May 14

NUMBERS 23
“Lend me $50.00. I will pay you back by the end of the month.” A co-worker of mine pleaded with me to help him out. In 1976 that was a lot of money for people like we who were working for minimum wage. It was half of a week’s wage. He was married. I was single. He had an unexpected expense. I was living with my parents and had few expenses apart from earning college tuition. Against my better judgment, I loaned him the money. He did not pay back the money, and he soon went to work elsewhere. One could say that he lied, or one could say that he changed his mind, or one could say that he reneged on a promise, or one could say that he had spoken and not made it good. In my mind, I let it go. Three years later, I was married and was in need of some cash. Providentially he began working at a convenience store about two blocks from my house. I reminded him of the debt and told him that I could really use the cash. He paid me back a week later. One could say he made it good—maybe. Three years late is not all that good.
Balaam placed Himself between a rock and a hard place. God had unmistakably communicated to him that he should say only what He told Balaam to say concerning Israel. Balaam was hoping that God would change his mind and allow him to earn a large sum of money from the King of Moab by cursing Israel. The incident with the death angel and the donkey had kept Balaam from cursing. Balaam, a prophet of God was only now learning this about God! Now he had to produce a curse for the king, but he couldn’t. Maybe God could be manipulated. . .

Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

That is the negative side of things. But think about it on the positive side. If God gives you a promise, you can bank on it! You can trust in it. It will happen, as you go forward in faith. Be careful that you are not trying to manipulate God into doing what you want, or you will end up as did Balaam. God had once blessed Abraham and his descendants. He would bless and would not curse them. It is final. God is unchangeable in His nature and His promises. He will not promise one thing and then do another. What He promises to me, He will perform. It is interconnected with His glory! I don’t have to remind Him three years later. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 133
I remember walking to grade school in the fall. The long hot summer was over. As the weather changed, so did the dew points. The grass was drenched with the early morning dew. There was something refreshing about it. The dry heat of summer was gone; a new, cooler, moister and more pleasant weather pattern had finally arrived. Believe me; after some of those more brutal Oklahoma summers, the dew of fall and its typical rainstorms were very welcome
The first brothers fought, and Cain rose up and slew Abel. In only ten generations violence so filled the earth that God used a flood to wipe it clean. Within 5 generations Nimrod arose as a mighty ruler in Babel. Legends, if they can be trusted, indicate that he enjoyed using leopards to hunt other men. Ishmael mocked Isaac; that is when Abraham sent Ishmael away. Their rivalry remains in their descendants to this day. Jacob bested Esau in the conflict for the family birthright and the family blessing. Joseph’s ten brothers sold him into slavery. The history of the human race apart from the grace of God is a history of brother against brother. It is like a long, dry and hot summer. Sometimes one wonders if it will ever end.
Jesus came in order to reverse the curse, to destroy the effects of sin. One of the plagues of sin is the lack of brotherly love. He came to reverse that curse. He felt so strongly about it that on the night in which He was betrayed, He said,

John 13:34–35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

One of the most obvious displays of His glory is when His children love each other. It graphically displays that the long hot summer of human discontent and hate is now coming to an end. How pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It glorifies His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ISAIAH 44
According to the Mesonet Rainfall Table, Stillwater has had 2.75 inches of rain year-to-date. If the average for the first 136 days of the year remains constant through the end of the year, we will have received 7.38 inches of precipitation for the whole of 2014. Hmmm. . . looks like we are still in the drought cycle. Man the land is dry! It cries out for water. Are our spirits dry? It seems that everywhere we look people are crying out to fill that empty void in their souls. We try to fill it every kind of illicit sex, alcohol, drugs, wealth, power. We try to numb it to sleep with non-stop entertainment, video games, movies, sports, but our souls still cry out, “We are dry!”
In the midst of our personal dust bowls, the Lord speaks to our spirits and says,

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.’ One will say, ‘I am the LORD’s’; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ And name himself by the name of Israel.

Will we trust Him to do what He has promised? There are only three reasons why we will not trust Him.

1) Deep down we really do not believe that will do that. We do not believe that He loves us perfectly.
2) Deep down we really do not believe that He is able to do that. We do not believe that He is all-powerful, maybe stronger than us, but not omnipotent.
3) We are just too wicked to submit to His lordship.

He has an answer to each of the reasons. 1) He calls Himself our “Redeemer.” In order to redeem us, He laid down His very life. There is no greater love than this! 2) He reminds us that He is the creator of all things! He stretched out the heavens. He made the big bang! If He can do that then He can do anything, including satisfy our thirsty lives. 3) When we seek to satisfy our thirst with anything but Him, we are like the man who goes out chops down some wood, carves and image, covers it with gold and bows down and worships it. It is both stupid and wicked. Lord, let me drink from Your well! Satisfy me with Yourself!! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOHN 4:1-30
I once lived in Boiling Spring Lakes NC. Not far from my house was a spring from which the town gets its name. It is a natural spring in an area dotted with over 50 little natural lakes. Most of the lakes are spring fed. The spring for which the town is named has a tremendous output of fresh water and makes a pretty good creek that just boils up out of the ground. Some of the lakes in town are actually seasonal pools and not spring fed. As such, their depth is dependent upon the water table and the amount of rainfall that we have had. Their appearance is often scummy and dirty looking.
If I had to drink untreated water, I wouldn’t mind drinking from the spring. Its source is the same aquifer that fed the well for my house. However, I wouldn’t want to drink from the seasonal pool. Just the smell of the pond scum turns my stomach. Jesus provides living water. Living water is like the water that comes up on its own bubbling out of the ground. It is refreshing to drink. It is satisfying. It is always there. You can never be thirsty from lack because it is always there. That is what Jesus told the woman at the well. He is always there. Whenever you are thirsty, all you need do is ask. He provides.
That is the glory of My Jesus. He satisfies all the time. He has only a few requirements. One is that we be honest about our sin. Another is that we desire to worship Him in spirit and truth. And the last is similar, He desires that we seek Him. When we meet those requirements, He gives us water that bubbles up out of us that not only meets our need but also the need of others. We no longer have to settle for old dirty pond scum. We can be satisfied with Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John