THE JOYOUS ROAD

 Greetings O Ye Road Warriors...how's the journey going.

The other day I was at Dr. Pete's (Revolution Chiropractics)...and after my adjustment...he said, "Remember...it's about the JOURNEY."  Of course...that got me to ruminating about the road that we are travelling upon...and how so many times we miss the scenery as we are so intent to get to our destination.

There are four aspects of travel...the preparation...the destination...and the journey...the arrival. 

I have this book in my collection about "The Mother Road"...Route 66 aka Will Rogers Highway, aka The Main Street of America (going from Illinois to Los Angeles.  It is a road that Brenda and I would love to travel one day (as much of it that is left). It is not just the starting point of the road...but all the places that you would experience along the way that made it so magical and mythical.  The road was immortalized in the Bobby Troup song...recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio)...encouraging us to "get your KICKS on Route 66."  The KICKS would be the JOY OF THE JOURNEY.
                                                                                     

As we travel on this JOURNEY...we are not alone.  And along the way...we see many people...going no where...lost in limbo.  One of my early favorite Christian rock groups is PETRA (Greek for massive rock versus petros/Peter which means little stone).  The massive ROCK that the church is built on is not the petros/Peter...little stone...but the MASSIVE ROCK OF REVELATION...that Jesus is the Christ...the Living Son of God. (See Matthew 16:13-20)  One of their early albums is COME AND JOIN US (1977)...and the song of the same title implores those along the way...to "come and join us."

"Come and join us in the sunlight...you've been sittin' in the shade too long...come and give us a chance to sing you a song...come and join us in the sunlight...if you would reach you could touch the sky...come and drink from the well that will never run dry." (Petra by Robert M. Hartman)  Part of the JOY IN THE JOURNEY...is bring along others in the JOYOUS JOURNEY.  This principle applies to every area of our lives...as we ENJOY LIVING...from our work to our life experiences (good, bad and ugly)...to our spiritual lives and in our secular lives.  If we don't have JOY IN THE JOURNEY...we are merely getting from point A to point B. 
                                                                

One of my favorite travelogue movies by Elvis Presley is the 1964 movie...ROUSTABOUT.  In one scene Elvis just had a fight with a bunch of frat boys...got into some trouble with the law...and was on the road again.  Of course as he is driving down the highway on his motorcycle (in real life Elvis was a Harley man)...the music cued...and he was singing a song.

"Gotta do some livin'...got the wanderlust...better clear the highway...'cause I'm gonna move some dust...Oh I got wheels... wheels on my heels...and I gotta keep rollin'...rollin' along." (Wheels on My Heels).  In other movies like Kid Galahad, Tickle Me, Blue Hawaii and others...the road and a song in his heart were standard.  Well...as we know...real life is not a movie...BUT...if we know the Lord...we can have a song of joy in our hearts.  Oh...this this NOT mean that the road is always easy.  As joyous as a vacation is...I have been told...that for parents...as much as they love their little ones...that traveling great distances with small children...can be less than joyous.  But for us...as believers...the joy is not found in the road itself...but in the Lord.  Many times the JOY that we experiences is NOT a feeling or an emotion but a CHOICE based on a WORD from Him.

"REJOICE in the Lord...ALWAYS...and again I say REJOICE." (Philippians 4:4)  On the long and winding road that we travel on...sometime we just have to REJOICE...in spite of ROAD CONDITIONS.

   "These things I (Jesus) have spoken to you, that My JOY  may be FULL IN YOU...and that YOUR JOY may BE MADE FULL." (John 15:11) On this long and winding road that we travel on...we have to lean heavily on the WORDS THAT JESUS HAS SPOKEN TO US...as we remain connected to the VINE.

Jesus travelled the road of obedience from the starting point of heaven...to planet Earth in Israel...and for 33 years...experienced JOY and SUFFERING...went to the CROSS...died...was buried...and rose again...and went back HOME.  "Therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us...let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles/besets us...and let us RUN WITH ENDURANCE the race that is set before us...fixing our eyes on Jesus...the author and perfecter of our faith...who for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM..endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)  He had one eye on the road...and one eye on the destination...and PLEASED the Father on the journey.

