000 years. We know next to nothing about the earth before the Fall, but what has happened since then isn't pretty. Eve's first son killed his brother and men have been killing each other ever since. Not long after the Flood God chose a man and started a new race of people that He called His chosen people, Israel. That didn't work out too well. After a couple thousand years Jesus came to His own people, but the rulers said, “We will not have this Man rule over us. Kill Him!” Then God began to call out an unusual species of humanity that is called, the Body of Christ. Jesus was here for 33 years and then went back to heaven. But He sent His Spirit back to live in the hearts of His people and be a witness. The Body of Christ has been the representative of Jesus for the past 2,000 years. But they haven't done too well either. I admire the Lord in being so honest with us in giving us such a frank view of the Church. I believe the position that the Seven Churches are a history of the nature of the Church for this dispensation. It started off hot but lost her first love. Then there was horrific persecution; the fall into idolatry, false teaching, immorality, deadness, and the final church. Laodicea. That one is affluent but makes Jesus sick to His stomach. But Jesus has been with it all. Now let's look at the revelation of Jesus.

The first thing that John saw after he was caught up to heaven was there as a Throne. Perhaps more than anything else that is the one thing the devil doesn't want us to know. The center of the universe is not science or technology. The number one message today is that there is no law and everyone can make his own law as he wants. More than that, we are seeing something unbelievable in the streets of America where thousand are trying to destroy civil law. There is a considerable segment of the US population that thinks anarchy is a good idea for political advantage We have come to an utterly astounding place in politics where the lines are drawn at an unbelievable position. Thank God there is a Throne in heaven and there is One Who is seated on that Throne. If there is anything that should give us stability and hope it is this revelation of Jesus Christ. More than that we see that there is a Book with seven Seals. This is the future history of the earth in advance. This may not tell us much about Jesus, but it does give us a clear view of His plans for the final act. Man howdy, it is going to be a rough showdown.

When Jesus went back to heaven the main message that He left with His people was that He was coming back for them. He told the disciples, “I am going away, but I am coming back for you so you can be with Me forever.” (Jn. 14:1-3). When He went up, two angels told them, “This same Jesus is coming back as you have seen Him go” (Acts 1:11). And it has been the central posture of the Church since then to look for the coming of Christ (1 Cor. 1:7).

The other night, Pammy asked me, “When is the rapture?”. I told her, “I don't know and I don't care.”. There are at least four positions on the rapture – pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib, and split or partial rapture. For the past century the basic position of most conservative Christians, has been to hold to the pre-trib rapture position. At the present I don't like it as it is an easy out position. I see a tremendous amount in the Scripture that brings this into serious question. What are you going to do with 1 Cor. 15:15 that clearly says, “At the last trump the dead in Christ shall arise”? If we believe the Bible that is a tough one to explain.

But one position I will not abandon is the immanent return of Christ. If Jesus told us anything He said that it would be at the least expected time. I don't think the appearance of the anti-christ and the 3^rd Temple is the blessed hope. I find it impossible to believe that Paul taught anything other than that Jesus could come at any moment. Obviously this was a problem in Thessalanaica. Paul had taught them that Jesus was coming back and then some Christian died. The believers questioned, “What is going to happen to them?”. To answer that question Paul wrote 1^st Thessalonians and told them, “Don't worry. The dead in Christ will rise first and then we which remain will be caught up in the sky to be with them.” (1 Thes. 4:13-17).

There are two radically different views of Jesus return. Jesus said and Paul said He would come as a thief in the night (Lk. 12:38,39; 1 Thes. 5:2). And Jesus told Chaiaphas that he would see His return (Mt. 26:64); and Rev, 1:7 confirms this. Can you explain that? I can't. The last word that Jesus ever spoke was “Behold I come quickly” (Rev. 22:7). Two thousand years doesn't look like quickly to me. More than that I believe this has been the consistent witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart of every Christian for 2,000 years. With the exception of a few hard core post-trib Christians, who are looking for the anti-christ, every on-fire Christian I have ever met in my life believed firmly that Jesus would come in their life-time. They were wrong. Is Jesus lying?

I have never been more firmly convinced that every word in the Bible is true. Every word that came form the mouth of Jesus is factual. And the witness of the Holy Spirit in the heart of every Christian is real. How can you explain it? I can't and I am not interested in trying. I am content to allow the Father to explain to us His own spiritual mysteries. But I know it is true.

Oh, praise God, He is coming soon! bill

 

Tell Them It's Too Late

23 August 2020

Dear Phyllis,

Last week we had a very fine couple stay with us. The brother has an extended ministry reaching 250,000 people on line. He was impressed with my testimony that I am in my mid 80s and still serving the Lord. He asked, “What word of encouragement do you have for elderly people who want to serve Jesus?” I was surprised by my answer. When he asked me that question I fired back, “Tell them it's too late. You can't recover a misspent life”. The more I thought about it I realized my answer was correct and from the Holy Spirit. What can you say to elderly people near the end of the road? There is only one word of encouragement – mercy. There is such a thing as death-bed-confession. You can get saved the last 15 minutes of your life, but I wouldn't count on it. To start with there is a very good chance you may not get that chance. You could get killed before you are ready. And secondly the statistics of people who make a death-bed-confession but then recover, and go on serving the Lord is extremely low. Most of those who recover revert to their former life style. That is not very encouraging salvation.

