March 2

EXODUS 13
I was eight and one half years old. Obviously, no eight-year-old is a hardened criminal. But I had sinned, even at eight. I had not made a physical idol, but there were other things that were more important to me than worshipping the Almighty Creator. I had taken the Lord’s name, that name which is more precious than any other, in vain. I had heard others at school do it, and I thought it was cool. Resting in the Lord was a foreign concept to me. There had been times when I had disobeyed and therefore dishonored my parents. Physical murder I had not committed, but there were people that I had hated. Adultery? At eight I was not interested in that yet. Stealing? Well, I had stolen a nickel from off of my dad’s chest of drawers once. There are probably other things that I stole which I don't remember now. Bearing false witness? On many occasions I had misrepresented the truth (lied). Coveting? There were many things that were not mine which I often strongly desired to have. Even at eight sin had a hold on me. I was in bondage to sin. But with a strong hand the Lord delivered me out of bondage. Every time I celebrate communion (which is a form of the Passover meal) I am reminded of how He delivered me. Even at eight I was a slave to sin. He redeemed me, set me free. How did he do it? He did it with His broken body and His shed blood. That is the glory of my Lord. He would take His own demise and apply it in my place. His demise was mine. My demise became His. His resurrection from the dead is mine right now in a spiritual sense. One day it will be mine in a physical sense. Communion (Passover) reminds me of that.
Since then He has led me through life. I am now (2010) 54 and soon to be 55. In the good times He has been like a pillar of cloud on the horizon leading me on in the direction that I should go. In the bad times He has been like a pillar of fire next to me giving me warmth and protection from the predators who seek my demise. I need nothing or no one else. He is all sufficient for me. 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

JOB 31
Job understands the depth of iniquity in a man. He travels a lot of territory in this chapter concerning the nature of sin. He realizes that it is in the heart, in the inner part of man that sin really lurks. He protests his innocence. He speaks first to that issue that controls most men, their sex drive. I am constantly coming across the statistic that states that 50% of men in America regularly view some form of pornography and that the statistic is not any less among men who claim to attend church regularly. Job says, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” He knew that iniquity began in the inner thought life. How do I control my thought life? One way is to control what I gaze upon. The old saying applies here, “You cannot stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep him from building a nest.”
He explores the possibility of his own falsehood. For him the question was, “When he was a business man, did he give fair amounts for grain when he bought and sold?” He claims that he dealt with integrity in his business dealings. Do you know where the word integrity comes from? It is the same word from which we get the word for integer. An integer is a whole number. Integrity is wholeness. In other words if you deal with integrity, you deal using the same principles in the totality or whole of your life. You don’t deal differently when you have opportunity to secretly gain advantage over another. There is a consistency that is there all of the time especially when no one but God sees.
He forges into the area of sexual purity in remaining faithful to both his wife and his neighbor. We live in a culture that seems to have forgotten about the meaning of sexual purity and faithfulness.
Then he addresses how he has fairly treated his servants. I think the principle could transfer over into our culture by thinking of proper employer/employee treatment, wages and compensation. What would happen in a company where the owner of the company truly wanted the best for his employees as much as he wanted the success of the company? What would happen if employees truly wanted the best for their company rather than just wanting to get the most wages for the least amount of work? Would we have CEO’s who get paid millions while they bankrupt the company? Would we have employees who want to see what little work they can produce for the greatest compensation? Would labor unions still exist? Would a CEO still live in million dollar estates while common employees barely make ends meet? Would employees be required to continually work long hours to the detriment of their families? Job seems to think that he treated his servants fairly.
What about that most defenseless part of society, widows and orphans? The greatest contributor to poverty in Oklahoma is single family households. Now in very few cases is that because a woman has been widowed. Usually it is because of divorce or abandonment. Single women typically get paid far less than single men. Then take into consideration that if her child gets sick, then she must take off of work to meet the child’s needs. So, there comes the double whammy of less income and higher medical expense. In Job’s culture the widow and orphan were really dependent upon the support of the culture. Job claims that he never shrank back from aid. Do we shrink back?
How about these last two, making gold your hope and rejoicing at your enemy’s destruction? On the one hand the proverbs instruct us that there is wisdom in planning financially, but on the other hand in that planning we run a great risk at making gold our hope rather than trusting in the Lord. Job claims that to do this would be, “An iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above.” It is indeed a tight rope to walk upon. Then he mentions rejoicing at an enemy’s destruction. How many of us have done that? I would guess that we all have done that at one time or another.
But what does this tell us about the glory of God? It tells me that His standard of righteousness is far higher than mine. It is too high. I cannot attain to it. But thanks be to God for His all surpassing gift of righteousness that is found in Christ Jesus! When I look at my sin and realize that only he can deliver me from it, I change my mind about what I can do to what only He can do! I choose to cling to Him, to let Him live His life in and through me! He enables me to live above sin, just as He did for Job! Isn’t He something? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

MARK 8:1-21
I still remember my first experience at mass feeding of people. It was Explo '72 in Market Hall in Dallas, TX. There were 5,000 of us high school students there, and they had 1 hour to serve and feed us all. It was amazing. They had several lines going by a lot of tables. We held our plates out and almost literally ran by servers as they almost threw the food on our plates. The amount of planning and organization that must have gone into planning each meal must have been incredible. Of course as high school students we grumbled and complained about the amount of time we had to wait and the quality of food we received. But having experienced other mass feedings since then, I am now impressed with what they pulled off. But this pales in comparison to what Jesus did with the 4,000 in this passage. After all, the servers at market hall were doing this for a living. They had had weeks to plan and a large staff to carry it off. Not to mention, they had purchased the required food stuffs beforehand.
Jesus was different. He manufactured the food from 7 loaves and a few fish. He directed the organization so that some gave to some who in turn gave to some so that it was exponentially distributed. (Indeed it is a lesson to be learned about the distribution of the Gospel.) Why did He do this? He did it because He had compassion upon the multitudes. Now that is glory! Remember this is a Gentile multitude. Usually we look at this miracle and say, "Wow! He can multiply loaves and fish to feed 4,000! That is glory!" But I submit to you that the glory is not the multiplication. The glory is the compassion!
Mark says He left immediately across the Sea of Galilee to Dalmanutha or Magdala on the western shore, Jewish territory. I am sure word of His experiences preceded Him as He traveled. Mark used a very important little word, 'then.' Then the Pharisees came. . .disputing and seeking a sign. EXCUSE me! A sign? What more can you ask? The sick are healed! The dead have been raised! The demon possessed are set free! The hungry are fed! What was it you wanted? Why couldn't they believe? He had compassion on sinners! It did not fit their paradigm of the Messiah. The Messiah was supposed to rule the Gentiles with a rod of iron, not have compassion on these, these, these sinners! He was serving sinners not ruling over saints! The sign they wanted would never be given. And Jesus has a word of warning for His disciples, "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees!"
The problem with the disciples is that they were only a little bit quicker mentally than I am. They didn't get it. Alright! Whose turn was it to buy the bread? Someone dropped the ball again! Judas, get out of the boat and go buy some bread. When Jesus is really saying, "Guys, don't you get it? It is not a matter of bread. I can provide anything you need. It is a matter of compassion for sinners. The leaven of the Pharisees took that away from them." I am constantly falling into the trap of thinking my acceptance before the Holy God is dependent upon my obedience or someone else's acceptance is dependent upon their obedience. The reality is He is compassionate toward us, if we will come to Him. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John