August 27

1 SAMUEL 19
When God has a plan, He makes even His enemies join in accomplishing the plan. This is the second time that the Spirit of the Lord has come upon Saul and caused Him to prophesy. However, the first time found in chapter 10, Saul had just been privately anointed as king by Samuel, and he willingly joined in the prophets. This time Saul is seeking to kill David, the Lord’s replacement for him as king. This time Saul is forced to prophesy. This time God makes him strip in order to prophesy. This does not mean that he was completely naked. It means that the Lord made him take off his royal robes, the sign of his kingly office. The Lord forced him to publicly recognize that he was no longer to be king. When he prophesied, I wonder what he said. Do you suppose it was related to the extent of the kingdom that David’s descendant, the Lord Jesus, would have? It must have been awfully hard for Saul to swallow. Can you make your enemies praise you? Jesus can, does and will. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 57
Can you imagine sitting in the cave of Adullam? 1 Samuel 22:1-2 says:
David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.
So here he is unjustly hunted as a criminal by Saul, living in a cave, surrounded by 400 discontented people. What a wonderful environment to practice the power of positive thinking! While I wrote that sarcastically, I also meant it literally. Keep in mind though that not all positive thinking is godly, but all godly thinking is positive. Ever been around people who are discontent? Can you imagine 400 hundred of them? So here is David living in a cave with 400 discontents. What do you suppose the conversation was all about? “Saul is really doing a great job at subduing the Philistines,” or “The economy is really booming right now. We are doing so well. I think will have to expand my barns for all the grain and livestock. Maybe the wife and I will expand our house for the children we are having.”
I don’t thinks so. The conversation could probably be better described as, “My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men who are set on fire, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.” On the one hand, David feels it is good to have the support of 400 men. On the other hand, it is negative support. These men want change. They are discontent. They want change that spears, arrows and swords can bring. They see in David their champion. They see in David the one who can vulcanize their corporate desire for change and produce a new regime. Well, David is headed there, but not in the direction they had expected.
So if you were being pursued by Saul, if it were as though your pursuer had laid a net to trap you, if it were as though a pit had been dug for you, if you were among 400 discontents, how would you speak to vulcanize your followers in such a way that they would follow you to establish justice? Most of us would lay plans to bring down the evil regime and establish ourselves as the rulers. It is not so with David. He speaks of the glory of God! He cries for God’s mercy! He establishes his trust in God! He remembers that calamities, as evil as they are, are temporary! He calls out to the One who is almighty! He petitions Him to let mercy and truth be seen in their midst! He pleads for God’s Glory to be revealed to them! He makes his heart steadfast to sing the glory and praise of God!
Oh Lord help me to trade my discontent for Your glory! Help me to lift up the praise of your mercy and power! Help me to be content only in Your empowerment! May Your mercy and truth ever be upon my lips! It is Your glory to work that work in me and in us! Establish it O Lord! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 26
Tyre had it coming. She had produced such a notable as Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who led the nation into Baal worship. Archaeologists have found thousands of JPFs, Judean Pillar Figurines (or perhaps better labeled Judahite Pillar Figurines). The figurines are generally about 6 inches tall and are figures of a woman standing like a pillar with her hands under her breasts. Some have suggested that they were just toys. Others have suggested that they are household gods much like those which Rachel stole from Laban. Still others think that they are a household version of the Asherah pole, the female consort of Baal, considered to be a fertility goddess. Most of the JPFs were found in strata dating from about 800—586 B.C. Since Jezebel lived & ruled from 874-853 B.C. She certainly could have influenced their production and spread for all those generations. It was Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah, who married a King of Judah, Jehoram. The appearance of the JPFs occurs about a generation after Athaliah and remains until the destruction of the first temple. Tyre indeed had long fingers of influence into the cultural life of Israel and Judah. Her lust for wealth and sexual freedom were a corrupting influence upon the nations of Israel and Judah.
This chapter yields seven interesting predictions about the fate of Tyre:

1. Many nation would come against her.
a. 3 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up.
2. She would be scraped bare
a. 4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
3. Fishermen would spread their nets upon her for drying.
a. 5 It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations.
4. Nebuchadnezzar would destroy the mainland city
a. 7–8 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people. 8 He will slay with the sword your daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a defense against you.
5. Her debris would be thrown into the water.
a. 12 They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water.
6. She would never be rebuilt.
a. 14 I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD.
7. She would never be found again
a. 21 I will make you a terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be found again,’ says the Lord GOD.”

Many have written demonstrating the accuracy of the fulfillment of these prophecies. I will leave it to you to read what Josh McDowell has written in Evidence that Demands a Verdict in order to understand how each of these were fulfilled in history. Peter Stoner has calculated the odds of those 7 prophecies being fulfilled as one chance in 75,000,000. Yet every one of them has been fulfilled! Now that demonstrates the Glory of our God! He proclaims what will happen years before it happens, and it comes true! Jezebel thought that she could get away with her idolatry. Athaliah thought she could get away with her idolatry. Their poison spread to Judah and Israel. The kings of Tyre thought that they could get away with their idolatry, but God brings them to an end. Do I think I can get away with my idolatry? In the end we will all stand naked before Him. He will judge us according to the intentions of our hearts and our deeds. I need this Jesus to be my advocate at that time, for His blood pleads a better case. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 9
It seems that every minister has a group of people that examine his ministry and find it deficient in some manner. The clear implication here is that there was such a group in the church at Corinth. Apparently, there were some who did not think Paul qualified as an Apostle. After all, he did not take a salary from anyone but rather worked to meet his own needs. An Apostle wouldn't do that. He did not bring a wife with him. He didn't even have a wife. Surely an Apostle would have a wife and take her with him wherever he went. If he were such a great Apostle, where were all the rewards that should accompany the office? His reward? His reward was the people who followed Christ as a result of his preaching the Gospel. For that reason he did whatever it took to make himself more effective at bringing people to Jesus. How does this speak the glory of Jesus?
Would you or I give up the right to receive a salary just so that you or I might be more effective at preaching the Gospel? Would you or I give up the right to a spouse just so that you or I might be more effective at preaching the Gospel? Paul would and did because he had seen the glory of Christ. You and I may not see the glory of Christ visibly as did Paul, this side of death. But we can see His glory in the Scripture. We can see His glory as He works around us. As we focus on His glory, it gradually changes us so that we become willing to become all things for all people that we might save some. Because we understand that it is about His glory not our rights, and His glory is more precious than our rights. That is why we must focus on His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 26

1 SAMUEL 18
“Praise the Lord!” was my comment to my teammate as I returned to the bench after the series of downs. It was the last game of the season of my senior year. I had never been a good football player. I had never even suited up before my senior year. The coach had let me start the first two home games. During both games, he yanked me out because of poor performance on the field. I rarely played after that. But this was the last game of the season. My best friend, who had sustained a mild injury in the previous game played both offense and defense. Coach wanted him to play just offense in order to preserve his strength during the game. So, I received the call to play his defensive spot. All week long I was praying that the Lord would allow me to play above my ability so as to bring glory to His name. The Lord answered that prayer. I played above my ability because of Him. When my teammates commented upon my play level, I had no other choice but to say, “Praise the Lord!” It was His doing.
Assuming Saul reigned 40 years, assuming David was 30 when he became king upon the death of Saul, David was born in Saul’s 10th year as king. Assuming Jonathan was 15-18 years old when he began leading 1,000 men, assuming that was in Saul’s second year as king (see August 21, 1 Samuel 13), there is a 25-27 year age gap between Jonathan and David. Yet there was this natural friendship between Jonathan and David. Perhaps Jonathan saw something of himself in David. Maybe, like himself, he saw a 15-year-old who wasn’t afraid of overwhelming odds. David had the same kind of spirit as Jonathan. Jonathan was secure in his relationship with God. David was not a threat to him, but an encouragement. It was refreshing to see someone like himself who would trust God in the midst of overwhelming odds.
What a contrast with Saul! Saul, for whatever reason was always insecure in his relationship with God. Maybe it was because his father was bent. Maybe it was a lack of self-confidence. After all Saul was the one found hiding in the baggage when it came time to anoint him king. One thing is certain; Saul had great difficulty in full obedience to the Lord. He couldn’t wait for Samuel, so he took it upon himself to lead in sacrifice. He couldn’t wait for the answer from the Lord via the priestly ephod, when Jonathan unexpectedly began the rout of the Philistines. He rashly made a vow when commanding his troops not to eat anything during the battle. This led to the soldiers eating blood (a clear violation of the law) when they finally had a break. He did not fulfill the command of the Lord when he defeated the Amalekites. He saved the best for himself, rather than destroying all. He teetered on leading the army into battle against the Philistines in the valley of Elah, and let 15-year-old (or less) David go fight the giant. Instead of rejoicing over the victory that God gave, he became jealous. What a contrast with Jonathan and David!
So God sent a distressing spirit upon Saul. For some people it just doesn’t seem right for God to send an evil spirit upon someone. How can a good God send an evil spirit on someone? For an explanation better than I can give on that subject, go to this website:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=1278
Saul was focused upon his own glory. Jonathan and David both understood the glory of God. Focusing upon His glory resulted obedient acts of valor when the occasion demanded it. Saul’s focusing upon himself resulted in disobedient acts of valor when the occasion demanded obedient acts. Oh by the way, after reviewing the game films of the last game, the coach told me, “If I knew you could play that position like that, you would have been there all year.” Well, that is the rub, I couldn’t play the position like that. I was playing above my ability. The Lord was teaching me to focus on His glory. When we do, He glorifies Himself, and lets us enjoy doing it with Him. Lord, may I always focus on your glory so that when the occasion demands it, I will walk with you in obedient acts which bring glory to Your name! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 56

PSALM 56
Prayer for Relief from Tormentors
To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” a Michtam of David When the Philistines Captured Him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the LORD (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?

