May 4

NUMBERS 11 There it was again, peanut butter and jelly. I was sick and tired of peanut butter and jelly. It was getting toward the end of my seminary career. Never once did Laura and I go without food because it was not available. Granted we did not enjoy the abundance and variety that most Americans are accustomed to enjoying. But we never were hungry because we did not have food to eat. We ate a lot of rice and eggs. Lunch for me at Seminary usually consisted of peanut butter and jelly. It was cheap and easy to fix. On this particular day, I was tired of peanut butter and jelly. I chose not to eat. Did I grumble? Maybe a little bit. But at least I had food to eat. The Israelites were grumbling for lack of anything else to eat besides manna. In all actuality there was an even greater, more severe and more important famine going on. Yet, they did not complain about that lack. “What was it?” you may ask. It was a famine for the Word of God. The only one that these 2,000,000 people had to speak the Word of God to them was Moses. And what did they do with him? They complained about the menu. What did God do? He did two things. 1) He put the Spirit of the Lord upon 70 of the elders of Israel so that they could speak the Word of the Lord to Israel. 2) He gave them quail until it “came out their noses.” What was the real need of the Israelites? It was the Word of God. As Moses told the next generation. “Man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Duet. 8:3. Did they grumble about not getting enough of the Word? No, they grumbled that all they had to eat was manna. How about that! Living on a daily miracle, and they complained about it. Were they the least concerned about receiving God’s word? Apparently not. So God appointed 70 men to teach the word of God. Do I crave the word of God as a newborn craves milk? Do you? The people asked for meat to eat. God gave them more that they could eat. The quail became a nuisance. The people played light and fast with the Word of God. The Lord gave them men to speak the word. But He also gave them all the meat that they wanted and more. Hmmm. . . what does this tell us about finding the glory of God? I think I’ll go eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * PSALM 123 The summer before my eighth grade school year, I went to a one-week-long Christian youth camp. The Holy Spirit began to convict me there that the Lord wanted me in a relationship with Him, not just my compulsory church attendance. I determined then that that was what I wanted. I did a thing that the Baptists call, ‘rededication.’ As much as I knew how at that age, I offered myself to our Lord. I knew that I should somehow be a witness for him, but did not know how to do it. So I began carrying my Bible with me to school as a declaration that I was a follower of Jesus. (I would have benefited much more if I would have read, studied and applied it as much as I carried it.) The result was that among my peers, I developed a reputation. From a few it was a reputation of admiration. Most could not have cared less. Others held me in contempt. Some found ways to express their contempt by the statements they would make. Generally that contempt expressed itself in being ignored by those who did not want to follow Christ. It could be that they felt condemned by me. I hope not. I can honestly say that was never my intention. However, Friedrich Nietzsche, (a man whose philosophy I hold in contempt) said: “Man is more sensitive to the contempt that others feel towards him than to the contempt that he feels towards himself.” Perhaps that was true of me. I really don’t know. I hope it wasn’t true. One of the side benefits of that reputation was that I was never tempted by a peer to join in their immorality. Sometimes downside was a feeling of isolation. How should a follower of Jesus handle the contempt that Jesus and Paul said is bound to happen to a Christ follower? Dictionary.com defines contempt as:

1. the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn. 2. the state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.

