September 27

2 SAMUEL 23
When you come to the end of your life and say your last words, what will you say? What could David have said? He could have boasted of all that he had accomplished. He could have said:
I rose from being a shepherd boy to building one of the greatest countries of the world in my region. I united my people under my leadership. I defeated the Philistines, the Amalakites, the Edomites, the Ammonites and the Syrians. I formed alliances with Egypt, Geshur, Tyre, Sidon and other countries. I ruled from the river of Egypt to Syria. I had many wives, sons and daughters. I built a new capital. I amassed great wealth for my sons to follow me.
But what did David say? He identified himself as one that God had raised up. He shared what God spoke to him about how to rule. He summed up what he had done with God’s instruction with this statement, “Although my house is not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure.” He looked back over his life, and rather than boast upon his accomplishments, he saw the greatest significance in His life to be the covenant that he God had made with him. His greatest boast was the mercy and grace that the Lord had bestowed upon Him. Is that my greatest boast? Is that your greatest boast? If it is not, then I would say that we truly have not begun to grasp the glory of our Lord.
In contrast to him, were mighty men, men who had done wonderful exploits. One man had killed 800 men in one battle. One had fought so hard and so long in battle that his hand cramped in position in grasping his sword, and he could not let go. One stationed himself in a field of lentils and single handedly fought off an invading Philistine force when everyone else had fled. The list goes on, but what does David boast about? He could have boasted about killing Goliath or any number of other things, but his boast is in God’s mercy and grace. He had seen God’s glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 88
Wow! Talk about a dark Psalm! I have been depressed before, I don’t think it was ever to this extreme! It seemed to Heman (See 1 Kings 4:31 for a description of his wisdom.) that he was on the brink of death, alone and deserted. Neither loved one nor friend sought to comfort him. He was convinced that all that was happening to him was God’s intent and design. He is angry at God and angry at man. He describes himself as being under the waves of God’s wrath. And yet, he calls out to God for relief. He stretches out his hands toward Him. How does this reflect the glory of God? Deep inside, Heman knows that in spite of the wrath of God, that the Lord is merciful. He will not let go of Him. He knows that God’s mercy will triumph over justice! That is the glory of the Lord Jesus! He is God’s mercy incarnate. It is also fitting that the father has handed all judgment over to the Son. If we neglect His mercy, how shall we escape His justice. If I feel I am experiencing His wrath now, then I should call out to Him for His mercy! That is His glory. He is compassionate, longsuffering and full of mercy! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

DANIEL 9
Yesterday, I learned of yet another pastor friend of mine who had been fired from his church. He has decades of service on the mission field. He is a great preacher. He is a hard worker. He loves people. Yet once again, a governing board fires their pastor. Oh I am sure they had their reasons. And I am sure he had his faults. I certainly have mine. Every one of the prophets had their faults. There was the man of God from Judah who successfully prophesied against the Bethel altar of Jeroboam, king of Israel. Yet another prophet talked him into disobeying the Lord. A lion killed him. Elijah would have been labeled bipolar. He beat the prophets of Baal in a fire contest, called down rain after a three-year drought, beat the king in a marathon and then sank into a deep depression and ran south to hide. Most boards would have given him the right foot of fellowship. Elisha had quite a temper; I mean, he cursed the young men who made fun of his baldness. A bear ate them. Is there a governing board in the nation that would put up with that one? The sins of our church governing boards and our pastors are mounting up before the Lord like unsurpassable obstacles. Israel and Judah’s sins had mounted up before the Lord. They had killed prophet after prophet who spoke the truth, including Isaiah. They tried to kill Jeremiah, and would have, except the Lord sent men to intervene.
Jeremiah prophesied 70 years of desolation for Jerusalem. Daniel was a boy when they began. That is how he received his ticket to Babylon. Now he is well into his eighties. Recalling the prophesy and doing his math, he realizes that it is time for Jeremiah’s prophesy to be fulfilled. He begins praying about it. Look at his prayer!

4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, . . . 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! 16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; . . .

Daniel is one of the men in the Scripture for whom there is no fault ever recorded. Yet over and over again he confesses sin and guilt which was from different generations before him. He very personally identifies with the sin because he very personally identifies with his nation which is guilty. The American mindset would say, “But he did not commit those sins! He should not have to repent of them, and he cannot repent of them.” Is Daniel using a figure of speech or does he literally mean “we,” and “us?” Interesting concept! David, as king of Israel, repented for the sin of Saul, previous king of Israel. Why? Because God held Israel guilty under David’s reign for sin Saul committed. Ezra and Nehemiah are also examples of men who identified with sins of people from previous generations and confessed it as their own.
Why do all of these men confess sin of a previous generation? The answer is simple. There is such a thing as corporate identity. If there is corporate identity, then there is corporate responsibility. If there is corporate responsibility, then when the corporate responsibility is not met, there is corporate sin. Individual’s take care of their sin through repentance and confession. How does a corporate body take care of its sin? Their leaders as representatives of the corporate body bring the body together and they, speaking for the body, the corporation, confess the sin of the body and repent for it. That is what Daniel is doing. His request is for the nation, not just himself. He desires to know when God is going to keep His promise to the nation. For clear communication with God, we must be clean of sin. God does not regularly communicate with those who will not acknowledge, confess and repent of sin. This is a principle which applies to individuals and to bodies, corporations.
But what did it produce? God answered his prayer and sent the angel Gabriel to communicate to him what would be one of the most amazing prophecies in the Scripture.
What is translated 70 'weeks' could be literally translated 70 'sevens'. If each individual unit referred to as "sevens" by Daniel was one year, then the cutting off of the Messiah would be equal to 69 X 7 years or 483 years. Ancient calendars often consisted of 360 day years. In which case 69 X 7 = 173,880 days.
Calculating 173,880 days after March 5, 444 B.C.(the day the decree was given to rebuild the wall) = March 30, 33 A.D. According to Dr. Harold W. Hoehner this is the very day that Jesus made His triumphal entry in Jerusalem to present Himself as Messiah.
That is incredible! Daniel records this prophecy in approximately 533 B.C. some 89 years before the decree to rebuild the wall. It was at a time when nobody really thought Jerusalem would ever recover from the destruction of the Babylonians. Not only does he predict the rebuilding of the walls but he also predicts to the very day, some 566 years later the cutting off of the Messiah. If that is not an acceptable testimony to the claims of Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords, then you won't believe any evidence, no matter how well produced. Daniel gives two dates, both to come after his death. Daniel tells the very number of days which will transpire between the two dates. The likelihood of that happening is just incredible odds!
Jesus is the King of glory/King of Love! He still wants to display His glory. Maybe the reason we do not see His glory displayed more often and in a greater way is because we are unwilling to repent, acknowledge and confess our sins corporately. Maybe there is unconfessed corporate sin of pastors toward congregations and congregations toward pastors. Hmmm, maybe we are part of the reason His glory is obscured. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

GALATIANS 6
Galatians is Paul's great letter on the nature of liberty in the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw a few days ago that liberty is the freedom and ability to do what is right apart from coercion and that the law can never bring liberty, only condemnation. Yet here we are told, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." Is the glory of Christ that which He brings us into liberty only to enslave us with a new Law? May it never be! What then is the law of Christ which is both law and liberty? Jesus gave one and only one new commandment before His death. It can be found in:

John 13: 34,35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
And again in John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
The Apostle John reiterates this in 1 John 2:8-11 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
And again in 1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Is Paul contradicting himself? By no means! It is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ to liberate us in order to enable us to fulfill His law. He has the ability to live His victorious life in us! On the plane of man to man, woman to woman, if we love one another as He has loved us, all of the law is fulfilled. There is no need to coerce one another. We are not condemned by the law because we are already doing it, fulfilling it. Yes, there will be times when the old nature rears its ugly head. Yes, there will always be times when Satan succeeds in breaking that love for one another. Yes, there will be times when the world's way of thinking holds sway over our thinking. But each time when that happens, The Lord's command is brought back to our minds through Paul's reminder. If we have broken the law, then we simply bring our sin back to the Lord and, if necessary, to the one we offended. Forgiveness is full and immediate from the Lord. He will work in us to make us able to love, even the most unlovely. Now that is glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

