April 11

LEVITICUS 15
They were desperate for a substitute teacher that day. I knew because they called me personally rather than using the computer to call. The teacher was also the cheerleading coach. She had a family emergency and had to leave in the middle of the day. I told them, “I don’t know anything about cheerleading.”
“It’s okay,” was the reply. “The girls know what they are doing. You are there just to observe. If any of the girls get hurt, just immediately send someone to the office and we will take care of it.” I guess you’ve figured out that since I am telling this story, someone got hurt. The girls were doing this thing where one girl stands on the shoulders of another girl and then falls back. The others, lined-up on each side, catch her. The girl falling panicked, and instead of relaxing and coming down parallel to the ground, she came at an angle which prevented the other girls from catching her. She landed on her tailbone. There was a loud pop and a scream of pain, and I just knew that I had just witnessed a spinal cord injury. I did what I was trained to do. I made sure she didn’t try to get up. I sent a student immediately to the office. I stayed by her side until somebody else higher in authority came to assess the situation. There was nothing else I could do. By the way, it turned out that she had nothing more than a bad bruise, but it sure had me scared!
That was at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Consequently, the schools did mandatory seminars for substitute teachers on how to handle medical emergencies, which included how to handle situations where a student has lost bodily fluids. AIDS wasn’t the only one, there are many other deadly diseases which are transmitted through blood, mucus, vomit, spit, etc. In seven years of substitute teaching I never had to use the information on dealing with bodily fluids, only the one fall. I’m glad I did not have to deal with any loss of bodily fluid.
Why does God go to such great length to give these health regulations concerning the loss of fluids?

1) He is our healer. He knew that we would not know that disease could be transmitted through the improper handling of the loss of bodily fluid. 2) These are symbols of sin and justice. Matthew Henry says of some of these verses:

If these ceremonial pollutions could not be done away but by sacrifice and offering, something greater and much more valuable must be expected and depended upon for the purifying of the soul from the uncleanness of sin.

There it is again. Our souls have been tremendously sullied by the infection of sin. We must be cleansed! Our sin vomits forth, so to speak, from our lives. It requires an emergency procedure and special handling so that the infection in our spiritual blood and spiritual fluids is removed and does not infect others. So the laws were physically useful in practicing cleanliness. They were spiritually useful as symbols of our need to be cleansed by His sacrifice. When we come to the realization that we have fallen and sullied spiritual fluids have come forth. We lie there and call upon the authority on High. He comes with forgiveness, healing and restoration. He cleanses our mess. That is His glory. He takes my sin which I vomit forth spiritually and ejaculate in spiritual adultery, and He cleanses me from the inside out. “Hallelujah! Now it cleanseth! It cleanseth, even me! Hallelujah! Now it cleanseth! Thro’ His blood I am set free!”—Rev. J.B. Weber. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 101
David declares that he will sing of the mercy and justice of the Lord, and then he says nothing directly about them. The rest of the Psalm talks about what he will do to ensure that justice rules in his life and in his land. He addresses some pretty basic levels of justice in this Psalm. First, in his own home he commits to walking with a perfect or blameless heart. What does it mean to walk blameless in my own home and what does that have to do with justice and mercy? If mercy and justice are realities anywhere in my life, it has to begin in my own home. It seems to me that David was a real loser here, more than eight wives, committed adultery which led to murder, failed to discipline his children (Amnon, Tamar and Absalom etc.). Wow, how could a man, who has committed to walking blameless in his house, setting no wicked thing before his eyes, and putting away a perverse heart, blow it so badly? Second he commits to justice and blamelessness in his neighborhood. He vows to not put up with those who slander his neighbor, or who looks on a neighbor with a proud heart. Is that what he was doing when he took his neighbor’s wife? Finally, he commits to executing justice in the land. He wants to destroy the wicked out of the land.
What does any of this have to do with singing of the mercy and justice of the Lord? When did David write all of this anyway? Was it before his fall with Bathsheba? If so, then boy, did he blow it! Was it after his fall with Bathsheba? If so, then wow, what a recommitment and repeated failure. If man whom God calls, “A man after my own heart,” blows it so badly, is there any hope for me? Maybe by singing this, he is a living example of God’s mercy. Yes God’s mercy and justice should motivate us to walk with a blameless or perfect heart, but we are going to blow it. When we do, we need to repent turning to Him to receive His forgiveness.
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean!
Oh, how marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be,
How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior’s love for me.
Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