PSALM 34
The Happiness of Those Who Trust in God
A Psalm of David When He Pretended Madness Before Abimelech, Who Drove Him Away, and He Departed.

1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him,
And saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;
But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

David writes two Psalms out of this one experience. Obviously it made quite an impact upon him. David had been delivered from the paw of the Lion and the bear. He had defeated the Philistine champion of Gath, Goliath. But to be pursued by one whom you had loyally supported is indeed unsettling. It was so unsettling that David ran to his former enemies for help. What happened to trusting in the Lord? Even the best of us have our moments when we seek fleshly help rather than rely upon the Lord. It didn’t take David long to realize that he had jumped from the frying pan into the fire. But it did re-teach him a lesson. He was forced to re-learn that only God can be trusted.
Now that is one of the essential things about our Lord. He can and must be trusted. Though man can torture me, though he can ridicule me, though he can torture my family, though he can kill me, God can and will keep all that I have committed to Him. He will restore it when He returns. So, I can say with David, “What can man do to me?” Nothing can happen to that which I have committed to Him. I can and will trust Him. He is worth my trust. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 25
1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” Many people tire quickly of Ezekiel because it is chapter after chapter of judgment. Indeed the first 24 chapters of Ezekiel deal with the glory of God in particular as He is dispensing judgment upon the house of God. The time had come for God to judge His house. Now a shift has come in Ezekiel. He begins to judge the countries outside the house of God. The judgment upon His house was harsh and hot, but the house of God, the descendants of Abraham, the descendants of those with whom He made the Mosaic covenant are still recognizable today.
What about the peoples to whom He now turns His attention? What about, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Those people groups are no longer recognizable even though there are people living in those lands which still bear their names. Where does Amman, Jordan get its name? Probably from Ammon. Where do the Palestinians get their name? It is derived from the Roman designation of the area which referred to the area as Palestine which meant Philistine. But would a Palestinian today claim to be a Philistine? Absolutely not! Would one born and raised in Amman, Jordan claim to be an Ammonite or a Moabite or a Edomite? Absolutely not! The cultural identity of those groups from the day of Ezekiel has been lost, but not the Israelite! Hmmm. . .
The fact that there is therefore, now, no condemnation for those to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, does not protect us from the judgment of the house of God. There is a difference between a judgment that brings condemnation and a fiery judgment that disciplines and burns away what is ungodly. Judgment that brings condemnation ends in eternal separation from our loving King. Judgment that disciplines and burns away what is ungodly purifies us and brings us into loving relationship with our Father and Lord. Lord, it is to Your glory that I be purified of all ungodliness. Lord, I welcome Your discipline, and I also choose to walk according to Your Spirit. Yielding to You, I claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called me to walk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what You will do with one sinner who will yield to You. Lord, do not stop on the individual level. May the congregation which I pastor yield corporately to You. May we claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called us to walk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what you will do with a congregation that corporately yields to You. Lord, do not stop with this one congregation in Stillwater. May the church of Stillwater yield corporately to You. May we claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called us to wallk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what you will do with church of a community that corporately yields to You. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 8
There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things and we are for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
Through Jesus comes all things. He called into being the stars. He put them into motion. He designed the laws of physics & chemistry. He created the first cell. He created how the physical interacts with the spiritual. He designed how interpersonal relationships ought to work. He designed how I ought to relate to myself. He designed how I ought to relate to Himself.
Through Jesus we live. What are all the implications of that? I breathe because He enables it. But that is a shallow concept of life. He enables eternal life. What is eternal life? Is it just breathing forever? This is eternal life -- that we may know God and Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent. He enables me to know my Creator. May He grant me to know Him more! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 24

1 SAMUEL 17
As a sophomore in high school, I weighed 135 (only a little bit more than Goliaths coat of mail) pounds. I was on the last string (6th) of our football team. The coach sometimes took the last string and used it as a scout team against the first string. We would run the defense and offense of the upcoming team in a scrimmage against our 1st string. One practice I was placed as a cornerback on the defense of the scout team. In this particular practice our first string offense was practicing a screen pass. This meant that our 1st string tackle, who weighed 235 and was all muscle, would be blocking me. Not only would he be blocking me, but he would have a running start. The first time that he hit me, I think that I was fully airborne for at least five yards. As I pulled myself back on my feet, the head coach looked at me and said, “I know he is big, but you’ve got to protect yourself, Chaffin.” I thought to myself, “Yeah, give me a loaded Smith and Wesson, and I’ll protect myself.” That was one time in my life when I felt that there was a literal giant whom I had to face in battle.
There are times in our lives when the enemy of our soul appears as a giant looming over us. He appears large, crafty, fierce and ready to consume us. Where is the glory of the Lord in those situations? The enemy seems to smear the reputation of God in our sight. Why does not the Lord do something for the glory of His Name? David recognized the situation. But he saw beyond the scene. He saw the glory of the Lord. He had faced lesser giants before. He had depended upon the Lord before. He knew the glory of the Lord was at stake. When no other champion would defend the glory of the Lord, David knew that the Lord would defend His own glory. Knowing the glory of the Lord, David could confidently boast,
I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46“This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel!