September 26

2 SAMUEL 22
When the Lord had delivered David from all his enemies, David spoke to the Lord this psalm. The opening line is a summary of David’s life, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.” The rest of the Psalm is an unfolding of that theme. When my life comes to an end, what will my song be to the Lord? Will it be centered upon His great protection and provision, or will it be centered upon my great selfishness and greed? Will it be upon how He has protected me, or will it be upon how I have conquered and brought others to bow at my feet? The three word pictures rock, fortress and deliverer are related in thought and reality. In the ancient world, cities were built in places that had a defensible crest. A large rock upon which a fortress could be built was desirable for protection. David saw the Lord as His protection. I have never been in physical battle, but many times I have known the protection of the Lord. A couple of times I have faced a robber or an assailant. The Lord has protected me then! He has always heard my cry.
Living in tornado alley, I have experienced many tornado warnings and watches. They have been up close and personal. I’ve seen the awesome power of the dark waters and clouds. The power of His voice rumbles through the thunders of the storms. The lightning flashes the brilliance of His glory.
David talked about the waves of life overflowing Him. Had he ever, like the disciples, been out on the Sea of Galilee when a sudden storm came up and almost drowned? Had he been to the Mediterranean Sea and experienced the irresistible pull of a rip tide? Had the Lord come walking to him on the water? Maybe not literally but metaphorically, his life had often been that way, and the Lord delivered Him everytime. As He thought about the Lord, it caused him to cry out, “For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
The enemy of our souls constantly seeks to kill, steal and destroy us. The Lord is our Rock. We can hide in Him as our fortress. The enemy seeks to drown us with the cares and the deceitfulness of the riches of this world. The Lord sets us on a rock where the waves cannot touch us. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

go to: http://genesistochroniclespictures.blogspot.com/ “The Rock”

PSALM 87
My brother once lived in a house that he rented from a farmer. The house did not have a well. It had a cistern. He had to pay to have water regularly hauled out to have his cistern filled. What would have happened if we did not have trucks that could haul the water? He would definitely have to have found another place to live. Life is unlivable without access to water.
The theme of the Psalm is the glories of the city of God, Zion. Something or someone’s glory is usually found in what people often say of it. What do Rahab (Egypt), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia have in common with Zion? They are all nations which at one time or another controlled or sought to control Israel. Geographically, they surround Israel, and relatively speaking, they are close. They are the ones who could give testimony of Zion’s glory. Zion is the place where God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Zion is the place where David offered sacrifice stopping the work of the death angel. Zion is the place where Solomon’s Temple was built, where God’s glory dwelt, where sacrifices were made daily and the annual feasts were held. Zion is the place where Jesus died outside the city gates.
What is the significance of the threefold repeated statement, “This one was born there?” It is His death and resurrection that made my new life possible. It is His death and resurrection that made our adoption into the family of God possible. In a spiritual sense, I was born there. Metaphorically, everyone who is born again was born there!
“My springs come from Zion!” A spring is the source of life. It is the source of a family. It is what makes daily life enjoyable and possible. When we sing, we sing of our joys and our sorrows. We sing of the source of our life. When our springs dry up it renders our life, lifeless. When the springs flow, we are abundant with life. What are the glories of the city of God, of Zion? We are. It is all about His awesome work in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension in order to cause us to be born again into His family! When our lives flow with the joy that springs from the very life of God, the nations and people who surround us stand up and take notice. God is glorified because of the life that flows out of us. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

DANIEL 8
I have had many times when I was penniless and without food, and the time for a meal was approaching, but I have never gone hungry because I could not afford to eat. I have had many times when it appeared that danger was approaching, but I have never experienced difficulty but that His presence was with me in the danger, and something good came out of the difficulty. It appears from my life that He is clearly in control of the events I encounter.
The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in Daniel 8 is that He demonstrates that He clearly is in control of world events to the extent that he could tell Daniel exactly what was going to happen 373 years before it happened. He did it in a vision which confused Daniel, but when the keys to interpreting the vision are given and the history transpired, it becomes crystal clear, especially as we look backward in History. The Medo-Persian empire, which would replace Belshazzar’s empire, would be destroyed by Alexander the Great. When Alexander would die, his kingdom would be divided among his four generals. None of the four would rule with the power that Alexander would rule. A descendant of one of the four kings, Antiochus Epiphanes, would rise to power and perform an act of desolation upon the temple of Jerusalem and upon the people for 2,300 days. Antiochus slaughtered a pig in the temple and used the temple to worship Zeus. This abomination lasted for 2300 days, the length of time from when he initiated it until the time which the Maccabees restored the temple and cleansed it. Daniel had this vision around 538 B.C., around 68 years after the first deportation of Jerusalem (in which Daniel was exiled). The events described in this vision would begin at about 334 B.C.; the decisive battle being at Gaugamela in 331 B.C. The cleansing of the temple from Antiochus’ desolation occurred about 165 B.C. So Daniel’s vision of the future covered roughly 169 years the beginning of which was at least 200 years in the future. The vision Jesus gave Daniel nailed it. It was spot on.
If Jesus can control world events like that, can and will he control events in my life and your life? Of course He can and does. Then why is there so much pain in history of man against man? There was tremendous pain of man against man in the vision that God showed Daniel. The pain was so great that Daniel was overwhelmed and faint for some days upon completion of the vision. It is reported that in the battle of Gaugamela over 100,000 soldiers perished. Thousands perished in the liberation of Jerusalem by the Maccabees. I think Daniel saw and felt the emotional trauma of these battles. Somehow in the sovereignty of God, He controls history yet permits us to make our own decisions. The result is that He guides history, and we are indeed free moral agents. So yes, Jesus controls the events in my life and your life, yet we make genuinely free decisions. I am unable to logically reconcile those two facts. Yet, I believe they are true. That makes His glory all the brighter! I can trust Him that he will make everything come to good, if I choose to love Him and follow His purpose. So, today, I choose to trust in his Sovereignty that He will make my way to come to good. It might not be today, but I will indeed trust him today for tomorrow. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

GALATIANS 5
When we are in Christ, we have true liberty. That liberty is worked out in our lives by walking in His Spirit. I walked by my potted plant the other day. It had jumped out of its pot. The pot was turned upside down. Potting soil was everywhere. The roots had been damaged, so had some of the limbs and leaves. I picked it up and began the process of putting it all back together and I said, “You silly plant. What happened so that you would jump out of your pot and do all this destruction?’
The plant told me, “Master, I wanted so much to bear fruit and I wasn’t. I needed to get some new soil and to rid myself of the restrictions of the pot. I was hoping that in doing so, I would then be able to bear the fruit I wanted.
“You silly plant,” I said, “I put you in that soil and that pot. I will give you everything you need to produce the fruit you were designed to produce. Stay in the pot and you will eventually produce all that you desire to produce—in the fullness of time.”
Walking in the Spirit is like that. We must focus on the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Doing so, we stay in the soil. We stay in the pot. We eventually produce the fruit we were designed to produce. And it is all to His glory. He made it as simple as abiding in the pot, in Him. Gazing at His glory we are changed into His glory. It is something He does. It brings glory to Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

September 25

2 SAMUEL 21
“So what you are saying is that you think it is unjust for one person to voluntarily pay the just penalty of a crime which another person has committed?” I asked that question of my problems of philosophy professor as a sophomore in college. His answer was, “Absolutely.” I then knew why he was an agnostic. Nothing about the Gospel could make any sense, if one holds that tenant as true. Substitution is not allowed.
Where is the glory of the Lord in all of this killing? It began with Saul as he sought to commit genocide against the Gibeonites, Why would Saul seek this in light of his lack of willingness to kill all of the Amalekites? It was because of Saul’s bloodthirsty act that the Lord sent a famine into Israel, long after Saul was dead. David is now king, and probably old. Why did God wait so long to send a famine that was a discipline for something Saul did? I cannot fully understand this passage, yet I feel like two things must be pointed out both of which run contrary to the cherished American mindset. 1) There is no statute of limitations with the justice of God. 2) God holds people corporately responsible for the sins of their leaders. It was the people of Israel who suffered a three year famine for the sins of Saul as king. It is a kind of justice that we as Americans just don’t understand.
The next question which I have is, “Was David’s remedy according to God’s desire?” Elsewhere we are told by God that children should not be put to death for the sins of their fathers. Matthew Henry argues that this was an exceptional case and therefore did not fall under that command. I am not convinced. But this I know, God accepted the act and broke the famine. But could there have been another method by which God justly forgave the nation for the sin(s) of Saul? Is there another method by which the sons of Adam may be forgiven the sin of Adam? Certainly God’s method for forgiving the sins of the of sons of Adam was that His own Son became a son of Adam, the second Adam. As such He died in our place. Is that just? Man would say, “No.” At least my philosophy prof would say, “No.” God would say, “Yes!” Not only would He say that it is just, but He would also say, “I will die for you. I will be your substitute.” I cannot answer all the questions, but I believe that He died and rose in my place. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 86
Look at this list of the glories of the Lord! He is merciful (3, 5, 13, 15). He makes us glad (4). He is good and ready to forgive (5). He listens to our prayers & supplications (6). He answers us (7). There is no one like Him (8, 10). He does great and wondrous things (10). He is truth (11, 15). He delivers me (13). He is full of compassion and longsuffering (15). He helps and comforts (17). With a resume like that, why are we so slow to praise Him in spirit and truth? David hits on the answer in verse 11. He pleads with the Lord to “unite” his heart to praise His name. Now wait a minute! This is the man whom God describes as a man after His own heart. This man has a problem with a divided heart. Oh there is hope for me!
I am so fractured. I know how wonderful the Lord is, but my heart is deceitful. It seeks to tell me not to trust Him with every detail of my life. It sees the appearance of the things that the system of this world offers. It hears the lure of the enemy whispering that the world’s system really will not kill me. I hear him saying that the world’s system can really make me wise. My heart hears the old nature whispering that the world’s system is pleasant and it will make me wise. Yet that list of what God is like tells me that the world, the enemy and my old nature are all liars! Oh God, unless You unite my heart, I am undone! Unite my heart that I might praise Your name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