As we are on this long and winding road...as Pilgrims on a pilgrimage...we pas through places of weeping and bitterness only to have them change into places of blessings and springs and strength as we reach our destination...the presence of God.  "How blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are pilgrimage...the HIGHWAYS TO ZION!  Passing through the valley of Baca/Weeping, THEY MAKE IT A SPRING...the early rain also covers it with BLESSINGS.  They go from STRENGTH to STRENGTH...everyone of them appears before God in Zion." (Psalm 84:5-7)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

This journey...is really a FAITH JOURNEY...as we travel in the land of nitty gritty...to a land of milk and honey...a land of promise and blessing.  As we WALK BY FAITH...and NOT BY SIGHT (II Corinthians 5:7)...as we keep our FAITH TOWARD GOD (Hebrews 6:1)...and trust in the SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR AND CONFIDENTLY EXPECT...along with the EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT REVEALED TO THE SENSES (Hebrews 11:1)...and we COME TO GOD BELIEVING THAT HE IS and that HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM (Hebrews 11:6) and we LIVE BY FAITH (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38)...we come with JOY IN THE JOURNEY.  A great example of this JOYFUL JOURNEY is found in Psalm 100...where the people travel great distances to offer sacrifices unto the Lord...and as they enter in...they are ALREADY JOYFUL...with the CONFIDENT EXPECTANCY (hope) of the cause and effect of their sacrifices.

"Shout JOYFULLY (make a joyful noise) to the Lord, all the earth.  SERVE the Lord with GLADNESS...COME before Him (His presence) with JOYFUL SINGING (not a dirge)...KNOW that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not  ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with THANKSGIVING/THANK OFFERING...and His courts with PRAISE...GIVE THANKS to Him; BLESS HIS NAME.  For the LORD IS GOOD; His LOVINGKINDNESS is everlasting...and HIS FAITHFULNESS to all generations." (Psalm 100:1-5)

This thing called joy is...CHARA (khara-ah)=cheerfulness, that is calm delight, gladness, exceeding joy, joyful.  As we go down this long and winding road...on our journey...we need to remember...a journey is...well...a journey...and you can travel with grumbling and complaining or we can travel with cheerfulness and a calm delight and gladness that exceeds our problems...and is filled with JOY.

FINAL THOUGHT ...FINALLY...NO REALLY...THIS TIME IT IS FINAL

"For the KINGDOM OF GOD is not eating and drinking...but righteousness (right living) and peace (rest) and JOY (calm delight) in the HOLY GHOST." (Romans14:17)

Love and Journey Kisses
Rodney "Joy of the Lord" Boyd

ALL THE KING'S MEN: THE HUMPTY DUMPTY SYNDROME

 Greetings Beautiful People...have you been put together again?

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...Humptey Dumpty had a great FALL...all the king's horses and all the king's men...couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back to gather again." (Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme)

I guess the YOKES on them.  Being an egg ain't all it's CRACKED up to be.  Telling jokes like this...I have to walk around some...like I'm walking on EGGSHELLS. 

Sometimes I look at my life...especially my life B.C. (Before Christ came into my life back in 1970) and there were so many things in my life messed up...it looked like SCRAMBLED EGGS... all mixed up.  Once the egg is out of the CRACKED...BROKEN SHELL...it is impossible to put it back in and the shell back together again.  This is is called the HUMPTY DUMPTY SYNDROME.

Well...all the king's horses...and all the king's men... may not be able to put things back together again...but the rider of the White Horse...the King of Kings...sure is able to put us back together again.