It wasn’t about who was the biggest, the strongest, the fiercest, the tallest, the smartest, or even the toughest. It was about the glory of the Lord. When it came to the glory of the Lord, Goliath never knew what hit him. When those times come in my life when the enemy looms over me, I have to find out what the Lord is doing for His glory in this situation. When I get on His side and work with Him. The enemy is the one who goes flying and He gets the glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 55
Have you ever been betrayed by one whom you thought was a friend, if not a friend at least an ally? It is one thing to be attacked by an enemy; it is quite another thing to be attacked by one you thought to be a friend. That is why Shakespeare’s words, “Et tu Brute?” ring down true through the ages. It is a betrayal of expected trust and support that is suddenly gone when you need it. It leaves you reeling emotionally if nothing else. It is why adultery is so devastating. It is why church splits are so damaging. It is why many people are turned off toward the organized church. What do you do when the one with whom you worshipped and sought the counsel together turns and suggests that you are no longer worthy of walking with them? How do you handle it when the with whom you once sought God’s advice implies or says that you are incapable of hearing the voice of God, or even that you are mentally unstable, or if not unstable, at least dishonest. David experienced that:
It is not an enemy who reproaches me; Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, My companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, And walked to the house of God in the throng.
Jesus also knew that pain. He knew it before it happened. He Himself said on the night on which he was betrayed, “I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.’”
Later when Judas came to betray Him, He said,
And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him.” Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. But Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.
Jesus knew why he had come. He knew at supper what Judas was about to do. A friend does not betray a friend. Why does Jesus call him, “friend?” Jesus wasn’t casting accusation upon Judas. He was simply pointing out the fact of how He felt toward Judas. In light of that awesome love, He was forcing Judas to see what he was rejecting. He used a question to teach the point. Was this painful to Jesus? Oh yes it was! Then why does He treat Judas with such compassion? Because that is the way that Jesus is.
He had spent the night in prayer with His Father. He was ready for the pain. He could endure it for the joy that lay before Him. The wrestling in prayer had prepared Him for it. Interesting, that is how the Psalm begins, “Give ear to my prayer, O God, And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily.” What can one do when one has experienced betrayal and the friend will not be reconciled? Matthew Henry says, “Prayer is a salve for every sore and a relief to the spirit under every burden.” I am particularly encouraged when I realize that Jesus Himself has experienced this pain to its fullest degree. He is able to fully relate to my pain. Indeed if I am honest with myself, I realize that I at times past have been that same kind of pain to Him, and He forgives me, He helps me through my own betrayals. WOW! Is He not glorious? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 25
1 Peter 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” Many people tire quickly of Ezekiel because it is chapter after chapter of judgment. Indeed the first 24 chapters of Ezekiel deal with the glory of God in particular as He is dispensing judgment upon the house of God. The time had come for God to judge His house. Now a shift has come in Ezekiel. He begins to judge the countries outside the house of God. The judgment upon His house was harsh and hot, but the house of God, the descendants of Abraham, the descendants of those with whom He made the Mosaic covenant are still recognizable today.
What about the peoples to whom He now turns His attention? What about, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia. Those people groups are no longer recognizable even though there are people living in those lands which still bear their names. Where does Amman, Jordan get its name? Probably from Ammon. Where do the Palestinians get their name? It is derived from the Roman designation of the area which referred to the area as Palestine which meant Philistine. But would a Palestinian today claim to be a Philistine? Absolutely not! Would one born and raised in Amman, Jordan claim to be an Ammonite or a Moabite or a Edomite? Absolutely not! The cultural identity of those groups from the day of Ezekiel has been lost, but not the Israelite! Hmmm. . .
The fact that there is therefore, now, no condemnation for those to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, does not protect us from the judgment of the house of God. There is a difference between a judgment that brings condemnation and a fiery judgment that disciplines and burns away what is ungodly. Judgment that brings condemnation ends in eternal separation from our loving King. Judgment that disciplines and burns away what is ungodly purifies us and brings us into loving relationship with our Father and Lord. Lord, it is to Your glory that I be purified of all ungodliness. Lord, I welcome Your discipline, and I also choose to walk according to Your Spirit. Yielding to You, I claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called me to walk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what You will do with one sinner who will yield to You. Lord, do not stop on the individual level. May the congregation which I pastor yield corporately to You. May we claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called us to walk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what you will do with a congregation that corporately yields to You. Lord, do not stop with this one congregation in Stillwater. May the church of Stillwater yield corporately to You. May we claim the empowerment of Your Holy Spirit to walk as you have called us to wallk. Magnify Your glory by showing the world what you will do with church of a community that corporately yields to You. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 7:17-40
A small few have suggested from this passage that Paul is against marriage. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul is for the glory of Christ. Knowing Jesus in His glory is far more fulfilling than the very best marriage relationship. And if you have one of those very best marriage relationships, you know that it is very fulfilling. But knowing Jesus in His glory is far more fulfilling! If you are one of those rare people who can truthfully say, "I have a very fulfilling marriage and I have a very fulfilling relationship with Jesus Christ," you know exactly what I mean here. Indeed, I do not believe that one's marriage can reach it fullest potential unless one first finds their fulfillment in Christ.Jesus. It is through knowing and experiencing our fulfillment in Him that enables us to give without expectation in return. The more things or people to whom we attach ourselves in this world, the more difficult it is to find our fulfillment in Christ. Paul's point is to be content in what condition you met Christ and find your fulfillment in Him first. Then as you are fulfilled through Him, if marriage is in the plan, that is good. If marriage is not in the plan, that is good--you are still fulfilled. It is the glory of Christ that He fulfill us, not the things or people, whom He gives to us. That is why speaking His glory to one another is so pivotal. It helps us focus on His glory. We cannot be fulfilled by His glory if we do not focus upon it. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 23

1 SAMUEL 15
The Lord seems so stern at times. Utterly destroy everybody? Wow, that is tough! When Saul does not destroy everything and everybody, the Lord “regrets” having made him king and decides to remove him as king. Wow, that is stringent! But wait a minute; who were these Amalakites? They were the descendents of Esau’s grandson, Amalek. Esau despised the blessing of Abraham and demonstrated it by selling his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of porridge. Esau’s lack of respect for the Abrahamic blessing and the glory of God was passed on to his descendants and intensified by them. Consequently when Israel came out of Egypt. The Amalekites attacked them. The Lord swore that He would always be at war with them. Why? Because they would not respect the glory of the Lord.
Saul would not obey the Lord. Why? Look at verse 24. Saul says, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.“ Saul was more concerned about how the people viewed Him than he was concerned about the glory of the Lord. God is looking for men who are more concerned about His glory than about how people view them.
The Lord “regrets” making Saul king. That same word is used in Gen. 6:6 when He says that he was “sorry” that he had made man. He was pretty stern at that time also. He wiped out everyone on the earth except Noah and His family. What does that tell us about the glory of the Lord? It tells me that the glory of the Almighty is more important than anything else. I must seek His glory with all that I am. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 53
Comedian Jeff Allan said in the date night challenge produced by Focus on the Family, “I know why God created teenagers. He wanted us to experience what it was like to create someone in our image, who denies our existence.” The Psalmist says that “God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.” What did this glorious God find when He looked? There is no one who seeks God. Paul quotes these verses in Romans 3:10-12 in order to demonstrate that all have sinned. So how is it that this glorious God could create us in His own image, and we refuse to acknowledge His existence? What should a righteous God do with this enigma? Here is what the righteous God did. He said that sin required the death of the sinner.
If we fail to acknowledge God’s existence and claim upon our lives, how will that affect our relationships with each other? If we are made in the image of God, and we are, then every time we see another human, we see the image of God. We are then faced with a subconscious choice. We must either acknowledge God’s existence in them or deny it. If we deny it, if we view them simply as a big bag of chemical electrical reactions, what is wrong with killing them, if leads to my survival? After all, if there is no god, then the ruling force is survival of the fittest. Naturally such a mindset would lead to much killing, or as the Psalmist puts it in verse 4, “Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon God?” So when I desire the demise of another is not part of the reason because I have failed to acknowledge the image of God in them?
So what do I do with this knowledge, for I know that I have desired the demise of others and others have desired my demise? And the problem stems from my failure to acknowledge God’s existence and claims upon my life. What should or will this Holy God do? He should kill us, but His holiness extends beyond His justice to His mercy. Because of His great mercy, He brings us salvation, so we can call out with David, “O that salvation would come out of Zion!” He provides salvation for us. So, when we continually receive that salvation and gaze upon His image, it changes us. He delivers us out of our captivity to sin. He restores us to right relationship with Him. He causes us to rejoice and be glad. It is a gladness that is not dependent upon circumstance. It just flows from him. Wow! Instead of death, we receive joy and gladness. What an amazing God! ? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 23
Samaria, Oholah means ‘her own tabernacle.’ Jerusalem, Oholibah means ‘My tabernacle is in her.’ In order to maintain the split to between the two counties/cities, Jeroboam instituted two other places of worship in the northern kingdom, Dan and Bethel. The move was basically established in order to keep the northern people from returning to Jerusalem to worship. Jeroboam was fearful that regular returns to Jerusalem to worship might incite a desire to reunite the country, and he or his descendants might lose their power. Eventually after the exile, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mt. Gerazim near the city of Samaria. The woman at the well unsuccessfully sought to draw Jesus into the argument on the proper place to worship. The split remains to this day. Samaritans still worship on Mt. Gerazim and Jews at the wailing wall in Jerusalem. The Lord points out through Ezekiel that both of them have committed spiritual adultery with other gods in their places of worship. They were both guilty of exchanging the worship of the true God for the worship of false gods. Not only did they worship other gods, but they tried to incorporate that worship into the worship of the Lord. But the Lord will not share His glory with any other. It’s like sharing your wife with someone else. It just doesn’t work.
I wonder if the reason that the American church is so weak is that we have placed our own spiritual desires in place of true worship of our Lord. We have dressed it up nicely, like it looks it is worshipping the Lord, but spiritually we’ve gone to bed with another god. The Lord doesn’t put up with that. Lord, remove any spiritual unfaithfulness in me so that your glory might shine alone in me. Lord, cure us of our spiritual whoredom so that Your glory might reign supreme in us! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 6
"WE will judge the world." Now, if I didn't understand the glory of Christ, that would be a most disturbing thought! Just, look at our judicial system now! Just look at our churches now! We will judge the world? How can one keep from throwing up his or her hands and crying out, "I don't think so?" ONLY by looking at the glory of Christ can we keep from that. What is His glory? He takes the wretched refuse of our sin and washes it clean with His blood. We were once fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortionists. But He washed us, made us holy and declared us righteous. If He can do that, and He has, He can change us so that eventually we will have the ability to righteously judge the world. Isn't He glorious? He can take our vileness and make us holy! He can take our foolishness and make us wise! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 22