DANIEL 7
As I write this, the madness in the Middle East is increasing. There are so many enemies and weird alliances that it spins the head trying to keep track of it all. The violence increases. People are being beheaded. Particularly in Syria, not to mention many other countries of the world, Christians are being driven from their homes, imprisoned or enslaved, if not killed, for simply trusting in Jesus. The saints of the Most High are indeed being persecuted. It is simply madness.
Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C. A series of weaker kings followed him until his son-in-law Nabonidus was able to obtain the throne through some intrigue in 556 B.C. He apparently was prone to madness as was Nebuchadnezzar. Leaving Babylon at about 550 B.C. for Arabia, he left Belshazzar behind as co-regent. During the time from Nebuchadnezzar’s death until the death of Belshazzar, Daniel took a lesser (if any at all) role in the government. Perhaps it gave him more time to focus on seeking the Lord. It was during the first year of Belshazzar (about 12 years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death) that Daniel receives this vision.
Being carried off into exile, Daniel knew firsthand the destruction of God’s people. As a young man, God had given Daniel the wisdom to interpret the terrifying dream given to the madman/ruler Nebuchadnezzar. The terror of the dream left Nebuchadnezzar a temporary insomniac. Now in his solitude as an older man (around 70), God places a similar dream/vision in Daniel’s mind. Daniel found the beasts of the dream/vision equally terrifying, but he simple pondered the troubling sight. The dreams so accurately depicted the coming history that some liberal theologians claimed that the Book of Daniel could not have been written by Daniel, for they are too accurate and must have been written after many of the events of history had already transpired.
The Lion represented Babylon; the bear represented the Medo-Persian empire; the leopard represented the Greek empire; the dreadful beast represented the Roman empire. The dreadful beast disintegrates and yet reforms having ten horns where one horn uproots three to rule them all. Most commentators would say that we are living in that stage of world history between the disintegration of the Roman Empire and its reforming under the ten horns and one horn.
Had the dream ended there, it would have been most terrifying indeed. But Daniel also sees the Ancient of Days and One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. Clearly Jesus was claiming to be this Son of Man when He gave testimony when on trial before the High Priests as recorded in Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69. At that point the Sanhedrin decided that His confession warranted ending of the trial. They did not think that Jesus could be the Son of Man as described in Daniel’s vision. In their reasoning, Jesus had sealed His own fate by blasphemously claiming to be the Son of Man, the Messiah.
Who is this Person? Well as Daniel puts it:

14Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. 27Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’

Jesus is the One who will take the madness of this world and destroy it. He will come and rule. He will set up His Kingdom which will not pass away. It will be obvious. It will be sudden. It will not need a human army. It will belong to His people alone. All people of every nation will then serve Him. The madness of this earth will be ended by His rule. Now that is glory! Let us hasten His coming by speaking His glory to others. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

GALATIANS 4
Sometimes I wonder if God has a watch. I mean really, He never meets my time schedule. Maybe next Christmas I should send Him a good Rolex. But then, that would only be revealing my own creatureliness. God is never late. He is never early either. He performs his acts in time at the perfect time. He is infinite. His infinitude covers all His attributes. That’s part of the meaning of eternal. Time is His creation. He exists in time and out of time. He does everything perfectly at the proper time. A Rolex is a waste to Him.
So it is—Jesus came at the perfect time, the fullness of time. As a man, Jesus exists in time. As God, Jesus does everything at the proper time. He was born at the proper time. When it had been demonstrated to all creation that man could not even understand what is right, then God sent the Law. When it had been demonstrated to all creation that man could not do what was right even when he was told what was right, then God disciplined the nation to whom He gave the law. When God had prophesied to that Nation about their coming destruction and their redemption through the Messiah He brought them back into the land. When the Mediterranean world had a common language because of Alexander, He brought the Romans. When the Mediterranean had a stable transportation system, brought by the Romans, Jesus was born. It was the perfect time. He became our near kinsman, human yet divine, able to die yet sinless. He bought our redemption with His own blood. He set us free from sin and death. And the world would hear of it.
Unfortunately I am often impatient with His time table. Yet my impatience has no effect on His perfect timing. He times things perfectly to enable me to avail myself of the liberty that He offers. Remembering His glory in relation to time helps me to cope with my own impatience. That is why we must focus on His glory and share it with others. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

September 24

2 SAMUEL 20
Where is the glory? Sometimes God shows us in His word where the sin of man leads. It is downright ugly. This chapter is one of those ugly chapters. But it was for the ugliness of this sin that Jesus suffered and died. If I can think of any glory here, it is that my sin was just as heinous to God as was this chapter. Jesus suffered and died for that sin. The jewel of his death and resurrection shines all the brighter against the backdrop of sin such as this. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P. S. Here is a link to some current archeological excavations at Beth Maacah http://www.abel-beth-maacah.org/

PSALM 85
Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed (10). What happens when mercy and truth do not meet? Or, what happens when righteousness and peace do not kiss. Yesterday I read and editorial in the News Press by a national columnist. It addressed how Obama was losing in the swing vote states because of his radical pro-abortion stand. It seems that word is finally leaking out that three times as an Illinois senator, he voted against a law which would grant full constitutional rights to a baby who survived an abortion attempt. He has publicly stated that he will not back down on his stand for abortion rights. I hope you understand what that means in terms of righteousness. There are few people with more potential and less vulnerability than a new born baby. To refuse rights to a new born infant has to be one of the most visible transgressions of righteousness that exists! Who among us would walk away from a newborn leaving him or her to die unattended, or actually kill the child. That kind of behavior should make us angry and wrathful against the behavior! But when righteousness does not step up to the plate when unrighteousness rears its ugly head, that kind of behavior is what results.
What was it that pulled the trigger when God declared that Judah must be kicked out of the land? It was unrighteousness manifested in child sacrifice. Listen to this passage in 2 Kings 21:14–16:

14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ ” 16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.

Or listen to this passage:

2 Kings 24:2–4 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.

It was the shedding of innocent blood that pulled the trigger of God’s righteousness when He drew the line and said, “No more!” Sure, that was not the only issue. There was a multitude of other issues, but that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. What was the shedding of “innocent blood?” Listen to what 2 Chronicles 33:1–6 has to say:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

Unrighteousness had reached it fullness in Judah under Manasseh’s reign. It was just a matter of time before the hammer fell. The Lord’s anger had been torched. He was aflame with wrath, and it was a righteous wrath. There comes a point when if righteousness does not step up to the plate, then all righteousness becomes a mockery, and one wonders if it even exists. Wrath expressed by God against unrighteousness is a good thing. It must necessarily exist for goodness to exist. If it did not exist, then moral good would be meaningless. Righteous anger must be expressed. Judah felt it. That is what this Psalm is all about.
But, the Lord’s anger is not like mine or other humans. His anger is just, and He forgives. When we repent, He relents in His anger. His mercy is extended! A peace treaty is signed. He turns his wrath away. He restores us. How can mercy and peace come forward without violating His righteousness? That is what His glory is all about! Consider Ephesians 2:14–18:

14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

He is our peace. He fulfills for us the righteous demands of God’s holiness. Can it get any better than that? The truth of the standard of His righteousness is fulfilled, and His mercy and peace are extended toward us! Righteousness and peace have kissed! He will revive us again!
When righteousness and peace do not kiss, one of two extremes happens. Libertarianism or license overtakes the moral climate. Ungodliness rules the day. Pleasure masquerades as a “right.” Babies are murdered in the name of a right to privacy. Or, mercy is forgotten. Peace is lost and chaotic justice rules the day. Justice masquerades as a vigilante. Abortion clinics are bombed. But our gracious King has intervened. By the power of His cross and resurrection, He rules the day! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

