"As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him." Luke 24:15-16

The disciples ought to have known Jesus, they had heard His voice so often, and gazed upon that marred face so frequently, that it is wonderful they did not discover Him. Yet is it not so with you also? You have not seen Jesus lately. You have been to His table, and you have not met Him there. You are in a dark trouble this evening, and though He plainly says, "It is I, be not afraid," yet you cannot discern Him. Alas! our eyes are holden. We know His voice; we have looked into His face; we have leaned our head upon His bosom, and yet, though Christ is very near us, we are saying, "O that I knew where I might find Him!"

We should know Jesus, for we have the Scriptures to reflect His image, and yet how possible it is for us to open that precious book and have no glimpse of the Wellbeloved!

Dear child of God, are you in that state? Jesus feedeth among the lilies of the word, and you walk among those lilies and yet you behold Him not. He is accustomed to walk through the glades of Scripture, and to commune with His people, as the Father did with Adam in the cool of the day, and yet you are in the garden of Scripture, but cannot see Him, though He is always there.

And why do we not see Him? It must be ascribed in our case, as in the disciples', to unbelief. They evidently did not expect to see Jesus, and therefore they did not know Him. To a great extent in spiritual things we get what we expect of the Lord. Faith alone can bring us to see Jesus. Make it your prayer, "Lord, open Thou mine eyes, that I may see my Saviour present with me." It is a blessed thing to want to see Him; but oh! it is better far to gaze upon Him. To those who seek Him He is kind; but to those who find Him, beyond expression, is He dear!

Had the good opportunity to join 19,000 other enthusiasts in welcoming the OKC Thunder into their new home on Wednesday night.

The Catholic Church just put out this moving video to inspire their members to not only get out and vote on election Tuesday, but to vote their conscience. It's worth the couple of minutes it takes to watch.

"But the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb:  and if thou redeem him not, then shalt thou break his neck."  Exodus 34:20

Every firstborn creature must be the Lord's, but since the ass was unclean, it could not be presented in sacrifice.  What then?  Should it be allowed to go free from the universal law?  By no means.  God admits of no exceptions. The ass is His due, but He will not accept it; He will not abate the claim, but yet He cannot be pleased with the victim.  No way of escape remained but redemption - the creature must be saved by the substitution of a lamb in its place; or if not redeemed, it must die.

My soul, here is a lesson for thee.  That unclean animal is thyself; thou art justly the property of the Lord who made thee and preserves thee, but thou art so sinful that God will not, cannot, accept thee; and it has come to this, the Lamb of God must stand in thy stead, or thou must die eternally.  

Let all the world know of thy gratitude to that spotless Lamb who has already bled for thee, and so redeemed thee from the fatal curse of the law.  Must it not sometimes have been a question with the Israelite which should die, the ass or the lamb?  Would not the good man pause to estimate and compare? Assuredly there was no comparison between the value of the soul of man and the life of the Lord Jesus, and yet the Lamb dies, and man the ass is spared.

My soul, admire the boundless love of God to thee and others of the human race. Worms are bought with the blood of the Son of the Highest!  Dust and ashes redeemed with a price far above silver and gold!  What a doom had been mine had not plenteous redemption been found!  The breaking of the neck of the ass was but a momentary penalty, but who shall measure the wrath to come to which no  limit can be imagined?  Inestimably dear is the glorious Lamb who has redeemed us from such a doom.

Last week we took the kids to Port Aransas for a fun week of learning at the sea.

The kids spent time with their grandparents learning everything about Pelicans, Sea Shells and Shipping Boats.

We had a guest pastor at church a few weeks ago who gave this great quote from Luther.

MY FAITHFUL REQUEST AND ADMONISHMENT IS THAT YOU JOIN OUR COMPANY AND ASSOCIATE WITH US WHO ARE REAL GREAT HARDBOILED SINNERS.

YOU BY NO MEANS MUST MAKE CHRIST SEEM PALTRY AND TRIFLING TO US. AS THOUGH HE COULD BE OUR HELPER ONLY WHEN WE WISH TO BE RID OF IMAGINARY, NOMINAL, CHILDISH SINS. NO, NO.

THAT WOULD NOT BE GOOD. HE MUST RATHER BE A SAVIOR AND REDEEMER FROM REAL, GREAT, GRIEVOUS, DAMNABLE TRANSGRESSIONS AND INIQUITIES. YEA, FROM THE VERY GREATEST AND MOST SHOCKING SINS. TO BE ALL SINS ADDED TOGETHER IN A GRAND TOTAL.

YOU WANT TO BE A PAINTED SINNER AND ACCORDINGLY EXPECT TO HAVE A PAINTED SAVIOR? YOU WILL HAVE TO GET USED TO THE FACT THAT CHRIST IS A REAL SAVIOR AND YOU ARE A REAL SINNER. FOR GOD IS NEITHER JESTING NOR DEALING IN IMAGINARY AFFAIRS. BUT HE WAS GREATLY AND MOST ASSUREDLY IN EARNEST WHEN HE SENT HIS OWN SON TO DIE ON A CROSS FOR OUR SINS.

MARTIN LUTHER

A couple of weeks ago, Nic and I had the opportunity of camping at the Wichita Mountains with some friends from church. The highlights were a challenging hike across a ravine filled with boulders, great food cooked over a campfire, Elk bugling at night and sleeping under the stars.

God's beautiful creation was everywhere and it definitely proclaimed His glory (Isaiah 6).

The Head of our Household is now 40. And although the happenings of the past few weeks have not been conducive to a party atmosphere, we found some ways to celebrate. Even Scout got into the festivities, right before she attacked her party hat.