2013, 1 SAM 14
Recently a number of “little things” have begun to gnaw on me, weighing my heart down. None of them are particularly insurmountable, but the sum total of them drain the energy out of me. We’ve lost a number of significant people in our church. In one case the parting included some hard relational problems. I have been patiently working through an audit with the IRS. It has demanded an accounting for every bank deposit in the 2010/2011 tax years. Every time I give an answer, it seems they want more information. I have a relative who has mental problems. He called me the other night when I was not there and left a message on the answering machine which threatened to have “my a__ thrown in jail.” According to the message, he thinks that my wife works for the Social Security office and that she caused Social Security to deny him $49,000 in benefits. My wife has nothing to do with Social Security. I am a care giver for my 91-year-old mother. Her house had a fire the other day; the roof leaks (unrelated to the fire); a sewer line had to be replaced; several trees are dropping limbs as a result of the previous two years of drought; at least two trees died and need to be cut down. My own house has issues. Limbs are dropping, the roof leaks from one of the limbs, the water heater sprang a leak (it was brand new in 2007). The dog is in heat and there is a problem with our male. The list could go on, but I will stop here. There are just a lot of little things that seem to weigh the heart down.
There are things that are done in the heat of passion when the adrenaline is rushing and foolhardiness overwhelms us. Then there are things that are done in a cold calculating manner when it is determined that we can be successful. Then there are things that are not done because the multitude of little things against doing the right thing weigh the heart down, and the will becomes enmeshed in in a shroud of negative thinking. The children of Israel had experienced a great victory over the Ammonites. Saul had galvanized the nation and 300,000 men showed up in the adrenal rush of their new king. They rescued Jabesh Gilead, but farmers can’t stay in the army forever. They returned home to their families and crops. So a year or two later, Saul had only a small standing army of 3,000. Jonathan took his 1,000 and his youthful adrenaline, and he defeated the Philistine garrison raising the ire of the Philistines.
Unlike the Ammonite army, the Philistine army had technology on their side, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, plus a huge number of soldiers. It overwhelmed the standing army of Israel. The citizens and much of the army became afraid and began to hide in the abundant caves of the mountains of Israel. Saul’s army was reduced from 3,000 to 600. This wasn’t just a multitude of little things; it was an overwhelming flood! Was Jonathan filled with the memories of Jabesh Gilead and the defeat of Philistine garrison, or was he caught up in youthful adrenaline and foolhardiness, or did he really believe that the Lord could and would deliver them from their oppressors. Whatever his true motivation, these are his words: “It may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few.” Wow! May his kin live forever!
His words indicate that he knew the glory of the Lord! He and one other guy crossed the pass at Michmash, scaling the cliffs while the Philistines watched and waited for them to come to the top. (You can see pictures of Michmash by going to google images and type in the word Michmash.) It was 20 against 2+the Lord. The 20 were mismatched. In half an acre of land Jonathan and his armor bearer brought the Philistines to their final meeting with the Lord. It began a rout. The Lord used Jonathan’s victory to cause fear to spread through the Philistine camp. The army began to melt away in fear.
Meanwhile back at the camp, Saul had called a priest with an ephod to determine from the Lord whether or not he should attack the Philistines. Before the priest could toss the urim and the thummim, the noise of the retreating army reached Saul’s ears. Always a man of action over waiting upon the Lord, Saul commanded the priest to withdraw his hand. He immediately set out to join in the rout. He gave a rash oath designed to motivate the troops to victory, but it led to sin against the Lord. When victory was assured in the evening, he took time to seek the Lord concerning the wisdom of pursuing the Philistines into the night. The Lord would not answer. One gets the impression that Saul seemed more concerned with weighing his various options rather than his concern for what the Lord wanted. As A.W. Tozer once put it, “The Lord tells the man who cares.” Saul has demonstrated a lack of whole hearted devotion to seeking the Lord. This little devotion led to him placing requirements upon his army which led to sin. Their hearts and passions were revealed by ravenous eating of meat that had not been properly bled. Their hearts were found lacking. On the other hand, Jonathan helped himself to some ‘clean’ food. A little honey from the honey comb allowed him the right energy that was needed in the midst of the battle.
Jonathan would not allow the overwhelming flood of the Philistine army to shroud the glory of the Lord. Saul let the problems fog His sight. His vision was set upon the problems. I am faced daily with the same choice. You are faced daily with the same choice. Which path will I follow? Which path will you follow? I choose the glory of the Lord. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 52
We all look for opportunities. Not all opportunities are equal. They are the way in which we gain advancement in this life. Doeg, the Edomite, was one of those opportunistic people. Not a natural citizen of Israel he saw the rising nationalism and power of Israel, his neighbor to the north. Moving to Saul’s capital, he sought to hook his wagon to this rising star. We don’t really know why he left his homeland, or how he gained access to Saul, but he did. It was a good opportunity for him. He apparently did something in order to gain high standing in Saul’s court. He served, watched and waited for the next opportunity to advance himself in Saul’s service. Being opportunistic, he did not care whether it advanced the Glory of God or not. His concern was his advancement in the eyes of Saul. The opportunity came when he observed the rift between Saul and David, and he observed the flight of David as he visited Ahimelech the priest in order to gain help from the Lord. He reported David’s activity to Saul. Saul ordered Doeg to kill the priests of Ahimelech. Doeg gladly responded to Saul’s order. In so doing he would ingratiate himself even more before the king. What an opportunity! Doeg destroyed 85 priests before the day was over.
David continued running to the Philistine king Abimelech (Achish). There David had to feign madness in order to escape Achish. Not much opportunity there! Psalm 34 was written shortly after that. Psalm 52 was written after David learned of what Doeg the Edomite had done. David wrote this on the run from Saul. He spent more than a decade running from Saul. Yes, he had up to 600 men who joined him on the run, but it wasn’t exactly a prosperous time. He did not write it from the comfort of a palace. He wrote it from the confines of a tent as he was on the run. Yet in contrast to Doeg, the man who trusted in his riches, David describes himself as “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.” That is quite the proclamation and commitment coming from a man who is running for his life from the wrath of the king! How can David have such confidence?
David knows the good Name of the Lord. He knows that the Lord laughs at the kings of the earth who oppose Him. David knows that the Lord is! He knows that the Lord hears and comes down to deliver. In short, David knows the glory of the Lord. His situation is temporary! His relationship with the Lord is forever. It is the glory of the Lord that keeps him going. What keeps me going? Is it the promise of an opportunity, or is it the glory of God? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 21
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” So goes the well known hyperbolic saying of epic proportions. I don’t know. I have never experienced it. But I would agree with this, “Hell is the fury of God scorned.” Fury is sometimes defined as destructive rage. God describes Himself as exhibiting fury when He judges and destroys Jerusalem. Listen to verse 17, “I also will beat My fists together, And I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD, have spoken.” There has to be something glorious about the fury of the Lord. On that fateful day when the Lord casts Satan into the Lake of fire, I think we will all be shouting, “Glory!” We will all be joyous when the would-be usurper of the throne of the Universe is finally put out of action forever! If God does not do this someday, then He is not just. Fury against sin must be!
He must rule over what He has created, or He is impotent and not worthy praise. Thus we will one day shout with joy, “Overthrown, overthrown, He has made it overthrown! He whose right it is has come, and the Father has given it to Him.” The destruction of Jerusalem is just a microcosm of that greater judgment which He will bring, and it is glorious! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 5
The purity of our Lord is unassailable. It ought to be of His church. That is His goal—to present us to Himself a glorious bride without spot or blemish. That will happen when He returns. In the meantime we are to speak of His purity to one another. When that purity is obviously sullied we are to take measures to remove it. In this case the obvious was a man, who had his father’s wife. Such blatant immorality must be dealt with—for the purpose of bringing the person back to Jesus. Jesus is our purity, our Passover. Let us celebrate His purity with sincerity and truth. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 21

