Praise God for Each View

Records indicate that 39 percent of those who viewed Lamp in a Corner, during the last 30 days, were from outside the United States.  My heartfelt thanks to each of you.  I can’t find the words to tell you how grateful I am for you.

Thank you to our fellow Americans who viewed as well.  You are equally appreciated.

To God be the praise and glory for using this Blog to reach out to people around the world.  When Lamp in a Corner was started, I had no idea that this would happen.  I am so grateful, Lord.  You alone are the One to be praised.

Living Water

Fill My Cup, Lord

By Richard Blanchard

(Verse 1)

Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.” 

(Chorus) 

Fill my cup, Lord;
I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole. 

(Verse 2) 

There are millions in this world who are seeking
For pleasures earthly goods afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord. 

(Repeat Chorus) 

(Verse 3) 

O my brother if the things that this world gives you
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray— 

(Repeat Chorus)

 

(See: John 4:1-42) 

https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/ns/340

 

 

The Crucifixion of Jesus Was Predicted

Every time I read the 22^nd Psalm I am amazed.  The Holy Spirit inspired King David of Israel to prophesy in detail about the agony of Jesus Christ during the crucifixion.  David lived about 1,000 years before Jesus was born, but he was able to describe a pain so intense that The Messiah could count His bones.  Even worse than that, as He bore the penalty for every sin ever committed, Jesus was temporarily out of the intense, intimate communion He had with the Father from all eternity. (John 1:1, 1:18; Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on Matthew 27:46)

Psalm 22

(A Psalm of David) 

Verse 1: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

(See Matthew 27:46)

 

Verses 7-8: All who see me deride me;

They sneer, they shake their heads, saying,

“Turn him over to the LORD; let Him save him;

Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

(See Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23: 35-37; John19:)

 

Verses 14-15: I am poured out like water,

And all my bones are out of joint;

My heart is like wax;

It is melted within me.

My strength is dried up like a piece of pottery,

And my tongue clings to my jaws;

(See John 19:28)

And You lay me in the dust of death.

 

Verses 17-18: They pierced my hands and my feet.

I can count all my bones.

They look, they stare at me;

They divide my garments among them,

And they cast lots for my clothing.

(See Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke23:33-34; John19:18, 23-24)

 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31 NASB)

 

All scriptural quotes from:

https://biblehub.com/nasb.htm

 

The Grave Cannot Hold the Messiah Who Gives Us Life

Psalm 16

 

(A Miktam of David)

 

Protect me, God, for I take refuge in You.

I said to the LORD,

“You are my Lord; I have nothing good besides You.”

As for the saints who are on the earth,

They are the majestic ones; all my delight is in them.

The pains of those who have acquired another god will be multiplied;

I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,

Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You support my lot.

The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me.

I will bless the LORD who has advised me;

Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

I have set the LORD continually before me;

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely.

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. *

You will make known to me the way of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

 

(New American Standard Bible)

* See Acts 13:34-35

 

https://biblehub.com/nasb_/psalms/16.htm

 

 

2022

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved,

that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years,

and a thousand years like one day.

(2Peter 3:8 NASB)

https://biblehub.com/nasb_/2_peter/3.htm 

On television, I saw the New Year's Eve fireworks displays from some of the world’s major cities.  In New York City, crowds of people listened to a girl singer perform John Lennon’s New Age Mantra, Imagine, and then they counted down the seconds as they watched the fabled ball fall marking the beginning of 2022. 

Years ago, the New Year celebration was an excuse for my friends and me to get drunk.  Once in a while, one of us would “get lucky” with a girl.  We thought we were having fun.  Reveling and partying were what people were supposed to do to bring in a new year. 

Time as we measure it is “Earth time.”  It takes about 365 days for our planet to complete an orbit around the sun.  We call it a year.  It takes about 24 hours for the Earth to spin around once on its axis.  We call it a day.  The moon goes through its phases about once a month.  It is all relative to the chunk of matter that we live on.  We can apply our measurements of time to other planets, the speed of light, or the distance to the edge of our galaxy, but it is still based on the physical behavior of the Earth.  Take us out of the picture, and time (as we measure it) ceases to exist. 

In that sense, celebrating on New Year’s is a thing of this world, literally.  It is a chance for people to whoop it up, or to give your loved one a special kiss reaffirming your love for another year.  It does not amount to much, however, in light of eternity, and it is not worth breaking fellowship with God, engaging in rebellious behavior to usher out one difficult year in exchange for a newer model. 

God is eternal.  Before the beginning there was only God from all eternity past.  Our measurement of time is not binding on God, who through Jesus Christ created all things, including those things by which we mark the short years of our temporal existence.  God remains God now, and He will be our great God in Three Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) forever. 

It is not wrong to hope for better times in 2022, or to take note of the passing years as we measure them.  Our focus, however, should be on the inexpressible joy of spending eternity in the presence of the Creator and Ruler of the universe. 

Please make it your New Year’s resolution to give yourself to Jesus Christ, to trust Him for eternal life, and to follow Him by the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

The Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.  That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father,
He has declared Him.

(John 1:1-18 NKJV)

 

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/john/1.htm

 

 

Whadda ya mean I gotta?

“That government is best which governs least.”

(Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 1849)

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/sep/21/mike-pence/mike-pence-erroneously-credits-thomas-jefferson-sm/

 Americans have a problem with the word “mandate.”  If you tell an American that they must do something, their knee jerk reaction is, “Wait a minute. Who do you think you are? You can't tell me what to do.”

The fastest way to get Americans to do something, is to tell them not to do it.  Those in government who would have us all get vaccinated and wear masks should tell us not to do so. By saying that vaccinations and masks are “mandatory,” our Democratic friends doing the mandating ensure that we will resist wearing masks and getting vaccinated. 

Americans want to choose for themselves.  If we are told what to do, we feel like our individual liberties are being trampled upon.  Whether this is actually the case, or not, is a matter of point of view, but I agree in principle. 

Big government fundamentally fails to understand the American people.  That is why so many of us are opposed to a gigantic, unelected bureaucracy.  We resist it because its purpose is to regulate us.  Big government does not trust our judgement.  It does not know how to give us the facts and let us make up our own minds.