Dear Lord,

Your Word says that You greatly esteem the person who fears You. I fear You, You are God Almighty, the one who created me, the one who saved me, the one who made the rules. You called me to be Your disciple, Your servant, and You said that someday I will stand before You and give an account of my life to You. You declared that all of my works will be tested by fire and if they stand the test of the fire I will receive rewards from You, but if what I have done with my life is burned up I will suffer loss, but I will be saved but enter heaven empty handed. Whooooeeee that makes me nervous.

Lord, I am going to be 75 years old in one week. I don’t have a lot of time left to work for You and to earn rewards from You. I have taken a lot of tests in my lifetime and I was nervous before all of them, especially my driving test to get my license, I remember that, but none of those tests, not even all of them put together, comes close to the fear I am feeling about the moment I stand before You and give an accounting of my life to you.

I dream of You saying to me “You did well, my son!” I can’t imagine how that is going to feel to hear those words, and to see Your smile. WOW, I hope that is what happens, but I don’t know, for sure. I think about slowing down and not working so much, I get so tired any more, but I can’t. If I new for sure that “ the day” was going to turn out well, I might, but I don’t have a clue, so I will keep plugging along, doing the best that I can, always.

I shouldn’t act like it is that hard to keep going hard, because it really isn’t. He gives me the strength, the wisdom, the desire, the opportunities, and the joy when I get up out of my chair and do something for Him that matters, it is a great way to live, and I love every minute of my life.

Dear Lord, How pleasing am I to You, really? What I wouldn’t give for some kind of daily score, evaluation on how I did living for You. Help me to know how I am doing. I want to sense your pleasure in me. I also want to be able to feel your displeasure when I do things that are wrong. Can I really do that, sense that, know that? Is it just a matter of my conscience? How calloused is my conscience? Oh Lord, I do not want to be surprised on the day I first see You at the “Judgment Seat of Christ.” Please help me to grow in holiness before You. Please help me to know who and what I am in character from Your perspective, not mine or the world’s. And please give me the power to grow and change.

What are my character flaws and deficiencies? What are the weak areas in my character?

I know that whatever the total count is to those two questions that I am really only aware of a small number of them, and that I am blind to the majority of them. That statement I wish with all my heart wasn’t true, but I know that it is. I have many blind spots, character flaws, deficiencies, and bad ways of acting and talking that I am totally unaware of.

That statement makes me very sad, and at the same time, it makes me very nervous about what I could do and the hurt that I could cause and not even know it.

The best solution to this blindness problem is to faithfully read God’s Word every day.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When I read, memorize, and meditate on the Word of God I need to pray and ask God to show me what He would like to change in me, that He would use His Word as a mirror for me to see myself accurately.

Another key to seeing our own blind spots is that whenever I see or hear things in those around me that I am critical of in my mind, I need to examine my own life carefully in the same area. It is an interesting bit of human behavior that those things that we are weak in we tend to see most accurately in others.

Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

A third thing that is super important is that I must want to grow and discover what needs changing in me. Not a casual interest, but a consuming want that drives us to seek holiness with all diligence. Most are just interested in being accepted by people rather than being approved by God.

Wisdom is an elusive thing; there aren’t very many wise people in the world today, way less than many would think. Solomon, who wrote the book of Proverbs, said that in his search for wisdom and wise people, he only found one in a thousand. Wisdom must be sought with great diligence, as people would search for gold, silver, and precious treasure.

People who think they are wise don’t find it, naive people don’t find it, fearful and anxious people don’t find it, lazy people don’t find it, know-it-alls don’t find it, only those who know they need more, recognize how important it is to succeed in life, and who seek it as if their life depended on it find it.

Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

The first stage of wisdom is knowing what to do and what to say in any situation or circumstance that you find yourself in. The second stage is knowing what others ought to do and say in any situation or circumstance they find themselves in. You can become wise for yourself, then for your family, and then for your friends.

