February 18

EXODUS 1 Some critics of the Bible complain that the God of the Old Testament is a “bloody God”. Well, yes, but honestly most of the blood is man’s inhumanity against man. Could a just God allow such inhumanity to go unpunished? I don’t think He could and still be just. When someone honors the Lord in the midst of that injustice, should it go unrewarded? No, it shouldn’t. And in today’s passage we see that it isn’t. The midwives of Egypt feared the Lord. They did not do according to Pharaoh’s commanded inhumanity. God dealt well with the midwives and their families because they feared Him. That is a good principle about God. In general, if we fear Him, He deals well with us. Maybe we don’t see it in particular points at particular times, but when our lives are over, we will be able to look back and say with Joseph and the Egyptian midwives, “What man meant for evil, God changed for good.” That is part of His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john P.S. While writing this, I am experiencing what I think is a 24 hr. stomach flu. Liam had it Monday. I ache all over. This is one of those particulars that I don’t enjoy. But, I know that He is gracious, and I am encouraged by His glory. * * Job 18 Bildad speaks a second time describing the fate of the wicked. Of course in his ordered world, the wicked are soon punished for their sin, so Job must be guilty for he is obviously bearing the punishment of God. We know from the beginning of the book of Job and from the end of the book of Job that Bildad was incorrect. But is it not the glory of God to punish the sinner? Indeed it is. But punishment comes in His time. We must be very careful about drawing conclusions that someone’s poor circumstances are the punishment of God. Their poor circumstances could very well be the mercy of God. God could be using their poor circumstances to get their attention or to get our attention! The glory of God is often found as a result of poor circumstances! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Psalm 49 I once learned something which I repeatedly learn again. Sometimes when I stop and think about it, I feel really stupid. God doesn’t need me to earn a lot of money in order to meet my needs. Seems like a simple concept, but I have to keep learning it. The first summer that Laura and I were married (1977), I worked my tail off and only made $300 per month. Yet we had all of our needs met. The next summer I had no job, yet all of our needs were met. In November of 1980 we moved to Portland, Oregon. I had no job. By January 1, I was out of money. I did not get a decent paying job until the end of March/ beginning of April, yet all of our needs were met. All through seminary and my first ten years of ministry, we lived below poverty level income, according to government standards. We never received food stamps; although, we did sometimes receive WIC food. All of our needs were met. In 1981 I obtained a loan to purchase a car. From that experience I decided that I would never again take a loan for transportation. Since then the Lord has given me a vehicle or the money to buy a vehicle without having to borrow. I have owned 10 different vehicles that way. The Lord provided each one. But still when money gets tight, and there is not enough to buy what I want, rather than just what I need, I get nervous. I start scheming ways to get what I want. The Lord has to teach me again. Why do I have to keep relearning? Maybe it has to do with my seeing His glory. Perhaps I have reduced Him to a giant banker in the sky. Maybe I see Him as the ultimate cashier or auctioneer. Perhaps He is a cosmic vending machine. If I just put the right currency in the slot and hit the right combination of buttons, then I will receive exactly what I want. Is the Mighty Creator of the Universe such a trivial exchange artist in human currency? 6Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, 7None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— 8For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever— That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit. Gold is just a common element to our Creator. It is no more or less difficult for Him to create than helium, carbon, silicon, iron or platinum. Why should He ever be interested in me giving Him gold in exchange for something? For me to think that I could give Him anything, which He would consider to be valuable, is to demean who He is! There is only one thing that I can give Him, which He cannot more easily create, my trust. Oh sure, He could force my affections, but He has chosen allow me to choose trust or mistrust. There is no amount of currency that can buy my or any other person’s redemption. He simply wants our trust in all areas of our lives. We cannot categorize our lives separating our spiritual life from our financial life. He wants our trust in all areas of our lives. Why? Because He wants us to realize the greatness of His glory! Why do I keep learning the same lesson over and over again? Because I keep forgetting the greatness of His glory! He is more than everything! That is why I must seek Him daily! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Mark 1:1-20 In the spring of my junior year in high school a very good friend of mine decided that he wanted to run for senior class treasurer. He asked me if I would be his campaign manager. He said that he did not want to spend any money on his campaign. His idea was that since he was running for treasurer, he would not spend any money. Then in the time given to make speeches before the class body, he would point out how frugal he was; therefore, he would make the best treasurer. Novel idea. It didn’t work. One would think that people would want frugality in a treasurer and elect a person who is frugal. Getting elected requires the increase of the glory of the candidate. In the political realm, that requires the expenditure of funds. In the political realm, glory is mostly hype. Is that true in the spiritual realm? Some of the things that attest to someone’s glory include who introduces them, who endorses them, what obstacles they face, the goals they accomplish and the changes in the lives of the people who follow them. Mark’s staccato style brings all these concerning Jesus into play in these short 20 verses. One would think that Mark would elaborate on each of them. But then, Mark’s theme is the servanthood of Jesus. One is not usually so concerned with the glory of a servant as much as what the servant accomplishes. So in Mark we will probably be focusing more on what Jesus accomplishes, displaying His glory than focusing on His innate glory. Who introduced Jesus? It was the last of the Old Testament style prophets, John the Baptist. He was prophesied of by Isaiah and Malachi. Who endorsed Jesus? It was none other than the Holy Spirit and God the Father who endorsed Him. What obstacles did Jesus face? From the very beginning it was Satan himself, that opposed Jesus-not some lesser demon but Satan himself. What goal did Jesus have? His goal was for the people to repent and believe in the gospel. What lives did Jesus change? At least four successful fishermen (note they had servants) left all they had to follow Jesus. There are the makings of some great stories here on the glory of Jesus. But Mark is content to just list them on his way to way to what He views as the real meat of the matter—what Jesus accomplishes. After all it is what a servant does that is important, not who he is. For Mark the fact that the Son of God would come to serve seems to be of more importance to Him than any of these other things that speak of His glory. He doesn’t hide the deity of Jesus or any of the other things. He is just awed by what He does, He serves. There is no hype in Jesus. It is all actual accomplishment. I’ve been considering getting a Doctorate. In looking around I came across one school that offers a Doctor of Divinity. It is billed as a doctorate of accomplishment. It’s for those who have been in the ministry for over 20 years and haven’t had time to pursue research degrees. The Doctor of Divinity at that school recognizes a person for actual accomplishment not research. Mark is overwhelmed with Jesus’ accomplishment. His glory is in His service. No hype, just accomplishment. Do you recognize that in Jesus? He deserves glory not just because He was introduced by a man prophesied of 700 years before his birth. He deserves glory not just because He is endorsed by the Holy Spirit and God the Father. He deserves glory not just because He faced down Satan himself. He deserves glory not just because He is King of a holy kingdom. He deserves glory not just because successful people leave all to follow Him. He deserves glory because He served! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John * *