IN MINNESOTA PEOPLE ARE BIG ON fishing, swimming, golfing, tennis, camping… all kinds of summer fun because so many believe our summers are Oh! so short. So many people make big and fun plans to squeeze every minute of their leisure enjoying the sun and fun while it lasts before the cold blasts of December come.

Sport stores here are dearly appreciated. One in particular where I love to go for fishing and hunting equipment for my husband: Joe’s Sporting Goods. My Joe’s is in Saint Paul (another good reason to love it!) Why do I love Joe’s? It’s not because I’m a fishermen or camper; Joe’s is cute! It looks like a cabin and has an atmosphere that really stirs a person into the sports: all sports; sports for summer and winter! Cross country skiing is big in Minnesota too and is an excellent way to get out into the frosty air, see the beautiful snow and get some great exercise in a fun and basically safe way. Another thing about Joe’s Sporting Goods; me, being not much a sports buff, the guys there always come right up to help me with questions. My husband will write me a big and very detailed list (big: so hopefully he will be surprised at my gifts) so that we don’t have to hassle with returns. It always amazes me how excited a man can get over fishing lures! I actually feel a little sorry for a fish. (I’ll have to tell you another time about my duck hunting purchase.)

Yes, Minnesota has a lot to offer for fun and sun, bluster and snow! Tents are one of the big things people buy here and use with friends and family! Tenting is truly one of the greatest adventures for families with small children. It is exciting to see little ones learn about campfires – how to safely build one and put it safely out. Cooking on a campfire is like no other cooking! Everyone I have ever known loves a Minnesota campfire!  Flashlights also are truly a fascination to all children (even big ones) in a tent at night! Darkness surrounding you, yet a shining light brings forth so much illumination. Games can be played, stories can be told… What memories!

Absolutely true and fun, people want to use their own vacation time for exciting and invigorating recreation. God is pleased we do this! It is a necessity to take time to enjoy our own blessings and reflect on His goodness and beauty. But because we live in the world after The Fall, we must earn a living on Earth… So, the time comes when the tent comes down, the car is packed up to return home to our most usual routine and the children must be loaded up with notebooks, pens and books to study themselves to become a good Minnesota citizen, a thankful and great American and for those who have wise and loving parents: godly people.

Selah.

Tenting with the family will bring great memories; so terrific that those children will want to do exactly the same adventures with their own in the future. (At this time: please see my posting on SOB!) Children are a heritage from the Lord: don’t mess with them! The tent comes down: it was a temporary pleasure with ever lingering memories. But with wise discretion, the pleasure will be back and as I said, those with wise parents, will eventually acquire their eternal homestead in Heaven.

Selah.

But for those unwise parents and eventually their adult children, tenting with the devil is their lifestyle; but with an option to trade in their tent for an eternal dwelling… Christ must be put on. Beloved, those of you who tent with the devil are living for temporary pleasures. This is not wise. This is not good nor is it beneficial. When you tent with the devil you are telling yourself: “I can stop any time.” This lie from the father of lies brings to one’s mind drugs (which include cigarettes.) Another tenting choice may be this thought: ”Everyone else is doing it. It must be okay!”  This reminds me of a movie I saw when I was a sinner. There was a movie within the movie and the short movie within actually had horrific pornography in it! The theater was packed more than most churches. I should have left; but I was tenting with the devil. I let it pass, I stayed, I was horrified but thank God, I repented. I also learned a great lesson anyone can see when they want truth: sometimes enormous groups of people share the same sin at the same time! A good lesson.

Believing you can slide by and not firmly plant your feet, your body, soul and spirit on solid ground as Moses did, another type of tenting with the devil might include, “If I love him, he’ll come around! All I need to do is show him God.”  Oh, really? Don’t be naive and don’t place false theology over God’s Word, The Bible! Without going into detail (for sometimes I let you seek out the stories) I will give you just two words to totally blow that false doctrine out of the Kingdom: Judas Iscariot!

Selah!

What are some other tents the devil wants to allure you with? There are so very many. Here’s one: “There are many ways to God.” God never said that. In fact and in truth and in holiness, He says just the opposite:

 

Matthew 7:13-14 The Narrow and Wide Gates
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 

Because The Holy Scriptures are canonized we are to dwell with God in Heaven as we pass from Earth. In the meantime, we are to travel the narrow (Yes, narrow) road He has plotted for us, forsaking all lies from satan, his dominion and his children. (Yes, if you are not in covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and die with your sin you will burn in Hell!) But for those of us who truly love God, we will embrace the time when we join our Maker and Creator. There is no doubt for we believers!

 

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

 

God calls the death of His saints precious! It is! We who love Him know Him, know He and we are precious; therefore, we want His will to be our will. We have so much to look forward to and so much to be thankful for now so we strive to hear the Word of God, believe it, act upon it and wanting to receive all the promises now and forevermore God has for His children:

 

John 1:12-13
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

 

BUT WATCH OUT!

 

John 8:42-47
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

 

 

Those who tent with the devil may think their devilish behavior is harmless. They may truly think they can stop whenever they want to! Beloved, no one can do anything good apart from God Almighty. We cannot even breathe without Him!

Selah.

Those who purposefully tent with the devil and do not have any care of it are setting up residence with him. Living the ways the father of lies wants you to is damned destructible! Would you want to sleep with a cobra in your tent?! Never forget, he is that ancient serpent…

 

SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS FOR THIS JOY STORY:

 

Revelation 12:7-9
Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

 

Revelation 21:1-8 A New Heaven and a New Earth

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”  He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.  Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”