(10) Baptism is referred to as "branding."

(10) Baptism is referred to as "branding."
(12) Finding and returning lost sheep is not just a parable.

I’ve never worked on a farm or ranch, but as I understand it, you “brand” your livestock with whatever emblem is custom to you so that everyone will know that the particular animal belongs to you. That way if it wanders off of your property, the person who finds it can return it to its rightful owner.

Unfortunately, there are also people who wish to steal what isn’t theirs and keep it for themselves. As long as they need to property to stay alive, they always run the risk of someone finding out that the item isn’t theirs. When they are finished with the item, they dispose of it where no one can discover their secret. For an animal, a thief could simply “skin” the critter and the branding would be gone, plus they could provide themselves with food for a short period.

Satan is like this thief. I mentioned in an earlier blog about people who are “backslid.” These are Christians who for whatever reason let themselves be used by Satan for his purposes, which is to keep them from doing anything that might glorify God. He’ll use them to get others to trip and stumble also. But then when they are “used up,” he will toss them away, possibly “skinning” them, i.e. fatal effects from unsafe sex with multiple partners, drug use, alcoholism. He delights in watching them curse God and walk away as their lives diminish and they soon perish. Then he moves on to the next victim that he can find.

Ranchers often use fences and dogs to protect their livestock. The herd will hide behind the protecting animal in an attempt to hopefully stay safe. We as Christians need to do the same. We need to put God before us and let Him fight for us. He is all powerful, all knowing and He is capable of a lot more than what we are. We shouldn’t run in front of God exclaiming, “I can fight my own battles!” We usually wind up quite wounded and retreating hopefully instead of being devoured.

So if you are “branded” as a Christian, let your Shepherd do His job. It doesn’t mean that you won’t have battles or problems. But you will have someone who can help you succeed and defeat the enemy of the situation!
In celebration of Independence Day which is celebrated in the US on July the 4th of each year, Monday's blog will be on a related subject. Number 11 in this series will continue on the 6th of July.

Traffic Signs that you need to know

While driving on the road this past weekend, I wound up on a 4 lane highway that was divided by a grassy median. Two lanes went in each direction, and every so often there would be a portion of the median that was paved so that people could cross the road. On both sides of the road facing the direction that would have traffic flowing in the wrong direction, there were signs saying, “Wrong Way” or “Do Not Enter.”

This got me to thinking. That is what the bible does. It shows us that our ways are wrong when we are committing sins that the bible is Very Explicit about. God’s word should be a sign in front of our face when we are contemplating doing something that we know is wrong. Following Satan is the “Wrong Way” and the door that he will try to lead us through needs to be flashing “Do Not Enter.”

A little bit further down the road I saw a sign that said, “Keep right except to pass.”

I thought about this and decided that it is another sign that we need to apply to our daily lives. We need to “Keep Right.” We need to stay on a path that doesn’t stray away from God’s word and His commandments. And that includes not picking and choosing which ones we want to obey, and which ones we want to ignore. We need to either keep the whole bible as God’s word or throw the whole thing out. Some people have said that they don’t believe it is the word of God since man wrote it, yet they observe things that were written in the bible. You can’t have it both ways. Either read the whole manual and live a life like you should, eventually enjoying an eternity in Heaven with God. Or throw the whole thing out and risk getting fried (in about every way possible, both here on earth and in hell.)

But then I thought about the rest of the sign. “Keep right [except to pass]”

So, when would I pass? Well, that is easy to solve. A lot of people mature at a faster rate than others. The same can be said for Christians. There are some who buy the “fire insurance” and they can barely maintain a safe speed through life. You know these types of people because every little bump in life upsets their whole life, and they frantically try to “grab the wheel” to bring their life back under control.

There are others who notice the bumps, keep a tight grip on the steering wheel, and they make it through life fairly unscathed. They have learned how to worship God. They have learned how to ask God for what they need. They have learned to count on God to care for them and be their Rophe, Jireh, Nissi and many other names that I’ve covered earlier in other blogs.

These people are going to pass up the first type of people on the road to success and contentment in their lives. When you learn to trust God for your daily needs, you learn to keep your eyes on the road, study the “road map” on your trips and trust that you’ll arrive at your destination “Heaven” as scheduled.

Life is also like what I found when I went further down the road. There was an exit ramp. Life has exit ramps. Growing up I can remember the old folks saying that someone who had been active in church and then left to pursue “worldly” interests had “backslid.” I think of it as an exit ramp. They got off track and took another road, eventually realizing that they were headed in the wrong direction, and then hopefully they did a U-Turn and came back to where they took the exit ramp. There is almost always an “on-ramp” for them to get back on track and continue on with their life pursuing God. Sometimes they reach the wrong destination, and tragic events can often happen.

What road will you take? What lane will you find yourself in? Will it have “Wrong Way” signs staring you in the face? Or will you find traffic flowing smoothly in your direction, the Son shining upon you, and “Keep right except to pass” will be the road sign that greets you periodically. Sure, you will have “danger” signs, “reduced speed” signs and other road hazards in your way. But if you have God as your GPS (Globally Positioned Savior), your road ahead will be the best possible route in front of you.