admin – Page 10 – Jackie Calhoun

You Can Pull the Lever

I was splitting wood with a 20 ton hydraulic gasoline powered wood splitter -20 tons of force brought to bear on one point on the end of a stick of wood. When the engine is running, all you have to do is position a stick of wood about 20 inches long in the upright position and pull a lever and the wedge-shaped blade slowly comes down to split the wood in two. The power to split the wood is not in how hard or how well you can pull the lever down. The power is in the machine itself. All you do is pull the lever down to engage the hydraulic system to cause the splitter to come down to accomplish the task. It does not matter whether you are 70 years old or 3 years old, if you can pull the lever down the machine will do the work. When I was splitting wood, I had my wife’s 3 year old great grandson to pull the lever down and the machine split the wood just as well as when I pulled the lever down.

Our nation and our world has some big, deep-seated problems. They are too big for man alone to work them out. We need God’s wisdom, guidance, and intervention. The way we get this is through believing prayer. It is by finding God’s will in his Word, the Bible, and asking according to his will that things be changed. It is revealed in his Word that it is his will that people be saved from sinful ways and follow the ways of God in righteousness, justice, love, peace, and well-being for all. People’s hearts and minds must change for conditions in the world to change. Only God can do this. We must all take a stand with the Word of God and ask according to his will for people’s hearts to be changed. If you receive the shed blood of Jesus as the sacrifice to take your own sins away, then you are in position to pull the lever of faith and ask God to change people’s hearts. You can ask to remove wicked people from high places and install people who God can use in order to lead this nation in a righteous way. The power of change is not in how hard or how well you pull the lever. All you do is just pull the lever – all you do is ask and trust God to do the work. The power to accomplish it is in God. Pull the lever of faith and ask God to do things that line up with his Word. He is the God of life, liberty, love, and justice for all. Pray that God enlighten people to the truth that needs to be known in order to follow him in his ways. Stand on 1 John 3:20-22 and 5:14,15. Let us all ask that the name of the Lord Jesus Christ be magnified and glorified and our nation and world be changed the way God wants it changed. God is the power to split the toughest piece of spiritual wood. Pull the lever of faith and see God do the work.

Walking With God

As I sat in a doctor’s waiting room to have my 69 year old eyes checked, I had a short visit with a 93 year old lady who also was there for that purpose. In conversation about the virus, she stated that the good Lord is trying to tell us something. I agreed with her saying, “Yes, he had been telling us something for a long time, even before the virus. He has been telling us that he has given the earth over into the care of mankind, and that the wages of sin is death and destruction, and mankind will reap what he sows. He says he is here to help us but if we cut him out, then we are on our own and we will reap what we sow.” As she expressed her trust and committal to the Lord, she named off some of the more popular sins of today’s society. It was concluded that we all need to get right with God. It was obvious that she knew what sin was and she had a lifestyle of staying away from it. Her health and mentality was testimony to that.

There is an element of society in which we live who seems to not have a consciousness of sin. They have been taught that anything goes. When this 69 year old and the 93 year old were being raised, it was common to be taught love to God and man and moral values based on the Holy Bible, along with respect, integrity, manners, and truthfulness. I give recognition and gratitude to all of you who, like this lady, obviously maintain a lifestyle of being a basically good person. Here’s a word of wisdom for us all: “People are going to be people. When the things of life hits the fan, keep your heart pure, learn your lessons, take your correction and instruction, deal with the situation, then give it to God – let it go, and start new and fresh with what you have and move forward.” A pure heart is one that is free from malice, jealousy, un-forgiveness, anger, revenge, and anything ungodly and unedifying. And oh yes, we don’t need to forget fear and unbelief. Does this stuff and more hit us? Yes, sometimes daily, and daily we must humble ourselves before a merciful God and put him as the Lord of our lives instead of the stuff that is going on around us and in us. We have to let it go. The only way society will get cleaned up is that we each get cleaned up and stay clean before God. There is no room for finger pointing in this operation of things – just truth and justice. We can walk with a pure heart before God and truly hear from God, who is always in harmony with the way of the Word in all love, faith, truth, and righteousness. In this way Jesus, who is called the Word, can be Lord of our lives today.