The key to becoming wise is reading, studying, and memorizing the Bible. The more you do, the more wisdom you will get; it is `as simple as that.

Psalms 119:98-100 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.

The second discipline to practice regularly is reading good books written by wise people. One of the initial levels of wisdom as you seek it is knowing who to seek more wisdom from and then doing it, reading a lot.

Then listen to podcasts by wise people, listen a lot, listen while you drive, while you mow your lawn, and while you exercise. Many people listen to music while driving, but most aren’t worshipping with that music; they are just being entertained. Seek wisdom, so instead, listen to good sermons and teachings on how to live life successfully.

If you personally know wise people ask them questions, lots of questions, and listen well.

And then write down what you learn in your very own book of Proverbs, your book of wisdom. I call mine “Dee-Duke’s Axioms for Life.” I may publish it someday.

A lot of people think that because I am a Pastor that I have this whole prophecy thing all figured out and that I know fairly accurately what is going to happen next in and around and with Israel. I sorta, kind of know in a very general way, but there are a whole lot of details that I have no clue about.

There are a lot of self-proclaimed prophets running around making fairly bold predictions about the future on YouTube, Facebook, and on other internet sights that I am thinking are full of it.

The purpose of fulfilled prophecy is to show and prove that God is God, and that He is in control. Most of what is parading around today as prophecy is educated guesses and many of them are not even very educated. Many are aimed at the insecurities and anxieties of people.

Essential for me is God is in control; he is God. I belong to Him, and He will be with me, guide me, strengthen me, use me, give me joy and peace, and take me to heaven to live with Him forever. In the meantime, I want to influence as many people as possible to trust Jesus Christ as their savior so that they can live with God forever.

I know that Israel is God’s people and that He has a plan for them. I pray for Israel that they will come to know Jesus Christ as their Messiah.

And in the slack times I will fish as much as I can, play golf when the sun shines, work on my 1969 Mustang, watch football, and play poker with my friends.

I never played football in High School or College. The High School I went to only had about 40 kids so we didn’t have enough interest or money to have football and the College that I went to was too small for football as well. I played basketball in both High School and College and baseball in College. I never saw or watched a real live football game until I married Patty. Her Dad was a football star in High School and College and played on a local Sem-pro team for several years. So he couldn’t have a football-illiterate son-in-law, so when we went to visit if it was the season he would take me to a game. We went to several San Fransisco 49 games, and Oakland Raider games when the Raiders were in Oakland. That is one of the reasons that I am now a “49ers” fan. Now I enjoy watching football on television, both College and NFL, and occasionally make it to one of my grandson’s High School games. I rarely miss watching “Monday Night Football” with a bunch of friends at the church.

I listen to a number of sports commentators each week on “YouTube” as they explain about various teams and players, why they are good or bad, and why they lost or won. I enjoy it very much, and I am thinking about joining a “Fantasy Football League” next year.

I have said numerous times that most Biblical truth is illustrated by life. The Apostle Paul often uses various aspects of life to illustrate his teaching, and he regularly uses Sports to illustrate spiritual principles. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 he uses both track and boxing as illustrations of exercising self-control to accomplish a goal. In other passages he talks about wrestling and athletics in general to illustrate spiritual truths.

I am teaching a class each week on “Angels and Demons” and as I study I can’t help but to think about football. We are daily involved in what is termed “Spiritual Warfare”, the battle taking place between angels and demons over our heads for the control of people’s lives. Colossians 2:15 says that Christ defeated the devil and his demons when he died and rose again. I will let you study the context of this passage. “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

There is a lot happening today in the world, and the devil is diligently trying to win the football game, but he has already been defeated by Jesus, so I am going to live like and talk like a winner because I am on Jesus’s team and we will win, and in fact we have already won.

Revelation 12:12-13 For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.

