Humans have always tried to create God in our likeness. Our Lord is not created in our likeness. He is beyond us. He is separate from us. He is different. He is holy. It is easy for us in our own minds to put parameters upon God, to define what He is like, to make Him fit our own paradigms. This has always been true of humanity. It is as true today as it was in the days of the ancients. However, the ancients were often more blatant in expressing it. In the days of Moses and the Egyptians they included their gods in everything. Hence, if they were going to have meat at a meal they would offer the animal first to their idols as a way of sanctifying the meal. Here, the Lord is making sure that the Israelites break from their Egyptian idolatry.
He forbids them to eat sacrificial meat. The meat which they bring to the tabernacle is left there. Only the priests ate of it. If they ate meat at home, it was to be completely drained of the blood. Why? Because of God’s holiness. One constant for all ages is that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. That is why Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted. It was not a blood sacrifice. Life is in the blood. Sin requires death. Therefore, for the remission of sin, blood must be shed. Out of that death, our Lord brings life. Out of His death the Lord brings life. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 103
Regularly we must remind ourselves of the benefits of following the Lord. Otherwise, we get wrapped up in our challenges and forget to bless Him. If we took the time to find an example of each of the things David mentions, the result would be a lengthy book. But we should do a few anyway, in so doing we see His glory and bless His holy name.
He forgives all my iniquities. Dare I air my dirty laundry? Before Him I have confessed them. If I commit public sins, I will confess them as sin publicly. If I commit private sins, I will confess them privately to God. If there is a sin that seems to have a bind on me, I will find a partner to whom I can confess and who will help me in the struggle of overcoming. (Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much James 5:16.) Suffice it to say that, according to God’s standard, I have broken every one of the Ten Commandments multiple times. Apart from His forgiveness, I stand condemned before a holy God. Yet, He has forgiven me because He died and rose again on my behalf. I could stop the list right here and that would be enough to bless Him for eternity.
He heals all my diseases. In the past He has healed me of Pneumonia, flus, colds, back injuries, ankle injuries, shoulder injuries, knee injuries, mononucleosis, ear infections, but on this earth He will not heal me of all diseases. I will still age; I will still die. That is one thing that I have in common with all who can read or will read this book. We will age and die, but as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the right to come before His throne and ask if He might heal us now. He might say, “Yes.” He might say, “No,” or “Not now.” But as a believer in the Lord Jesus, He will one day grace me with a new body that will never see disease.
He redeems my life from destruction as described in the last sentence, but He also has redeemed me on other occasions that are now past. Laura and I were driving on I-70 in the middle of the night. We hit black ice. There was a semi in front of us and behind us. The car began to spin out of control at 65 mph. Somehow we ended up in a snow bank with absolutely no injuries. Snow was packed up around the engine under the hood. A Highway patrolman appeared almost immediately, helped dig us out and sent us on our way with this instruction, “The highway is covered with black ice between here and the state border. Take the next exit and find a motel.” I don’t think our missing the semis or his appearance were accidents, rather they were His hand of redemption from destruction.
He crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies. On a few occasions in my life, I can recall where His Spirit has whispered to my spirit, “I love You.” They were those experiences where words cannot express the bliss of the experience. I would walk through hell to experience it again.
He satisfies my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. You know, sometimes I get really weary. I just want to lay down and quit. But He won’t let me. In the nick of time, He always provides what I need. It might be a vacation; it might be a retreat; it might be a prayer summit; it might be an encouraging friend; it might be just His refreshing presence.
I am 57 years old. My life has been brief and will soon be over. Fifty-seven years from now, my grandchildren might think of me on occasion, but they will probably be the only ones. One hundred years from now, no one on earth (if it is still here) will think of me or remember me, or care, but the Lord will. As the flowers which I buy for my wife today will be gone tomorrow, so I will soon be gone. But He will call me to His eternal home, and there I will literally dwell with Him forever. Bless the LORD, O my soul! LORD, You are glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
ISAIAH 10:5-34
Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen? Here is a country that oppresses its own people. Here is a country that outlaws any conversion from Muslin to anything else. Here is a country which forbids any effort to witness to others. Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen?