DANIEL 6
God often allows things to look really bleak before He steps in and rescues. Can you imagine Daniel’s situation? By this time in Daniel’s life, he is getting up there in age. We are not sure exactly how old he is, but he is probably somewhere in his 80’s. He has faithfully served the Lord during his life. As a teenager he was carted off in captivity to Babylon. In Babylon he was selected to be in the service of the king where he faced his first test when he was asked to eat non-kosher food. Having passed that test, he won the trust of the king by his ability to listen to God and interpret the kings dreams and visions. He faithfully served Nebuchadnezzar interpreting his dreams, managing his kingdom and warning him of his pride, until Nebuchadnezzar died when Daniel was around 60 years old. Daniel served the kingdom in lesser positions under various weaker kings until Belshazzar’s last day of rule when Daniel was promoted to 3rd highest ruler in the land. With Belshazzar’s defeat that same night, Daniel takes the role as one of the governors of the land under Darius the Mede. (Darius is possibly the army general sent by Cyrus to conquer Babylon, or it is a name or title used as an alternative to Cyrus. The Septuagint uses the name Cyrus instead of Darius.) So at 80 years of age Daniel has had many life reversals, yet he has faithfully served his Lord through those years.
Now he is facing another challenge. As political enemies are prone to do, they have searched meticulously to find a fault in Daniel and found none. Wow! That speaks volumes about Daniel. So they lay a trap for him that will have him done away by using his righteousness. I wonder would it be possible for my enemies to lay a trap that would do away with me because of my righteousness? So here is Daniel at 80 years of age, righteous in all his ways and years, and about to be thrown into a den of hungry lions. What do you suppose went through his mind? What do you suppose went through the minds of his friends and family? But God has a plan to glorify Himself in this reversal. He shuts the mouths of the lions.
Do suppose Daniel snuggled against the lions as he slept that night? I am sure that there is one lion that he nestled up against, the Lion of Judah. It was the glory of the Lion of Judah that was revealed that night and the next morning. Darius is credited with declaring:

26I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end. 27He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

Now that is glory, the glory of the Lion of Judah! God permitted and worked of this to declare His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Galatians 3
We have seen and will continue to see that the focal point of the glory of Jesus Christ (in relation to human beings) is the cross. That is not to say that there are not other things that we could focus on. It is that the cross looms so large in our sight. And in relation to us it is the cross that enables us to truly experience His other glories. What are some of those other glories?
Because of the cross He supplies the Holy Spirit to live in us. Wow! the infinite Spirit of God lives in us. He speaks to us, comforts us, leads us, empowers us. Jesus is able to send Him to live in us because of the cross. Now that is glorious! The cross and the Holy Spirit alone would be enough but that is not the end. He occasionally works miracles among us. They are miracles of provision, healing, and power. They are all from His hand. Now that is glorious! The cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit and miracles would be enough but that is not the end. He provides this all to those who simply and fully trust in Him. He could have required that we reach a certain point of holiness. But He didn't. It is available to all who trust. The cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, miracles and the provision of faith would be enough but that is not the end. He promised this all to Abraham, 2,000 years before He came. Here we are 4,000 years from Abraham and we are receiving the benefits of his promise. Now that is glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

September 23

2 Samuel 19
Bickering among themselves, the tribes have difficulty knowing what to do to bring David back as the King. His apparent leadership has been lacking. Those responsible for his most recent victory have been men like Hushai, Zadok, Abiathar, Jonathan, Ahimaaz, Joab, Abishai, and Ittai. David has relied heavily upon them to do their jobs. It has worked. It is time to bring him back.
Are there any parallels to the Second Coming of Jesus? A cursory look at the state of the fulfillment of the Great Commission might reveal an apparent lack of leadership in finishing the job to bring back the King. After all, we have thousands of different organizations each trying to get the job done. Wouldn’t you think the King of Glory could orchestrate a little better organization? It would appear that the spinal chord connecting the head to the limbs has been invaded with some disease. The body is erratic and going in many different directions. Could He not exhibit a little better leadership? Like David, He apparently is heavily relying upon us to get the job done. Why? If we are to be partakers in His glory, then we need to be partakers in His work. His glory is seen best as He works through us. Are we yielding to His leadership to bring back the King? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Psalm 84
I have visited the Biltmore Estate. America’s largest single-family dwelling built by the Vanderbilts in the early 1900’s is indeed the epitome of opulence. I have also toured the Marland Mansion finished in 1928 and built by E.W. Marland founder of Marland Oil Company (later to become CONOCO). Marland lost his oil company in a hostile takeover by J.P.Morgan. Marland had to move out of his mansion into the adjacent artist studio because he could no longer afford the utilities on the mansion. Eventually Marland had to sell the mansion for $66,000.00, 1.2% of its building cost. The mansion, though dwarfed by the lavishness of the Biltmore Estate, was also amazing in its grandeur. Both palaces are residences which almost all people can only dream of owning. If either of the mansions were offered to you, and you were told that you would be given a yearly income sufficient for living in the place, you would probably joyfully accept the offer. But what if you knew that you also would need to give up enjoying the glory of Lord?
Obed-Edom once housed the tabernacle of the Lord for three months (1 Chron 13:13). David was improperly transporting the ark to Jerusalem; when the oxen stumbled and Uzzah reached out to steady the ark, God slew Uzzah for his insolence. In anger David gave up trying to transport it and left it in the home of Obed-Edom. We read that while the ark was housed in his house that the Lord greatly blessed Him. He experienced the presence of the Lord. In 1 Chron. 15:24 we read that Obed-Edom was appointed a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord. What would prompt him to leave his home west of Jerusalem to take up residence in Jerusalem just so that he could be a doorkeeper for the ark? I think that there can only be one answer. Obed-Edom’s life was so changed by that presence of God’s glory that he would gladly give up his comfortable residence just so that he might continue to experience His glory.
Obed-Edom was a Gittite. A Gittite is someone who had lived in Gath. Notice that our Psalm was written to be sung accompanied by an instrument of Gath. Why an instrument of Gath? Do you suppose that Obed-Edom taught the proper playing of the instrument of Gath? I believe he did. I think the sons of Korah wrote this Psalm and dedicated it to be played on an instrument of Gath in memory of Obed-Edom’s love of the presence of the glory of God. When we truly experience the glory of God, everything else fades in comparison to the wonder of Him. I would never trade the glory of God’s presence for the Biltmore Estate or the Palace on the Prairie. They are pig stys compared to His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

DANIEL 5
I love that scene in A Knights Tale after the antagonist is defeated on the jousting field. The protagonists appear over him and say, “You have been weighed, and measured and found wanting.” I suspect that most people don’t realize that it is borrowed from this chapter of Daniel. After a long hard struggle when it seems that evil would prevail, evil is put down, and good triumphs. So too, in Daniel’s day it seemed that Belshazzar was reveling in Babylon’s victory over Israel and her God. It appeared that evil was prevailing.
In the mid 1800’s critics doubted the historical accuracy of the Book of Daniel. They claimed that there was no record of Belshazzar ever having existed. However, cuneiform tablets with Belshazzar’s name on them were eventually found. Then in 1956 the Nabonidus Chronicles were found. Nabonidus was the son of Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus and his coregent at the time that this incident takes place. It is clear from those chronicles that Belshazzar was as immoral as is implied by Daniel. To take the very vessels used by the priests in the Temple of Yahweh and use them in an orgy/banquet, proclaiming power over Yahweh, was the height of arrogance. He failed to grasp that Yahweh is the One who held the king’s breath in His hand and owned all the king’s ways.
The Lord let Belshazzar know the depth of his sin. Belshazzar had opportunity to repent. It appears that he did not repent. That very night in the midst of his orgy, his life was taken. Herodotus and Xenophon both attest to the fall of Babylon to Cyrus of Persia. The fall came during the night of the festivity. Cyrus had his engineers divert the waters of the Euphrates. The mote surrounding the strategic parts of Babylon suddenly went dry during the night. The Persian army was able to enter the city almost unopposed under what was the water gate. Daniel’s word came true.
We dare not forget the fact that Yahweh is the One who holds our breath in His hand and owns our ways. In remembering we come again and again to view His glory. Viewing His glory, we respond appropriately to life’s victories, defeats and challenges. Our political leaders would do well to consider this point. Our Lord has raised up Israel for His purposes. He disdains the murder of the unborn for the worship of our own pleasure. He champions faithfulness in marriage and calls us to reflect His glory by his instruction, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” He does not say, “Be joined to wife after wife.” Nor does He say, “Be joined to another man.” It is pretty simple and pretty clear. Yet our leaders seem to scoff at this. When we fail to grasp that He owns our ways, we will be weighed, measured, found wanting, and eventually divided out to other nations. His glory always prevails over the long haul. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Galatians 2
Here is one of the unique things about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. When He comes, He brings true liberty. Do you know where the word religion comes from? It is from the Old French which came from the Latin re + ligare. Re means back or again. Ligare means to bind. The etymology of the words means to bind back or bind again. Originally it meant the expression of faith in conduct and ritual often resulting in a code of ethics. That is the opposite of liberty. While Christianity possesses a code of ethics, it is not a code of ethics. It is relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. As a result of that relationship we find true liberty.
Liberty is the freedom and ability to do what is right apart from coercion. Liberty is not doing what is right because if you don't you will suffer severe consequences. Law is supposed to be here to protect those who have liberty. It condemns those who do not have the ability to do what is right apart form coercion. For those people who do not have the ability to do what is right apart from coercion, the law can never bring liberty, only condemnation.
Apart from Jesus we do not have the ability to obey the law. Therefore the attempt to follow God's law in order to avoid condemnation from God is folly. We don't have the ability to follow it perfectly and we will eventually be condemned by the law--for that is its purpose. Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ do so because they recognize their inability to do God's just demands. But, they see that being in a relationship with Him is that He uses His ability to live His life in us. His ability is available to each of as we unite with Him and are willing to consider ourselves as having died with Him on the cross and also raised with Him in His resurrection. That is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only does He have the freedom and ability to do what is right all of the time apart from coercion but He also has the ability to live His victorious life in us! We need only to yield to Him moment by moment. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

