The Somewhat Controlled Burn

I was already in my pj's and the Wonder Dogs and I were surrounded by a stack of pillows on my bed, working on my presentation for Saturday, when their heads came up and they started to bark. I shushed them several times before I realized they might not be barking for fun. 

We went to the door and I found that The Hired Hand and His Son had returned to check on a burning brush pile.

The two men pulled the rest of the brush into the pile and The Hired Hand commented on the sage grass around the lake.

"I hate weedeating that sage grass. It gets all tangled up in my Weedeater," I complained.

He stuck both hands in the pockets of his overalls and looked at me with a bland expression. "We could burn it off. Wouldn't take long."

"Okay. When do you want to do it?" 

The Hired Hand sighed, looked at His Son, and shook his head. "It's better to do it when the dew is on the ground. Go get your matches."

I have to admit that I didn't think this idea through. Not even for a second. I just ran to the house, got the matches, and hurried back.

Box in hand, I asked him, "Now what?"

"Strike a match and light the sage grass."

I lit the top of the tallest grass and they both rolled their eyes. "Light it from the bottom." He sounded patient but there was a lot of eye rolling between the two of them. In my defense, it was my first time to light a brush fire.

I knelt down, lit the bottom of the grass, and the fire took off. Did I mention how much sage grass there was? The fire happily danced from one bunch of grass to the next, helped by my long fireplace matches. 

I still did not stop to think this through, mainly because I trust The Hired Hand and His Son to be in charge of whatever adventure we undertake.

The Son cleared off a place at the end of the grass so the fire would stop. To be perfectly candid, we expected the fire to burn to the end of the grass, meet the clear place, and stop.

That was not what happened.

Someone mentioned the three old dead tree stumps together in the line of the fire, and someone might have mentioned wishing they'd burn, too. No one expected what happened next. The first stump caught on fire.

The Hired Hand said, "Well, good."

It was burning like a torch in the night and looking lovely when the dead tree on the other end of the line of stumps started smoking.

His Son said, "Hey, Daddy, look at that."

Flames burst from the middle of that dead tree and sparks started flying. It was like the Fourth of July without the sound effects. 

"Well, that is just great. Now we have to stay and watch these things burn." He didn't sound like it was great, but I thought it was pretty cool.

We watched for a long time before the third stump caught fire. Sparks flew up from all three dead trees and it was so beautiful, I could hardly believe it. The smell of wood smoke on a cool spring night was marvelous, and I suggested I get some marshmallows.

The Hired Hand and His Son looked at each other and then at me, but didn't say a word. I left the marshmallows in the house.

The pictures don't do it justice, but I walked back toward the house to survey the scenery. It was stunning and more than a little shocking. The night obscured everything except the fire, which was burning all along the edge of the lake.

In the dark, it looked like fire was everywhere, and I shuddered. The scene before me was sobering, and it wasn't fun anymore.

This is what hell looks like, I thought, only worse, and I'm glad I'm not going there.

In case you've wondered, Scripture tells us that there is a literal hell and we all deserve it. I know it's not popular to talk about hell and damnation, but if we don't know we're in peril, we won't understand we need saving.

We do need a Savior, though, and that's why Jesus came. To SAVE us from the penalty of our sin. (Romans 3:23 - all have sinned. Romans 6:23 - the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus)

The evil one seeks to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus came to save us from his clutches, and he did. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

Death, where is your sting? Gone because of Jesus. 

He gave us a choice. Choose the evil one and his eternal hell fires or choose Jesus, His righteousness, and heaven.

If you'd seen the fire I saw last night, the issue would be crystal clear. 

When the choice is between good and evil, choose GOOD.

When the choice is between Jesus or Satan, choose JESUS.

When the choice is between Heaven or hell, choose HEAVEN.

We have been given a choice, and our eternal destination depends on the choice we make.
Choose well.

