April 1

LEVITICUS 4
“So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him." I am so thankful that my High Priest, the Lord Jesus the Messiah, took my sin upon Himself and offered His own body for my sin so that I am forgiven by trusting in Him. I committed the sin. He made the atonement with His own body. Thank you Lord Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 91
A lot of legends have developed around this Psalm. One is about a 91st Infantry Brigade of the U.S. Expeditionary Army in WWI. The Brigade reportedly read this Psalm together every morning during WWI, and is reported to have had no casualties. A brief check on the internet reveals to story to be bogus, in as much as there was no 91st AEF in WWI. However, there are a number of individual stories of God’s provision for soldiers who claimed this Psalm for themselves. Here is a link to one of them:
http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x1446674109/WW-II-Then-and-Now-Invaded-from-the-sky
Here is a an actual incident, which I know to be true. My son spent 15 months in Iraq at Taji with the 7th Cavalry, Nov., 2006-Jan., 2008. He was a Chaplain’s Assistant. Since chaplains are forbidden to use firearms, anytime they went outside the wire, the assistant became the chaplain’s body guard. My wife daily prayed for many things for my son. One of them was that the Lord would protect the seat of the Humvee in which my son would ride. On one occasion my son and the chaplain were scheduled to go outside of the wire. At the last moment, the Chaplain decided not to go. By necessity my son would not go either. So a group of four other soldiers were assigned to the Humvee. During the excursion, the Humvee, in which my son would have been riding, hit an IED. Three of the soldiers were instantly killed. The fourth, a female army journalist, who was riding in what would have been my son’s seat, was thrown from the Humvee. Her only major injury was a sprained ankle. She is reported to have said, “It was like hands came under me and set me down on the ground.” Hmm. . . I don’t know the theology behind why God allowed the three other soldiers to die, but of this I am convinced, God protected that seat in which my son would have sat. In His time and at His discretion, He saves some who are in battle. It is His glory to do so.
So should I be encouraged to go into battle? Well, we have to do what we have to do, but let us be careful not to tempt God. Satan quoted verses 11 & 12 to Jesus in tempting Him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple. What was Jesus’ response? He quoted Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not tempt the LORD your God.” No, we never force God to show His glory, but we should be ever mindful that sometimes it is His desire to show us his glory by delivering us from the situation. If He chooses not to show us His glory by delivering us, His glory is revealed by our willingness to lay our lives on the line on His behalf. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John


SONG OF SONGS 6
Yesterday we closed with the Shulamite’s description of her beloved, her friend. Today in sarcasm the court ladies ask, “So where is your beloved?” Implied in the sarcasm is, “Why do you keep holding on to this hope of your beloved when you are in the presence of the Solomon and you could be enjoying the pleasures of his court?” Once again the world casts its sarcasm upon us as we are willing to hold out for the beauty of His presence denying all the riches and pleasures that this world promises to us. For those ensnared by the world’s system, it is incredible that we should seek Him above the riches of this world. How many people have stood in astonishment as men and women have given their lives for the glory of their Shepherd? How many people have seen the sacrifice and declared, “What a waste!”
But the Shulamite will not be persuaded. Once again she states, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” Her beloved is far more beautiful than all the wealth of Solomon. But now Solomon arrives on the scene. Now he begins to try to woo her to himself. How do we know this is Solomon speaking this time? The speaker compares the beauty of the Shulamite to things with which he is familiar and things with which she is familiar. He begins by comparing her to Tirzah and Jerusalem. According to the KJV Bible commentary, Tirzah, which means delightful, was a city of great beauty and of course Jerusalem was Solomon’s capital city in which he was doing many building projects. If this were the Shulamite’s shepherd, he probably would not be comparing her to cities. Solomon knowing that he had competition also uses pastoral imagery to woo her. But the really telling feature is that Solomon in his arrogance compares her to his harem by stating that she is the most beautiful of all his queens. Verse eight could literally be translated, “I have sixty queens and eighty concubines.” He goes on to talk about how there is only one like her. I semi-jokingly often tell my daughter that she is my favorite daughter. She is never impressed because she is my only daughter. The Shulamite, however, has lots of competition. But her desire is not to be the best of many, but to be the only love of her shepherd.
