January 12

Genesis 13 I sometimes muse on why the Lord led me to Portland, Oregon, to go to Seminary. DTS in Dallas TX was the same quality as WCBS in Portland and much closer to my parent's home. I was also accepted at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, PA--just five or ten minutes from Laura's parent's home. God used the geographical separation from our homes to take us through experiences that taught us to rely upon Him. Had we been closer to home we would have been sorely tempted to rely upon family or to quit seminary altogether. As it was, I had gone too far. There was no going home. I had to rely upon the LORD. In chapter 12 the Lord told Abram to leave his family and go where He would show him. Abram left his family, but he took Lot. I am sure that there was something reassuring about bringing his grown Nephew with him. In 13:14 the word reads, "And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from Him. . ." Here was an opportunity for Abram. It was a teachable moment for him. The LORD spoke to him and reiterated the promise of the land, comforting Abram that He was with him. Also in 12:8 on his first time camping between Bethel and Ai, we find the first record of Abram calling upon the name of the LORD. Here in 13:4 on his second time camping between Bethel and Ai we find the second record of Abram calling upon the name of the LORD. The text uses the covenant name Yahweh, the One who is. Abram was learning that God is the One who is, and He can be trusted. That is the glory of our Lord. He purposely places us in precarious situations so that we may have opportunity to learn that He is the One who is. He can be trusted in any situation. He does those things to exalt His name. He is exalted when we call upon His name. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Nehemiah 2 I remember watching an episode of MASH where Hawkeye was sitting on his bunk looking at his hand and then began discoursing on the marvels of the human hand. I remember very few things about MASH, but for some reason that little soliloquy has stuck in my mind. Have you ever thought about the wonders of the hand? As I type, I am arthritis free and injury free. My fingers fly over the keyboard without me really even thinking about where the fingers should go. I just think the words, and my fingers seem to go there. There is no hunting and pecking. They just go. It is natural for my hand upon the key board. How does that happen? Does it not make you marvel? Is it natural for the “hand of God” to be upon us? Apparently it is not natural. Why? Even Nehemiah seems to think it important to twice say, “the good hand” of my God was upon me. Does God have a bad hand? Obviously this is a figure of speech. But none-the-less figuratively speaking, does God ever have a bad hand upon us? If a human hand is a thing to marvel about, and it is, then how much more should be the hand of God a thing about which we should marvel? And in light of our sin, how much more should we marvel at His good hand upon us. One thing is clear from this passage, when we are in line with the purposes of God, we can expect “the good hand” of our God to be upon us. What does it look like? I don’t know, but for Nehemiah it looked like the favor of the king when he did something very dangerous. He allowed himself to look sad in the presence of the king. It meant that the king granted his request to give a decree to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem (a prophecy of Daniel 9). It meant a perilous journey to Jerusalem. It meant an undercover tour at dark of the walls of Jerusalem. It meant talking the residents of Jerusalem into a dangerous act. It meant opposition from the non-Jews in Judea. But God’s good hand upon Nehemiah made his fingers fly to the task. It started the building of the walls and the countdown to the cutting off of the Messiah, the cross. Isn’t God’s hand good? Because Jesus went to the cross, we live! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Psalm 12 A friend of mine was just in my office. He is constantly flattering me. I presume he does it because he thinks that I will help him more if he flatters me all the time. I hope he is incorrect. I hope that what I do is done because it is what Jesus would have me do. Sometimes I just want to tell him to shut up, but that would be rude. Maybe I should tell him that the Psalmist asks the Lord to cut off all flattering lips. Now that evokes a gross mental picture. Flattering lips mix truth with exaggeration in order to manipulate the one being flattered into action that the flatterer desires. The words of the Lord are pure words. What does that mean? I was looking at some of the cross references for this. Consider these verses: 2 Samuel 22:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. Psalm 18:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. Psalm 19:8b The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Pure and proven refer to the refiner’s fire. The refiner brings the metal to its melting point where the different metals or impurities separate. He is then able separate them and gain only the metal desired. Pure words are not mixed with any false meaning. The Lord does not exaggerate His words in order to manipulate us into doing what He desires. Yes, He occasionally uses the figure of speech called hyperbole, but He does not do it to manipulate us into obeying Him. He commands us. It is interesting to me that the pure words of our Lord become a shield to us if we trust Him. Shield from what? They protect me from walking in a path of wickedness. His words tell me that He has loved me with an everlasting love. That tells me that I am valuable in His sight and motivates me to seek Him. His words also tell me that He is a jealous God and won’t forever strive with my sin and foolishness. That tells me that I do have sin and foolishness, and I had better not mess with it. His words tell me what that sin is. If I trust and listen, His words protect me from a path of foolishness and sin then end of which is waste and death. Thank You, Lord, that your words are pure. Enable me to listen to Your words and trust in You. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Matthew 9:1-17 I had just finished two hours of sharing the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ with a group of about 15 honors philosophy students. They had not refuted a single bit of evidence nor the conclusions drawn from the evidence. The professor then summed it all up by saying, "Jesus Christ was indeed a very remarkable man. But indeed we think he was only a man." "Why?" I asked. He replied, "Because we find it easier to believe that the soldiers fell asleep, the disciples stole the body, proclaimed Him as risen from the dead and 10 of the 11 disciples died a martyr's death proclaiming what they knew to be a lie than to believe that a man rose from the dead," "Why?" I asked. "Because no one has ever risen from the dead." was his reply. But that is the point! Later in the semester the same professor said that he found it morally unconscionable that an innocent person could willingly take on the just penalty for a guilty person. He had chosen to not believe. As the Pharisees, who had all the evidence in the world in front of them concerning the ability of Jesus to forgive sins, refused to believe, the professor refused to believe. Strange isn't it? The glory of the Lord is so clear. He forgives our sin. He loves sinners and hates sin. He calls us to be His bride. He repackages His relationship with each of us and each generation to meet our needs. There is no cookie cutter operation with Him. And yet we have such difficulty seeing, appreciating and believing His glory as He uniquely reveals it to each person and each generation. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John