February 6

GENESIS 39
Look at these verses in chapter 39:

2The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.
21But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

Do you suppose the Lord is trying to make a point to us here? The phrase is repeated four times. Do you ever think:

Excuse me, The Lord was with him? Joseph was almost killed by his brothers; he is sold into slavery; he is falsely accused of rape; he imprisoned without hope of parole because of the false accusation. You are telling me that the Lord was with him? I’d hate to think what the Lord does for people whom He hates.

Yes, the Lord was with Him, and it seems that Joseph realized it. Perhaps for Joseph, the mere knowledge of the presence of the Lord was worthy compensation for the crummy circumstances. I have had times when I have been falsely accused. I have had things done to me that I would rather not have had done. I have had the rug pulled out from underneath me. But in those times I can say that I have experienced the presence of the Lord in ways that I did not experience Him in the good times. That presence is so sweet that if He required it, I would choose the bad times again just to experience His sweet presence. You see, that is the glory of His presence. It far exceeds the worst circumstance. He is the One who is there, and His presence is our exceeding great reward. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 37
Look at all of the commands that the Lord gives us in this Psalm. He has a lot of things for us to do and to focus upon! It is really easy for me to focus upon the commands. His commands are for our good.

Do not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
3Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
5Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
8Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
27Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
34Wait on the LORD,
And keep His way,
37Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.

Why are all these commands here? Running mixed with these admonitions is the underlying teaching that God is righteous. In the words of R.G.Lee’s famous sermon, there is a “Payday Someday.” In this values-mixed-up world it is easy in to lose sight of that very basic fact. God is righteous. When all is said and done, righteousness will prevail, one way or another. In relation to man, righteousness will prevail. Wrath against all unrighteousness will fall either on Jesus on the Cross where wrath’s demand is satisfied, or it will fall on those who refuse to receive the mercy of the Cross by receiving Jesus. What a motivation that should be to us to obey these commands!! It is not a motivation of fear but a motivation of gratitude for His great mercy and love. When I realize and contemplate upon His great mercy and love for me, how can I but love Him? If I love Him, how can I but do His commands? OH He is soooo wonderful! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOB 5
The TV evangelists have it partly right. God does want the best for us right now. Unfortunately we usually define ‘best’ slightly different than does God. That is where the rub is and where His glory gets hijacked. I was blessed with good long distance vision until I hit 50. I could typically see, distinguish or read at 20 feet what the average person had to be at 5 or 10 feet to see. Alas, my vision at only 1 foot away has never been that great. Understanding God’s ‘best’ is somewhat like needing to be able to see it well close up, as well as being able to see it from a great distance. Both are needed to properly understand it. God, who sees all things from an eternal viewpoint, does not always see ‘best’ the same way we do. He sees the total plan; we see only the momentary. In the total plan, righteousness and peace are more important than ‘stuff.’ Relationship with Him is more important than the things or even people He gives.
It is thus true that: He gives rain; He raises the lowly; He frustrates the devices of the crafty; He saves the needy; the poor have hope; He delivers those in trouble; He redeems from death; He enables us to laugh in famine; He wants peace in our homes with nothing amiss; He wants our descendants to be many; and that we should live a long and full life. But Eliphaz’s point is that the Lord is chastening and correcting Job. He is implying that Job’s problem is the result of sin, or as the TV evangelist would say, ‘unbelief.’ But this does not accurately represent Job’s situation. Somehow God’s best for Job and for us is that Job would encounter these problems even though Job is not responsible for committing a sin which is the direct reason for which these evil things have come upon him. But it is best for us and for him for him to experience these horrific experiences. In so doing, from the eternal point of view, we see the glory of God. The next time I/we experience a horrible experience, we do need to ask God, “Why?” We need to ask so that we can gain an eternal perspective; we then may respond properly to His leading. The problem is that the intervening time from our asking, “Why?” and our receiving God’s answer, there may be a long period of silence from God. In the silence our trust in His glory is tested! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MATTHEW 23:23-39
From time to time I come across a street preacher who constantly denounces the sin of people. I guess there is a place for that kind of ministry. My sons tell me of the activity of Preacher Bob at the campus of OSU. He apparently can get pretty caustic with the students in condemning their sin. One difference is that Preacher Bob seems to be addressing the wickedness of those who do not even seem to be attempting to meet the righteous standard of God. Another difference is that he seems to delight in the condemnation of other people. These woes in Matthew 23 at times rub me the wrong way. Part of the reason is they remind me of street preachers like Preacher Bob. I don’t want to think of Jesus like that.
But then I must remember, Jesus was denouncing a false self-righteousness. The scribes and Pharisees really thought they could make themselves righteous by doing the law. They refused to see their need for Jesus to make them able to meet the law. Jesus can and will forgive any sin, if we are willing to recognize our need and come to Him in repentance and receiving His forgiveness. Another thing I see here is that when Jesus was done denouncing them, He wept over their unwillingness to return to Him. He wanted them to come to Him. He compares His love for them to that of mother hen for her chicks. It was not a problem of His unwillingness to receive them but rather, their unwillingness to come. I have never seen a street preacher weeping over the stiff-necked unrepentance of his audience. But Jesus did.
Now that’s glory. He holds a high standard and lowers it for no one. He dies in our place when we cannot make the standard. He comes to live in us to enable us to meet the standard. He weeps over those who will not come to Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John