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In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Occupying the Life God Intended
#WednesdayWisdom #hell #heaven #Jesus #Christian #linesfromleanna

The One thing we should fear

"I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! (Luke 12:4-5 NASB)

"Don't be afraid," Jesus was saying. (We looked at this in yesterday's post. You can see it here.) Even if someone threatens to kill you, even if they do kill you, I've got this, He told his disciples. Being killed is not the worst thing that could happen. Going to hell is the worst thing. Everything else pales in comparison.

I don't have to be afraid, and neither do you. There is only one thing we should fear, Jesus told His disciples. Fear God, who has the final say about our eternal destiny. He is omnipotent and He makes the rules about who spends eternity with Him and who does not. 

The word translated as fear is phobos and indicates a reverential fear. According to Vine's, this is "not a mere 'fear' of His power and righteous retribution, but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him." This kind of fear, it says, should "inspire a constant carefulness" in the way we act, both toward God and toward our fellow man.

We serve a God of grace and love and mercy, all of which He offers willingly to us. We can have His grace, love, and mercy in abundance. BUT. We will have them on His terms. 

As parents, we make rules for our family and expect them to be followed. When rules are broken, there are consequences. The point of rules is not to be mean. The rules serve to create order, ensure safety, respect authority, and make an environment conducive to the expression of love and joy. The rules, when followed, bring peace.

The One who is Creator and Sustainer of the Universe has also made rules for those of us who live here. He expects us to follow them. The point is not to be mean. Like the rules in my home, they are designed to create order, ensure safety, respect authority, and make an environment conducive to love and joy. The rules make a peaceful place to live.

The issue of eternity is pretty simple. We can choose heaven or we can choose hell. If we choose hell, we can do anything we want. It won't matter what we do; there will always be a place waiting for us in hell. If we choose heaven, that choice comes with a caveat. Choosing heaven means choosing God. It means we try to do things His way. 

Love as He loved. 
Give as He gave. 
Serve as He served.

There is one thing for certain. We will choose. Whether we intend to or not, we will make a choice about our eternal destiny by the life we live and the One we serve (or don't serve). What kind of choice are you making with your life?

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He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. (Psalms 103:10-11 NASB)

Our Father, You have not given us what we deserve and we thank you. Your lovingkindness toward those who fear, respect, honor You is too great to measure, and we thank You. Give us a dread of displeasing You and a constant carefulness in how we live. Give us a heart that fears You so that we can love, give, serve as You have loved, given, and served us.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Excitement in the boat, part 24: avoiding the abhorrent

They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss. Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. (Luke 8:31-32 NASB)

The legion of demons was not at all stupid. It was apparent to them that the Son of God had arrived, and He was in charge. They knew they were about to be thrown out, with no coming back. They had been commanded to leave the man before, but had always returned stronger and more numerous. There would be none of that this time.  They knew that for sure. 

Demons exist, at least in part, to torment mankind. They have rejected the service of Almighty God and have ended up serving the evil one. It seems that, in leaving the man, the demons had two options. They could go back to the pit of hell or find another being to possess. This should be significant to us, but I have never heard anyone mention this next point. Hell is a horrible place. It is so dreadful that even the Legion of demons begged Jesus not to send them back there! 

If demons abhor the possibility of going to hell, we should, too. If demons abhor the possibility of going to hell, we should be filled with such concern for those we love (as well as a lost and perishing world) that we pray non-stop that they would find a saving relationship with our Lord. 

In a time when the forces of evil have been so romanticized as to seem attractive, we need to reconsider the difference between light and darkness, good and evil. We need look no further than the naked, raging man in the tombs to see that we want no part of that darkness, and we should live accordingly. 

We are called to be the light in a dark and lonely world. Is our light a warm, welcoming glow? If it were, perhaps it would be more attractive to those who have been held captive in the darkness for far too long. Dear ones, let's be sure we live in such a way that it is obvious we believe the faith we claim. Only then will we draw others to the Lord we say we love. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-wonder-girls-take-walk.html

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Our terrorist/terror group of the week is the former ISIS, now the Islamic State. Their leader is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. To learn more about them and their goal of spreading radical jihad and sharia rule throughout the world, click here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/radical-obedience-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi.html