April 4

LEVITICUS 7
It was Brian’s birthday. He had us all sit down cross-legged in a circle on the playground. It was following lunch of our fourth grade class. Producing a brown lunch bag full of penny candy, He began methodically apportioning the candy to us one person, one piece at a time until it was all gone. He told us that because we were his friends, he wanted to give to us on his birthday. Wow, I was impressed. Even now, almost 50 years later, I remember that unselfish act of kindness. Usually when one has a birthday, one expects others to give to oneself, but not so with him. He wanted to give to others. He lived with his grandparents. I don’t think they were wealthy, but he wanted to give. Brian died of a brain tumor when we were seniors. Whenever I think of Brian, I usually think of that selfless act, which was characteristic of him.
Each priest received a portion of the meat, bread, and skin of the sacrifices as he participated in offering the sacrifices. Remember that the priest and the sacrifices are pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ and that we are made priests together with Him. The priest who was consistent in serving in the process of the sacrificial system had the privilege of viewing the symbol of what the Messiah would one day do for all of us. We have the privilege of ministering to Him in His sacrifice.
Jesus told the people of His day that they only came to Him because He fed their bellies. He told them to not labor for food which perishes but rather for food that did not perish. He told them that unless they ate His flesh, then they would not receive eternal life. All but the twelve were disgusted and walked away. But as we minister to Him, we also receive a share of His meat, bread and skin. Focusing on and enjoying His glory is akin to eating his flesh, the bread of His body. As we do, He dresses us in the clothes of His righteousness. When Adam and Eve sinned, they dressed themselves in fig leaves and hid from God because they were naked. God killed an animal and made clothes out of the skin for Adam and Eve. Many have postulated that God had Adam kill the animal and taught him about sacrifice as he did it. The act was the first teaching situation concerning the coming Messiah. That would be why God would not accept the sacrifice of Cain, for Cain based his sacrifice upon his own works rather than looking for a blood substitute. It seems the same lesson is being given here.
Isn’t that glorious? It is as if He invites us to sit with Him cross-legged on the playground. In His great generosity, He pulls out of His brown bag sumptuous meats, breads and clothing. He gives us this marvelous feast, all at His own expense, when we ought to be the ones giving it to Him. The feast is Himself. Wow, I sit with Him feasting upon Him. I am amazed and full of wonder at His mercy and grace! It is an act characteristic of Him. I can never forget this great act of love! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 94
I receive it once a month, and perhaps you do as well. It is a magazine called The Voice of the Martyrs. Every month it is full of stories of the faithfulness of God’s people in the world today who are willing to lay down their lives for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. They endure hardships, imprisonments, tortures and unspeakable difficulties all for the love of Jesus. A skeptic might ask, “What kind of glory is that?” Even believers at times fall into the trap of thinking in the same manner. What they/we forget is that God is the One to Whom belongs vengeance. In the words of R.G.Lee’s famous sermon, there is a “Payday Someday.” His lack of vengeance now is really His patience and love waiting upon the perpetrators to repent and turn to Him; He loves even them.
The Psalmist reminds us of that. We are reminded that judgment will one day return to the righteous. Woe to the unrepentant in that Day! The Scripture is clear that the Lord hates the unrepentant. The Psalmist consoles himself in those thoughts. Whenever the anxieties of the day begin to rise up, he comes back to the thoughts that the Lord will help, and the Lord’s mercy will hold him up. I love verse 19, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” One of the things I love about the stories in The Voice of the Martyrs, is how those have been persecuted for the sake of His name, so frequently talk about what a privilege it is to be counted worthy to endure hardship for His name. It is a living demonstration of His comforts, which delight our soul. I say, “That is a greater glory than a would-be god who promises us no hardship!” His comfort is so sweet that it exceeds any hardship imposed upon us! Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ISAIAH 1
Boys and mud go together. I don’t know what it was, but as a kid it was so much fun to get dirty. In the second through sixth grades, we lived in a house on the corner of two streets that were both gravel roads. One day after washing the family car, I noted how the water was running down into the street like a river. They had just finished building Lake Keystone, and we had recently been out to observe the massive structure which created a lake which caused whole towns to be relocated. Being fresh in my mind, I could not help but make the correlation between the stream and the street and the Arkansas River. I wondered if I could build by own dam and have a miniature lake in my street. I began with gusto piling up gravel and dirt in the street to build my dam. Soon I had a little pool forming instead of a stream. But as rapidly as I built the dam, the pool would expand and go around the dam. Eventually, my mom came out to see what I was doing. I was covered from head to foot in mud. She was not pleased, but she wasn’t wrathful either.
