I have frequently traveled from Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Cary, North Carolina, a total of over 1200 miles. Along I-40 I have passed through many large cities, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, etc. At times I have driven on highways that were 5 lanes wide going both directions (a total of 10 lanes). The lanes have been flooded with cars, sometimes stopped because of the volume of traffic on the highways. At those times I am often overwhelmed with the multitudes of people. How can God know any of us intimately? Yet I am reminded of how little our planet is in this vast universe. If each one of those cars on the highway were representative of just one galaxy, then there still would not be enough cars to represent even a small portion of each of the galaxies in creation. The smallest galaxies contain around 10 million stars. The largest galaxies are estimated to contain about 100 trillion stars. There are about 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. There are more than 1024 stars in the known universe! (I don’t even know the name for that number.) There are only 7 billion people on the planet. We are infinitesimally small in relation to the created universe.
Our God created each of those stars as well as each of the 7 billion people currently on our planet, which means, He is even larger still. Of course if He can create all that, then He is capable of knowing it intimately. But what assurance do we have that He wants to know us intimately? The declaration that He made at creation is the first assurance. He said, “Let Us make man in Our own image.” Out of the multitude of created things and created beings, we are the only beings said to have been created in His image. Whatever that image is, we possess it! Because of that image, we are important. Because of that image, the taking of human life without His permission is wrong. Because of that image, we are important to Him. Because of that image, we have chapters and books like this one in the Bible, the book of what is important to God. I don’t really care who the head of what tribe was in Israel 3,453 years ago, 8,000 miles from where I live. But it is important enough to God that He includes it in His communication to us. I think He does this to demonstrate how important each of us is to Him. In the midst of an overwhelming multitude of people, he knows us individually. Now that is incredible! That is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 114
What would God do to deliver me out of sin and into His holiness? Would He divide Keystone Lake to provide a way of escape? Would He stop the flow of the Cimarron to give me access to the other side? Would He make the plains of Oklahoma tremble with an earthquake that I might know His law? What would He do? He has already done far greater for Israel. Indeed, He has done far greater for me. He has divided the flesh of His own Son on the cross, raised Him from the dead, seated Him at his right hand, so I might be delivered. That provision is mine when I identify with Him. My flesh is, so to speak, divided with His, giving me a way of escape. As I identify with Him, He enables me to stop the flow of the power of the old nature and replenishes it with the flow of His life giving Spirit. I now have a fountain of life giving waters flowing out of me. What would God do to deliver me out of sin and into His holiness? What more could He do? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
ISAIAH 24
The booming and shaking of my house and buildings from many small earthquakes were frequent occurrences at my house 1-3 years ago. At first we were not sure what was going on; we still are not sure. I have zero memories of earthquakes growing up. Bible believers cannot help but associate it with one of the signs of the second coming-an increase in frequency and intensity. One of the leading explanations for the increase in earthquakes in our area is that they are linked to new technology of drilling for oil. The new technology has revitalized the oil industry in Oklahoma, an industry which a decade ago, we thought had all but died. They were drilling like crazy around here. They were pumping water down into the earth under pressure to break up oil bearing rock. This allows the oil to seep to the top of the well where it could then be pumped out. The new technology is popularly referred to as ‘fracking,’ because it fractures the rock. Popular thought was that the combination of the fracking and the several year drought and the disposal of the waste water in deep cisterns in the crust created pressure changes in the bedrock and faults below creating the frequent mild earthquakes.
“Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface. . . . The earth is violently broken, The earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, and it will fall, and not rise again.”The description above from Isaiah 24 indicates that it might be referring to some of the same events as Jesus said that the sign of his coming would foretell as recorded in Matthew 24:7. Isaiah also speaks of other destructive things that are going to happen, such as:
1. The collapse of the economic system (Is. 24:2-3),Hmmm. . . sounds like some rough earthquakes ahead, but it will all work out for His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
2. The collapse of the legal system (4-6)
3. The collapse of the entertainment system (7-13).
4. The righteous will recognize that his return is near and will offer up praise for it, but they will be on the verge of destruction because of their praise (15,16).
5. Ultimately these destructive forces lead to one culminating event, the Lord will return and judge the demonic forces on high and the evil political forces below (21,22).
6. Then He will reign upon the earth and it will be glorious (23).
--Pastor john
LUKE 18:1-17
It was a cold Sunday morning, probably the coldest of the year. I rolled, rubber-banded, and placed the newspapers one by one in my canvas bag slung over the front handle bars of my bike. Sunday papers were always at least three times as big as the weekly papers. I stuffed as many of the 180 papers as I could into the bag so that I would make as few trips as possible on my Sunday morning route. The papers themselves may have outweighed my 90 pound frame. Launching out into the 5:00 a.m. cold, it was difficult to gain speed with all the weight and without speed it was difficult to keep my balance. The cold stung my face as I pushed against the pedals. A few blocks from home, I had to slow down for a turn. Exhausted from peddling, the turn being a little tighter than I had anticipated, and the unexpected presence of some ice wrought the effect of loss of balance, and my bike went down. Try as I might I could not get my bike upright again. There was just too much weight on the handle bars. A passing policeman shone his spotlight on me and then drove on. He didn’t even stop to help. I was freezing and I couldn’t get my bike upright again. The papers were so heavy I couldn’t get the bag off of the handlebars. Frustrated I walked home. Walking into Dad’s bedroom, I awakened him, confessed my inability and asked for help. He graciously got up, dressed and helped me deliver my route. Man was I grateful.
Salvation is like that. Our sin has overwhelmed our ability to make our life upright and righteous. Try as we might we cannot restore it to the level of holiness required to enter into the presence of God. The sin is so wrapped around the handlebars of life and so heavy that we cannot remove it. There is nothing left but to walk home, to enter into the room of the Father and to say, “Lord, I am a sinner. Will you deliver me?” He is gracious. He is merciful. He delivers us. Like a child, unable, we ask. He delivers. That is the glory of our Lord. Like the tax-gatherer who recognizes the overwhelming greatness of His sin, we ask. He is gracious. He is merciful. He delivers us. That is His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
P.S. Thanks, Dad, for showing me in the simple act the love of the Father.
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