January 5

Genesis 5 Adam means man. Seth means substitute or put. Enosh means mortal. Cainan means fixed. Mahalalel means praise of God. Jared means descent. Enoch means initiated. Methuselah means man of a dart (a dart is a branch, a shoot, a sword or a weapon). Lamech comes from an uncertain root and we do not know its meaning. Noah means rest. Put them together and you have, “man, substitute or put, mortal, fixed, praise of God, descent, initiated dart (a dart is a branch, a shoot, a sword or a weapon), rest. Chuck Misler puts them together like this: "Man is appointed mortal, frail, and unto sorrow. The Blessed God shall come down to teach. His death shall bring to the despairing rest.” What a glorious Lord! He even designs the names of the first ten generations of His word to fit together to describe His plan for mankind. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Ezra 5 The summer after I graduated from High School, I was impelled by the Spirit to go witnessing. It was just something that I could not resist. I got in my car and began driving looking for someone with whom I could share the gospel. I was driven. I was scared. My personality is such that I hate initiating conversations. Seeing some acquaintances from high school parked alongside the road, I stopped. I thought that I could talk with them until God showed me someone with whom I could share the gospel. I assumed that they would not be interested. Steve had always been very sarcastic toward me in the past, especially concerning Jesus. As I stepped out of the car, Steve said, “Chaffin, I’m glad you are here. I need to be reformed.” Thinking that he was once again being sarcastic, I said, “Right, Steve, you need to be reformed.” He replied, “No, really, I need to be reformed.” I replied sarcastically, “Uh, uh, you do need to be reformed.” “I’m serious,” he replied, “I need to be reformed.” Still thinking that he was being sarcastic, I rebutted, “Well, I don’t reform people; I just introduce them to Jesus.” “Well, introduce me to Jesus.” “Uh, huh, introduce you to Jesus.” “I’m serious! Introduce me to Jesus!” “You’re serious?” “Yes, I am serious. Introduce me to Jesus!” I pulled out my New Testament and began to share the gospel with him. A few minutes later, he was praying to ask Jesus to save him from his sin. It was one of those times when it was clear that this was a God-thing. It was nothing of me and all of Him. The eye of my God was upon him and there was nothing that could have stopped Steve from trusting Jesus, except if I had refused to follow the prompting of God. That is His glory! The eye of their God was upon the returnees to rebuild the temple. Nothing could have stopped them. That is His glory! When asked who gave them the authority to build, they were not hesitant to make it known that they were the servants of the God of heaven and earth. Sure, they mentioned that Cyrus had given them the command, but of more importance to them, they were the servants of the Most High God. That was all that they needed. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am the servant of the Most High God. His glory is far more unimaginably great than I can ever dream. When His eye is upon me, I will accomplish that for which He has designed me. The only question is, “Will I listen to His direction, and will I obey?” When those two questions are affirmative, He will eventually display His glory in me. Granted, most of life is rather mundane and even toilsome. Just look at the lives of the great men of God, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David etc. The majority of their time was mundane and toilsome. But they had their moments that were full of the glory of God because they listened and obeyed. So it was with the ones rebuilding the temple. They knew that they were the servants of the Most High God. Consequently they listened and obeyed and didn’t give up. The glory of God was displayed in their work. Lord, display Your glory in us! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John * Psalm 5 I was once a machining floor inspector at Mercury Marine. The basic idea of quality control at that time was that when a machine was set up to run a process, the inspector would examine a part produced by the machine. If the part met all of the specifications, then they could begin performing that process on the part. Periodically during the run of that process, the operator of the machine was required to check for the quality of the process. The inspector would make rounds of the different machines to consider each process and to determine if the parts met the standards. If they did, then everything was fine. If they did not, then the operator and foreman would be informed; the process would be stopped until corrections were made. The parts produced since the last inspection would be individually inspected until the point was found where the parts were properly machined. Some machine operators were always nervous when I came around. For various reasons, they did not like having their work inspected. Others did not care. They had confidence that their work met the required standard. The inspection only confirmed their confidence. “Consider my meditation.” Would you be able to declare with David the same request? How could David make such a request? After all, he was a man of bloodshed. The common declaration of Him was, “Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.” When Nabal refused to reward David’s men for their volunteer work, David strapped on his sword and was on the road with his men to kill him, and he would have if Abigail had not interceded. He had Uriah killed in order to cover up his adultery. It sounds pretty blood thirsty to me. David had seven or eight wives before he ever met Bathsheba. It sounds pretty lustful to me. Adultery and blood thirstiness begin in the mind. How could David request God to consider his meditation? David knew God’s character well enough to know that he (David) was flawed. He knew that in the process of life, he needed correction. He knew that God is also merciful enough that if he daily came into the presence of the almighty King, he would receive the mercy that he needed for the meditations of His heart and the grace that he needed to follow the corrections that needed to be made. He had to make it a daily morning cry, or his heart would lead him out of God’s specifications. He knew that he was a man of bloodshed and that he needed the Lord to lead him into righteousness. He knew that he was an adulterous man and that he needed the Lord to straighten him out. Was he not afraid of the wrath of this stern God? Yes he was, but he was also convinced of His mercy. He knew God well enough to know that he had to come to Him. Why then did David go into adultery with Bathsheba and murder Uriah? I can only think that as years progressed, He let that morning appointment, that morning correction go fallow. Bit by bit the glory of God was obscured in His meditations. Step by step he let himself be carried away. Without realizing it, his morning meditations were no longer God centered but David centered. Like the frog in the kettle he did not realize that the water was heating up. Only when it was too late, did he realize it. Only after the prophet came to correct him, did he come to his senses. But praise to our Lord, He does forgive. That is part of his glory! Even though David was forgiven, he still had to live with the horrible consequences of his sin. Let us never use God’s forgiveness as a justification for permission to sin. But let us not shrink from God because we think he will not forgive. Let us daily enter into fellowship with Him inviting Him to consider our meditation. In so doing we enter into His joy and love His name. He in turn defends us and surrounds us with His shield. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * Matthew 5:1-26 Every four years we elect a president. After the president is elected, we have an inauguration. At the inauguration, the newly inaugurated president gives a speech. The speech usually gives a general outline for the direction in which the president would like to take his administration for the next four years. Matthew has recorded the kingly events surrounding the birth of the King of the Kingdom of heaven. He has introduced the King's forerunner. He has recorded the King's first test and temptation and His early activities in preaching and healing. As the King has now drawn a multitude, Matthew records what might be considered the King's inaugural address. Here Jesus paints in bold strokes the general outline for what He as king requires for His subjects to be able to enter into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. We will be looking at different aspects of the speech for a total of 5 days. First Jesus upholds the validity of the law, i.e. the Old Testament, especially the first 5 books. He declares that He did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. The nation of Israel had never fulfilled the Law completely. Even under Josiah, of whom it is said that no other king kept the Passover like he, Israel did not fulfill the Law. The King addresses the people in His address. In this first section of His address, He lays out three basic principles: 1. Keeping of the Law begins in the heart. 2. He came to fulfill the Law. 3. The righteousness of those who would enter the Kingdom must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. The problem with the scribes and the Pharisees is that their righteousness did not begin in the heart. Their righteousness was all a show for the outside. Righteousness that begins in the heart wells up in such a way that it brings glory to the Father in heaven. He lays out His first specific in relation to the law. The Law said, "You shall not murder." The Law that begins in the heart does not even get angry with his brother so that he would call him a fool. By the King’s standard, that kind of anger is murder. Jesus says that He fulfills the Law! Wow now that is living at a level above what I am capable. Indeed He is glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John