September 22

2 SAMUEL 18
Only those who have lost an adult child could fully appreciate David’s pain. The rest of us probably appreciate the justice that takes place here. But where is the glory? Yes, we want the rebellion put down. Yes, we want Absalom put in his place. But to have him brutally speared to death while hanging by his hair in a tree? Hmmm. . . So how does being speared to death differ from some other type of punishment? Justice is served.
Let’s fast forward 1,000 years. The Son of David, the Son of God is hanging on a tree. He has been condemned in a human court to die. He has been condemned in the Eternal court to die. Why? In the Earthly realm He was condemned because He claimed to be the King, the Son of God. In the Eternal realm He was condemned because He claimed the sin of man. He became sin for us. God was now serving justice upon the sin of man. Death had come to Him who knew no sin. The rebellion of man was being put down. He was brutally speared while hanging on the tree. So how does this spearing differ from other deaths? This death paid for an eternal debt of sin. Do you suppose the Father mourned, “O my son Jesus—my son, my son Jesus!” But the story does not end here. Absalom remains in his grave. Jesus rose again. He conquered sin and death by coming alive again on the third day. Here is the glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

go to: http://genesistochroniclespictures.blogspot.com/ “Absalom’s Tomb”

PSALM 83
There are certain confederacies and governments today that do not believe in the right of Israel to exist (Such as ISIS and ISIL.) In their opinion, the only good Israel is a non-existent Israel. Sounds much like the enemies of Israel referred to in this Psalm. Asaph asks the Lord to do some pretty awful things to them. Why does he request such events? Notice the stated goal for the retribution:
Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.
I would rather have awful things happen to me, which would lead me to a personal knowledge of God, than live a life of luxury and ease yet never find Him. The awful things would become a blessing. Why? The awful things would lead me to a clear relationship with the Almighty. I would rather live a life of deprivation which would lead to knowledge of the glory of God than live a life of comfort and never taste His glory. His glory is just that important. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

DANIEL 4
As I write, the USA has completed one night of airstrikes into Syria against the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. The Middle East is and always has been a quagmire of rebellion and fighting. For millennia it has sucked the resources of the world as leader after leader has tried to rally troops to become the dominant force in that part of the world and control the people. This is nothing new under the sun. What would be new would be a leader who would be somewhat successful at uniting that part of the world and holding it in unity for his lifetime.
Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus the Great, and Alexander the Great were three rulers who were somewhat successful at that task. Nebuchadnezzar was able to control the area from the Brook of Egypt west through the Arabian peninsula, northwest to the border of present day Turkey, northeast to the Median empire or present day Iran. Nebuchadnezzar was remarkable in that he was able to gain enough unity to conquer such a large territory. He was also remarkable in that he was able to build the great city of Babylon. He conquered and he built. He had accomplished great things. One of the major reasons that he was able to accomplish all of this is because he was a tool in God’s hands in guiding human history. He was raised up by God to discipline Israel, God’s chosen nation.
In the midst of his accomplishments, he not only overstepped his bounds in punishing Israel, but he became proud, thinking he had accomplished these things by his own ability. He failed to give honor to the glory of the Lord in producing these things—even though he had Daniel as his advisor. The result? He ate grass like a bull for 7 years. My Old Testament prof in seminary was of the opinion that the main reason that he was able to regain his throne was that Daniel covered for him for the seven years of madness and of course, the Lord’s intervention. The Lord intervened in order to teach us all a lesson about Him and about our pride.
After the Lord restored Nebuchadnezzar’s senses, He said this, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.” He was not bitter about having lost 7 years of his life to mental illness and a nasty diet. Rather, he accepted what happened to him as his just reward for how he had treated the King of heaven.
Hmmm. . . . Our King, King Jesus, controls the destiny of human history. What is happening in the Middle East does not catch Him by surprise. He uses even the sin of man to accomplish His designs in human history. There are enough enemies of Israel surrounding her that if they could unite under one common leader and one common purpose, they could destroy Israel overnight. ISIS will not accomplish its objective because it is too short sighted to unite with her common enemies to destroy Israel. There are so many enemies of Israel, ISIS, Syria, Egypt, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia and the list goes on. What keeps them from uniting? Perhaps it is the One who restrains. Perhaps it is this one miracle that keeps Israel alive. He keeps them from uniting in order to accomplish His designs in human history. As the tower of Babel prevented mankind from accomplish whatever it wanted in history, so perhaps the Lord confounds the minds of the leaders of the area in order to preserve His chosen nation.
There is a simple lesson to be learned from this passage and from our current events. All the ways of the Lord are true and all His ways are just. With that in mind, we should be very, very careful with congratulating ourselves with our accomplishments. It is best to keep our eyes on Him to see what He wants to accomplish, lest we end up eating grass and unable to trim our fingernails. He controls it all using our wills. The question is whether or not we will work for Him or against Him. The God who can make things give praise to His glory is the one I want to serve and worship. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

GALATIANS 1
Quite frequently we have a guest at our table. The guest is a neighborhood boy the same age as Liam. Liam often begs to have his friend eat with us. He loves his friend. I guess you could say that the boy enjoys our riches (a meal) at Liam’s expense. Quite frankly we wouldn’t probably invite the boy if it were not for Liam, and the boy probably would not accept an invitation if it were not for Liam. Verses 3-5 are about as succinct a statement concerning the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as one can make. His glory involves incredible grace toward His own children. The little acronym, God's Riches At Christ's Expense, applies very well to describing a part of that glory. In the midst of a world that constantly assaults the value of who we are in our own eyes, in the eyes of others and even in God's own eyes, we can be assured of the riches of God poured out upon us. He has lavished His own love upon us. He has declared us to be His own children. He did this because Jesus gave Himself for our sins.
The glory of Jesus involves an incredible peace that we have with God. Before we found Jesus, there was this underlying current of unrest in our lives. It was the current that God was angry with us, that God was against us. Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. But Jesus delivered us from this present evil age. We no longer are under the wrath of God, nor is God indifferent to us. We, who are in Christ, have peace with God.
The glory of Jesus involves His obedience. He died for us and delivered us according to the will of our God and Father. That is incredible! There is obedience even within the Godhead. The Son obeys the Father. The Spirit obeys the Son and the Father. He was obeying when He went to the cross. He was obeying when He delivered us out of this present evil age. Our own obedience comes as a result of being united with Him. Once we are united with Him, His obedience is able to flow through us.
It is a dangerous thing when people begin to teach that our obedience leads to our being delivered from this evil age. Why? Because for one thing, it is simply not true. For another thing, it robs Jesus of His glory. Our justification is all about Him. Our sanctification and obedience is all about Him. It is grace. It is His glory. Relax! Enjoy His table! Enjoy His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

September 21

2 SAMUEL 17
Bahurim was not a friendly place for David and his men, but the Lord provided for his men there. At least there was one family that was willing to let Jonathan and Ahimaaz hide in their well. David retreats to Mahanaim. Interesting, it was here that Abner had retreated to anoint Ishbosheth king. The people on the East side of the Jordan saw a need for a strong united monarchy. After all, their land was the frontier. David seems to be in full retreat. However, there are two good things that happen. Hushai is able to refute the advice of Ahithophel buying more time for David to reorganize. And the Lord moves upon the hearts of those of means on the east side of the Jordan to meet David’s and his army’s needs. They are refreshed and restored. Now they are ready to regroup. In such a fashion the Lord has provided for them. Similarly, He meets our needs when we wait upon him. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 82
Jon Edwards was a North Carolina Senator with a glamour boy face who once ran for President/Vice-President. He billed himself has having come from humble origins and a champion of the people’s rights. He was the perfect Democratic candidate. He made his money as a trial lawyer, representing the ‘little man’ against corporate injustice. He may have been representing the ‘little man’, but he certainly wasn’t hurt by that representation. I’ve seen videos of his estate upon which he lived while running for President. The land alone was probably worth millions, not to mention the vast mansion built upon it. If he came from humble beginnings, then I would say that his career as a trial lawyer fed his coffers by tens of millions of dollars. Seems to me, his motivation was more than defending the ‘little man.” Seems to me, his motivation had something to do with filling his own pockets from the corporate coffers. Is that justice?
God’s glory is that He is just, and in as much as it is possible, He calls us to be the image of His justice. The leaders of a country are called to reflect His justice. The fatherless have no one to turn to as a role model. They have no one to teach them how to live. The poor have no one to defend them in court. As the old saying goes, “A man who serves as his own lawyer has a fool for a client.” The court appointed attorney was originally put into place because of teachings like this one from the Bible. Unfortunately, in practice the court appointed attorney often does a less than stellar job defending his/her client because it is a drain on his/her resources. People who are rich give a better reward for a job well done, or the possibility of taking money from the rich is a better reward.
God’s justice is dispensed despite the outcome. Ours should be the same. He seeks justice no matter what is received of us. Matthew Henry says this of the justice He expects us to dispense:
These are clients whom there is nothing to be got by, no pay for serving them, no interest by obliging them; yet these are those whom judges and magistrates must concern themselves for, whose comfort they must consult and whose cause they must espouse.
That is how God distributed His justice toward us. Justice was distributed upon the cross. Jesus paid our debt. The only pay He received by serving us was us. The only thing which Jesus received by obliging us was us. By the world’s standard of justice, that is a strange justice indeed. Yet it was the delight of the Father and the Son to do that for each other. What an awesome love! He calls us to do the same for others out of love for Him. Now that is glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