"Something beautiful...something good...all my confusion...He understood...all I had to offer Him was BROKENNESS and STRIFE...but He made SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL of my life." (Bill and Gloria Gathier Something Beautiful)
                                                                  
 

A rainbow in the sky...is symbolic of a covenant made by God that He would not destroy the world by flood. (Genesis 9:9-17) If you look real close in the second picture you can see under this rainbow...a weather vane...with a rooster...symbolic of the cock who crowed at the point of Peter's denial of Jesus...as prophesied by Jesus.  This was probably one of the lowest, most BROKEN places that Peter experienced as he heard the sound of the crow...and the crashing of realization that he had just denied His Lord, His Saviour, His friend. (Matthew 26:31-35; Matthew 26:58-75)

This wonderful...colorful...arc in the sky...is symbolic of the work that Jesus did on the cross..as He "hung up for our hangups."  When He was with his disciples in the last few days of his earthly life...They were celebrating the Passover (when the death angel passed over the blood covered doorposts)...and instituted what we call "The Lord's Supper." 

"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks He

BROKE IT (the bread) and said, this is My BODY which is BROKEN for you; do this in REMEMBRANCE OF ME."

This picture me...in 1970...being dipped in obedience to the ordinance of baptism.  At that time...I was a 131 pounds of rippling bone...who was in the vernacular of the day..."a hot mess."  I was so BROKEN...that there was no way that me, my friends, Brenda or ALL THE KING'S MEN could ever put me back together again.

Looking at the picture...I remember the how I was in PIECES...scattered like a jigsaw puzzle that was knocked off into the floor...with every piece jumbled to the point of never being able to put it BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.  I was a physical wreck...with the ravages of alcohol, chemicals (including sniffing gasoline, naphta, etc) pulling me apart...affecting my soul (my mind, my will/choices/volition, and my emotions)...with the root of my BROKENESS being my disconnection with God.


Thank God for for a cute little Baptist girl...by the name of Brenda...who happen to love me (in spite of myself)...but who loved the Lord more than she loved me...and was willing to tell me the truth...that I was a sinner...who was in the need of a Savior...and then she led this BROKEN kid...into the presence of the Father, who PUT ME BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.

This last picture...is of my favorite cup.  I had another one of the same design...with the words PRAISE THE LORD on it...but if was dropped and BROKEN beyond usage.  This remaining cup...has piece missing from it...and is a constant reminder to me...of how even with this flaw...I can still see the HALLELUJAH...HALLE-JAH (Praise Yahweh).  When I think of how He put together my life...and took all the BROKEN PIECES...and PUT ME BACK TOGETHER AGAIN...I begin to do what the word PRAISE (Hallelujah) means...Halal...haw-lal...to be clear, to shine, to make a show, to boast, to be clamorously foolish, to celebrate...that what all the king's horses...and all the king's men COULD NOT DO...which is...to PUT ME BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

God makes beautiful things our of broken pieces.

Love and Put Together Kisses
Rodney "Halal...Rave On" Boyd

DEM BONES...GONNA RISE AGAIN

 Greetings O Ye Bones covered with flesh...

Back in the day...there was an old spiritual song...with the melody written by James Weldon Johnson called DEM BONES (aka Dry Bones or Dem Dry Bones). Another version was sung in the Scouts with the hook..."Dem Bones gonna rise again." 

The song was a song of interconnected CONNECTIVITY.

"The toe bones connected to the foot bone...the foot bones connected to the ankle bone...the ankle bone...the ankle bones connected to the leg bone...the leg bones connected to the knee bone...the knee bones connected to the thigh bone...the thigh bones connected to the hip bone...the hip bones connected to the back bone...the back ones connected to the shoulder bone...the shoulder bones connected to the neck bone...the neck bones connected to the head bone...NOW HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD."

The songs are based on Ezekiel 37:1-14 where the the hand of the Lord was upon the prophet was set down in the middle of a valley that was full of bones that were very DRY.  The question asked was..."Can these bones LIVE?"  The prophet's answer to the Lord..."O Lord God...Thou knowest."

