January 21

Genesis 22 Early into the first year of my move to Portland to attend seminary, I found myself with no money, no job and no prospects of a job, a situation that continued for months. I was going to such extremes as to literally walk the streets going from business to business asking if I could fill out an application for work. Nothing. I wondered, "God what are you doing? I cannot earn money if I do not work. I cannot eat or go to school if I do not have money. Lord what are you doing?" The Lord began to show me that He would provide. Indeed I went six months without a sufficient job. After six months when UPS first hired me, I still wasn't getting enough hours to meet my family's needs, let alone pay for school. But by the end of my almost five years in Portland, neither I nor my family had ever missed a meal because of want of food, and I didn't borrow a penny for school expenses. God knew what He was doing, and He provided. This is now the sixth time that God has appeared to Abraham. There is no other record of God appearing to Abraham. On the seventh day God rested. I think that is interesting trivia. I think it is significant that on this sixth occasion God provides a type for us to see His provision for our sin. He commands Abraham to sacrifice His Son. Abraham knows the promise. The promise is that through Isaac one of his descendents will be a blessing to all the earth. That is the covenant. Abraham has learned that God can bring new life even to a non-productive, dried-up, old womb. Abraham knows that God can do anything. Isaac is the son of the promise, and Isaac is a miracle child. Abraham knows that for Isaac to be the son of the promise, Isaac must live. Abraham instinctively believes God. He even tells the servants as the two go to Mt. Moriah for the sacrifice, "We will come back to you." But Abraham learned with Ishmael that God has His ways. It is best to follow them even when you don't understand His ways. Not only do we see the faith of Abraham, but we also see the faith of Isaac. By this time Isaac is older. He is called a na’ar—usually translated a young man or servant or lad. The same word is used of the two servants that Abraham brings with him. He is probably of a large enough size that he should have put up a big enough struggle that Abraham would have had a difficult time subduing him if he could at all. The implication is that Isaac was willing. For the love and trust of his father, Isaac was willing. What a wonderful picture of the trust and love of the Son of God for the Father. Jesus for the love of His Father and of us was willing to endure the cross. Moriah is also the place where David sacrificed to stay the hand of the death angel. Moriah is also the site where Solomon built the temple. Near Moriah is where Jesus was condemned to die. Outside the city gates of Moriah is Golgotha where Jesus, God's only begotten Son, was sacrificed. At the last moment He took our place. He died for us. Oh the symbolism is rich! Jesus is the ram in the bush. Jesus is our Isaac. Jesus is in our place! He is the seed of Abraham and Isaac in whom all the nations of the Earth are blessed! Sometimes we wonder what God is doing. But He has provided for us. Sometimes we must lay our Isaac down, knowing that He will raise him from the dead. But always He provides. We may not see it at the time, but looking back upon it, we see His provision. He is after all, Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD who provides! Isn't He glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Nehemiah 11 Am I insignificant? After all, I play such a small part in this community which is such a small part of this world. Am I insignificant? Our glorious God says, “No!” Where does He say that? This whole chapter shouts that God finds everyone significant. Why is this chapter here? I mean, “What does anybody care about the names of the priests, Levites, or the heads of the tribes who relocated to Jerusalem?” God cares! He cares enough to record them in His book. WE are significant because we are a part of the work that God is doing to build His kingdom. If no one else takes notice, He does. That is part of the glory of our God. Even the smallest person is significant in His sight! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Psalm 21 John Piper said it best years ago, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” That thought rings through this Psalm. Do I come to God because He gives me good things? Well, to be honest yes. I like the good things He gives me. But is that the only reason I come to Him? That is what the book of Job is all about. It is a test to see if Job would still come to God if he were stripped of everything good thing that God could give him. Job grudgingly passes the test. He declares, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” What is it about God that we could do that? The Psalmist puts it this way, “You have made him (the king) exceedingly glad with Your presence.” If God allowed Satan to take away my house, my money, my animals, my children, my grandchildren, my health and even my wife, would I still be content with just His presence? The few times that I have had a strong sense of the manifest presence of God have led me to trust that, “Yes His presence alone is enough.” Interestingly enough, the two times that I have felt the manifest presence of God the strongest were both times when I was under attack. They were times when the world would say, “You are not receiving the goodness of God.” Yet, I would not trade the reversal of the sense of His presence for a reversal of those adverse circumstances. He is good especially in adverse circumstance. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Matthew 14:1-21 "Jesus certainly was a remarkable man, but we don't believe He was the Son of God." Such was the statement given to me at the end of a 3 hour discussion on the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Why? It was easier for them to believe that the eleven men closest to Jesus: 1. stole His body from a tomb guarded by Roman Soldiers, while the soldiers slept, 2. then all eleven lived the rest of their lives spreading a tale of resurrection that they knew to be a lie, 3. then all died for a tale they knew to be false, ten of them in torture and martyrdom and the eleventh banished to a lonely isle in exile. It was easier to believe those three things than to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Why? The professor’s answer was because no one has risen from the dead. Hmm… Herod had a similar problem. He had John the Baptist beheaded. Herod was convinced that Jesus was John resurrected. If Herod believed that Jesus was any more than the prophet resurrected, then the logical progression for him would be to declare Jesus to be the Son of God and to kneel to His Lordship. Herod certainly wouldn't do that. Such is the heart of man. If we won't kneel to the One who is Lord, then we will seek to dethrone Him mentally--"Oh He is a great man. . . but God?" What nonsense is in the heart of man! Yet it was this God-man who, upon hearing of the death of His cousin, mourned by withdrawing to a lonely place. It was this God-man who was moved with compassion for the multitude--which had the same kind of heart as Herod--and then healed their sick. It was this God-man who was moved with compassion for the multitude because they had no food. It was this God-man who miraculously provided the food that the multitude needed. Five thousand men were fed plus women and children. There must have been ten to fifteen thousand people fed that day! Yet I am sure that within that crowd there were many who rationalized away the miracle like Herod. Why? It is because the heart of man is rebellious, and we refuse to recognize the glory of the Lord Jesus. He is the God-man who is able to meet not just our need for physical food and health but also our deepest spiritual and psychological needs. But for those deepest needs to be met, we must recognize His glory and kneel before Him yielding our self-dependency to dependency solely upon Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John