DANIEL 3
It has been a summer of fires for us. This incredible drought has produced conditions across the state which have burned many square miles of land, not only for Oklahoma but also for Texas. My daughter-in-law’s mother owns a house down near Austin which is in that neighborhood where 500 houses were burned down. Her neighbors houses burned, but hers seems to be okay. It was a very trying experience. She was out of state at her daughter’s wedding reception when the fires began. It was difficult to hear the news reports of people dying while trapped in their houses while the house burned. Life is like that. Sometimes we feel trapped in the midst of a fiery furnace. How does one prepare for such events?
Daniel’s three friends were prepared. They had fixed in their heart, minds and spirits the glory of their Lord. With that fixation, they were ready weather anything including a fiery furnace. What makes three men willing to say to the king:
Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.
There is only one reasonable reason that they could do that. It is that His glory is worth being thrown into a fiery furnace. What is it about that glory? It is that no matter what happens in the fire, whether we are saved, or we perish, He is with us. When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace what did he see? He saw the pre-incarnate Messiah there in the midst of the fire with them. I am now 56 years old. I have had my share of fiery experiences. I can attest to one thing, “The greater the heat, the greater is His presence.” That is part of His glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

2 CORINTHIANS 13
The glory of Christ is seen in the paradox that He could be His most powerful when He was at His weakest point. He was crucified in weakness, but He rose by the power of God. His crucifixion, His weakest point, was the basis of the payment of the penalty of our sin. His resurrection broke the power of sin. We can't really live in Him until we learn that we are weak and need Him. He permits and engineers weaknesses in our lives to cause us to see our need to rely upon Him. When we see our need, then we are able to live with Him so that His power flows toward us. When His power flows toward us, His glory is increased because others see it operating in us. But it begins only when we recognize our weakness. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 31

1 SAMUEL 24
In my opinion this is one of the greatest acts of faith that David ever exhibited. Saul, who was seeking to kill David, was definitely within David’s ability to dispatch him. And David chooses not to have one of his men slit Saul’s throat. He wouldn’t have to do the dastardly deed himself. All he had to do was say the words, “Kill him,” and the deed would have been done. He probably was already in a part of the cave where he would not have to see or hear any part of the act. His nightmare of being the constant fugitive of the king would be over. Indeed he probably would be made king himself. Two little words was all it would take. No, he would not utter them. He would not allow his men to touch Saul. Why?
Yesterday we read where David’s was continually given information by the Lord on a need to know basis. David had learned to see the glory of the Lord in his awful situation. He had learned by experience that there is no safer place to be than to be where the Lord has told you to go. To harm someone anointed of the Lord would be to betray that experiential knowledge. To resort to his own means to accomplish a goal would be to reject the glory of the Lord to claim his own glory. He learned that we rally have no glory except when we permit the glory of the Lord to shine through us. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 61
We took a hike to the lake near the top of the mountain. All around the lake were cliffs that led to an even higher summit. We were a group of FCA high school students who had gone to Colorado for a national conference. One of the guys’ parents owned a cabin in the mountains. We stayed awhile in the cabin before going to the conference. We had taken a hike to the lake. A couple of the guys were not satisfied with the view. They decided to scale the cliffs to the summit. I started to go up but decided it was too dangerous for me without climbing equipment. I slowly went back down after going about 12 feet. Two of our crew made it about half-way up. At that point they regretted having gone, but they felt it was safer to go on up rather than come back down the face of the cliff without equipment. They were gone quite a while. We began to worry about them. Eventually they showed up coming from a different direction. They had indeed made it to the top, but they knew that they could not come down the way they went up. They came down a less formidable slope and walked around the base to us. They said that it was snowing on the top (it was August). It was quite a rock. It was one higher than I wanted or maybe was able to safely scale. If I were being pursued, it would have been a great place to climb for safety.
In the adventures of life we sometimes need a place that is unscaleable to which we can climb for safety. Sometimes the reason that the place of safety is safe is because it is unscaleable. We need help to get to the top. We need someone to lead us to the top. The events of David’s life were crushing down upon him. He needed to be led to that rock that was higher than he. He needed that place of safety. He knew the Lord was the One who could lead him. He knew that there was only One place of shelter. It was the wings of the Almighty. I am reminded this morning that he is my place of safety. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

EZEKIEL 30
It was one of those scenes that will be embedded in my mind until I die. I exited church as quickly as it was over and walked home. I was not home more than 5 or 10 minutes when mom drove partially into our driveway, got out went inside and got my dad. My older brother was sitting in the car crying. Walking over to find out what was wrong, I observed that his arm was in an unnaturally curved shape. He had fallen on the church steps and broken both bones of his forearm. It ran shivers up and down my spine to look at it. My parents took him to Stillwater to have the doctor tend to it. The doctor thought it was beyond his ability and wanted to send him on to Tulsa to have a specialist take care of it, but mom talked him in to setting it rather than causing him to ride two more hours in pain to Tulsa. Over the next few months his arm healed, but it sure limited the things he could do.
When God says that He will break the arms of Egypt, and He will break the broken one twice, I cringe. I remember the unnatural curvature of my brother’s arm. I remember the cry of pain. I remember the months of limited mobility. Egypt, the past military power of the world, God says that He will break his arms. He will scatter Egypt among the nations. Today that would be like saying, “I will break the arms of the USA and scatter him throughout the nations.” Could anyone of that day have believed it? Do you think anyone cringed at the word of the Lord through Ezekiel? Yet, He did it. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt. Egypt has never been the top world power since. God does what He says He will do! That is His glory! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-34
Nothing should demonstrate the glory of our Lord so clearly as communion. What do we see in communion? First, we see the sacrifice of His body and blood. He gave them for us! He purchased our pardon with His death. Second, we see His death inaugurated (but not completed) the New Covenant. What is the New Covenant? His Law will be written on our minds and hearts. He will be our God and we His people. We will know Him. Our iniquities and sins, He will remember no more. Third, we see His victory over sin and death in His resurrection. No one but Jesus has or will defeat sin and death. Of all the billions of beings in existence, only He alone defeated sin and death. Fourth, we see that He is coming again to receive us to Himself. This time He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords. He will not come as a suffering servant. His suffering accomplished our redemption. His ruling will accomplish our obedience. Fifth, we see His healing. His body was broken for our healing. Consequently, when we approach the table in an unworthy manner, sickness sometimes ensues. Conversely, sometimes we see healing. He is our redeeming, empowering, risen, coming, healing King! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 30

1 SAMUEL 23
I was watching a detective/comedy show yesterday. Three detectives were keeping secrets from their wannabe friend. Over the friend’s protests the detectives responses were, “This information is on a need to know basis, and you do not need to know.” Does the Lord ever give you the information you need to know? David needed to know some information. The Lord gave it to him. But there were other things the Lord could have done. He could have intervened for David in such a way that many of David’s troubles would not even have emerged. Why did He not intervene? Why did He only give such limited and specific answers such that David had to pursue them? Why? Why? Why? I guess that I am starting to sound like a little child. It is the glory of the Lord to let us find His glory in our pursuit of Him. He is worth pursuing. The Lord could have stopped all the misery that David was going through. But David would not have pursued Him then. And David would never know that God answers questions on a need to know basis. Also, we wouldn’t have a number of the Psalms that we have now. We find His glory only in our pursuit of Him. Lord, don’t let me give up! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

To see pictures of Ein Gedi go to: http://genesistochroniclespictures.blogspot.com/ “Ein Gedi”

PSALM 60
We entered into Portland in the late afternoon. A rain storm was breaking up and a rainbow appeared to stretch out over the city. It was like a promise from God that He would be with us during our stay there. Later, the Lord gave Laura this promise from verse 12, “Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.” Indeed, He was with us through unemployment, financial lack, sleep deprivation, personal injury, and even death. When I graduated from seminary (the very reason we had moved to Portland), Laura presented me with a framed water painting (which she had done) of a shepherd holding his hands up in praise to the Lord. The caption read, “Through God we will do valiantly.”
The fact that God really does that is not just a neat idea in His Holy book for me. It is an experience. I have been there. So has David. This Psalm instructs us to actively rejoice in the provision of God. It recognizes that we will lose some battles. (Lord you have cast us off!) But when we look at the whole, the victory is ours because ultimately He wins the war. That is our God! We are victorious because He cast off His own Son on the cross so that we might become victorious. To the disciples it looked as though they had lost the battle, but in that loss, they won the war. We must actively rejoice in the cross for only through the cross do we experience His victory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