                                                                         
As human beings we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14)  Not only did God form our "inward parts" (Psalm 139:13)...our frame/BONES "was not hidden from Thee." (Psalm 139:15)  This thing called our BODY (soma)...flesh, blood, and bones...along with all the nerves and visceral organs...covered with mucosal lining and skin...works as one unit...along with the soul (psuche...the mind, the volition/free will and our emotions)...with the spark of life being our human spirit (pneuma/breath of God).  For me...as simple as I am...I cannot imagine...this created being without the grand design of The Creator.  Some love to exclude the Creator in lieu of some cosmic accident...as Harold Hill says..."from goo to you by way of the zoo."

Maybe someone should write a song about the NERVOUS SYSTEM.  "God is connected to DA BRAIN...da brain connected to CRANIAL NERVES...every NERVE connected to every part of DA BODY...signals going back and forth controlling EVERYTHING...IMPINGEMENT causing nuttin' but TROUBLE...SUBLUXATION needs REALIGNMENT... da ARC OF LIFE WITH POWER ON...Dem nerves gonna be RELEASED."

Ezekiel was prophesying over DRY, DEAD, BONES... in obedience to the Lord...with a promise of sinews, flesh, breath, and life. This prophecy is in reference of course to the house of Israel...but speaks far into the future of the D.B.R...DEATH, BURIAL, RESURRECTION of Jesus the Christ...the Anointed One...anointed with yoke breaking, burden lifting, oppression removing, healing power, poverty busting, devil work destroying DUNAMIS/POWER and DYNAMIC ABILITY OF THE HOLY GHOST...which is the reason that our DRY BONES WILL RISE AGAIN. 

"Therefore prophesy, and say to them...thus says the Lord God...behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel.  Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people.  I will put MY SPIRIT within you, and you will COME TO LIFE, and I will place you on your own land.  Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, declares the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:12-13)



If you do a cursory investigations of various graves around the world...one thing will be in common...BONES.  Dem bones will be in various stages of decomposition.  If you go to Buddah's grave...Buddah Bones.  George Washington's grave will reveal...Honest Bones...and maybe some wooden teeth.  Abraham Lincoln's grave will have extra long leg bones.  Elvis' Presley's grave is either empty (depending on if you believe he is dead or not) but most likely you will find the pelvis bone...all shook up.  Even Napoleon's grave...his Bona-part.

But Jesus' grave...no bones...because...HE IS RISEN INDEED...just like He said He would. 

"And the angel answered and said to the women...Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.  He is not here, for HE HAS RISEN...just as He said.  Come see the place where He WAS lying.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that HE HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will SEE HIM; behold, I have told you." (Matthew 28:5-7)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

NOTE:  Check out The Easter Song by Second Chapter of Acts on You Tube or find it on CD...and sing along.

"Hear the bells ringing...they're singing...that we can be born again...hear the bells ringing...they're singing Christ is RISEN FROM THE DEAD...the angels...upon the tombstone..said HE IS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID...quickly now go tell his disciples THAT JESUS CHRIST IS NOW LONGER DEAD... Joy to the world...HE IS RISEN..Hallelujah...HE'S RISEN...Hallelujah...HE'S RISEN..Halle...lu...jah, Halle...lu...jah." (The Easter Song by Annie Hearring sung by Second Chapter of Acts).

Love and Risen Kisses
Rodney "Dem Bones and Nerves Gonna Rise Again" Boyd

WALK THIS WAY

 Greetings and Salutations  O Ye Walkers

Back in the 1940's on the radio...there was a contest called THE WALKING MAN.  People were encouraged to listen to the clues given each week and try to guess who was the mysterious WALKING MAN.  They would hear the footsteps and given a verbal clue and they could write in with their guess.  Big prizes were to be won.  Finally, after weeks of walking sounds and clues...the WALKING MAN was revealed. The WALKING MAN was...wait for it...building up the suspense...MR...JACK BENNY.

In our first picture...the WALKING MAN...is none other than MR....wait for it...building up the suspense...BABA...BRUCE COBLE.  He is walking trails in Mbita Kenya...but really...he is walking...the ROADS OF FAITH.  In the picture he is following another man down the road...but in reality...he is following and WALKING BY FAITH...WITH GOD as GOD WALKS with Him. This would also be called a KINGDOM WALK.