The “woman” in this passage is the nation of Israel. The devil hates the nation of Israel and he believes that if he is going to defeat God, he needs to destroy Israel, and he has great wrath and he is going to give it his best shot. Watch it play out, and guess who wins in the end.

Revelation 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him,

Reading or listening to the news today can produce a lot of irritation, anxiety, confusion, and frustration, but when you read the Bible regularly, like daily, especially prophecy, the result is a sense of security in the midst of chaos. The devil is trying hard to win, but he won’t, God is in charge, and His will is what happens, always. Enjoy the ride.

The Bible talks about people who have a good and a clear conscience. It also talks about those who have a seared conscience, and a bad conscience, and a defiled conscience. Sometimes we will talk about people who are bad and say they must have some good in them someplace. It is our conscience that has checks against evil behavior and inclinations toward good behavior. when we hear about people murdering woman, children, and babies in the news I wonder how a person gets to the point that their conscience is dead, and then becomes evil. When we are “born again” by our faith in Jesus Christ our conscience is made new with a bent towards righteousness.

Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

There are also those whose conscience becomes “defiled” and is controlled by demons, who are totally evil in their intentions and desires. That is a sad state for a person to get to in this life, but many do, and it looks like the number is increasing in our world today.

The Apostle Paul makes an interesting comment about his conscience in Acts 24:16 “In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.”

Paul in Romans 2 suggests that when we read or memorize the Bible that it influences our conscience toward godliness, it programs us, as it were, and in Romans 9 he talks about the Holy Spirit nudging our conscience toward righteousness.

Patty and I went to visit my good friend Andy Keesecker in the hospital this afternoon. He is having some problems with his kidneys and the doctors are trying to figure out what the problem is. It seems that a lot of my friends are having health problems these days. That is probably because most of my friends are my age, and that is what happens when you get my age, the old body just starts wearing out, it is a given. I have two separate doctor visits scheduled in the next couple of days, just routine, every two year checkups, and I have no idea how those will turn out. I am assuming that everything will be cool, and I will live to be 100 years old riding my bicycle until I am 99 years old, but that is not probable.

But it doesn’t really matter because I would much rather be in heaven than here, nothing against all you good people but heaven is better, a glorified body is way better, and Jesus is way, way better. It is so cool to be living life with no fear of dying, no fear of cancer, or any other health issue. I am thinking that with what is going on over in Israel that Jesus is going to be coming any day now.

My main prayer for my sick friends is that God will use them a ton in their sickness as they witness by their joy. I pray that God will fill them with joy, peace, and a very powerful sense of His presence and pleasure in them as His servants.

This last weekend was very full. I preached Saturday morning at “Men’s Breakfast”, I taught my “Men’s Leadership” class from 5:30 to 6:30 pm and then we had our Saturday night service which was the first of three services that were our 50th anniversary celebration in which Patty and I sang and I talked for 30 minutes narrating slides of JBC’s history. Sunday morning at 8:00 am I taught the “Ladies Leadership Class,” then we had two more services where we sang and I talked, then at 1:00 pm I taught another “Men’s Leadership Class,” then at 3:00 pm I taught “Leadership II Class” , and then at 6:00 pm I participated in my “Men’s Covenant” group.

That evening sitting in my recliner I was feeling like the most blessed person on the planet earth. I was feeling full of joy and enthusiasm about the future, and thanking the Lord for the amazing weekend we had just experienced.

I went to bed at 10:00 pm and the next morning I woke up at 10:00 am and I hadn’t woken up once during that 12 hours of sleeping like a baby.

After I got out of bed, showered, ate a bite, drank a cup of coffee and brushed my teeth, I sat down and started thinking about the weekend, and I started thinking, wow, I should be tired, and exhausted, and depressed, and exhausted, and pretty soon I started feeling that way.

Then I came to my senses and, thought, wait a minute, you just had this amazing weekend, and you just had the best nights sleep you have had in years, and you should feel great! Yep, I do feel great!!