God Will Flow Through Your Life

During the transition of moving from Arkadelphia to Benton and selling our place to my brother Joe, I came away from there with a large trailer load of large rocks. These rocks were hand-picked from the wild about 40 years ago by my Mom and Dad to build flower bed borders and other assorted things on the place. Many of these beds Joe did not want to keep and maintain, so we agreed that I could have the rocks that he did not want. Barb and I brought the rocks up here and unloaded them a couple of years ago and used some for bed borders, a rock bench, and a couple of rock tables, with lots of rocks left over. We had talked about a rock fountain in the front yard in the middle of the circle drive, and with the self quarantining time, that has become a reality. I dug the hole and put a farm-store fiberglass watering trough in it and went and bought several flagstones for the front border, then proceeded to build the fountain part. I had a piece of Firestone rubber sheeting that I had saved for many years for whatever, and that, without cutting or modifying, was laid over the dirt that I sloped to place the rocks on. Then I studied, chose, and placed each rock in just the right way to hopefully turn out to be a beautiful, functional fountain. Oh, and I had to have a pump, and I remembered a submersible, re-circulating pump that I had also saved for many years for whatever, and I am not sure where it came from. It fit down in there perfectly. I threaded a piece of water hose up through the rocks as I put them together. Finally, in an effort to get the desired natural water flowing look and sound, Barb suggested an unused clay pot that was sitting over by the pavilion to go on top. The hose fit in the hole in the bottom perfectly and with that we got the look, sound and flow that is perfect.

Lesson: God uses what he’s got to make the perfect, beautiful, fountain of living water to pour out into the earth. Each rock is important and is studied and hand-placed to fit into the Body of Christ to glorify the name of Jesus to the glory of God. Each one of us is to be who we are, and submit ourselves to the hands of God, and allow him to do his work in our lives. Not only will that be fulfilling to us, but we will be an instrument of blessing to those around us. You have been preserved for years for this purpose. Cooperate with God and enjoy the beauty of God’s hand flowing through your life in a greater way than you have ever known before.

Lemonade From Lemons

We went to the nursery to shop for some plants to give to a birthday recipient. We did find some plants for that, but we also came away with some beautiful red Encore azaleas for our place. We have a section of the yard in which we would like to add some color, and these plants, placed right next to a wooded part of our back yard, will fill the bill perfectly. Once home I got the shovel to start the planting. What I did not plan on, as I began to plant the bushes, was the fact the ground in that area is full of roots and small stumps from last year’s ground clearing. With so many stumps and roots in the ground, it is very difficult to just to get them into the ground, let alone to get them spaced evenly. So here we had the azaleas and were stumped, not knowing where else to put them. As I studied the situation, I remembered we had a stack of cross ties from the old home place stacked in the trees off one side of the yard. It occurred to me that if you can’t dig down, then, go up. With the ties I could build a raised bed. Not only would that get the bushes into the ground, but it would also put the cross ties to a good use. So, Barb and I wrestled those long, large, heavy chunks of wood onto the utility trailer behind the riding lawn mower, and carted them across the yard and set them in place for a border for the new bush bed. Now, we have a rustic bed next to the woods in the back to be filled with good dirt and beautiful blooming bushes, adding a balance of color to that side of the yard.

When David confronted Goliath, he did not talk about how big the giant was that stood before him or his ability to fight and inflict harm. Rather, he talked about the bigness of God, and his ability to work with him to gain the victory. David declared what he would do in God’s strength, and he did just that. He took the head off the giant gaining a great victory for the people of God (1 Samuel 17). We all come up against obstacles from world-wide pandemic giants to a minor matter of root-filled soil. God promised that he would be with us in trials to show us the way of escape, the way to overcome the adversity we face. By allowing Jesus to be Lord over all in our lives, we can be attuned to his desires and directions that will lead us in a victorious way of wisdom every time (Proverbs 3:5, 6). When things are sour, that is the time more than ever to mix in God’s sweetness and wisdom and focus on his word, his power, and his ability to get us through it all with victory.

Apply Psalms 91

Regardless what is facing us, we need to be aware there are two fronts we need to address – the spiritual/mental aspect of it and the physical/practical aspect of it. One scenario to illustrate this is that we go to a doctor with something we are dealing with to be examined and assessed. When determined what is going on, then a plan of treatment is prescribed and that plan is implemented. By application of the medical professional skills and our cooperation with that, a plan of treatment is followed for the cure. The “spiritual/mental” part is to go to the doctor and be assessed. The “physical/practical” part is to receive and apply the treatment. If a bottle of pills is prescribed and we just leave the pills sitting in the bottle on the counter and never take them, then we have effectively negated any good that was made available to us by the examination and assessment of the doctor.