EZEKIEL 29
“Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup,” so stated the bumper sticker on Christy’s car. In Scripture Egypt is often compared to a dragon or sea monster. The imagery comes from the Nile which also had crocodiles that lived in the river. Ancient advanced civilizations are usually found near great rivers that regularly flood their banks. The flooding provides needed water and nutrients for the soil. Thus Egypt, with the regular flooding of the Nile, was able to establish an advanced civilization because they could depend upon the established agrarian cycle of crops. This enabled others in the culture to specialize in other building activities. The result was an advanced civilization. Egypt knew that one of the sources of its strength was the Nile river. They established great confidence in their economy that the Nile provided for their country.
Rather than seeking the Lord, Israel sought help from Egypt against Babylon. It was wrong of Egypt to help, and it was wrong for Israel to seek Egypt’s help. Israel was meddling in the affairs of dragons. Ultimately, the source of provision and strength for any country is the Lord. How does the God of glory solve this problem? Not only does he discipline Israel, but he also disciplines the dragon. Ezekiel predicts the discipline of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar as the pay for Nebuchadnezzar’s work in disciplining Tyre. Listen to what the KJV commentary says about the fulfillment of this prophecy:
The date is March-April of 571 B.C. Though Nebuchadnezzar had laid siege to Tyre for thirteen years, the campaign was an economic loss. Since he had no booty with which to pay his soldiers, he invaded Egypt and got booty, the wages for his army. Thus, both Tyre and Egypt, proud because of their wealth, were humbled by God’s instrument, Nebuchadnezzar.
Persia defeated Babylon in 539. The Egyptian captives were eventually allowed to go home, but they would never again become the world power, true to Ezekiel’s prophecy.
God always performs His word. We do not need to appeal to the dragons of this world for our help. When we do, it is certain that we will get mixed with ketchup. That is not a good thing. God will perform His word. It is part of His glory. We need to wait upon Him. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 11:1-16
In most circles of our culture, if I were to say, “The head of woman is man,” then I would be scorned as some backward chauvinistic throw back of a previous generation. It would be as though I had said something very demeaning about women. Yet Christ does not object to us saying, “The head of Christ is God.” Is it demeaning to say that the head of Christ is God? I can hear some say, “But that is completely different. God is the Supreme being. It is not an equal rights issue here.” Oh really? Did God the Son not have the right to say, “No I do not desire to become flesh.” Did He not have the right to say, “No I will not die on a cross.” Is He not just as much God as is the Father? Indeed as we see elsewhere in Scripture, He is just as much deity as is God the Father. He could have called 10,000 angels to keep Him from dying. So it was not an issue of equal rights nor an issue of equal nature. It was something else.
Was it not an issue of love? Is it not that He loves the Father? When Jesus says to us, “If you love me, you will obey my commands,” is He not reflecting to us the very relationship He has with the Father. He loves the Father. So, He submits Himself to the Father, so that He might return us to the Father. Is it not also that He loves us? So, He submits Himself to the Father’s will so that He might rescue us from our sin and death. His submission to the Father does not demean Him or make Him any less in His deity. Rather, it increases His glory. Look what He has achieved because of His submission! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 29

1 SAMUEL 21-22
Dt. 19:15 and Lev. 15:16-18 indicate that a seminal emission marks a man as unclean for ceremonial worship. In the ceremonial law bodily fluids such as blood and seminal fluid were symbols of life. They are holy inside the body. For that fluid to be outside of the body, i.e. spilled on the ground, was unnatural and therefore caused one to be ceremonially unclean. The life of the flesh is in the blood, so the one bleeding is a picture of death-unnatural. Seminal fluid is part of the propagation of life, so for it to be outside the body, i.e. spilled on the ground, is to be unnatural, unclean. It was important to the priests that the men had kept themselves from ceremonially clean.
God is all about life. He is the Living God. His laws given through Moses were meant to teach the holiness of life. Pagan religions viewed the gods as lusting after each other and after humans. In some cultic religions, it was believed that the lust of the gods made the fields fertile to bring forth crops and the livestock to produce young. Thus it became part of their ceremonial practices to incite the gods to lust. Thus the idea of temple prostitutes was easily introduced. But with Yahweh, He would have nothing to do with those demeaning practices. The propagation of life has nothing to do with exciting Him to lust and therefore bring forth the fertility of field and livestock. He is the author of life and we do not need to excite Him to reproduce. Therefore in the worship of Him, He ordained that men should remain pure in their ceremonial worship of Him by temporarily abstaining from sexual relations lest they pervert His image as the pagans. Yahweh has designed the sexual relationship of a married couple to be a reflection of the intense love found in the Trinity and in the relationship between Christ and His bride, the Church.
The bread of the presence is so rich in symbolism of life and of the fellowship and love between God and His people. To enforce this holy image the bread was to only be eaten by priests. Why then did the Priest allow David and his men to eat of the bread? Radmacher says, “The Talmud explains this apparent breach of the law on the basis that the preservation of life takes precedent over nearly all other commandments in the Law (see Lev. 24:9).” Jesus is always about the Spirit of the Law, not about its letter. So why does the priest insist that the men have not had intimate relations with a woman? He is reinforcing the holiness of God’s design for our sexuality! It is not to be reduced to a mere hormonal drive, but rather it is to be the rich expression of committed love between a married couple. Even as each person of the Trinity is committed to each other in love, so the couple is to be committed to each other in all aspects of their lives. Paganism reduces it to a dirty hormonal drive. Yahweh designed it to be the celebration of committed love and respect.
So here even in a seeming innocuous conversation between a fleeing David and the high priest, we find the incredible glory of the committed love of the Godhead being portrayed. What does Saul do with it? He does what Satan always does with committed love, he kills it. When he learns of the event, he kills all the priests that he thinks may have had anything to do with it. The true followers of the Yahweh seek life and loyalty. The followers of Satan seek death. David had sought protection from Samuel the prophet. The prophet could not help him. David had sought help from Jonathan, the king’s son. The prince could not help him. David has sought help from the priest. The priest could not help him. And so begins a ten-year period of David’s life where he is constantly fleeing from Saul, living as a hunted man. Only God can truly serve as David’s rock and fortress. The Lord is the one who is our rock, our stronghold, our refuge. He is also the one who is in committed love with us. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Look for pictures of David’s stronghold at: http://genesistochroniclespictures.blogspot.com/ “The Stronghold.”

PSALM 59
We saw him come around the corner. We were in the fourth grade and he was in the fifth. His name was Charles. He was big for a fifth grader. We were small for fourth graders. Additionally, he was known as a bully, and he had threatened us in the past. He had the cut out lid of one-gallon-tin can in hand. We turned and ran the other direction. He let the lid fly like a Frisbee. I heard it whiz past my ear, and saw it land in front of me. “Whew! That was close!” My feet were churning as fast as they could go!
“I’ll get you yet, Chaffin!” He did not bother to pursue us. To this day I really don’t know why he had it in for me. He probably enjoyed the power of making kids smaller than him fear. My friend told everybody in school the next day of our experience. Not much later we were playing on a rope swing. My hands inexplicably could not hang on to the rope. I face planted in the gravel road—scraped a lot of skin off of my face. The next day when I walked into class, several people simultaneously asked, “What happened, Chaffin; did Charles get you?”
I guess that is the closest I have ever been to someone pursuing me to take my life. So, I really can’t relate to David. I have had people who have hated me without a cause and tried to take my job, but never my life. It seems to me that to hate one so much so as to try to kill him would be the ultimate threat. If I know how to respond in that situation, then I know how to respond in any situation. What did David do in that situation? He focused on the glory of the Lord. He focused on the strength, defense and mercy that the Lord brings to those who trust in Him. When one focuses on such glory for very long, it usually can only result in breaking out in song. His glory is too wonderful! It must be sung! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