1 SAMUEL 13
The race was coming to an end. My lungs felt like fire; my bowels felt like they were going to explode, and my legs felt like lead weights. It was a six mile jog that was offered by my biology teacher as extra credit to all who run it and complete it. Many of us took him up on the offer. Few of us trained for it. As I neared the finish line, I saw an accomplished athlete from our class. He had left me in his dust at the beginning of the race. Now he was walking. I kept on chugging along. He looked back when he heard my breathing. Immediately he said, “Chaffin, I can’t let YOU beat me! Stop running!” He took off running. I couldn’t answer. My lungs burned too much. I tried to give it a kick. We ran neck and neck for quite a way. He kept telling me to stop. He said he didn’t have much left, but he couldn’t let ME beat him. I am not a great athlete, but I am not a quitter. I kept putting one foot in front of the other. He kept telling me to quit. He crossed the finish line one step in front of me. “Why wouldn’t you quit?” I did not have the breath to answer him, but the answer is, “Because I just don’t have it in me to quit.”
Saul had taken at least a year since his coronation, maybe two years, to develop a standing army of 3,000. With his son Jonathan in charge of 1,000 at Gibeah, he had 2,000 at Michmash, just 4 miles as the crow flies to the northeast of Gibeah. The Philistines had a garrison in Geba 3 miles to the northeast of Gibeah. Whether Saul commanded Jonathan to attack, or whether the 15-18 year-old Jonathan did it in youthful impetuosity, is unclear, but it caught the Philistines by surprise and Jonathan was successful at Geba. It brought the full force of the wrath of the Philistines to Michmash – 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen against Israel’s farmers armed with sharpened farming implements.
Saul retreated to Gilgal and called Israel together. Saul was getting nervous. He was instructed by the Samuel, as a commandment of the Lord, to wait at Gilgal, seven days, until Samuel came to sacrifice. Gilgal had been a very important location in the life of Israel to this point. It was the base camp of the people after crossing the Jordan River ending their wilderness wanderings. Near here they set up a pile of stones to commemorate their crossing. Here they renewed the covenant with Yahweh by circumcising all the males. This sign of the covenant had not been practiced since they left Egypt. Then the Lord said, “I have rolled away your reproach.” (Gilgal means ‘wheel’ or ‘rolling.’) After healing from the circumcision, they celebrated the first Passover in Canaan. It served as their base camp for the military conquest of Canaan. Here Saul received his coronation as king of Israel. It is the furthest point east in the center of Israel without crossing the Jordan. It is a significant location historically, religiously and militarily. The command was simple, “Wait seven days.”
Perhaps Jonathan won at Geba because he had surprise on his side. Perhaps it was because the garrison at Geba was small. Perhaps it is because God was with him, but when the massive Philistine army showed up at Michmash, it was overwhelming. People ran and hid. Saul’s little force of 3,000 began to dwindle to 600 and Saul was worried. Waiting for battle caused his force to dwindle rather than grow. Instead of people rallying to his side, they ran and hid. Saul waited until the last minute, but Samuel hadn’t shown. If he waited any longer, he might have no army. He would not wait any longer. He was a man of action, and he acted. His heart was set on the circumstances not upon the Lord.
The Lord engineers races for us to wait upon Him. It is a wait race. In so doing He reveals our hearts to us. Saul’s heart was revealed. It was not set upon the Lord; it was set upon the circumstances. He lost the wait race. The Lord wants people whose hearts are set upon Him not circumstances. How long will I wait upon Him before I bolt and run? I guess it depends on how set my heart is upon His glory. That is why I need to see His glory every day. Otherwise the guy running in front of me can dissuade me, and I will quit running. But when I see His glory, oh I cannot help but keep running! I cannot help but put another weary foot in front of the other. I cannot help but breathe another fire-filled breath. I am running into His glory and that makes all the difference. With His glory before me, I just don’t have it in me to quit. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

2012 PSALM 51
Just six days ago, I was staying in the New Park Hotel in Amman, Jordan. When you step out of the hotel and look up, you can see the northeast corner of the citadel of the ancient city. Down toward the western end of the citadel archaeologists have found the foundations of what they believe to be a palace belonging to an ancient king of Rabbah Ben Ammon. That was the city to which Joab was laying siege when David made his infamous decision to stay at home rather than go out to war. It was somewhere around here that David had Joab put Uriah in the hottest part of the battle and then withdraw so that Uriah would be killed. It is a rugged area to be attempting a siege. I could see how a blunder could be staged that that would yield the desired outcome without inflicting large losses upon one’s own troops.
Just a few days before I was at the New Park Hotel, I was in the City of David looking at the Archeological Park. Archeologist Eilat Mazar has located there what she believes to be the remains of David’s palace. It sits at the northwest corner of David’s old city. The old City of David barely covers 12 acres, is long and skinny, and steeply slopes from the lowest point in the south to the highest in the north. At Mazar’s location David’s palace would not have to be very tall to overlook every house in town. Moreover, the archeological park indicates that a royal quarter of houses surrounded the palace, meaning David’s most trusted military men and civil officials probably lived very close by. I wonder if it was common practice for women to bathe on their rooftop. If not, what was Bathsheba doing up there? If so, David knew that being there alone would escort him into the area of lustful thoughts. He went there anyway.
Whatever the causes, David was almost literally “caught with his pants down,” not only with the adultery but also with the cover-up murder. David tried to hide his sin. He denied, denied, denied, even to himself. How long had the desire for God gone dry before he knew it was gone? How long was it before he experienced the realization that he was no longer in fellowship with God? How long was it before he realized that his private sin was public knowledge? Was it really only when Nathan the prophet came to him? When and how did this overwhelming remorse take him so that he penned this Psalm? It seems to me that this sin was so premeditated that the answer to all these questions is, “He knew it all along, but refused to consciously recognize it.” If man of whom God implied was ‘a man after His own heart’ could be caught that way, how much more can I?
David’s desperation for cleansing and renewal and forgiveness wash through this Psalm. His confession had to be made public for in a sense his was a public sin. O sure, the thought processes which led to the private bedroom act were all private. Sure, the arrangements for Uriah’s murder were private, but the consequences had public results. Ultimately, it was only against God that he had sinned, but in the process he sinned against Bathsheba, taking from her that which she should only have given her husband. He sinned against Uriah, taking from him that which belonged only to him as Bathsheba’s husband. He sinned against Uriah, taking his life from him. But David knew that ultimately, as the Creator, these all belonged to God. He sinned against God. The fellowship was gone, and he knew it.
Here is where the Glory of Jesus comes in. Jesus does not just wink at the sin. He desires and demands truth in our hidden parts, but when He brings us to the point (which may feel like our bones are being broken) where we see and acknowledge the truth, He brings forgiveness. He does purge us. He does wash us whiter than snow. He does create in us a clean heart. He does renew a steadfast spirit—David had one before Bathsheba, and he would have one again. God does restore His presence. He does this so that other sinners may come to repentance and be converted. He does it so that we might experience true change and experience Him. He wants me to experience Him. David lived the rest of his life in the ignominious circumstances resulting from his sin, but nevertheless, he experienced God once again. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 20
Why was the human race created? Why were the people of Israel created? Why did God choose to locate them where He located them? Why did He remove them from the land? Why did He return them to the land? The answers to all of these questions are embedded in this passage.
The Lord created us to reflect His image, Genesis 1:26-28. Reflecting His image necessarily means that we must be close enough to Him that a reflection may be made. That is why the Lord would walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, Genesis 3:8. His image is inherent in us via His creation of us, but it is magnified when we walk with Him. Walking with someone implies conversation which builds relationship. We were created to be in periodic, if not constant, conversation with God. Our sin divides us from God; it kills us, Genesis 3. It stops the conversation. That is why, as a rule, we no longer hear the voice of God. Yet in the midst of the curse of death God promised a deliverer, Genesis 3:15.
Why was Israel created? Israel was created to be the people group through whom the seed of the woman would come to deliver us, Genesis 12:3. Why did He locate them in the Land of Canaan? Look at a map of the world. At the time that Israel was created, 1400 B.C., it was literally the crossroads of the world. Anyone going from Europe to Asia or Africa by land would go through Palestine. Anyone traveling from Asia to Europe of Africa by land would go through Palestine. Anyone traveling from Africa to Asia or Europe by land would travel through Palestine. God’s desire was to restore the communication with Himself through the seed of the woman, who would be a descendant of Abraham and of David, 2 Samuel 7:12-16. Israel was to be the people group through whom the seed would come and through whom the rest of the nations could re-enter into a relationship with God. They were to be the ones who would point the Gentiles, non-Israelites, to God. They were geographically strategically located to do just that! They were equipped through the law to do just that! He brought them out of Egypt to Canaan just for that purpose, Ezekiel 20:9.
Why did God remove them from the land and then return them to the land? Instead of seeking the Lord, communicating with Him and sharing Him with the Gentiles, the Israelites sought the gods of the Gentiles, Ezekiel 20:9, 14, 22, 23, 32. So, God cut off communication with them because they would communicate with Gentile gods and not Him. Then He kicked them out of the land, but in so doing, He promised to bring them back after their repentance, Ezekiel 20: 41,42.
What does all of this have to do with His glory? It is His glory that we are to reflect. That is why we were created. Our sin diminished and killed the reflection of His glory. Jesus, God the Son, is the seed of the woman having come through the line of Abraham and of David. He came to crush the head of the serpent that He might restore our ability to communicate with God the Father through God the Spirit, when that communication is restored we then fulfill the purpose for which we are created, to reflect the image and glory of God! Am I in constant communication with Him so that I may reflect who He is? It is for this that I am created! It is for this that you are created! I cannot reflect Him if I keep myself from Him and pursue other gods. Oh Lord, I want to see Your glory, that I might enjoy You and being consumed by You, reflect you to others. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 4
This is the glory of Christ: One day He will judge the motives of our hearts and each person’s praise will come to him from God. We can look at actions and try to determine whether that action was right or wrong. We have God’s law to use to evaluate that action. What we cannot determine is what motivated the person to that action. But Jesus can and does determine motives of the heart and will one day reveal them. He is indeed amazing in that He knows the motives of our hearts. Remember Jeremiah 17:9,10? “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”
We are more than capable of self-deceit. Jesus cuts through all the trash of the twisted thinking of our hearts. If we let Him, He reveals our hearts to us, so that we might be changed. If we don’t let Him, He will reveal it to us on the day He comes. It is better to have it revealed now and to change than when He returns. Can we truthfully say to others, “I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me?” Jesus alone can cut through the trash of our hearts and change them. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 20

