♥ The Winter of My Years ♥
¶ Leaving behind the wonders of a most splendid Thanksgiving Day Feast in which we dined with Kindred Kind, not only on a spread beyond-compare, but also on the wonderous testimonies of what only God could Fetch out of the Deep, it is with fond adieu that I must leave the present to the past back there in the Lodge of the Wayfaring man and head out into the 316th Season of my life (John 3:16) here on earth for that City not made by the hands of man. And though the weather is not yet wiley, only a fool would think there ain’t no rough stuff up ahead, for out before me lie the throes of winter, and one thing I have never seen in my nearly eighty years of life – is a predictable season. I have never in my life lived through a season that did not have a trial or two in which trouble never feared to rear its ugly head. Each day certainly does have enuff trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34, ¹wcv)
¶ There is, however, a prediction that will not fail us, of a Stone cut out of the Mountain of God, a Stone not cut out by the hands of man. (Daniel 2:45)
¶ And, even though that most wonderful time of the year is nearly upon us when we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, you know, that STONE cut out of the Mountain of God, still, we are, both literally and spiritually speaking and in more ways than one, in the throes of winter and there is, without a doubt, some rough stuff up ahead, for the Scriptures tell us that, In the End of Days, when the kingdoms and empires of the earth are filled to overflowing with evil transgressors, another king, one of fierce countenance, a skillful deceiver of men, and an accomplished master of darkness shall “stand up” (claiming to be that very STONE some of us still celebrate at Christmas Time). (Daniel 8:23, ¹wcv&²)
¶ This “other king”, will seem mighty (truly, he will seem to be the most magnificent creature that ever walked the earth since Jesus Christ, with “powers” far beyond anything human) …and, in a most magnificent fashion, with lying signs and wonders, he shall deceive and destroy many who call themselves people of God. (v.24, ¹wcv&²)
¶ To achieve² his great designs, he will,² through witchcraft (not open, visible witchcraft, but a craft far darker and deceptive, more like an “angel of light”²), deceive many who call themselves “God’s people” by that same craft that God will allow (for a Time, Times, and Half a Time²) to prosper greatly in his hand; (by it²) he will fiercely labor to make himself SEEM² like God, deceiving multitudes, until the day comes when he does, with unmitigated gall, stand up against the PRINCE of princes – and is DESTROYED by that STONE cut out of the Mountain of God, the Prince of Peace². (v.25, ¹wcv&²)
¶ As was Nebuchadnezzar, back in the Days of Daniel, when shown in a dream a stately and magnificent “image” of what, in his abounding arrogance, I’m sure he thought was not unlike himself, so are the many Nebuchadnezzars of today, just like Old Neb; the great love of their lives, “lies”, only in worshiping themselves, ruling the world, and making its inhabitants bow down before them.
¶ Thus the “image”, described by Daniel, did, for sure, create a splendid appearance in the imagination of Nebuchadnezzar, whose mind was shackled by narcissistic pride to worldly domination and carnal magnificence (not unlike much of the so-called “church” today); but to Daniel, that same “image”, represented fierce and devouring wild beasts; monarchies as yet to come that were nothing more than godless empires of idolatry, tyranny, and persecution; all of which shall be ground to dust beneath the STONE cut out of the Mountain of God (v.2:35), and like the dust-ridden chaff of a summer threshing floor, will be carried away by the wind of God never to be seen again. As for the STONE Who will strike down this magnificent “image” whose head is fine gold (the mind of Midas), whose breast and arms are silver (the heart of Judas), who, from his belly to his thighs are burnished brass (balls), whose legs are iron (myrmidons), but whose feet are nothing more than part iron and part clay (unable to “Walk On Water”); this STONE, after striking down the Nebuchadnezzar’s of our day, shall become a Great Mountain and fill the earth…HE SHALL RULE in righteousness and Power, and His glory shall fill the earth. (v.35) And it shall come to pass in the Last Days that this Mountain shall be fixed far above the mountains of this earth, high above her hills, and all the nations of the earth shall say, “Come, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to learn His ways and walk in His paths, for He alone does judge the nations”. “Let us beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks, and we shall, forever, study war no more.” “Yes, come, let us go “UP” and walk in the Light of the Lord”. (Isaiah 2:2,3,4, ¹wcv&²)
¶ Now that, my friend, is a Lodge that my heart longs to dwell in for all eternity! That, my friend, is what I and my house will celebrate this coming CHRISTMAS DAY with as many Kindred Kind as we can gather. For, “How AMIABLE is the House of my Lord, Whose House we are on earth! (Psalm 84:1, 1 Corinthians 6:19) Considering the content of Psalm 84:1 & 1 Cor. 6:19 …do you not think it dire that we consider the content of 2 Corinthians 6:16 that states, “What agreement can the Temple of God have with idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:16) I dare say, we dare not mix the two, lest, like the image of Old Neb, we be struck down by a STONE. Now, AIN’T THAT SO!?!
¶ Between the upcoming celebration of the Birth of our KINSMAN REDEEMER, the very STONE cut out of the Mountain of God, Who came to earth 2000 years ago, and the bursting forth of the Final Spring of the Year, lays a very uncertain and perhaps treacherous neck-a-the-woods we must navigate to get to that City not built by the hands of man.
So, as this Old Chief of Sinners
Who once feared that he had fallen
Far too far to make it right,
In the Winter of My Years,
Must venture out into the night.
For my heart aches for those
Who have been driven from the fold
By icy-hearted hirelings
Out into the cold.
For I know what it is like
To be but Ashes in the Wind
I know too well that icy hell
Of loneliness,
My dear abandoned friends.
My Lord, my Lord, my Dear Lord, Isaiah 42
In Whom my soul delights
Fill me with Your Spirit
And uphold me with Your Might,
That I might not crush a brother
Or cast a sister down,
Or see myself as some great gift
To mankind come to town.
For out on this Heartworn Highway,
This ruthless Roman Road
The hearts of children languish
And they lose their little souls.
Use this Old Man, my Lord,
To gather neath Your Wings
Their little hearts and souls
Lest it is that they be shattered
By the cold, hard indifference
Of the world, and her
Ruthless winter winds.
I Know that You are able, Lord,
For I’ve seen You cap the mighty mountains,
Tuck the meadows in at night,
I’ve seen You change the scape
Of the forest overnight.
I’ve seen You cape creation,
Drape her with delight
Neath a frozen moon
With duvets, pure and white.
I’ve worked her panorama,
Lived up in her heights,
She’s beautiful but deadly
To the man who won’t think twice.
To the man who thinks he’s mighty,
She can, without a word,
Bring him to his knees
Down before the Lord.
She will not be waylaid,
She can stop you in your tracks,
Or equip you to carry on,
Or snuff your fiery flax.
It’s up to you!
Beautiful and Bright, (Psalm 19:8)
Enlightening the eyes,
The Statutes of the Lord are
Clean, and Pure, and Wise.
Yet they are the end
To those who will not bend
To the Harbinger of Holiness
That walks upon the wind. {The Harbinger of Holiness, ©Will Callery}
A RAKE AND A RAMBLIN MAN by Will Callery / William & Cynthia Pub Co. ©2012 BMI / Pete’s Productions
Photograph of “The Old Man & The Child” by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Thank you, H. Jackson Brown, for capturing such a wondrous portrayal of compassion. It does, indeed, “Say It All”.
¹wcv / My Emphasis, My Version {Always taken from the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic translations, definitions, and connotations}
² / My Insert(s)
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Letters From Over Yonder, The Deep Fetch, The Covenant, & Ain’t It So are published by William & Cynthia Pub. Co. ©2023.
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