September 30

Hosea 1
“Go take yourself a wife of harlotry.” Pardon me Lord, what did you say? You want me to marry a woman that You and I know will jump between the sheets with someone else? Lord, You want me to marry a woman by whom I can never be sure if her children are mine? Lord, do You know how that will reflect upon how I will be viewed as a prophet? You want me to name my children what? God sows, Not my people and No mercy? What? Do you want them to become professional wrestlers? You want me to have a marriage that is in constant turmoil, children that I don’t know for sure if they are mine, a career where everyone laughs behind my back?
My name is what? Why did my dad name me that? My mother does what? Why is she always doing that? Why don’t the ‘respectable’ people let me play with their kids? Why does everyone laugh at my dad? Why is he always going from city to city preaching? Why is he always so serious, so stern.
Yeah well, Judah told me that he bought a half hour with Gomer for a really cheap price, and Hosea calls himself a man of God. Well he certainly has a wife that is giving. She’s the gift that keeps on giving . . . to all the wrong people! With a wife like that, I certainly don’t want Hosea as my Rabbi.
Hosea is gone again on another preaching tour. He just doesn’t understand that I need a man to listen to me, to look after my needs, to hold me. . . Judah was really flirting with me the other day. Maybe I’ll just walk to the market place and see who is there. . . Hosea didn’t really leave me with any money to spend. You know Judah is really charming and he always has the money to have a good time. . . It felt so good to have his attention and he had plenty of money. . .

God designed Hosea and Gomer’s marriage to illustrate the relationship between Him and His people, Israel and Judah. Hosea is illustrative of Him. Gomer is illustrative of His people. Ultimately it illustrates how He feels about us. He loves us passionately. He demands holiness and loyalty out of us. He goes to great lengths to deliver us from our sin, but there is a limit to what He will do. He will deliver us back into bondage, if we choose that route. It brings great embarrassment upon Him in the realm that is watching the unholy drama. Ultimately, it will bring Him great glory as He redeems us and delivers us out of the slave pit of sin. Above were just some thoughts from four different perspectives of the situation. All of them could be launch pads for sin. But the Lord clearly designed this situation to teach us about our relationship with Him, our need for cleansing, His warning of coming judgment, and His undying love for us. There is no justification for sin. If I quit looking at my justifications for sin and look at His glorious judgment and love, embracing them, it becomes an overwhelming motivation for seeking Him to receive His power for living. Wow, what a loving God! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 20

Daniel 2

Sometimes the politics and wars of this world seem more than overwhelming. In the words of “Bones” in the old Star Trek TV series, it is, “Madness!” The killing is everywhere. If God is there, why does He not stop it? If He really does raise up and take down the rulers of this world, why does He permit the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Husseins, the Ammins, the Kim Ils, of this world to rule so long and wreak so much havoc? Daniel knew firsthand the ruler/builder/killer/madman of his world, Nebuchadnezzar. It was Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed Judah. It was he who defeated Egypt at Carchemish. It was he who humbled nations from Persia to Egypt, and he did not achieve it by being Mr. Niceguy. It was to this ruler/madman that God reveals his world plan.

It was in a dream, a dream that haunted the ruler of the world, a dream meant for instruction, a dream meant to bring action and hope, a dream of warning. God revealed that yes, He is in control of the rulers of this world. It was a dream that was so accurate that skeptics refuse to believe that it could have been recorded by Daniel, for if Daniel recorded it, then indeed the Lord is the ruler of all! It projected the history of the Near East for the next 500 years and then to the end of the world. It revealed that ultimately the Kingdom of God would destroy every ruler of man, and He would then rule as king forever!

You and I are players in that dream, like Nebuchadnezzar we have a role to play. It may not be as dramatic or as visible as his, but it is never-the-less a similar role. Our role is to choose. Will we choose to cling to the fact that:

Wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.