1 SAMUEL 12
While I was in Mongolia, I asked a Mongolian who was an expert in economics what Mongolia needed in order to develop economically. The answer surprised me in one way, but in another way, it did not surprise me. Without hesitating, this person replied, “Mongolia has all the resources that it needs to develop economically. What it needs is a government filled with people who will not allow corruption.” That comment could be applied equally well to many of the countries of this planet. Why has the USA been able to become one of the most prosperous countries the world has known? The USA has vast resources for sure, and that is part of it. But other countries, which have not developed, also have vast resources. One of the things that has kept the USA in a position to prosper is a history of a government which exists for the people as opposed to a people which exist for the government. How did this happen? I submit to you that it is the result of a strong Christian heritage. It is a heritage where leaders serve the people and not where the people serve the leaders.
Samuel is an old man. He has spent his life serving and judging his people. He feels that they have rejected him in order to have a king. He wants to make sure that he leaves without any blemish on his record. He asks them a series of questions. The questions all deal with his personal integrity as he has led them over his lifetime. The questions are there to elicit from them that he has not personally benefited by unjustly using his leadership powers over them. The answer was, “you have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.” There is the glory of Jesus. He can take the cheating-corrupt-sinful heart of a man and change it. He can take us who would use our leadership to gain unjust advantage over the people we should be serving and make us into people who serve for the sake of serving. Now that is glory! If you do not think so, then look at the corruption found in many of the 3rd world countries. Much of their problem lies not in the lack of resources but rather in the corrupt heart of the leaders. Not so with our Jesus. He will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it pleases Him to make us His people. He will teach us the right way. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 50
“You thought I was altogether like you.” It is a principle about ourselves and all humans that we must grasp. You see, we all tend to create God in our own image. We feel that we must be able to understand Him. We insist that He views things as we do; He feels as we do; He must do things the way we do them; His sense of justice must be like ours. We instinctively think that His standard of righteousness must be just like ours. By that standard, o sure, I am a sinner, but His justice will be satisfied with a sacrifice. A bull or a goat is something we can quantify, as if God could be quantified. We used to have a joke in seminary that our final examine would be to define God and give three examples. Can God be quantified?
The purpose of the Old Testament Sacrifices was to teach of the awfulness of sin and look forward to the demand of God’s righteousness for forgiveness of sin as it was carried out on the cross. When I look at the cross, I see how much God hates sin. A simple sacrifice of a goat or bull does not express the awfulness unless I can identify with the animal as a sentient being who is being sacrificed for my sin. The cross also speaks of His great love, that He would give His only begotten Son to redeem those who had committed so great sin that He hated so much. He owns all the cattle. For us to give Him back something which we own is of no significance to Him. He wants us to learn from the horrible situation. He wants us to come to Him and be delivered from our horrible sin! I need to learn this every day, lest I begin to once again think that He is like me.
Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 19
Barach Obama, what kind of ruler is he? Well let’s see. He is for the right of a woman to kill her child in her womb at any time, including when the head is outside and the rest of the child is in the birth canal. He is for the right of anyone to commit sexual fornication as they are oriented. He is for the right of the state to limit pastors from speaking their mind on what the Scripture teaches concerning sexual fornication. He is for the right of the state to force companies to go against their conscience forcing them to purchase health coverage which pays for the killing of children in the womb. He makes every effort to support the nations which are devoted to the destruction of Israel. Are any of these things which will produce the fruit of righteousness? Are they pleasing to the Lord?
Ezekiel is commanded to lament the fall of the nation. In verses 1-9 the princes (kings) are cast in the metaphor of young lions. In verses 10-14, the nation is cast in the metaphor of a vine. After the death of Josiah 23-year-old Jehoahaz was made king, but he was evil like his grandfather (who sacrificed babies on idol altars). So, the Lord had Pharaoh come and imprison him. After Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim became king. He also did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord had Nebuchadnezzar carry him off to Jerusalem. The young lions, the kings like Jehoahaz and Zedekiah, never learned to follow the Lord; they only learned to imitate each other. So, God turned them over to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar to tame them. The vine was the mother city Jerusalem with its branches its princes or kings. The vine is finally cut and destroyed. Where is the glory of the Lord in this?
Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, has become the King of kings. Even as all other kings (including our president) have failed to bring us to a true knowledge of the Lord, Jesus has never failed. He has done all that is necessary to bring us back into a relationship with the True and Living God. Jesus is also the true vine. We are the branches. We, in Him, become kings and queens in His life! We bear much fruit as we abide in Him. If we don’t bear fruit we are cut off and borne away. His fruit brings Him great glory. No political ruler (including the president of the United States) or king can ever bring us into a relationship with the True and Living God. No political ruler or king can ever bring us into living in a truly righteous state. No political ruler or king can ever cause us to bear the fruit of righteousness which our souls crave. Jesus can and will do that for us as we repent and believe in Him. He can not only rule righteously, He can invade our lives infusing us with the ability to live righteously bearing fruit which is pleasant to Him and those around us. Now that is Who I want to be King of my life! That is glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 3
Boy, talk about mixing metaphors! Paul really mixes them in this chapter. There is the metaphor of the newbirth in Christ and the lack of individual spiritual growth in the church of Corinth. There is the metaphor of a farmer seeking to produce a crop with the church being the crop. There is the metaphor of a builder building a temple. What is the point? The point is the temple of God that He is building, the crop that He is producing, the maturity that He is growing. It is all about Him. One day there is only one thing that will remain--that which pleases Him. The Lord Jesus employs men and women to assist Him in these tasks. However, we should not be enamored with those people, nor their methods, nor our own methods. We dare not boast in past accomplishments in building the church or in other's past accomplishments in building the church or in our methods that have seen success. Everything belongs to the Lord. If there is true eternal fruit to our works, it is only because he has given the increase. Therefore to boast in it is to attempt to steal His glory. Let us boast only in what He has done. It is immaterial through whom He has done it or through what method He has done it. That is why speaking His glory to one another is so important. It keeps us from trying to steal some glory for ourselves. When the church is finally finished and Jesus presents us to Himself as His pure spotless bride, there will be reward for us where we have assisted in the building of His bride. But in the light of the magnificence of His glory, I think we will probably present those rewards right back to Him and say, "We are unworthy servants; we have only done the work we should do.” Christ is the foundation of everything good that we are becoming. Christ is the substance of everything good of the structure we are becoming. Christ will destroy anything that we add that detracts from His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 19

1 SAMUEL 11
Grudges do not die naturally. That is why the Lord calls us to forgive. Well, the Ammonites had a 400-year grudge against the children of Israel. Their leader Nahash believed he was strong enough to have a good fight against Israel. So, he picked on Jabesh Gilead, a city two miles east of the Jordan River. Now, if you remember your reading in the Judges, Jabesh Gilead had refused to partake in the punishment of the tribe of Benjamin. Remember when the Levite entered into Gibeah of Benjamin? The men of the city wanted to ravish the Levite man. Instead he gave them his concubine. The result was that she died. So, the Levite cut her in pieces and sent a piece to every tribe in Israel. The Israelites were greatly offended, and after much warfare they succeeded in killing all but 600 men of Benjamin. Those 600 needed wives. Jabesh Gilead had refused to participate in the punishment of Gibeah and Benjamin, so the Israelites killed every one in Jabesh Gilead except 400 virgins. They gave the virgins to the 600 men so that the tribe might not disappear. I guess none of the virgins had difficulty finding a husband. Saul’s hometown was Gibeah. He was a Benjamite. One of his ancestors was one of those virgins that had been taken from Jabesh Gilead. Nahash was not only attacking an Israelite city, but it was an ancestral city of the king of Israel. Saul was enraged. Nahash had picked his target carefully. He had desired to draw Saul into a fight on his side of the Jordan. He thought he could satisfy his grudge against Israel. Obviously, it did not happen.
So where is the glory of the Lord Jesus in all this tragedy? Now that is a difficult question to answer. I would say that it is simply this. The Lord is able to deliver His beloved in spite of the wrath of man. Saul’s wrath is satisfied against the enemy on the outside. After the battle, some desired to continue their wrath on those who had criticized Saul before the battle. In one of Saul’s few shining moments, he said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has accomplished salvation in Israel.” Now there is the glory of the Lord! He provides salvation for His beloved. When His beloved receive it, they are to lay down their grudges. Samuel seizes the moment and calls the people back to Gilgal to renew the kingdom. It is time to let the grudges go. It is time to be unified as one people. The Lord Jesus is like that. He has accomplished a great victory against our enemy Satan. He has defeated him. He calls us now to unify underneath Him to renew the Kingdom. Because of His glory He calls us to let all grudges go. As we stand united under Him, He will crush the head of Satan underneath our feet. That is His glory! 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 to 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

