Tag Archives: faith

The Crucible of Life…

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When people think of a crucible, they think of the military in war. They are fighting to take or keep a hill. In the military, there are many crucibles. My parents generation would say that the military will make a man out of you. The crucible of leaving home and becoming part of a military unit is definitely a crucible. When I left home to join the military I was afraid of the unknown. That was my first crucible, working through my fear and developing talents that I always had. I have never liked change. And that is a crucible for me.

A crucible is a trial by fire. It is where a person is tested to the limit of their endurance. Sometimes they are tested beyond their limit. It is to find out what the person is made of. Even if the person fails, it still shows what is in your heart. It is a trial that you don’t want to go through. For the most part it is always necessary for the person’s future life. Fortunately or unfortunately, we go through many crucibles. It is a simple as leaving home or starting a family or joining the military. Sometimes it is as hard as watching a relative die of cancer or your parents dying. Your life will never be the same again. For better or worse, it will change the way you look at life. When Cain went through his crucible with Abel, he told God after he had killed his brother Abel, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer to the question is yes. Are we linked together in some invisible way? Again the answer is yes. God says we are watchmen on the wall and if we don’t sound the alarm to protect our brother and sisters. We are guilty of their blood just like Cain was guilty of Abel’s blood. So what is your crucible? Are you able to make it to the other side?

Crain Blanchard.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

How a Covenanat works for Mankind…

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Throughout the history of man there have been covenants. Covenants have been made between individuals as well as nations. They are made for many reasons. Some are mutual protection or commerce or just to keep the peace. They can be as simple as a wall or as complicated as a garrison of troops. Because of the hostility of man and the uncertainty of life, covenants like NATO were established. Usually there is a stronger member of the covenant. This will guarantee the protection and commerce needed to survive. And if you break the covenant there are consequences. Sometimes it is catastrophic for the small member. When a covenants was made in ancient times, there was always the shedding of blood to seal the deal. Animals were sacrificed as part of the agreement, signifying what will happen to the person who breaks the covenant. Also to make the bond stronger between the 2 parties. Most people don’t understand what happens when they break a covenant. Divorce is the breaking of a covenant. And the consequences to the 2 parties are real and lasting. God made a covenant with man and sealed the deal with the blood of Jesus Christ. Anyone can enter into the covenant. God has opened it up to everyone. Again those that break the covenant with God the consequence is death. But God has made a way back into His good graces by asking for forgiveness. Man is the only one that God gives a second chance too. As it says in the bible in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV). Because of this we have a chance to not only survive but prosper in the covenant of God.

Crain Blanchard.

www.joseph1637.com     

joseph1637@juno.com

Where the Rubber meets the Road #2.

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This happened almost 9 years ago and it still bothers me. In 2016, there was a perfect storm that landed over Louisiana. People say that it wasn’t a hurricane. But if you looked at the satellite image, it was. The storm formed over Louisiana and stayed for 30 days. It dropped 62 inches of rain and the water had no place to go. The storm kept the water from draining out into the Gulf of Mexico. All of Louisiana, from New Orleans to Lake Charles flooded and as far north as Alexandria. To say the least it was a disaster. Over 200,000 homes were flooded. It displaced about half the state residents. Of which my family and I were among them.

The day we began in earnest cleaning out my flooded house, I was not looking forward to this. It is was a real pain. I’m thankful that only about 6 inches of water got into the house, but still it destroyed a lot of things. I had treasures from my great grandmother, grandmother and mother. Again putting it into prospective they are only things. But those things I wanted to hand down to my children. My children responded with enthusiasm and a sense of urgency. And several nieces and nephews and my brother will be there with us. As so often is the case, you don’t know what people will do until adversity comes. I always wanted God to explain to me why it takes adversity to get people off of dead center. But I am grateful that they responded. It was stressful enough just having a flooded house. So many people in southwest Louisiana were forced out of their homes by the water. If you don’t understand we had rains of biblical proportions. As heart-breaking as it was, I am thankful to God that very few people died. And that God is still in control of this world no matter what we think. I will still give Him honor and glory for who He is. Ecclesiastes 3:1,10 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ….I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.” (KJV).

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

To Thine own Self be True…#2.

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Shakespeare’s famous quote from Hamlet was “This above all, to thine own self be true.” What was Shakespeare talking about? And why be true to yourself?  King Solomon talked about the same subject. He said, What was before, shall be again…there is nothing new under the sun. Evil is not just for one period in history. People have lied and betrayed others since the beginning of time. Shakespeare wrote a whole play about betrayal. It’s called a tragedy because everyone died because of betrayal.