And so choosing will we permit that faith to yield obedience? Why does God permit this madness? He does so to demonstrate the human heart. We all think we are little kings and queens of our universe. We want our sovereign will to be accomplished. God permits us to have our own way for several reasons, but one is to clearly demonstrate to us that if He permits us to go our own way, we will together become corrupt unto madness. Ultimately He will step in and defeat our madness. The only question which we can answer is which side will we be on when He steps in? I want to be in His light, basking in His glory. I want to be found in the sanity of His glory, not the madness of man! Yes, He is in control, even when it hurts. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 8

Ezekiel 38
Someone just e-mailed me some pictures from WWII of the death, destruction and mayhem. How could war ever magnify God? How could it ever sanctify Him? How could it ever make people know that He is God? Yet God describes His battle with Gog in this way, “ Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” Who is this Gog? Who is this chief prince of Meshech and Tubal? The identification is not entirely clear. The characters appear again in Revelation 20. There are some differences though. Here in Ezekiel, God gathers these foes together in what appears to be the Messianic age. In Revelation Satan gathers them together after the Millennium is over. With both the number is beyond calculating and their destruction is by supernatural means; God does it! His judgment magnifies His name. Many around me are headed for His judgment. Without Jesus, they have no hope. Jesus will be glorified, either by the way He judges them or by the way He pours His compassion upon them. Like the pictures of death and destruction from WWII, the judgment will not be pretty, but it must be done. Or He will not be just. It should motivate me to take the offer of mercy to those around me who have not heard. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 7

Ezekiel 37
Bones, they can tell us a lot about how a person lived and died. But we cannot, as of yet, bring them back to life. Archaeologists sort through the trash piles of ancient civilizations finding artifacts, foundations, walls and even bones. They interpret what they find, and bring us all kinds of theories about the civilization which has disappeared. But for all their brilliant investigation, they can never bring the civilization back to life. What happened to the ancient people of Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and countless other civilizations? We study the stones and bones of them, but unless we have direct writings of the people who lived in them, the explanations of their lives are mere conjecture. Of those civilizations which completely vanished such as Stonehenge or Ebla or others, could their national unity be reconstructed? Certainly their descendents, if they exist, could be traced by God, but we know nothing of them.
Now take Israel, she was destroyed in the days of Ezekiel. She never was completely sovereign as a nation again. The Lord brought her back to the land, but she was always under the thumb of some other ruler, Persia, Greece or Rome. Then in 70 A.D. she was completely wasted and removed. Never did she regain any sovereignty. Unlike other ancient civilizations, her people never lost their identity even though they had lost their homeland. Scattered throughout the world, her people remained unique and identifiable. Could such a people be brought back and made to live again? Our glorious Lord told Ezekiel that it would indeed happen. Could it be that the formation of Israel in 1948, 1878 years after her demolition, be the beginning of the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy? It might be. One thing is certain it is certainly unheard of. Our God can re-attach dry bones, put muscle organs, skin and hair on them and breathe the breath of life into it.
If He can do that for Israel, what can He do for me and you? Lord make me live again. I mean truly live the life that You have designed for me to live. Let me not be satisfied with anymore half-hearted living! Let me not settle for anything less! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 6

Ezekiel 36
What a deal! He will take out their old, hard, stony heart and give them a new heart of flesh. They won’t have to do it themselves, and indeed, cannot do it themselves. He will do it not for their sakes. But then, for whose sake will He do it? For His own? Yes. For the nations? Yes. He closes this thought with the refrain which is sown throughout Ezekiel, “Then they shall know that I am the LORD.” That is basically what the Lord wants. He wants us to know that He is the LORD. He wants us to enjoy Him. He wants us to respond to His blessing. Lord, take my cold stony heart and make it soft and hot toward YOU! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 5

