March 26

EXODUS 37
We find again the description of the furnishings of the tabernacle. Before, God gave Moses the plan for their construction. Here Moses records their skillful making by Bezalel. Why does God choose to have it recorded twice? I think it is because we need to hear it repeatedly. We easily forget that which is not set before us regularly. What are we to be reminded of?
The Ark of the Covenant reminds us that God the Son became perfect human. The two natures were forever united in one person so that the righteous demands of the law could bring Him death as our substitute, atoning for our sins. Jesus as the lampstand reveals both our sin before He washes it away and our holiness He gives it to us so that we may enter into fellowship with the Living God. The table of bread reminds us that only by feasting upon His body can we have fellowship with this Almighty God. The altar of incense reminds us that He is our High Priest constantly interceding for us. Through Him we can make our requests and wishes made know to God. The incense is our prayers as we offer them up according to His will. He is also the anointing oil, the One who comes upon us enabling us to do His will.
Isn’t He marvelous? This Holy God humbles Himself to become one of us so that He might cleanse us of our sin and that He could delight in us coming into His presence. Wow! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

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. A couple of years ago, I read an 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

ECCLESIASTES 12
Jeanne Calment entered this life on February 21, 1875. She resided most of her life in Arles, France. Remembering having met Vincent Van Gogh, she said that he was "Dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable.”1 Mrs. Calment died on August 4, 1997, giving her the distinction of having the longest confirmed human lifespan in modern times. At this writing I am one month shy of 60 years of age, not even half of Calment’s life span, 28 years past the average life-span in Swaziland, only 6 years shy of the world-wide average life-span, 18 years shy of the average life-span in the United States. Already I have been called ‘old.’ I have gone to McDonald’s and been given the senior discount without asking for it. Yet, I haven’t even lived half of Jeanne Calment life. I insist, “I am still young!” Being still young there is great instruction for me in today’s passage.
I am to remember my Creator in the days of my youth. Before my eyes go bad (sun & moon are darkened), before my body begins to tremble with old age (when the keepers of the house tremble), before I become bent over with osteoporosis (strong men bow down), before I start losing my teeth (grinders cease because they are few), before I lose my hearing (doors are shut in the streets and sound of grinding is low), before I lose my ability to sleep (rising at night at the sound of a bird), before my hair turns gray (when the almond tree blossoms), before my spinal chord is broken (silver chord), before head is crushed (golden bowl), before my heart ceases to beat (the pitcher is shattered at the fountain or the wheel at the well), before all of these happen, I am to remember my Creator in my youth! Before all of these happen, I am to learn from the wise but not become overcome with book learning. One thing I can learn from the wisdom of Solomon. I will never figure it all out, to try is vanity. It is useless. One thing is true. I will someday stand before the Judge of all the earth, and He will judge me. Looking back upon the days of my youth to the day I die, will I have reflected consistently upon the glory of my Creator and lived my life accordingly? He will then bring it all into the light. That He will judge me accurately and completely is a testimony of His glory. It is important to live that glory now, lest I come into His presence, “Dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable.” He alone can cleanse me, dress me and make me agreeable. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment on 3/25/2014.

LUKE 3
I spent a good portion of my life growing up in trees. Maybe I am a good argument for evolution. When I was in grade school, our house had a huge Elm tree in the front yard. My oldest brother put a thick rope in it. We could swing out way over the street and back. It was a blast. Our side yard had an oak tree. I loved jumping from limb to limb pretending I was Tarzan. We lived in a small town. So within just a couple of minutes of walking I could be in a wood full of elms, oaks, hickories, pecans, walnuts, cottonwood etc. In my memory they were huge. We built several tree houses in the woods. Generally, I stayed out of fruit trees. They didn’t make very good trees for climbing unless you were trying to steal an apple or a pear. With the exception of some apple trees, most fruit trees are too little to provide good shade. They are usually not large enough for building a tree house. Other than just appearance, fruit trees without fruit usually provide very little functionality.
If anyone ever saw the light of the glory of Jesus, it would have to be John. The Spirit of the Lord had communicated so clearly to him through the word concerning Jesus that he could see what was coming. He described the Lord in such terms that even Roman soldiers were converting and preparing for the coming One. Compared to the Messiah we are none better than a brood of vipers, a fruit tree that never bears fruit. What good is a fruit tree that never bears fruit? None. You can’t build a house in it. It isn’t worth climbing in. What good are we compared to Him, none. Ever seen furniture built of fig wood, pear wood, apple wood, plum wood, coconut wood? Probably not. It is usually not worth the trouble. It is better to just throw it in the fire. Compared to the glory of Jesus we are fruitless fruit trees.
But the picture John paints of the glory of Jesus is that He is our salvation. When He comes, He changes our fruitlessness into fruit. John then switches metaphors. When Jesus comes He makes us like wheat. He takes the chaff and waste of our lives and burns it in unquenchable fire. He takes a kernel of grain and makes us valuable and useful in making the bread of life. That is the beauty of His glory. We are nothing compared to Him. We are wonderfully valuable with Him. Seeing that is what motivated even callous Roman soldiers to convert. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! I think I’ll go climb a tree.
--Pastor john