We have all known people who have lived a lie. It is a sad situation where they believe how they are living is the truth. But it really isn’t. Everything they are doing is a lie. You want to shake them up and show them that they need to wake up. But they are deceived and believe the deception. For the most part people are the same. They may have different backgrounds. But people are basically the same. We were born with parents. We need to be reared and taught how to live. We learn a skill or job to be able to eat, clothe ourselves and have a home. We learn the language of our parents. And if we are fortunate, we learn other languages. We do so to go out into this world and communicate with others. When we do we find that people have different beliefs than we do. It seems that their truths aren’t the same as ours. If we don’t have strong belief system, things can become complicated. I have seen people switch their beliefs to other cultures. I don’t have to defend myself. I know who I am and where I am going. I know where I will end up. I am being true to myself. Because 45 years ago, I was drifting through time. I had no anchor and didn’t belong anywhere. Now I have a worldwide family and I belong. To Thine Own Self Be True.

Crain Blanchard.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Not Remembering the Past.

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There is a saying by George Santayana from The Life of Reason. It says, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” King Solomon said the same thing in the book of Ecclesiastes about 3000 years ago. He said, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” The difference is what we choose to remember and do. It is so easy to forget about this detail or that one. Life crowds in on us and we just forget. But time has a way of catching up with us.

Everyone knows what due diligence is. It is being mindful of what is going on around us. It is being particularly aware of what we have to do and how it is going to be accomplished. Sometimes that acute awareness starts when we are young. But sometimes people remain clueless as their life drifts into the void.

I have studied my families history. How 4 families over 400 years have come together in my family. You know what I have seen over those 400 years? I have watched them grown up, be educated, marry, have children and eventually die. They build a life for their immediate family and around their extended family. Some were farmers, some merchants, some pirates, some doctors, but all believing that they were providing for their family. One thing struck me is that they all learned from their previous family, whether good, bad or indifferent.

And in that remembering, we can not only see our ancestors, but we see ourselves and our children and grandchildren. It is because there is nothing new under the sun.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Prophesy, Good or Bad…

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People love to get prophesy. They want direction in their lives. When someone prophesies over you, it is meant to encourage you. The thing about prophesy is that it is only a reminder of what God has spoken to your heart already. It is to encourage you to do the will of God. When someone receives the unction of God to speak to another, the prophesy is conditional. The condition is that you do the will of God. If you are not in the right place at the right time, the prophesy will not come pass.

There are prophesies about pending disasters. These aren’t personal direction in you life. Even though, it will effect your life. When God talks to us about his plan in life, He expects us to use faith to live our life on this earth. We can’t live our lives on prophesy. The Word of God gives us specific direction to live godly on this earth. The last word in any decision we make is the Word of God.

There are things that the Word of God doesn’t say. Like whether to turn left or to turn right. The Word of God says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. To obtain wisdom, we must understand the Word of God first, which is knowledge, reading and studying. Then we must experience the Word the God by doing it. Then comes wisdom. In others words, it is called discretion. Once we have discretion, then we will be able to know which way to turn. It is not getting the cart before the horse.

But back prophesy, there is nothing wrong with it. And as we obtain wisdom, we will know whether or not if the prophesy is true. You can’t live on prophesy. You can only live by the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. He wrote everything in the bible. Jesus said, no man comes to the Father but by Me. He also said, I am the bread of life. He that comes to Me will never hunger or thirst. God encourages us to prophesy, but we can’t live by prophesy. Everything has to depend on the Word of God. Then everything will be decent and in order.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Wanting to go Home…

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I am talking to believers now. There is nothing more important in my life than wanting to go Home. Home isn’t my place on earth. This is just a temporary place on my journey Home. The yearning to go home in my heart grows louder every day. There are some days that I can harder do or think of anything else. The first time I verbalized my desire to go home is when my wife and I brought our 3rd son, just 3 months old, to the hospital. It was there that we found out he had spinal meningitis. As I was walking into the hospital, I said to the Lord, I want to go home. His answer was direct. He said to me, I can’t wait until you get here. That was 40 years ago. God healed him on 3rd day in the hospital.

God’s plan for our lives are laid out in front of us. Most people have no idea what those plans are until we stumble into them. When God tells us to turn left, don’t turn right. If He says to stop, He knows what He is talking about. If we will listen and obey, we will find out what God wants and how it going to unfold. Very rarely will God lay out the plan in detail before us. He is wanting us to use our faith to change the world. When we do God’s plan unfolds not only for us but for everyone around us. You see God is using us to affect the world in a positive way. I have seen instances where God called good people home early. There was a young man, age 35 in California, an evangelist, who did mighty works in the far east killed in a motorcycle accident. Another young man, 20 years old, who would have been a pastor or evangelist, killed in war.

The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:23-24 “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.”

This is the real point of the story. We may want to go home early and miss the mess of this earth. But God has a plan for each of us. That plan sometimes means that we stay until our task is finished. Moses was 120 year old, when God called him home. This is what faith is for. We are to believe God and let Him decide how our lives will end. I talked about my younger brother who died of cancer. He knew the Lord. When his time came to go home, he was in his bed with his family around. He simply closed his eyes in peace and woke up in God’s arms.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Death of a Loved One.