Today, at this moment, there is not only a world-scale pandemic of a virus, but there is also a pandemic of sin which always leads to death. The Word of God is the examining doctor. If we don’t ever go to the doctor to be examined and assessed to be treated, then we are a carrier that spreads and infects others around us with death-dealing sin. The Good News is this: we can go to the Word and see our heart, the very being of who we are, and we can see what is going on. We can apply that Word to our lives by the Holy Spirit and become “salt” and “light”, being set free from sin. This is why Jesus, also known as the Word, came and gave himself. He is the cure for sin, but if his assessment of us is never consulted and his remedy is never applied, pandemic results. For the spiritual/ mental aspect of life there is one scripture that needs to be spoken out loud over our lives every day: Psalms 91. For the physical/practical side of life there is one thing we need to do every day: repent, turn from revealed sin, and embrace the Good News of cleansing and renewed empowerment by the Word and Spirit of God. As we each do our part in this pandemic of sin, the tide of spiritual death can be abated. Eternal life, cradled in love, is the lifestyle of those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in this way. Again, address the spiritual/mental part of this pandemic by speaking out loud Psalms 91. Carry out the physical/practical part by following the protocol of cleansing and keeping yourself from being a carrier of the pandemic to others. In this way the tide of death can be stopped.

The River To Swim In

At the age of 12 I walked a church isle, took the preacher by the hand, said yes to all the questions, and got baptized. They said I got saved. About two years later in the privacy of my bedroom, as I said my nightly prayers before going to sleep, I began to realize that I had no real connection with God. I argued within myself that I was “saved” because I had gotten baptized and I was living a good, clean life. In a short time I was overwhelmed to tears, sobbing into my pillow, convinced that I had no connection with God. In that place of being utterly without strength or without having any righteous standing before God, I had the realization that Jesus Christ died for me to take my sins away. With that realization, peace flooded my soul. I realized truly that Jesus was my Savior.

After peace came into me, seeing Jesus, I had another realization. It came to me that there was a river of the water of life in God. You can stand ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, or it was a river that could not be passed over with your feet touching the ground. It was a river too deep to wade. It was waters to swim in. It was a call to commit my life completely to the Lord. As the choice was presented to me in my inner mind and heart, I cried out to God, “Lord, let me dive in and swim on your grace!” My life was committed to the Lord to be carried where the river would carry me. From that experience, my life was changed.

I realized that Jesus was my Savior and Lord by the sole virtue of what he did for me – not by anything I had or could do for him. All I wanted to talk about was Jesus and the things of God. There have been a couple of times that I got away from God in my life, but when I came to myself, he welcomed me back in fellowship, and that has remained to this day. My main delight of thought and conversation is Jesus Christ and the Word of God. There is eternal life in a total commitment of your life to the Lord. Some are committed ankle deep, still connected to the earth, the natural. Some are committed knee deep, a little more active in the things of God, but still standing on the earth, the natural. Some are committed waist deep, very active, but still trusting in what they can do and how good they can be. It is when we disconnect from the earth, the natural, and we dive in swimming only on what Jesus has done for us as our complete salvation, that we fully enter eternal life. It is a choice we make, and it is words that we speak, to do business with God and commit our life to him. There is life in the river of God. Ezekiel 47:1-12

God’s Work Release Program

At least once a month I go out to the Benton Work Release Center to minister to the men incarcerated there. This is the final stop for some before they are released to hopefully become productive members of society and not end up back in prison. My role as a volunteer worker is to give them something they can hold on to and build on in their lives to help empower them to stand strong and not give in to their previous lifestyles that break the law and do harm to themselves and others.

They are in prison, but for most of us, we have to deal with personal prisons that hold us captive. God healed me of a chronic back condition last year. It was wonderful. My life was in daily debilitating pain, and after two weeks of speaking and standing on the word of God for healing, the next day I was not in pain. Twice, immediately after that, I had that very pain return, which I stood against speaking the word of God. It left me and for many months I had no pain and did heavy work. Recently, in the space of a week, I overworked, and I put the icing on the cake by loading a big trailer with junk that had accumulated around the house, In that, I did something to my back. It is a completely different set of symptoms from the chronic back condition I had before.