Isaiah speaks of the Lord as the Holy One of Israel in this chapter, twelve times in the first half of the book and 14 times in the second half of the book. Why? What is holiness? How does it relate to Isaiah’s message? Basically, holy means separate. He is separate from His creation. In the most fundamental sense, He is separate from us, different from us, other than us. More specifically He is separate from any moral impurity. He will not allow moral impurity in His manifest presence. Isaiah is calling the nation to repentance. They had become dirty. They had been playing in the filth of this world. They were building dams to store up their own supply of water. They were covered in sin which Isaiah compares to crimson. Crimson stood for blood-guiltiness before God. In their day the crimson dye of the scarlet worm was “absolutely colorfast and indelible.” Though their sin had stained them, and it was colorfast and indelible. He promises them cleansing. And how will it be accomplished? He says, “Let us reason together.” To reason means, “To prove, decide, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, be right.” If we will but come into communion with Him and let Him prove, judge, rebuke, reprove, correct, and make us right, He will remove our sinful-blood-guilty stains and restore us clean! But if we resist, we will be devoured. That is His glory. He takes our blood-guilty stains and washes them in the judgment of His blood, and we come out clean as new-fallen snow! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 8:1-25
Ever noticed how we all have selective hearing? Of course you have, it’s a common part of our nature. I remember when my mother would call me. If she used the diminutive, 'Johnny,' (which wasn't very often) I could pretty well bet that she was going to ask me something that she wasn't going to force upon me, but I probably wouldn't like. If she used just my first name, I knew that things were ok, and we were basically in the beginning of the obedience test. If she said, "John Craig!" I knew that her patience was strained, and I'd better act. If she said, "John Craig Chaffin!" It was too late, I had already crossed the line of the obedience test, and I had better brace myself for the consequences. I was the last of 5 kids. If she was calling me by starting at the top of the list of my siblings until she got to me, then I knew that she was frustrated or excited about something. It was time to listen closely, lest I further her frustration. My hearing and obedience was selective relative to how I was addressed and the tone of her voice.
As I grew older, I learned that selective hearing worked both ways. Often it is common for a parent to act like they are listening to the ongoing prattle of their child when in fact, their mind is far off. My mom was a school teacher. Sometimes I found that if she was immersed in thought that the best way to get here attention was not to call her, "Mom," but to say, "Mrs. Chaffin." I guess when my daughter wants my attention she says, "Father." She has learned that that usually gets my attention. Why? I never addressed my father as, "Father." It was always, "Daddy," or "Dad." So when I hear, "Father," I automatically feel like I am in a very formal situation, and I begin paying attention.
What does selective hearing have to do with today's passage on the glory of Christ? Jesus addressed the multitudes in parables, which most of them did not understand. We humans have selective hearing. It is the glory of Christ to plainly tell His message to everyone. Yet, only those who listen will understand. It is so important for us to take heed as to how we hear. Only those who concentrate upon hearing Him will understand and obey. Spiritually, most of us have attention deficit disorder, ADD. For a period in time, even Jesus' mother and brothers were suffering from spiritual ADD. They thought Jesus had gone mad. They had come to collect Him. What was Jesus' response? "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
Our obedience level is directly connected to our selective hearing level. He is not a God that will demean Himself by ignoring our inattentiveness. However, He does arrange circumstances in our lives so that we will sharpen our hearing faculties. Hence for the disciples, they immediately cross the sea of Galilee, Jesus falls asleep and a great storm threatens to destroy them. Hadn't they listened to the parable of the sower and hearing and obedience? Well, yes, but in the storm He had their full attention. Their hearing was no longer selective. They saw His great glory. Are you in a storm? Pay attention! It is in the storm where you can see His glory at its greatest! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John