God raises up people and nations for a purpose. He has a purpose for all of us. He has a purpose for the United States. He has a purpose for Lybia. If He is so purposeful, why is everything such a mess? It is simply that in the midst of doing that for which He raised us up, we rebel. We either refuse to be what He has designed us to be, or taking the gifts which He has given us and thinking that they originated with us, we wield them for our own glory boasting against Him, or we exceed the boundaries of what He intended for us.
Isaiah pronounces judgment against Assyria. God raised up Assyria to judge Syria and Israel, but Assyria went further than what God intended. Assyria exalted itself against the Lord (v.15). It went beyond His intended purpose. It sought to annihilate the Lord’s chosen people. You can read how Assyria devastated the individual cities as it approached Jerusalem. Look at the list! Aiath, Migron, Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Gibeah, Gallim, Laish, Anathoth, Madmenah, Gebim, Nob, Jerusalem. But just when it seems that Assyria will have overrun them all and taken Jerusalem, “Behold, the Lord, The LORD of hosts, Will lop off the bough with terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron; And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.” That is exactly what happened within Isaiah’s lifetime. That is the way the Lord works. He lets the rebellion of man grow to its fullest, and then He simply lops it off. It has happened time and again throughout history. The unbeliever cries out, “How can God be just and loving and permit this?” The believer says, “It is God’s mercy that He waits so long and His justice that brings it to an end.”
What do we see now? In 1966 One of the 16 points of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution declared that all religions must be eradicated. The world watched in horror as millions, gave their lives and their freedom because they loved the Lord Jesus Christ more than life. Many Christians in the west thought that the church in China would be wiped out. Why did God raise up China? What is her purpose? Today there are probably over one hundred twenty million Christians in China. That is more than are in the United States! China is becoming one of the greatest missionary forces in the world! How cool is that? Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia another of one of the greatest missionary forces the world has ever seen? That is the glory of our Lord! He makes even the wrath of man to praise Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
LUKE 12:1-31
If I were to ask you, "What is the greatest and most common sins among Americans?" What would you say? Would it be sexual immorality? Certainly our television programming and movies are full of it. I don't watch much broadcast TV, but when I do, it seems to be filled with references to divorce, adultery, fornication and homosexuality. These are all different forms of breaking the seventh commandment. Or would your answer be violence and hatred. Again the media is filled with violence. We seem to go from war to war. Our video games highlight violence. Again these are all forms of breaking the sixth commandment. Maybe you would say, "Sabbath breaking," or, "dishonoring parents," the fourth and fifth commandments. Or, would you say, "Stealing and lying," the eighth and ninth commandments? Or perhaps you would say that taking the Lord's name in vain is the most pervasive sin, the third commandment?
Somebody once asked a very rich man (I have heard this attributed to J.P. Morgan and to Rockefeller), "How much is enough?" His answer was, "Just a little bit more." That is the heart of covetousness, the tenth commandment. You know our economy is somewhat based upon covetousness. We produce things people want. In order to get people to buy our brand, we come up with commercials and advertisements that incite the covetous nature in people. This product is better than that product--just a little bit more. For some people their self-concepts are formed by how well they meet the standards of Madison Avenue. Unless they have the latest clothes, electronic gadget, music or what have you, they think their life is unfulfilled. Somehow we let the advertising community tell us that our lives consist of the abundance of things we posses or the achievements we attain.
Many years ago, I heard (via CD) the testimony of Neil Jeffries. He was the quarterback for the Baylor Bears in the early-mid-seventies when they defeated the Texas Longhorns for the first time in 17 years. This was the height of his career. He said that with in just a few hours after the victory and emptiness settled in. It wasn't enough. It didn't satisfy. He wanted more. Somehow we begin to think that life consists of the things we possess or the accomplishments we achieve or the recognition we receive.
Of what then, does life consist? Well He is our Creator-not a watch maker who put us together and then left us to ourselves. He is intimately involved in all our affairs! He has Created us to enjoy Him forever. If that is true then, when we put our focus on the things He has created rather than upon Him, we are essentially turning our back on life itself. We are turning our back on that of which life consists! That is why focusing upon His glory is so important. If we are ashamed of His glory, it is only reasonable that He would be ashamed of us. It is time to quit focusing on creation and focus on the Creator. That is why I follow Jesus. He is my Creator. I rebelled against Him. He loved me in my rebellion. He died for me when I ignored Him. He sought me when I turned my back on that of which life consists! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John
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