December 30

2 Chronicles 35 It is the glory of God to let us hear his voice. Certainly if we saw His face we would die (Exodus 33:20). But He has condescended to allow us to hear His voice. As a matter of fact, one of the descriptions of being one of His sheep, His children, is that we hear His voice (John 10:27). If we do not hear His voice and follow, we are none of His. But what about Josiah? Here is a man who intently followed the Lord. There are few other kings who can compare to the revival that Josiah led in Judah! Yet in the end, he met an early demise because He did not listen. But what a strange place to hear the voice of the Lord, the mouth of Pharaoh! Verse 22 tells us that he did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. The result was that he died fighting a battle that was not his to fight. Certainly it appeared that he ought to oppose Necho. Isaiah, less than a hundred years before him, had continually spoken to the kings against allying with Egypt in order to fight the kings of the north. On the surface it might appear that to allow Pharaoh’s army safe passage would be tantamount to allying the nation with Egypt in its fight with Babylon. I think Josiah operated in the natural-that which appeared to be the right thing to do. God spoke to him through the unrighteous mouth of Necho, but Josiah was not in a place to listen. How often do we do the same. How many of our churches are running ‘successful’ programs that are really contrary to the voice of the Lord. O sure they attract people, sure they are to some degree popular, but are they really what the Lord wants? In the natural it may appear so, but have we stopped to truly hear the voice of the Lord? It may well be that we reach an early demise, or worse yet, live a life of ineffectiveness for the Kingdom, simply because we have not stopped to listen for the voice of the Lord and obeyed. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

* Proverbs 30 Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Apart from Jesus, there are only two men in Scripture who ascended into heaven, Enoch and Elijah, but they never descended (unless you consider Elijah’s appearance at the Mount of Transfiguration as descending). There is One man who has both descended and ascended into heaven. Speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus makes the claim of descending in John 3:13. One thousand years before it happened, David prophesied of the ascension of Jesus in Psalm 68:18. The apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:9&10 recognizes that prophecy and explains it of Jesus. Who has gathered the wind in His fists? How can one gather wind in His fists? Yet Jesus has done this on at least two occasions. In Exodus 14:21 “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.” Once again in Joshua 3:16–17 we find: That the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan. He used the wind in His fists to part the Red Sea to provide the salvation of Israel (a type of our salvation). He used the wind in His fists to part the Jordan River to provide access to the Land of Canaan (a type of our rest). He will one day (in the Millennial Kingdom) use the wind of His fists to dry up the Nile River Isaiah 11:15. “The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dryshod.” Can you do that? Who has bound the waters in a garment? The Lord appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai clothed in dark clouds, I would say that that is having bound the waters in a garment. Exodus 19:9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” The Psalmist says in 104:1-3, “You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,” In Matthew 26:64 Jesus said, “Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” In Revelation 1:7 John says, “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Jesus not only binds water in a garment but He also binds them into modes of fancy transportation. Can you do that? Who has established all the ends of the earth? Well obviously, Jesus has established the ends of the earth! listen to John 1:1–5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” In Acts 17:26 Paul says, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.” Can you do that? There is one who can do all of these things. What is His name? It is Yahweh. What is His Son’s name? It is Yahweh Saves, or better known in English as Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Revelation 21 We are naked. Much of our activity is effort to clothe ourselves, for we are naked. Ever noticed what a large percentage of advertising is devoted to clothing? Even then, good practical covering is not enough. It must look right and fit the occasion. The amount of floor space in a Wal*Mart or Target store devoted to clothing is considerable, for we are naked. We have whole stores devoted only to clothing. We have an inordinate emphasis on clothing, for we are naked. Ever notice how those, who try really hard to clothe themselves well, never have enough? We are naked. It didn’t begin that way. Originally we were designed to not wear clothes. We wore the glory of God. We reflected His image. Then sin came. We lost the glory of God. Then we realized that we were naked. The Bible is the story from beginning to end of how we lost His glory and how He is restoring His glory to us. It is all about His glory. Until His glory is re-established, we seem to focus on our nakedness-our glory or lack thereof. Our deepest longings can only be clothed with His glory. When Jesus makes things new, He will tabernacle with us. He will dwell with us. His glory will return upon us. His glory will surround us, shine upon us, shine out of us. Even the city will glow with His glory. The sun and the moon will no longer be needed for light, because the glory of the Lamb will illuminate everything. Physical clothing will lose its great importance. The glory of the Lamb will take precedence. Should it not be important now? After all, that is the direction in which history is moving. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John