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8 years ago my younger brother was dying of lung cancer. He discovered he had cancer in January and died in July. When I found out, I was at his side every evening. The cancer treatment was ruff on him. The cancer had caused his bones to weaken. Both of his femur bones, his legs, were broken. The doctors had to do surgery on his legs before they could start the chemo treatments. After the surgery, the doctors wanted him out of bed and walking. Everyday the nurses walked him through the cancer ward which was one whole floor of the hospital. What my brother saw was that most cancer patients were alone and had no flowers in their room. He looked at all the flowers in his room and told the nurses to bring his flowers to their rooms. Then he got his sons to start a memorial golf tournament to raise money to put flowers in the rooms of cancer patients. He did this while dying of cancer himself. It is called the Bill Blanchard Memorial Golf tournament and it is held every two years in Lafayette, La. The last tournament raised $10,000.

I was with Bill until he died. We had many a discussion about life and death. Also we discussed God and Jesus. But about a week before he died, he was at home. We were talking and he asked me if it hurts to die. I looked at him and began to explain what the word of God says about death. It is the most feared thing in this life. People are afraid of death because they don’t know Jesus. But to anyone that is a believer, there is no fear. But the bible does say that believers will close their eyes in peace, in death, and open them in the arms of God. I told brother that death is just a doorway to the other side of life. The pain is in this side of life because of our flesh. You see our flesh is made of the dust of the earth and is cursed by God himself. God cursed the earth in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned against God.

Bill was at home with his family around him, when he closed his eyes and opened them in heaven. Death is not something to fear. It is our way home. This life we have on earth is just temporary. Home is heaven. And when we cross over that barrier, we wont feel any more pain. We will feel the joy and love of God to the fullness. He has been gone for 8 years and I still miss him. And sometimes I wish I was already there, home.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

The Beauty in Everything.

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It seems that beauty is an obsession with humanity. The beautiful people are believed to be the smartest or richest of all. People seem to flock to them to be seen. So why aren’t the ordinary people seen the same way. Everyone has a heart, both physical and spiritual. That heart craves one thing to be accepted, not to be lonely. We are social beings and don’t want live along. There is an old saying, beauty is skin deep, but ugly is to the bone. There are people who are ordinary looking. They don’t have the standard of beauty that people are judged by. But there beauty is overwhelming if you look for it. There is a line from and old song by Ray Stevens that says, everything is beautiful in it’s own way. I believe this is true. It is what I look for in each person I meet.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is as individual as we are. It has always been up to our perception of things. Yet there are things that are universally beautiful. For instances, a rose is a rose, is a rose, by any other name. The shape, the fragrance is unmistakable, a perfect symbol of love and beauty. And then who would call an aardvark beautiful, except for a few naturalists. Yet it is beautiful. Or what would you say to a jackass or a hairless Chihuahua? They are perfect in their own way. When God made people and things on the earth, He made them individual and beautiful. Even a wild rose in the middle of a trash pile is beautiful. So why can’t we see the beauty in people who are different? People or things that are different are usually shunned. If it is terribly different, we turn our backs to it and don’t even recognize it exists. I have said before that I like to open doors or smile at people. I look for the heart of a person, not the outward exterior. You would be surprised at the tenderness of people’s heart when you express yourself. I have had very few people not respond to my acts of kindness. God said we are like a fountain of water. As it pours out of us, how can sweet and sour water flow out of our hearts? Bitter water spoils the sweet water. Yet if you listen to people you can hear the bitter. That is why an act of kindness is always appreciated by most people. And even the hardest of hearts will crack with a kind word. So look for the beauty in this world and you will be surprised at what you will find. I wish for all of you a good day, especially if it is storming outside. For this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Crain Blanchard.

Joseph1637@juno.com

Joseph1637.com

Violence in Our world.

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Violence is the destructive nature of man. It comes in all forms. Bullying is a form of violence. But I am old school about the solution. A bully is a coward and a swift blow to the nose would resolve a lot of things. I don’t advocate violence as a solution. I advocate that you stand up and facing it head on with courage. There are more insidious forms of violence. It is how this blog got started. I was watching a commercial about abused animals. It said how people should be involved to stop it. Then I thought how people should be involved in stopping the killing of innocent children. I was talking to a person who worked in the US Justice Department about violence in this country. I said that after the US Supreme Court decision about abortion, that the murder and violence rate has climbed exponentially in the country. He kept saying no, but the statistics bear it out. If life isn’t protected, it is open season on man. I know that it is a touchy subject. Man wants what he wants. And everything is right in his own eyes. What will happen in the end? What will man do? Will man destroy everything that is good? Hitler tried to conquer the world. He marched his army in every country he could. He was successful in killing 50 million people, but Germany suffered more than any country. God didn’t leave one brick on top of the other in Germany. Over 80 million Germans were killed in WWII. Their country was destroyed. God says if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. God also says you have a free will and need to choose what you will do about your life. Just a thought about living free from violence.

Crain Blanchard.
http://www.joseph1637.com

Joseph1637.com