October 29

2 KINGS 10-11
Is it possible to see some of the glory of God and be used as a major instrument in accomplishing His will and yet not have a relationship with Him? The history of the Bible cries out, “Yes!” The obvious ones are men like Pharaoh and Cyrus. But they never made any pretense about being on Yahweh’s side. Then there are men like Jehu. He slaughters the worshippers of Baal as no other man had done, including Elijah. God even commended him for it and promised his descendants to retain the throne to the fourth generation. Yet we find these sentences concerning him:
He did not however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, the great sin that Jeroboam son of Nebat had led Israel to commit. . . But Jehu did not obey the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins of idolatry that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

Is it possible that I could be like Jehu? Could I see glimpses of the glory? Could I be obedient to the Lord in a major work in my culture? Could I be commended even by the Lord for that work? Could I do all these things and still not know Him? If the example of Jehu is the answer, then I think the answer is, “Yes.” How can I prevent being like Jehu? The answer is simple. I simply throw myself on the mercies of God. Everyday I will seek to gaze at His glory and spiritually eat at His table. I will plead with as did Moses, “Lord, show me your glory. . . Do not send me out unless your presence goes with me.” Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 119:113-176
My wife and I have bought 5 houses in our lifetime. Each time we had to put down earnest money. That was money that we gave to the realty company which would show our good intentions about purchasing the home. In return for the money, the house was taken off the market until the purchase was complete. Once the seller accepted the contract and the money, they were not allowed to sell the house to anyone but us. Even if someone came along and offered more money, the seller could not legally sell to them because he had already entered into a contract with us. On my part, if I reneged on the deal, the seller would keep the money because he would perhaps have lost the ability to sell to someone else while the house was off of the market. Another word for earnest money is surety.
In verse 122 David asks the Lord, “Be surety for Your servant for good; Do not let the proud oppress me.” Does he have the same concept in mind here? I believe that he does. David knows his own heart. He knows what is in his heart. At the time of writing this Psalm, he knows the value of the word of the Lord. He knows the richness of the pleasure of walking with Him. He commits to His word and to Him. But he knows his heart. He knows that he will waver and flip flop. He asks the Lord to put down earnest money on His soul. He wants to know that God will be faithful to complete the deal when he wavers from the path. The blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the surety, the guarantee for us. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians 1:13–14:

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

David knows that he will need help to keep his end of the deal. He cannot do it without the direct intervention and help of the Lord:

133Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
154Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.
159Consider how I love Your precepts; Revive me, O LORD, according to Your lovingkindness.
176I have gone astray like a lost sheep; Seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.

This great Savior of ours is the One who enables us to keep our commitments. That is what the Spirit does in our lives. As we commit ourselves to His word, He makes it live, gives us life, gives us power. It is our responsibility to rendezvous with Him in His word, to listen to the voice of His Spirit and to yield to His Spirit. It is his responsibility to empower us. What a deal! What glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JONAH 2
Yes, it easy to throw stones at Jonah, but at least when he reached the end of his rope, he repented. Boy did he reach the end of his rope! He was swallowed whole by a great fish. Seaweed was wrapped around his head. He had sunk to the bottom of the sea. His soul had fainted, and he was probably dead. But there he realized his folly. There he called upon the Lord, recalling to mind His mercy. He knows that he is about to stand in judgment before a Holy God. He chooses to not forsake the mercy that he knows is there. He chooses to come in line with what God has told him. He chooses to pay his vows. The Lord gives him one more chance and makes the fish vomit him upon the shore.
Isn’t that amazing? He willfully sinned. He refused his God given mission. Not only did he say, “No!” he ran the opposite direction! What mercy God revealed and showered upon him! He showers the same mercy upon us, but we need to be very careful. If we do not obey, there eventually comes an end to the Lord’s patience. Eventually He says, “No more!” and He takes us out of this world. That is the glory of our Lord!
But there is more than the Mercy of the Lord that is seen in this passage. There is also resurrection power that was extended to Jonah. Once Jonah had died to his own desires (refusal to preach mercy to those whom he hated), the Lord raised him up. No matter upon what beach Jonah was vomited, he still had a several hundred mile journey on foot. Can you imagine having died and spent 3 days and nights in the stomach of a great fish what kind of physical condition you would be in the natural. Man I bet he stank! But he got up and fulfilled his vow. He could only do that if he were miraculously empowered by the Lord. What grace the Lord provides His servant to perform His will! That same grace is available to us. All we need do is be willing to heed His command and step out in faith to do it. His resurrection power is available to us if we will die to ourselves. That is exactly what Paul was talking about in Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
What mercy He extends to us for not obeying! What grace He extends to us for the ability to obey! Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

2 TIMOTHY 3
It is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ that we should experience persecutions similar to His and to come through them triumphantly! His Word is able to make us strong for those situations. His Word is perfect. He was able to work in and through the writers of Scripture so that everything they wrote on the one hand perfectly voiced what Jesus wanted said, and yet on the other hand, their personalities and human qualities are apparent in their writing. Every single word that they wrote is the perfect word of God, the word of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that Jesus is able to use the Word in us to teach us what is true, to reprove us when we are wrong, to show us how to be right again, to instruct us in the right way to walk in life. The Lord Jesus is able to use His word and His power to equip us for every good work that He desires to do in us. Let persecution come! We have the glory and beauty of our Lord to equip us and empower us! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John