But the one thing you can say to elderly people with absolute assurance is that you will face judgment. There is no dodging that. There are two Judgment Thrones. Paul warned us, “We shall all stand before the Judgment Throne of Christ” (Rom. 14:10). All Christians will face that. And there is the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15). That is for all the unsaved. The happy salvation people like to tell us that the Judgment Throne of Christ is not for accountability but this is called the Bema Seat where rewards are passed out. Maybe. But I am not sure that that is the way the system works.

It is amazing that people don't believe spiritual laws exist. AW Tozer commented that most Christians sow to the flesh for six days and then come to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure. Lots of luck. A few years ago I took two fine boys over to Laos. Without asking me they ordered three motor bikes. They really were terrific fellows but neither one had ever ridden a motor bike. I took them for a ride up along side the Mekong River. It was a dirt road and terribly dusty. On the way up I took the lead but thought that was not too Christian; so on the way back I let them lead and I ate the dust. I was thinking they really are going too fast on this dirt road. Four hundred years ago Isaac Newton explained the law of momentum that moving objects tend to go in a straight line. Steve got in an argument with Newton and tried to go around a corner at too high a speed. Newton won. Steve splattered on the road. Most of us live within the parameters of natural laws, but the majority feels that spiritual laws don't apply and they can defy them without bad consequences. You might spend most of your life sowing to the flesh and weekly praying for a crop failure, but at the end of your life looking back, the score will be pretty much the way you played the game. You might cram for a final exam at the end of a semester, but no one will have the opportunity to relive a life that was ill spent.

There is a positive aspect to the law of sowing and reaping (Gal. 6:7). Several years ago my dear friend, John Cathcart, was getting ready to go home for a furlough after a very intense, five year term of service. I said to him, “John, I have a word from God for you. You have spent five years intensely sowing good seed. The law of God is that there will be a harvest. You will reap for what you have sowed.”

Marlene Blough was a serious Christian from her early years. She never swerved from the path. She was elected the school queen for Denver North High, a school with 5,000 students. And she was elected the beauty queen. The reward for that was that she would lead the prom at the annual school dance. Most girls would kill for that honor. Marlene said, “I'm sorry, I am a Christian and I don't go to dances. I won't go to the prom”. When she was in high school she wouldn't have anything to do with any boy who wasn't a serious Christian, and when she was in Bible school she would not consider any boy who wasn't committed to the mission field. What she sowed in her early years she abundantly reaped with an amazing life as Mrs. Ron Blough. She was a legend in Hokkaido.

Thank God there is a Bema seat where rewards are passed out. But we must not misrepresent it. You cannot dismiss the fact that there is such a thing as accountability. That is the main point of the Parable of the Talents. Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was traveling to a far country and passed out talents to his servants – “everyone according to his ability” (Mt. 25:14-30). One got five, one got two, and another fellow got just one. The main point of this parable was there was a day of reconnecting. There was a day when they had to come forward to show how they made out. The first two fellows did pretty well. They produced good results according to their God-given ability. But the guy who got just one hid it so it wouldn't get lost. He brought it back to his master an said, “Here is Your talent back”. That wasn't what he was supposed to do with it. There was responsibility that came with the talent that God had given him. Hiding it wasn't a very good idea. He didn't do too well at the Bema Seat. He was called wicked and slothful. His talent was taken away for him and he was cast out into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is a really grim word. Unused talents wind up being lost talents. If God has given us a talent – even if it is only one – it might be a good idea to at least use it. If not it might be taken away. Watchman Nee said, “The greatest poverty of the church is that the one talent Christians aren't using what they have”. He is probably right. What we need is not more highly gifted Christians; our greatest need is for milk-toast Christians to use what they have.

I read the story of a pastor in Portland that saw the world was the field and Christians should be the workers (Mt. 13:38) One day a lady in his church called him and said, “Pastor, could you come over? I was talking to my neighbor and she wants to get saved”. “Yes, I will be there immediately.” But half way there the Lord told him to go back. He called the lady and told her that Jesus had blocked him from going. “But, Pastor, my friend wants to get saved.” “You lead her to Christ.” “I can't. I don't know how.” “You got saved. Tell her how you did it.” An hour later there was a knock on his study door. Two weeping women were there to tell him that the friend just got saved. That is the way that the system is supposed to work.

I was shocked by my own answer when the brother asked me what word of encouragement I had for elderly people who want to serve Jesus, and I fired back, “Tell them it is too late”. Thank God there is mercy and a person can get saved and forgiven at the last breath of their life. And there are people who have blown 40 years of the life but spend the last 10 wide out for Jesus. There is no restraint. You can give your life to Jesus and give Him all at any time in life. Some people have some very outstanding testimonies at the end of a misspent life. But there is accountability. There is no recovery for eggs dumped on the floor and you can't go back and live your life all over again. What is said was true. “Tell them it is too late.” You can't recover that which you have trashed.

But if we have one meter left, let's do what we can with it and maximize every opportunity we have to let our flag fly as high as possible and give our tattered remains to Jesus and see what He can do with with what is left in our glass.

Oh Father, be merciful. Lord forgive us. But, Lord, please take what little we have left and let Jesus be honored in the remains of our lives. For Jesus sake.

                                                         bill