The word KINGDOM has it's roots in a WALK.  The word KINGDOM in the Greek language is BASILEIA (bas-il-i-ah) which means royalty, rule, a REALM.  This is from the word BASILEUS (bas-il-yooce) which means a FOUNDATION of POWER, a sovereign...a king. These are rooted in the word BASIS (bas-ece) which means a WALK...a PACE, the FOOT.  In karate...before you can ever have good technique you must have a good FOUNDATION. So it is with the KINGDOM OF GOD... a kingdom of (1) righteousness (2) peace (3) joy...in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17)  The FOUNDATION of our KINGDOM WALK is our relationship with the FATHER which we enter in through our relationship with JESUS the CHRIST (the ANOINTED ONE)...by the power (dunamis...dynamic ability) of the HOLY SPIRIT.  NOTE:  The second picture is a bridge built with the structure that we taught in when we first went to S.E.E.K. (with Don and Nancy Richards) in Mbita Kenya.  The termites got a hold of the structure...and what was left was made into this bridge...a pathway to WALK on to navigate around the compound.                                                                                                                                   


NOTE:  The third photo me WALKING with a WALKING STICK with some of the MASIA tribe in Kenya.  There was a RHYTHM to the walk.  We are called to walk to a beat of a DIFFERENT DRUM in the KINGDOM OF GOD...to the HEARTBEAT of God Himself. 

We can see examples of this WALK in people like Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24; Hebrews 11:5-6) This was a God pleasing faith walk that resulted in God taking him.  Noah was a righteous man , blameless in his time who walked with God (Genesis 6:9) whose walk opened the door to the boat ride of his life...and an example of the ARK OF SALVATION (I Peter 3:20)  Abraham...the Father of Faith...WALK with God...and walked into a COVENANT that would lead to JESUS...the ULTIMATE BLOOD COVENANT for us to begin our WALK WITH GOD.  Yes...like us having the same NATURE as Elijah (James 5:17)...we also have a WALK WITH GOD like so many other saints in the Word.  We are called to WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT (II Corinthians 5:7)

The nature of this walk...is found in the word KINGDOM...where we see that it is (1) a foundation of dynamic ability (2) it is in a realm of rule (3) it is under the orders of a King (4) it is a pace where we place our feet one in front of another...leading us on a journey into a PROMISED LAND.  This WALK  is more than just a passing fancy a the world passes us by...but it is a LIFESTYLE as we LIVE by FAITH (Romans 1:17) 

It is a walk that we can use when sinners entice us.  "My son, if sinners entice you...DO NOT CONSENT...my son...DO NOT WALK IN THE WAY with them.  KEEP YOUR FEET...from their PATH." (Pro-Verbs 1:10; Pro-Verbs 1:15)  It is a walk...that if you don't forget the Father's teachings and commandments that He will make your PATHS STRAIGHT (Pro-Verbs 3:1-8)  It is a PATHWAY for the WALK...that will be LIT BY THE WORD...with a LAMP for your FEET (Psalm 119:105)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Between the point of when you start this walk...until He returns back for us...sometimes...we get WEARY (or at least I know that I do).  He promises us...that in this place of weariness, tiredness, stumbling...we have a promise of strength, increased power, gaining of new strength, mounting up to fly like the eagle...running and not growing tired...and WALKING and not becoming weary.  So if you are in a WEARY WALK...take courage with the WORD (W.W.W.)

"He gives STRENGTH to the weary and to him who lacks might He INCREASES POWER.  Though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly...YET...those who WAIT FOR THE LORD...will GAIN NEW STRENGTH....they will MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES...they will RUN AND NOT GET TIRED (grow weary)...they will WALK...and not FAINT (become weary)." (Isaiah 40:29-31)

NOTE:  Back in THE DAY (days of the Jesus Movement...in the late 60's and early 70's) we would sing this verse...and the hook was..."teach me Lord...teach me Lord...to wait."  NOTE TO THE NOTE:  He is STILL MOVING TODAY.

Love and Walking By Faith Kisses
Rodney "Keep On Walking" Boyd