ImportantThings

  The Light of the World                                                 by Danny C. Wash   “... Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1John 1: 5-10 Light is a remarkable and interesting part of our world. Have you noticed how flying

The First Tree in Eden                                                                       by Danny C. Wash I am so tired thought the tree These leaves are killing me. I’ve carried this load much too long And I need now to be most free Wait, what is this, one leaf fell And now another has dropped from me What is happening I cannot tell  But, I think there is a trend My limbs are beginning to unbend Freedom is in the air And now my shape is not so fair Leaves, leaves all of gold  On the ground and in the air Wait, it’s getting very cold And my limbs are looking bare Without the cover of the leaves out there And, anyway I am going to sleep As my roots are covered now by snow so deep But after a great while I feel something rising in me Up, up it comes from down below Out from underneath the melting snow And causing buds on my limbs to show I feel the warm air causing them to grow My lovely leaves are coming out that I now love so Welcome back and do not again soon go Green leav

                              The Storm       by Danny C. Wash It was a dark and stormy night, as the familiar cliched opening line of many mystery books go. Well, it was a dark and stormy night, but it had nothing to do with the weather. The storm was in my mind as I thought about all the worrisome wind and darkness  of the questions and fear surrounding me. In a storm in the atmosphere, you try to find shelter and I thought the same might be true in my mind. The shelter is usually deep in the middle, so I  looked inside and deep in my mind for peace but there was none, the storm roared even more. Accusations, “what ifs,” and, “if only’s” blew even harder. And then, the water from the mental  rain begin to rise against the foundations of my life. The flood water washed away all my foundation of money, things, and the worldly protections. Down I went into the whirlpool of sadness, loss, fear of the future, and trust in my human remedies. And then as I felt like I was going under for th

 Call Upon the Name of the Lord (A Sinner’s Prayer)     by Danny C. Wash                                                                                                                         O Lord Jesus, O Lord Jesus, My soul cries out to You to be rescued by Your mercy and grace. My soul is troubled. It is disturbed. I have no rest. My heart is turned over. I have sinned. I have erred. My guilty thoughts  and accusations are like ravens cawing and circling  around my head. I have fallen short of Your laws and  principles. My conscience is troubled, disturbed by my deeds. Should I have to appear now before Your judgment seat, I would be judged as wanting and sinful. My heart seems far from You and I cannot see You. O Lord  Jesus save me for Your word says that, “whoever calls  upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” O Lord, am I not within the group of the “whoever” sinners? May I be removed from the presence of the devil and my own selfish flesh, lustful thoughts and desires; fro

The Two Trees        by Danny C. Wash                                      “God planted a garden in Eden...and caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2: 8-9 The garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, and the two trees were all real in time and place but they also had spiritual significance for us in many ways. Spiritually, the tree of life represents spiritual eternal life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents spiritual death (which we will call the “tree of death”). 1   God set Adam in the Garden with the tree of life and the tree of death as a test and in order for Adam and Eve to have free will. God was giving them the choice to choose to eat of the tree of life, which would mean eternal life in dependence on God in a love relationship with Him forever. However, the tree of death would mean that man would exercise his free will to choose independen

  The Mirror      by Danny C. Wash                                                                                   Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all? The mirror laughs and laughs until it nearly cracks, And says, “person, oh you person in my thrall, you’re as fair as a muddy old wall. Crash, crash went the lying mirror onto the floor I will look at you no more Out you go, you faithless (you know the rhymed word), I will look and see you no more. When you reach a “certain age” The mirror becomes an old sage. One that will not lie and tells us the truth And says, "you have lost your youth.” Oh, you truthful enemy that steals my joy When we are no longer a young girl or boy. Could I but yet for one moment more See the young person I was once before. But no, truth must out and leave me to shout “Come back, my youthful face where have you gone and left this disgrace.” Who is that unfamiliar visage In the mirror, who is

 The Tabernacle and the Temple       by Danny C. Wash                          “... your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 When Paul wrote this statement about our body being a temple of the Holy Spirit, he was writing from knowledge of the tabernacle that the Jews used for the sign of the presence of God and their interactions with Him, when they were wandering in the wilderness after coming out of Egypt with Moses.  God prescribed the exact design of that tabernacle that was supposed to represent the presence of God with the Jews and would be taken down as they moved and then put back up when they rested at a certain location.  Finally, Solomon built a permanent temple in Jerusalem, years after they had settled in the promised land of Israel, to the precise instructions of God as to its configuration like the tabernacle, its construction

  The Pit                                                                 by Danny C. Wash (From the pit of despair) Oh, guilty sinner trapped in the pit of despair, as a prisoner of your devilish thoughts, lusts, and fears; crying in misery & grief. Your dancing & merriment is over, the music  has ended,  the band has gone home and you  are alone.  The weight o f your sin is great and the  thought of death  and judgment is real. You say you  want to die but are afraid  of what is next. Your guilty  conscience haunts you every  moment    & the  memory of all those you have betrayed & hurt   plagues   you like a dread disease eating your  flesh and your mind. The time of reckoning is near. You weep over the misery of your wasted life. The cup of your evil is full to the brim & is ready for you to drink down to the dregs. You cry over the great betrayals of those who trusted you and the  memory of those who you abandoned for your own  pleasure, eats at your soul a

The Mission, The Meaning, & the Message of Jesus Christ Romans Chapter 6      by T. Austin-Sparks                                                                                                             "[Romans] Chapter 6 is not a new chapter, but is the continuation of chapter 5. In chapter 5 all men are dead, which is how God views the human race. 'In Adam all died', and the argument here is that it is the same with Israel. Israel is a part of the human race and is included in this position: 'all are dead'. What is it that we come to immediately we begin to read what is chapter 6? It is a baptism. And what is this baptism? Well, of course, it is the baptism of the Lord Jesus, but what does that mean? Jesus is the representative of the human race. He is the Son of Man. Why must He be baptized? That is, why must He die and be buried? Because He is taking the place of the whole human race. The Cross of the Lord Jesus is a demonstration of the fact that all

Gone, But Not Forgotten                                                      by Danny C. Wash Dear friend, old friend, as I see you laid out there unmoving, unknowing in death, my heart breaks. People say, “well he is gone to a better place” and is that supposed to comfort us. The sadness of the loss of your life, your friendship, your joy, your love, your confidence, your smile and laugh, is still there. You may be in a better place, but we sure aren’t. We wish you were here to help us through this. We need your special ability to comfort our deep anguish. We will not see you again, shake your hand, embrace you, and say to you, “how are you doing” and enjoy your answer; “never better,” as you give us that familiar wonderful smile that warms our heart and make us feel like everything is fine, since you are here. Death is a thief and cold dirty assassin that kills and steals lives away with no remorse. In the middle of all our living, it suddenly appears and cuts through the middle of e