As a believer in the USA, it is really the major kind of persecution that I have experienced for the name of Christ. The Psalmist is feeling that kind of contempt. He says, “I will lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the Heavens.” The one place that he can gain relief from the contempt of His peers is gazing into the face of the Lord of glory. It is only in lifting up our eyes upon Him that we get the relief we need or desire from the contempt of others. Does that mean that He will take their contempt away? No! It means that when I have gazed upon His glory it changes me! Their contempt becomes a mute issue in comparison to the sweetness of His glory. I have four dogs. Occasionally I feed them from what I am snacking on. Whenever they realize that I am snacking on something, they will surround me. Their eyes will be intently focused on the food in my hand. Wherever my hand goes, their eyes are following. They know that if they watch long enough and closely enough that they might receive some tasty morsel. When we are wounded by the contempt of others for the name of Christ, it is time to stare intently upon His glory until we receive the mercy we need from Him. When He reveals His glory to us, its sweetness causes all contempt of others to melt in comparison. Oh, He is sweet! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * ISAIAH 34 “John Brown’s body lies a ‘mouldering in his grave. . . “ Some union soldiers were singing the song in their camp in Virginia. Julia Ward Howe and others were visiting the camp. A clergyman asked Julia to write new words to the song. The result was a poem, published first in the Atlantic Monthly, called, The Battle Hymn of the Republic. The lyrics replaced the “John Brown’s body. . . ,” lyrics in the familiar tune. Most of us are familiar with the first verse:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.

Mrs. Howe took the Apocalyptic concept of the Scripture and applied it to the Civil War situation. I guess the Civil War was a necessary evil. It did produce the freeing of slaves, but it also produced a hatred in the country that has still not been completely healed. The war probably was an outcome of the wrath of God upon the country for the sin of the nation in allowing slavery. Is God’s glory seen in His wrath? Isaiah 34 speaks of the Apocalyptic wrath of God as it is poured out upon the earth. Yes, His glory is seen there. His glory is also seen in the depths of Hell. How? God’s justice is displayed there. God’s justice will be displayed at Armageddon. I feel uncomfortable with it. It scares me. Yet, I acknowledge that it is logically necessary. There is a Holy God. Since there is an Eternal Holy God, a sin stands eternally before Him. If He is holy, then He must eternally punish that sin. Otherwise, His justice is mocked. Therefore, He eternally judges sin because His holiness demands it. If He did not judge, He would be neither just nor holy. That is part of His glory. So, when I hear people criticize the Bible because they say that the God of the O.T. is too harsh, I cringe. If He were not harsh toward sin, He would not be holy. If He were not holy, I would want none of Him. Yes, His wrath reveals His glory, but thanks be to God, His mercy triumphs over judgment in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is the Eternal God-man, He was able to bear eternal death upon the cross and in the grave in my place. He justly extends mercy to me when I cling to Him upon the cross. Does the wrath of the apocalypse or Hell bother you? It shouldn’t bother you anymore than does the cross. It is part of His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * LUKE 22:47-71 In the spring of my freshman year in college, I made a new friend in class. We had American History and Fencing together. He was a walk-on football player. I once talked with him about his plans for the future. He wanted to become a lawyer and earn enough money that he could become one of those guys that controls the athletic program by the way he contributes money. He wanted to be the one who could quietly pull the strings, and no one else knew. He did become a lawyer. Whether he pulls strings behind the scenes for the athletic program, I have no idea. Part of the glory of Jesus is that He both quietly pulls the strings behind the scenes, and He is the focus on the field of play. In the midst of going to the cross, Jesus remains confident, collected and still looking out for the needs of those whom He loves. Peter, ready to fight to the death, gets a surprise swing in against the High Priest's servant. Missing the mark, Peter severs the man's ear. Jesus rebukes Peter and heals the man's ear. Jesus rebukes the chief priests for coming secretly to arrest Him. Then at the high priest's house, after Peter denied Him 3 times, Jesus turned to Peter and just looked at Him. The chief priests were unable to bring the examination to a successful conclusion until Jesus gave them the precise answer they needed to condemn Him and the only answer He could give that would cause them to condemn Him. He claimed to be the Son of God. Jesus knew who He was. He guided the events to their conclusion. He was the central character along the line of events. Although not the officer in charge, He controlled the events. Ultimately, He was the One who was both behind the scenes pulling the strings and in front of the scenes as the main actor. Even today He remains as the One who holds it all together. Nothing happens in my life without His approval or permission. He also is the One in the foreground of my life. He deserves all my attention and yours also. He works behind me and in front of me. That is glory that I can't completely grasp! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john