EZEKIEL 28
Am I a god? The prince of Tyre unconsciously came to that conclusion. Tyre was a magnificent city at the time of Ezekiel. Sitting on the eastern end of the Mediterranean it had become wealthy through its merchant trade that spanned from Spain in the west to its location in the east. Centrally located, it could receive goods from a thousand miles inland to the east and distribute it throughout the Mediterranean world. The merchants of Tyre did great business. Ithbaal II, the prince of Tyre in Ezekiel’s day, attained great wealth through his portion of the trade and through taxes levied on commerce flowing through his port city. Exalted and wealthy and possessing a great business mind, he became quite proud without probably even realizing his pride. After all, he was able to gain this wealth and power through his great business skills. He came to feel that he was the author of his wealth and wisdom. He needed to submit to no one. Only God is the author of true wealth and wisdom. Are you a god?
Two thousand seven hundred years later we fall into the same trap. Here in the USA, we live in a culture that makes it possible for individual wealth and power to be gained for the individual who knows how to manipulate the wisdom of this world. A decade ago it prompted a famous secular author to state that if anyone in the USA made less than $250,000.00 per year, then he was not pulling his own weight. We might quibble on where he set the bar, but I suspect that most Americans would agree. The question is, “Where do we set the bar--$25,000, $50,000, $100,000, $250,000?” Most of us would say that we are rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing. We have become gods, or so we think.
The problem is that there is only room for One God. He destroys all others; that is part of His glory. He takes all who seek to be gods and throws them into the pit. Those princes who seek to be gods end up like their father, the king of Tyre. He is the one who started it all. The last half of Ezekiel 28 has baffled theologians for years. Many aspects of it make it seem to be directed toward someone who is more than a man, but then he is addressed as a man. He is called the anointed cherub. From Exodus 25:18-22, we can deduce that the role of cherubim was to protect and proclaim the holiness of God. Satan, the king of Tyre once did that, but he corrupted his wisdom for the sake of his own splendor. We do the same. God allows no room for it. There is after all only One God. There is no room for another. That is His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 Corinthians 10:19-33
“The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness.” Paul quotes Psalm 24:1. He quotes it twice. It must be a significant thought, if he repeats it. The earth is full of beauty. He created it. The earth is also full of pain and suffering. Does that belong to Him as well? Well, yes. Does that mean He is the author of pain and suffering? He is the righteous judge. Pain and suffering are a result of His curse upon the earth because of the sin of Adam and Eve. We agreed with that sin and joined them when we became old enough to sin. So no, He is not the author of pain and suffering, He is the judge of it.
So where is the glory of Christ in this? As I walk through life, I am to be looking for His glory. My job is to reflect His glory. Anything that diminishes His glory, I should avoid. Anything that exalts His glory I should embrace. Whatever I do, do it to His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

August 28

1 SAMUEL 20
We drove an old beater pickup. It had no doors, no headlights, no side-rear-view mirrors. Our job was to pick up the trash at the camp ground and take it to the dump. We had a full pick-up load and took it to the dump. After emptying the bed of the truck, we jumped back into the truck. As we pulled a number of yards away from the dump pile, the driver said, “We forgot to put up the tailgate.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll get it!” Without thinking I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the moving truck. You know when you are already going ten miles per hour or faster and are expecting the ground to be not be moving, you cannot stay on your feet. I immediately went down. It freaked out the driver. He screamed and slammed on the brakes. The truck fish-tailed a little bit. The rear tire came within inches of my head. There was less than a step between me and death. God was merciful, and the only thing hurt was my pride.
“There is but a step between me and death.” Taken literally, it is a very grim statement. David meant it literally. He knew that Saul was intent upon ending his life, and why not? Saul had already been told by Samuel that God was going to rip the kingdom from him and give it to another whose heart was fully intent upon seeking Him. Samuel had anointed David as Saul’s successor. David had won the hearts of the people through his slaying Goliath and many successes in battle against the Philistines. David was the rags to riches story that everyone loves. David was the people’s favorite. Saul had only two choices; he must hand the kingdom over to David, or destroy him. He became intent on destroying him.
Jonathan was David’s best friend. David could handle just about anything if he knew that his friend was with him. He needed reassurance. So he confronted Jonathan head on. You’ve read the story. Jonathan was surprised to find out that David was correct. Saul was seeking to destroy David. Jonathan would have been the heir to Saul’s kingdom. In the flesh, there was no reason for Jonathan to spare David’s life. Yet, Jonathan knew that David belonged on the throne. He could have easily been a part of Saul’s plan to destroy David. Yet, he laid aside his own rights so that David might live and rule on the throne.
There is a slight parallel here between Jonathan and Jesus. Jesus ruled on His throne in heaven. I was in rebellion against Him. I was in death in the sense of separation from God. The wrath of God was upon me! But He and the Father and the Spirit all chose to have me rule on the throne with Him. In order to accomplish that, Jesus laid aside his right to rule and became a man, a servant. I was but a step from death, but He died in my place and rose on my behalf. Through repentance and trust in Him, I can now sit with Him on His throne, because He took my place! Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 58
“He is very charming.” What does that mean? It runs in two veins. It is pleasing, pleasant, or it means to have a magical power over something. David refers to his enemies as deaf cobras which do not respond to the charmer. In this context God is the charmer. Snake charming has been a long tradition in the east, middle east and Africa. While in practice it looks like the charmer exhibits some magical power over the snake, in actuality it is all a matter of appearances. But the point of the Psalm is that God seeks to charm us. He desires us to be pleased with Him. In the arms of Jesus there are ten thousand charms. But David’s enemies are not in the least pleased by the Almighty. They are like deaf cobras, He holds no pleasing power over them. Because they do not respond to the pleasing power of our Lord, David invokes the justice of our God over his enemies.
As I think about the charms of our Lord, what are they? He is the Almighty. He is full of loving kindness. He is beautiful. He is patient. He is kind. He is joy. He is peace. He is creative. Should not these charms (pleasant attributes) draw me to Him? Should they not be enough to motivate me to obedience? If I really believed that He is all these things and that He wants me to share with Him in these charms, then shouldn’t that be an overwhelming motivation to seek Him? It should be, but there is something flawed in each of us, so that we do not seek Him. The result is that we need also to learn of His justice. He will bring those who are not repentant to judgment. When our enemies refuse to repent, He will judge. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

EZEKIEL 27
I am a baby boomer, born in 1955. The decades following 1945 saw the USA at the pinnacle of her military, economic, political, social power in the world. We became both loved and hated by the nations of the world. We possessed much of the world’s resources. We inherited one of the greatest political systems for providing freedom for her citizens that the world has ever seen. Our wealth compared to the third world nations became legendary. The average citizen in the USA was immeasurably better off economically and in every category of measure than most of the third world. Our resources and system had led us to the top in the world. We were much like Tyre.
In the midst of our wealth, we forgot God. We excluded Him from our schools. In the name of freedom of religion we excluded Him from public life. Our true god became our focus. Our true god? It is nothing less than freedom from any outside restraint. To have that freedom, we have sought to amass great wealth. To have that freedom, we have sought to broker political power that will support our own interests. To sustain that freedom, we sought to build the world’s greatest military machine. To have that freedom, we have sought to throw off all moral sexual restraint. Daily we fall at the altar of “Have It Your Way,” in order to worship our impotent god. We are headed at break neck speed down the high slope of this roller coaster toward the valley of freedom of restraint. We are much like Tyre.
What would happen if we shifted our focus off this false god which we have so passionately embraced to the living God whose glory is inexpressible? Perhaps the Lord might lift us off of this insane roller coaster and set us on a plateau with an incredible view. But alas we are much like Tyre. We have exchanged the glory of the invisible God for the glory of what we can see, feel and experience. It is the glory of money, sex and power. What a putrid god it is in relation to the glory of the invisible God. Help me/us Lord to focus on your glory, not the gods of this world, lest I/we end up just like Tyre. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-18
When the Children of Israel came out of Egypt, the Lord not only provided miraculously for their exit but also for their sustenance as they traveled the desert He provided manna for bread, quail for meat and water via various miracles. Two of those miracles were occasions where water poured from a rock after Moses struck it. (If you remember the first time he was commanded to strike it, the second time he was commanded to speak to it but in disobedience, he struck it again.) Paul says that Rock was Christ. He is the Rock who brings us the water of life when He was struck down in His crucifixion but raised again, declaring us righteous before God. He is also the Rock who brings us ongoing, daily life as we kneel before Him yielding our lives to Him in reverence.
Throughout the Scripture “Rock” is used as a metaphor of Christ. “Rock” is used by the Psalmist as a place of safety and refuge, like Masada. Jesus refers to hearing and obeying His words to being like a person who builds his house on solid bedrock. Here the “Rock” is the source of pure living water that sustains our life. Jesus also refers to Himself as the manna that came down out of heaven. He is the source of our sustenance.
Paul says Jesus followed the Children of Israel. The Lord Jesus is our “Rock”. He follows us. He is always there. He is our place of refuge and safety. He is the bedrock upon which we can build. He is the source of pure living water that sustains us and is the source of sustenance. What comfort there is in that knowledge! What warning is also there! Paul kind of understates the case when he says with most of them God was not well pleased. Indeed, He was not well pleased with all the adults except Joshua and Caleb. They were His children. He met their needs. But because of their unbelief, they lived out their natural lives in the wilderness never experiencing the promised land for which they had been called out of Egypt.
We are often tempted to leave or ignore the source of our sustenance. That amounts to idolatry and immorality. But He constantly follows us. He is there ready to give us a way of escape from the temptation if we are willing to take it. We can bear it, because He is there. This blessed truth is part of the symbolism of communion. We drink of one cup together—the cup of the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes us holy through communion with Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John