Ezekiel 35
“I beat your . . . “ He spoke the words with a snarl as we entered the shower room after football practice. What could I say? It was true, and he was reveling in it. But what could I do? He was our first string defensive tackle, and I was playing offensive tackle on our scout team. He outweighed me by 40 pounds. He was stronger, faster and smarter. I never have figured out why he didn’t like me, but he didn’t, and he was loving every minute of making me miserable. He loved gloating over my demise. It sparked a fire of anger in my heart that did not go out for at least 24hrs.
Mt. Seir is the rugged desolate mountainous area south of the Dead Sea. It was inhabited by the descendants of Esau. The nation was called Edom. Israel had an “ancient” feud with Edom, beginning with Esau and extended two thousand years through his descendents. The Edomites would not allow Israel to travel through their land when Israel was trying to move from the wilderness to the east side of the Jordan. David subdued the Edomites and made the part of his kingdom. From time to time they rebelled under subsequent kings. They obviously gloated over Israel’s demise when Nebuchadnezzar first subdued then destroyed them. The Lord pronounces the doom of Edom. Why? Because Edom gloated over Israel when He, the Lord, was in Israel. It was an offense against His glory. So He returned unto Edom what Israel received.
Today we have many Christians throughout the world who are being persecuted for the mere reason that the Lord is in their midst. Like Edom, the Lord will one day return their hatred upon them. To be sure some persecutors will be shown mercy, even as Paul was shown mercy, but the mercy will only come if they repent and believe. That is part of the glory of our Lord.
The next day after my opponent on the football field gloated over me was different. This time when we came in from the practice field, he had a slight concussion. It was exhibited by a mild case of amnesia. To my shame I had a fierce anger toward him during practice. I wanted to hurt him. I, quite likely, was the cause of his concussion. Learning that he had a concussion immediately killed my anger. But even though I regret wanting and trying to hurt him, somehow I still find some kind of pleasure that justice was served. The gloater, the boaster fell. The glory of the Lord is that ultimately, justice will be served. We will not necessarily rejoice in the death of the wicked, but we will rejoice that justice prevailed and mercy was offered. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 2

Eziekel 32
About 3 weeks ago someone stole Liam’s bicycle. Liam was enraged, rightly so. Whoever stole took from Liam one of his most prized possessions. Justice for that theft will probably never be served in this world. Last night the dogs were barking wildly at our bedroom window. Laura got up and looked out. Somebody was going through a bag of stuff. They came back a little later and seemed to be trying to steal the bicycles locked to our porch rail. She called the police. They said they would send an officer to drive around and look. This morning I found a few items on the ground by our trash can, some pictures in frames, an empty jewelry box, a half-full box of rifle shells. I guess that the person that the dogs had been barking at had stolen some things and was getting rid of the things that they did not want. Probably, justice will never be served in this world for his theft.
It is easy to complain against God that justice is not served. That has been a common complaint toward God throughout the ages, especially toward tyrants and unjust countries. Ezekiel sings a lament about Egypt finally receiving the justice due her. She will go down to Sheol, and what will she find there? She will find a host of other countries there that have also found the justice due them. There she will find the princes of Assyria, Elam, Meshech, Tubal and Edom. God does bring justice. It just might not come in our time.
The thief outside my door will receive justice. He will find it in one of two ways. He will repent and believe in Jesus. In which case, justice will have been served upon Jesus upon His cross. Or, he will receive justice for refusing to repent and believe. Either way, justice is served. Either way, mercy is extended, but mercy is only realized if it is received. It is the glory of our Lord to serve justice and extend mercy. Lord, I receive Your mercy! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

September 1

Ezekiel 31 Learn from the sins of others. The glory of God is that He warns us to learn from the sins of others. Assyria was at one time the world power. She dominated even Egypt at times. She had, as the Scriptures say, become rich and luxuriant. She was powerful. But in her fierce wrath against other nations, she eventually developed enough enemies that they began to chip away at her strength. In 606 B.C. the last Assyrian king fell fighting the Scythians. Nabopolassar, the viceroy of Babylon had joined the northern invaders against Assyria. Realizing the power void in the North, Pharaoh Necho took his army north to meet Nabopolassar at Carchemesh. Josiah, the last good king of Judah, opposed Necho’s march through Israel. Necho killed Josiah. Pharaoh should have learned from Assyria. He did not. Pharaoh, and Egypt, was doomed. Do I learn from the sins of others. The Lord often warns through the discipline of others, but do I learn from it? It is human nature to think that I am not like someone else. Lord help me to hear You in the fabric of life. When I see your discipline in others, enable me to take to heart the lesson there and learn from it. Show me Your glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!--Pastor john