ISAIAH 8:1-9:7
One of the most amazing things about the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is that He is with us. “Immanuel” simply means “God with us.” If we were to judge by our circumstances as to whether or not God is with us, we might easily conclude, “No, He is not.” In Isaiah & Ahaz days, it would have been easy for Ahaz to conclude that God was not with them. When it came to the end of Ahaz’ life, he was not evaluated as a good king (2Kings 16:1-4), but from Isaiah it would seem that he was at least toying with the idea of being a Yahweh follower. For the sake of His people and His eternal plan, the Lord was with the nation at this time.
Do you get the precarious circumstance that had befallen Judah and Ahaz at this time? Assyria was riding to the zenith of its world domination at this time. Israel and Syria were quite concerned and were convinced that only a strong alliance between Syria, Israel, Judah and Egypt could muster the force needed to with stand the surging tide of Assyria. Syria and Israel were threatening Judah with military force to join them voluntarily or be militarily subjugated to join them. Kind of a strange concept it is to force another country through military intimidation to join you in conquest. Yet it is a concept that has been used through the millennia by many countries. Indeed, Chengis Khan used it extensively to build the largest empire the world has ever seen. So what should Ahaz do? Join Syria and Israel in an alliance to fight Assyria? Or should he resist Syria and Israel, and if successful, what would he do if Assyria beat Syria and Israel? Ahaz was playing the field sacrificing to every god in order to try gain the right advantage to expand his kingdom.
Enter Isaiah with an unwanted but much needed message. “God is with you. Don’t worry about Syria, Israel or Assyria. Depend totally on the presence of the One who is.” It wasn’t what Ahaz wanted to hear. God even makes Isaiah’s coming children to be a prophetic illustration of what he was going to do. God would be with them. Assyria would come in like a gentle but unstoppable flood. It would drown Syria and Israel. It would come up to Judah’s neck but not overwhelm them. Ahaz should not fear this but fear the Lord who was with him. Isaiah’s children are a sign in that even though they were just conceived, all these things would be accomplished before his son could talk.
The Lord brings us a similar message today. We are not to fear our circumstances but fear Him because He is with us. We are not to pursue man’s solution but rather trust in His presence. It is a difficult thing to do when everyone else is running after what seems to be right to them. But He tells us to wait upon Him. He ordains our children to be signs of waiting upon Him. Where is the American church today? Never has there been so great a proliferation of programs and schemes to build the church as we have seen, and yet the futurists tell us that we are losing this generation. Maybe it is because we have been trusting in the hand of man rather than truly turning and trusting in the God who is with us. We must somehow live so that the fear of God is upon us. I am convinced that can only be done as we go back to the Word (law and testimony) and listen to what the Spirit says to us through it. He will show His glory in that manner. His glory will be revealed as He is with us. As He is with us, we experience that He indeed is the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 11:1-28
During off-season football in high school, we were put into weight training. In the early years I was quite weak and couldn't lift anything that would impress anyone. But with persistence late in my Junior year and at the beginning of my Senior year, I was capable of benching 240 lbs. Now compared to the average power lifter who competes, that isn't much. However, compared to the person who doesn't compete, its not too shabby. It was certainly far more than I ever thought I would be able to do. I probably couldn't do 130 now. But it took persistence.
Part of the glory of Jesus is that He accomplished mighty feats in His days. That which He accomplished He accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. With the finger of God, He cast out demons. By the Spirit of God, He entered Satan's house, bound him, took captive a host of captives, and set them free.
Jesus still accomplishes mighty feats through us. He said that greater things than He did, we would do because He was going to the Father. One reason that He was going to the Father was to send the Holy Spirit to live in us. Today's passage is that classic passage of "ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." He precedes it with the man who received help from his neighbor at midnight because he asked persistently. How does He end it? "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
This same Spirit who resided in Jesus, by Whom He did His works of power, now resides in us. We too with the finger of God can cast out demons. The Kingdom of God has come upon us--now but not yet! That is part of His glory! He has bound the strong man. We may spoil his goods--by the Spirit. But we must ask and at times-with persistence. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john