April 8

LEVITICUS 11,12
My father-in-law was a POW in Stalag 17b during WII. He said of their meals in the camp, “They gave us frozen rutabaga soup with maggots on top, and a little bread. One time they gave us German sausage, but I didn’t eat it because it had human teeth in it. Some guys would catch rats and eat them, but I didn’t.” The last few weeks of his POW experience involved a 281 mile forced march, with very little to eat. The last day as a prisoner they noticed a friendly tank. It dawned upon them that they were liberated. Soon, they were able to eat a nourishing meal.
Why is God concerned about what we eat, whether we touch dead animals, or the flow of blood from our bodies? Wouldn’t the Creator of the universe have more important things to worry about? We learn in the New Testament that the dietary laws have been lifted. If they were so important that the Creator of the Universe included them in the laws that He was giving to His people, then why did He revoke them? Does God really care that much about what we eat? Hmmmm. . . Jesus said that the Father knew the number of hairs on our heads. If He cares enough to know the number of hairs on our heads, then He probably cares about what we eat.
What is there about these dietary restrictions that are significant? Clearly He makes the point that our eating is to reflect His holiness. He wants His people to be different in health as well as in moral purity. It is interesting to note that in some of the areas of the world and different times in history that Jewish people have consistently outlived their Gentile neighbors because they ate a healthier diet. The marked difference at times was so great that it caused problems:

I quote Dr. Kellogg again. “Even so long ago as the days when the plague was desolating Europe, the Jews so universally escaped infection that, by this their exemption, the popular suspicion was excited into fury, and they were accused of causing the fearful mortality among their gentile neighbors by poisoning the wells and springs."*

Was God’s concern more than just health? Yes, but it did include health. Was it more than being a separate people? Yes, but it did include being a separate people. Then why did He raise the restrictions? He raised them because there are ways of addressing health issues other than total abstinence of certain foods. He raised them because there are other ways of having His people be different than observing dietary restrictions. The bottom line is this: “45‘For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” We were prisoners of war. He liberated us and adopted us. He no longer wants us to eat like POWs. Or live like POWs. He wants us to be like Him. He wants us to be holy. He wants us to share in His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
*McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. Le 11:1.

PSALM 98
“Sing to the Lord a new song!” Laura and I had an acquaintance decades ago who was widowed at a young age. Her husband was a pastor. He was in an accident, received a blood transfusion and contracted a disease from which he eventually died. It was a miserable time for him and her. It was one of those times when you feel like saying, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps 137:4) She eventually remarried, and the Lord gave her a new song. Actually its main line was the first verse of this Psalm. I learned the song from Laura, who learned it at a women’s retreat where our acquaintance taught it to the women. It is an exciting song and one of the few songs that I can play and sing on the guitar from memory.
This Psalm and the song remind me that, although I may be enduring horrible circumstances, the Lord will reverse them. He will once again do marvelous things. He will bring me through the circumstances into victory. He will again allow me to again see His salvation. When I do, it is incumbent on me to quit singing my self-pity song and ring out a new song. Here is an old Scottish song that reminds me to belt out a new song to the glory of our Lord:

Cheer up ye saints of God!
Ye’ve nothin to worry about,
Nothin to make ya feel afraid,
Nothin to make ya doubt.
Remember Christ your Savior reigns,
So why not trust Him and shout!
You’ll be sorry ya worried at all tomorrow morning!

Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

ISAIAH 5
I remember biting into a wild grape. I popped it into my mouth expecting to experience its succulent sweetness. Instead, my taste buds immediately rebelled. It was like the entire inside of my mouth revolted into a puckering rejection of the sour fruit. I immediately spat out the grape. Needless to say, I did not try anymore of the fruit from that vine.
Who is the Well-Beloved? In all three synoptic Gospels the Father twice calls the Son His, ‘Beloved.’ He does so once at His baptism and once at His transfiguration. Here in Isaiah it states that His Well-Beloved had a vineyard. Who is the vineyard in Isaiah? It is the nation of Israel. The vineyard was planted and well cared for. It should have produced an abundance of sweet grapes. Rather, it produced wild grapes. He loves His people too much to allow them to produce inedible fruit. He promises destruction of the nation if they continue on the same path.
But what specifically is He upset about? He discusses that fruit in verses 8-23. It is a six-fold woe that includes:

1) The rich taking advantage of the poor.
2) Drunkenness.
3) Parading their idolatry before God.
4) Reversing moral standards.
5) Self-wisdom.
6) Intoxicating themselves so that can no longer observe justice.

So what is the Lord going to do about it? In 24-32, He pronounces a fiery-judgment.
So who is this Well-Beloved? He is the One who is intimately loved by the Father. He is the One who provides all our needs. He is the One who has ordained that we should bring forth fruit that remains. He is the One also will bring a fiery-judgment upon His own people, in order that they might bear that fruit. For this our souls love Him! He is my King! O Lord, let me bear fruit for Your pleasure. You take no delight in burning Your servants. Let me bear the fruit that You delight in! Let me not be revolting to Your mouth! You alone are worthy of honor. Let Your honor be multiplied in me because it is for this that I am created. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

LUKE 9:37-62
How much would you pay for. . . When Laura and I first married, we operated our household budget on a cash only basis. There were a lot of things we wanted that we could not get because we didn't have enough money. "Someday, when we have money. . . " became a joke between us. One particularly brutally hot summer, we wanted an air conditioner (our house had no AC). We read in the classifieds that one of the fraternities was having a yard sale. Among the items for sale were all their air-conditioners. We arose bright and early to be among the first at the sale. It wasn't early enough. A man in front of us bought every one of the air conditioners (5-10 of them) for about $25.00 each. He had rental property and wanted them for his rent houses. I offered him $50.00 for just one of them. He refused, rather rudely, I might add. I searched all the stores for new air conditioners. They were all more than we could afford. We eventually found a used one for $100. It wasn't a great deal, but at least we had a little AC. It was all the extra money I had, but it was worth it. The new comfort was well worth the loss of the $100. How much would you pay for a little comfort?
How much would you pay to see the glory of Jesus, to be on a familiar basis with His glory? Is that your final answer? The cost of experiencing His glory will cost you everything. It will cost you your right to comfortable shelter, housing, safety etc. You may not know where you will lay your head at night. Is it worth it? It will cost you your right to have lifelong relationships with those you love the most. Is it worth it? It will cost you the dreams of all that you could have been, might have been or maybe even are. It may even cost it for your children. Is it worth it?
When I was a freshman in college, I took a fencing class in the spring. The president of the fencing club, an Argentine, came and watched everyone fencing in the class. He singled myself and one other person out and fenced with us briefly. After class he came to me and said, "Come out to the fencing club and in two months I will make you the state champion." Now I don't know if that says a lot about what he saw in my raw ability or whether it said more about the pitiful state of fencing in the state of Oklahoma. But it was quite an offer. I really did think on it for maybe a day. I was already working 20+ hrs. a week, taking a full load of classes, heavily involved in church and Campus Crusade for Christ. To add another activity such as fencing to my schedule would have required lessening my involvement elsewhere, which I was not willing to do. Was it worth not trying out for fencing club? Absolutely! I had experiences with CCC that showed me the glory of Jesus that I would not trade for anything.
What would you give to experience the glory of Jesus? It will cost you everything. Is it worth it? Do I really have to answer that? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John