EZEKIEL 18
A few days ago I watched the original pilot episode for the TV show Stark Trek. The episode was not broadcast as originally produced because it was deemed ‘too cerebral.’ Interesting, I never thought of Star Trek as ever possibly being ‘too cerebral’. Anyway, the pilot deals with Captain Pike and landing party beaming down to a planet inhabited by a race which was greatly mentally evolved but not evolved emotionally or physically. They had gained the ability to use mental telepathy to change the way lower life forms viewed reality. The motivation for the superior being to do so was that they could then live vicariously through the thoughts and emotions of the lower beings. They could not force the lower beings to do anything, but they would manipulate them to do what they wanted by controlling their thoughts. In one scene they forced Captain Pike to writhe in agony in a pool of molten brimstone and fire. The superior being then told him that the scene was taken from a fable buried deep within the recesses of his mind. Obviously implied in the statement is the idea that there is no hell.
What is behind the idea that hell does not exist? Is it not that if there is a hell, then God must take pleasure in it? To think that God would take pleasure in the eternal torture of someone is rather twisted.
God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Some liberal theologians posit that the God of the Old Testament is a harsh and vengeful God and that the God of the New Testament is a God of love and mercy. Yet it is the New Testament and Jesus that speak so much of hell. Some people including Christians seem to live under a cloud that God is harsh and joyless. Yet when I come across passages like today’s passage, I see the compassion and mercy of a just God. He must be just or we would want nothing to do with Him. He must be compassionate and merciful, or He would strike us dead. When God assigns someone to hell, it is because He must do so or He is no longer just, but He has no pleasure in their death. It is simply what must be, in order for justice to be just. The real problem lies in our distorted views of justice and compassion. He is indeed just and compassionate. Therein lies the depths of His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 2
One would think that the rulers of this age are pretty impressive. By virtue of his office, the President wields more power than any other ruler in history. The supposed wisdom of this age is fairly great too. Never have we seen so many universities and so much education made available to such a high percentage of people. But even with all our power and wisdom, war and poverty increases. Why? Ultimately, all our problems stem from one problem, sin. All the power and wisdom of this world cannot rid us of that problem. There is only one person who can rid us of that problem, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is bringing the wisdom and power of this world to nothing. Currently the power and wisdom of this world is orchestrated by spiritual rulers behind the scenes who are not human. Jesus is bringing them down. Jesus accomplished His victory when He let them crucify Him--there He won the victory over sin and death. Jesus is in the process of mopping up and claiming His victory now. Like an old western movie, our hero, the Lord Jesus Christ, silently came into town (planet earth). He destroyed the bad guys (Satan and his hosts). He has left to return later. In the meantime He expects His people (the good citizens) to spread the word of His victory. He did it all by Himself. We did not have a hand in His victory. The power and wisdom of this age is nothing compared to Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 18

1 SAMUEL 10
It is the glory of the Lord that He should use even our rebellion to accomplish His plan. The Nation had known no king for 400 years. Only the Lord had ruled over them through the various judges. It was the closest thing to a Theocracy that the world had seen since the Garden of Eden. But it was unacceptable to the people. The people were fickle and responded only to harsh discipline of the Lord whenever they sinned. Each cycle of sin, discipline, repentance, deliverance by a judge seemed to become worse with each cycle. The sin became deeper, the discipline more severe, the judge more ungodly. The people were tired of it. They looked around at the other nations and wanted the stability that they saw in the kings of other nations. They rejected the Lord as their King. They wanted a king with whom they could talk face to face. They wanted a king who was physical. So, they rejected the Almighty King for a king who was physical, a king who would do what was right in his own eyes.
Yet, the Lord allowed them to reject Him. In so doing, He set up a monarchy that would usher in the King of kings. While the King of kings has yet to rule upon His throne upon the earth, He someday will reign upon the earth. At that time every man will only do what is right in the eyes of the King of kings. Now that is glory! He takes our rebellion and turns it into something that brings Him praise. But be careful, we do not want to be one of those who rebel for He indeed disciplines them with a rod of iron. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 48
Some days ago I was sitting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. My son and I had spent several days trodding through the streets of Jerusalem. At one point we had walked around the exterior walls of the present old city. We walked about her, counted her bulwarks and towers, considered her palaces. We sang this Psalm as we walked. To be honest, it was pretty ugly. I’ve seen plenty of other cities that are prettier. After three millennia of destruction and rebuilding over and over again, it is just ugly. To top it off, it was Ramadan, and the celebrants were leaving trash everywhere. Of course this is now, and in Asaph’s day, it might have been beautiful. It is said that centuries after Asaph, when the expansion begun by Herod the Great was finished, that if one had not seen the temple in Jerusalem, one had never seen a beautiful building.
What made the city beautiful? Unless the foliage is different now than then (which it probably is), then it wasn’t the foliage that made it beautiful. Was it the wonderful architecture? Well, in Asaph’s day, it might have been. But I think it is clear from the passage that what made this little city beautiful was not its architecture or foliage, but it was the presence of the Almighty God. It was God in her palaces that made her beautiful. His beauty made her beautiful. I see a parallel in that for us. It is His presence in us that makes us beautiful. As ugly as I am, and I am not just talking about physical appearance, He makes me beautiful (or maybe I should say handsome)! Corporately He takes His people, the church and makes them beautiful. He removes the spots and wrinkles and makes us glow. That beauty makes us desirable to some who do not know Him yet. They are drawn to His beauty and become one of us. His presence makes all the difference. It is all about His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 17
When I was a Boy Scout, we started every meeting reciting, among other things, the Scout Oath:

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Every four years in the United States we all usually take a little time out to watch a very important event during the inauguration of the president. We all huddle around our televisions to watch the president swear an oath to defend, protect and uphold the constitution of the United States of America. A little closer to home, on occasion we attend a wedding ceremony where we watch friends or family swear oaths of fidelity to each other. Sometimes when churches receive new members the ceremony will include pledges of fidelity to one another as members of that local body of Christ.
Nebuchadnezzar replaced Jehoiachin as king of Judah with Zedekiah. In the process Zedekiah had to publicly swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to Babylon. God takes all oaths very seriously for they are a reflection of what He is like. He never breaks an oath. Zedekiah broke the oath which he had made to Babylon. He sought the help of the Pharaoh of Egypt in order to throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. So, The Lord promised Zedekiah that he would die in Babylon. The Lord points out that the breaking of the covenant was really against Him, not Nebuchadnezzar, a very serious offense.
What strikes me even more about this passage is that after pointing out the extreme infidelity of nation and the severe punishment that is pronounced, then the Lord announces that He will keep His oath with the nation. He will take a small remnant and replant it and make a great nation. He is serious about keeping His oath. It is part of His glory that He always keeps His oaths, and He expects us to keep ours.
Makes me think! Have I kept my Scout Oath? Do Christians keep their marriage vows? Many people do not bother to marry anymore because they know that they cannot keep the vow anyway, so why make it? Do we keep our promises to each other to be faithful to each other in the body of Christ? Do you suppose that one of the reasons people do not commit be a member of a local church is because they know they cannot be faithful to that body? Yet in the midst of all of our infidelity, He remains faithful! Now that is glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 1
You will hear this several times as we progress through 1 Corinthians. The church at Corinth was a divided church. There were many fights going on within the body. It was a powder keg with fuses lit from several different directions. Paul was trying to write to put out the fuses. Look how he addresses them at the beginning.

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

He calls this body of people, which is full of division and works of the flesh, sanctified. He says they are called to be saints. He begins with the truth of what God has declared to be true of us. We are holy. We are saints. He focuses on where we are going. This body of people, full of division, Paul calls holy. Then, he focuses on where we are. As he works through the first manifestation of their divisions in verses 10-29, he presents the cure in 30 & 31:

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."

