July 19

JUDGES 2
The Israelites served the Baals. Their hearts went after other gods. “How could they do such a thing?” we might ask. Yet are we any different. Is not the glory of the LORD so much greater than the Baals? Should this not be a no-brainer decision? Why would anyone leave the LORD for the Baals? Yet do we not do the same thing today? The glory of the LORD is dripping around us, yet we embrace the world instead of His glory. Why do I choose to spend more time establishing the comforts of my life rather than establishing the greatness of His Kingdom? When I do this, am I any different from the Israelites who pursued the Baals? Hmmm. . . I don’t know. Lord, let me be infected with Your glory and settle for nothing less!! “What can be done for an old heart like mine? Soften it up? With oil and wine? The oil is You - Your Spirit of love. Please wash me anew with the wine of Your blood.” Those lyrics by Keith Green speak so poignantly to this issue.
Funny thing, I googled some of those words to get the correct lyrics. The first website that I found that had those lyrics was one that was paid for by ads. The most conspicuous ad was one for a web site for “sexy Christian singles.” It was a simple vertical column ad that consisted mainly of a picture. No heads were in the picture. It was just a guy standing in front of a girl. She stands behind him with her arm around him, having pulled his t-shirt up and here palm flat on his stomach. His hand was reaching back to her thigh. If sex is supposed to be for a married couple, does this ad not strike anyone a little odd? If Christian singlehood is supposed to be for the purpose of building the kingdom of God, if the marriage bed is undefiled, isn’t seeking “sexy Christian singles” somewhat of an oxymoron? Are we imbibing of a god that is not really leading us to the glory of our true King? Are we pursuing Baals? At what point do I use business to build the Kingdom of God, and at what point has business become an idol? Oh, what can be done for an old heart like mine? Lord soften up my heart so that I can pursue your glory unhindered! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 18
I was dancing around with the money I had just counted. “Wow! Look at this! Eighty dollars!” I had been working and saving for it for a couple of years. That was a grand sum for an eleven-year-old in 1966. I was excited about my achievement. All of a sudden the atmosphere changed to one of fire and smoke as my dad angrily snapped, “You don’t even have enough for a down payment on a car!” To this day I am not sure why Dad was so angry about it, but I will never forget the negative electricity in the air. I can relate to the David’s statements about the anger of the Lord:

Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire

.
When Dad was angry, the whole room was filled, as it were, with “smoke and devouring fire.”
The glory of the Lord is that at times His anger is terrifying. Is it right for the Creator of the Universe to exhibit such anger? Let me ask you this, “If you were unjustly being pursued by a murderer who was hell bent on killing you, would you want a just God to be angry about the murderer’s intent?” I would. At what point should God cease being angry with sin? Is it just murder? Is it adultery? If I lust after a woman in my heart, but never do anything about it, is God still just in being angry with me? Is it lying? If I tell a lie in order to protect someone, is God still just in being angry with me? If I covet the world’s goods so that I dance around rejoicing in what I have earned, while my brother goes without, is God just in being angry with me? At what point. . . .
Lest you think that my concept of God is a Supreme Being who is always angry, consider the rest of the Psalm. The anger was against the murderer, Saul, who was pursuing David to kill him. Now look at it from David’s perspective. He is helpless before his earthly king who is hotly pursuing him to end his life.

He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the LORD was my support.
He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

This Psalm drips with the mercies and lovingkindesses of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is that He does intervene in order to rescue us. If there were no anger against sin, would He intervene? So, is the intervention of God somewhat a function not only of His mercy but also of justice? “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Lord thank you for your justice, and thank you for your mercy, and thank you that mercy triumphs over judgment! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 44
We enjoy singing I’m Trading My Sorrows, but when we get right down to it, do we really trade them? Sometimes our sorrows are actually our joys, and in reality, we hang on to them. At least that was true of the Israelite remnant that fled to Egypt. This passage is almost unbelievable. For all these years Jeremiah has been preaching to them to give up what they have in order to gain what cannot be taken away. Each step of the way from the death of Josiah through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah and finally the Governorship of Gedaliah, he has preached, “Return to the Lord.” Each time that the people rejected the message, their political, social and economic situation became worse. Now they are refugees in Egypt because they rejected the Word of the Lord. Even as refugees they still worship the queen of the heavens. When Jeremiah brings the Word of the Lord to them, one more time the women respond, “Since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” Not only is their focus on their creature comforts, but they are attributing their decrease in creature comforts to the revival of Josiah shortly before his death. Their sorrows were found in their creature comforts or lack thereof. They traced their history and observed that their economic decline began with Josiah’s revival and his subsequent death. They attribute their problems to his calling the nation to Yahweh and away from the queen of heaven.
So, were they ready to trade their sorrows for the joy of the Lord? No indeed, they were ready to blame their sorrows upon Him. It is interesting to me that this complaint came from the women. The worship of the Canaanite Queen of Heaven seems to have included in some cases ritual prostitution as a means of exciting the fertility of the queen of heaven in order to receive the blessing of the riches of the land. Oh the depths of self-deception! Matthew Henry has this to say of this problem:
Those creature-comforts and confidences that we promise ourselves most from may fail us as soon as those that we promise ourselves least from, for they are all what God makes them, not what we fancy them.
We don’t worship the queen of heaven, but do we worship our creature-comforts? Would we lay down our creature-comforts for the glory of God? A more poignant question is, “Do we lay down our creature-comforts for the glory of God?” I think one of the reasons that it is so vital for us to spend time everyday looking at the glory of God and sharing what we have found with someone else is because if we don’t, we will become just as deceived as the women of Judah. Our creature-comforts become more important than His glory. I find that if I don’t gaze upon His glory, I forget. When I forget, the creature-comforts become more enticing. He is a God that is more glorious than all the comforts of which I can dream, and I can dream a lot! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 21:18-40
Why was Paul so bold? Now don't get me wrong. There were many times when Paul had exhibited great boldness. There were also times when he listened to the voice of discretion and bowed out of a city where he was about to be mobbed. After all, discretion is often the better part of valor. What good would it do to make a stink in Jerusalem? He had been warned time and again that he was going to be jailed and mistreated in Jerusalem. He still comes.
Yes Paul's ministry was to the Gentile, of but Romans 10:1 reveals the true heart of Paul, "Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." This apparently was one last effort to bring the Gospel to his brethren. He had always laid down his rights to live as he wanted in order to reach the people group he was trying to reach. Now it is one last ditch effort to reach those of his brethren in Jerusalem who had not yet come to see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. James has a reasonable plan, "Do something publicly that will demonstrate that you have not completely rejected Moses and the law, but only rejected using the law as a means of gaining the righteousness of God." The plan seemed to back fire. Paul was mobbed. The commander of the Roman cohort had to lead his troops into the mob to rescue Paul. That must have infuriated the mob--unclean Romans once again entering their temple environs.
How does one see the glory of Christ in this? James and the church leaders "glorified God" when they heard Paul's report on how the Gentiles had embraced the gospel. Jesus is also glorified when we see how He so changed the heart of Paul. Paul's greatest adversaries on his missionary journeys had been the Jewish people. Yes, he had plenty opposition among the Gentiles, especially in Ephesus. But, for the most part, His opposition was from those Jewish people who hated his message. If I had been Paul, I would have avoided the Jewish people like the plague. But he loved his brethren. He desired their salvation. That heart attitude was from the Lord Jesus. That makes the Lord glorious! He changes hearts and can change even mine! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John