She tries to explain to Solomon (v.11) how this whole sordid event was put into motion. She was simply on a gathering excursion for groceries when she encountered the royal accompaniment. Before she knew what was happening she had been recognized for her striking beauty and placed in the prince’s chariot to be forced into Solomon’s harem. Now back in the present and she trying to run away, they call out to her to return. Her response is, “What would you see in me?” The reply of the men is the dance of the two camps, Mahanaim. That was the name Jacob gave to place where he wrestled with God. In Genesis 32:1 we read that when morning came that Israel saw a camp of Angels next to his own camp. So, he named it Mahanaim. Israel was speaking of the place where the Divine met the human. The men were speaking of her that they saw in her something of where the Divine met the human.
Today the church of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God-ordained place where the Divine meets the human. If the world is going to see the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is going to reveal it in the church (Eph. 3:21). So, if Satan is going to seek to hide the glory of our Lord from the world, what is he going to do? He will do his best to seduce the church to draw her away from her true love her true shepherd. IF he can fill her with the world, then the glory of our Lord will be hidden. Now more than ever, we must resist the advances of the world and focus only on the Glory of our Lord Jesus. We are betrothed to Him and Him alone. Only to Him can we give our affections. Oh Lord, help us to love only You and not love the world. Lord, everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, are not of the Father but of the world. Oh Lord, help us to perceive that the world is passing away. Its allurements are only to draw us away from you. When it is done with us, it will just toss us aside like used toilet paper. Oh Lord, give us pure hearts, hot for the love of You! Like the Shulamite, enable us to sacrifice all for You. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 6:27-49
Since World War II the USA has tried to improve the nations we first subjugated. Study World History and you will find that, that is pretty different from what most nations do to those whom they defeat. The USA has had mixed motives in doing this. Some of it is that we have come to see that it is in our best interest to feed our enemy and help him rise from the dust that we put him in. The reason we have somewhat decent relations with Germany and Japan today is because we helped in the post-war years feed their people and rebuild their economy. We have since learned that in general, countries that we have helped don't usually attack. Hence, the rationale for our continued involvement with Iraq is that if we rebuild a secure Iraq, we will have a more secure future. But what has caused us to take that route after WWII? Part of it is that at that time we were still a Christian culture. The teaching of Jesus to love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, was at least partially embedded in the culture. It wasn't purely from that motive, but that motive was undeniably part of it.
I am currently reading Tea with Hezbollah by Ted Dekker. It is fascinating reading, and I recommend it if you would like to meditate some more on Jesus’ teaching concerning loving your enemy, and how that plays out in our world.
Jesus offers us the commands to love our enemies, not because we might become their friends if we do, although that might happen. He offers the commands because it is the right thing to do. It is also the glorious thing to do. Look at His example. He died for the sins of the whole world. But the whole world does not receive the provision for which he died. He loves the world none-the-less. Yes, many of us become His friends because He turned the other cheek on the cross. But many still find the cross an abomination, a stumbling block. But right up until their death Jesus extends the offer of forgiveness. Now that is glory! I cannot prove it with chapter and verse but I think that at the Great White Throne Judgment, when He has the final judgment of all those who refused to receive Him, they will bow the knee, but not willingly. They will go into Eternal Judgment still rejecting Him, still fighting Him. It will be clear to all of us that He is just in sending them to the lake of fire. After all, He died in their place, He turned the cheek and they struck it again and again and again. He loved them but they refused to acknowledge their utter need for Him. Love will not force love to be returned.
He loves us. Even when we were still enemies with Him, He loved us. As we fall in love with Him and gaze upon His glory, we are changed into that same likeness. To build upon any other foundation brings extreme ruin. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John