Jesus is our sanctification. It is not our works. It is His life. We are declared holy by His life. It is grace, undeserved, unearned. Because of His life, we can have, right now, total peace with God. That is why Paul adds verse three. He is our sanctification. Because of that sanctification, Paul urges them/us to live it out. That is why daily seeing and speaking the glory of Christ is so important. As we see His glory, we see our failings. As we see His glory, we see His grace. As we see His glory, we see His peace. As we see His glory, we see where He is taking us. It ceases being our trying to make it happen and becomes totally what He does.
In Corinth, there were some who liked the way Apollos did things. There were some who liked the way Paul did things. There were some who liked the way Peter did things. Was Christ divided? No! But, everyone was acting like it. Paul was telling them, "It is time to get your focus back on Christ! He is our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." What glory there is in that! What freedom there is in that! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 17

1 SAMUEL 9
This story of Saul marks the end of the judges. A member of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest of the tribes, one of Saul’s ancestors would have been one of the few surviving men of the tribe when the other tribes almost wiped them all out in punishment for not bringing justice against the men of Gibeah. One of Saul’s ancestors would have been one of the virgins stolen from Jabesh-Gilead in order to be given as wives to the surviving men of Benjamin. Kish means ‘bent.’ Kish’s father’s name was Abiel, which means God is my Father. Do you suppose Abiel named his son ‘bent’ in memory of the travesty that had taken place in the Tribe? Maybe, maybe not. Saul’s name means ‘desired.’ Why did Kish name him ‘desired?’ Had he been difficult to conceive and thus desired and prayed for? At any rate, Benjamin is the least of the tribes and Saul was desired.
Kish apparently was a wealthy man. The text says that Kish was a mighty man of power. That could mean that he had a small army, or it could mean that he had a small fortune, or both. Saul, the ‘desired’ one, was looking for his father’s lost female donkeys. TWOT indicates, “She-asses are listed among Job’s possessions but not male asses. . . Female asses are mentioned because. . . of their milk and their breeding. They are also better for riding than male asses.” Hence one only needed one male ass in a herd. If you had more than one, to lose a male was no big loss, but to lose several female asses was to lose much. Saul, the ‘desired’ one, was on a journey to recover his father’s wealth.
Israel desired a king like the other nations. God gave them what they desired. Saul was tall, handsome, from a rich family. Everything you would want for a king. So the desired one, on a journey to recover his father’s wealth, finds not the she-asses, but the desire of Israel, the crown of the country. Everybody but God gets what they desired. Kish gets his donkeys; Saul gets a crown, and Israel gets their king. What does God get? He already had it, rejection.
Where is the glory in that? Our Lord works through our rejection to accomplish His will. He would one day reject the desire of the nation to provide a King of His choice, David. He would promise to David to bring of his seed, the Messiah. He provided Jesus as that seed. The nation rejected Him. Yet still as many as receive Him, to them He gives the right to become children of God. Saul was desired and wanted, but evil. Jesus was despised and rejected, but good. Saul was handsome. Jesus was one from whom we hid our eyes. Saul was acclaimed; Jesus was mocked. Saul sought David’s death; Jesus endured the cross and loved us still. It is easy to love those who love you. Jesus loved us even while were yet sinners and hated him. What a contrast in glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 47
Five times we are commanded to sing praises to our God. One of those times, we are commanded to sing praises with understanding. Well how else would one sing praises? It happens every Sunday. People enter into the sanctuary to sing praises. The songs are familiar. The mind shifts into neutral and lets the mood of the music take over. The routine is familiar. As the praises are sung, the words flow out effortlessly. The words enter through the eyes from the screen or hymnal, pass through the brain and are transformed into hopefully somewhat melodious sounds without really grasping the mind or the spirit. It is an age-old problem. It happens to us all more often than we would like to admit. One result of the problem is that the time of praise becomes lifeless without any transforming power.
Another extreme of the problem is to recognize that the understanding is being by-passed and react with great emotion and by the flesh try to stir up the understanding through the music. Its result is just as lifeless. Usually it leaves the participant drained emotionally rather than
transformed spiritually because of his encounter with the God of glory. What is needed is an experience of what Jesus called worshipping in Spirit and in Truth. We need His Holy Spirit to enlighten our understanding and empower our praises. Such worship brings us into the presence of the Father and transforms our lives.
We are commanded to shout unto God with a voice of triumph. Now if I am going to sing praise with a voice of triumph, what is it that I have triumphed over, and how did that triumph happen? In verse 5 the Psalmist says, “God has gone up with a shout!” Now what is that supposed to mean, and why is He shouting? Commentators usually say that the historical context here is referring to when David brought up the ark to Jerusalem with much shouting and singing and dancing. The ark has always been a symbol of the very presence of God obtained through the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of our Lord. When we shout to the Lord, it is shouting with the understanding of these things in mind. It is not mindless excitation of the flesh. It is Spirit empowered will and emotion because we understand what great things He has accomplished to secure our redemption! It will be finally obtained upon His second coming. It no accident that Paul says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” His redemption is complete but it will not be fully realized until He returns. Yes, He shouts, and so ought we also shout!
As we sing praise, we should remember our inheritance (v.4). I thank God for the inheritance my wife received from her father, but when we die, we will not have it anymore. It will pass on to our children (if I don’t spend it first). Should I not be even more thankful for the inheritance that I receive from God? Peter says that inheritance is, “incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” So when I sing praise with understanding it is with a shout because of what He has done to deliver me (where I came from), but it is also a shout because of where He is taking me (where I am going). It is also a shout because of what I have now. Paul says that the Holy Spirit is, “The guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” I have the Spirit of God living in me, enabling me to live like Jesus lived, hastening the day of His coming! Now there is shouting ground!
Another reason to sing praises with understanding is because He is King of the earth. He is King in his providence over the earth. In His providence He has cursed the earth because of our sin. He is none-the-less in control! Yes, in the curse He permits the tornado, hurricane, blizzard, cancer, disease and maladies out of our control, but He is King! He is in control of the nations. Al Qaeda did not take Him by surprise, and He did permit 911 as he permits every other malady that we hate. He brought the curse to teach us the evilness of sin and our need for redemption. The evils of war and human deprivation are man’s invention, but He permitted it to cause us to turn to Him. He is not only king in providence now, but He will one day rule as King upon the earth bringing an end to man’s evil inventions.
When I consider all the above, I am left in wonder of His glory. I am aghast that I must be commanded to praise Him for His glory leaves me in awe! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

EZEKIEL 16
The ladies of the night were across the street. They were frequently there when we picked up our newspapers. Usually they left us alone, but one night the truck was just a little bit late. Everyone was sitting around waiting and talking, and it attracted the night girl’s attention. One of them wandered over and then the truck came. She watched as all the paper bundles were being tossed out the back of the truck. “Whatcha doing?” she called out.
One of us replied, “We’re working.”
“Working?” she queried, “Oh well I work too. I am just a working girl also.” Each time she put her emphasis on “work.”
“Yeah, well we do a different type of work.” Another replied.
“Oh I just wanted you to know that I’m a working girl also.”
By that time I had found my bundles of newspapers and had thrown them in my T-1000, and I drove off.
I never have quite understood the emotional desperation that would drive a woman to sell herself on the street, but obviously it is a very real desperation. It has been called, “the world’s oldest profession.” Then there are those women who sell themselves for the hope of being loved, usually only finding that instead of being loved, they are just used. I understand that everyone has a deep God-given drive to feel loved. It is just that sex alone does not provide love, so to give oneself sexually in exchange for love usually leads to bitter disappointment.
But every time that I read this parable, I am once again struck by the depravity that the Lord attributes to Judah. She does not sell herself to her partners; she pays them to have sex with her. She does this after having been provided with everything she could want for life and love. What kind of desperation is going on here? Yet it is a desperation that describes the spiritual desperation of every human who has ever lived except for the Lord Jesus.
Then I find an even more amazing thing in this parable

60“Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. . . . 63b when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord GOD.’ ”

As desperate as we are to find love in a person other than the Lord, He still desires that we should return to Him and to find our love only in Him. What a wondrous love is this! Why are we so desperate to turn our backs on Him? What an encouragement it is to us to receive this love and live in it! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ROMANS 16
Jesus is the secret of the gospel. He was hidden in the pages of the Scripture from Gen. 3:15

"And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

until the opening pages of the New Testament. It is all about Him. He is prefigured in Noah's Ark, Isaac, Joshua, Joseph and David. Leviticus is all about Him. The Psalms are replete with His death and rule. The prophets spoke of Him, especially Isaiah 53. Our faith in Him brings us into obedience to Him. Because of this, we are to avoid those who cause divisions, those who draw us away from Him, those who put our attention on things other than the Lord Jesus. That is why we need to learn to speak His glory to one another. When He is the center of attention, then His glory is the center of attention. His glory leaves no room for competition. Gazing upon His glory leads us into obedience to Him.
As the secret of the gospel, He is the one who is redeeming and healing this cosmic rebellion against God. He is crushing the head of Satan under our feet. He is our peace with God. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John