My lesson: You can abuse and injure a healed back! Duh! If you break the law of sound judgment, reason and moderation, you will imprison yourself in a hurting body that takes a while to heal. We humans do stupid stuff all the time that break laws, so we carry our prisons around with us. Sometimes we incur our prisons as we serve in the line of duty and gainful occupation. Sometimes our prisons are imposed on us by others wrong choices and lifestyles. Life happens. Regardless of how we got our prisons, the good news is that the Bible says Jesus, the Word, is anointed, is endowed with the Spirit, “to preach deliverance to the captives” and “set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). It says that Jesus, “with…word…healed all that were sick” thus fulfilling what Isaiah the prophet said, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:16, 17). Through repentance for our stupidity, or by submission to God for our uninvited condition that life gave us, we can give ourselves to God. Then, we take his anointed Word and apply it to our lives and we do all we can in the natural. Continuing this, we can expect healing and release from our prisons to again become a productive member in society. Jesus came to do this for us, to his glory. It is God’s work release program.

Doctor Jesus

I am thankful for every doctor, nurse, and medical technician out there doing a good job. Without them, most of our families would not be as complete as they are. In past conversations and with recent dealings with people in the hospital and hearing of the amazing medical procedures and provisions that we now have, I was reminded of the little joke I heard years ago. God was sitting in heaven one day when a scientist said to Him, “God, we don’t need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing – in other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning.”“Oh, is that so? Explain…” replies God. “Well,” says the scientist, “we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe life into it, thus creating man.” “Well, that’s very interesting… show Me.” So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man. “No, no, no…” interrupts God, “Get your own dirt.”

As advanced as we are, compared to God’s ability and provision, we cannot even make our own dirt. That is why, in seeing the greatness of God, we should always first put prayer and his Word on every situation we face and for every drug taken and every procedure performed. This should be engaged just as surely and as faithfully as we are faithful to go see the doctor and to take the meds he prescribes and receive the procedures he performs. It is up to us to go to the doctor’s office and lay our condition out to him, and receive his procedure and his prescription for meds, and follow his directions. We can go to God in full confidence and faith because God has already told us in his Word that he wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers (3 John 2). The provisions are already in place through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s not so much of a religious thing, it is just life. If we want to live, we receive cleansing from death-dealing sin by faith in the blood of Jesus. With that connection with God, we are in his office to receive all the promises of the Book. Then we just follow his instructions. Again, going to and receiving from God is just like going to see the doctor, laying your problem out to him, and following his instructions. Where man’s ability stops, God’s power starts. The same God that made man from dirt, certainly has the ability to fix what ails you. Get Doctor Jesus in on every bit of it and he will help you in every way you allow him to.

Seedtime and Harvest

With the yard now cleared of all colorful, interesting, Christmas decorations it was said to my wife that the yard looks bare and depressing. With the winter-scape in full swing and all the leaves now mulched away back into the lawn, we now have a smooth, evenly light brown yard that is the canvas for spring color. The grass, bulbs, and perennials that are already in place are mustering their energies, with the early bloomers already peeking out from among the bedcovers. In several weeks we will start to see the dormant life spring forth with new and interesting color, plus, what will come out of the commercial greenhouses will be irresistible, for pots of life in special spots.

The word tells us that God set things up on a “seedtime and harvest” principle – “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). Life is that way. While we remain, what thoughts, choices, actions, and activities we sow into life is what we reap in life. It is a set law of life. Thankfully Jesus came and fulfilled and superseded the law of sin and death with the law of the Spirit of life. We all operate in a law of sin and death in our physical body, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8: 2). What does that mean to me? It means that by operating by that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, my mortal body can have an infusion of resurrection life here and now. In that life we can be energized, healed, and made whole. Just like we eat physical food on a daily basis to energize our bodies, we can feed on the good news of what God’s Word says and energize our spirit man and physical body (Romans 8: 11). The key to that is to cooperate with the Spirit of God. If there is any one goal we should have at the onset of this year it is to learn how to better cooperate with the Spirit of God. He only leads us into good things. He plants good things and gives harvest to good and beautiful things. As we become co-laborers with him in the landscape of our life, even though we might be in the midst of a somewhat brown, drab winter now, by working with him we can expect good things to spring forth and be seen. What Jesus Christ has done for us to strengthen, energize, and heal in every way, is to be applied by faith just like we eat our “daily bread”. God confirms his Word with signs following. Apply his Word to the winter of your life, and see his life rise up in your behalf.