May 23

NUMBERS 32
I was the last of five children. During my second through sixth grade years of school we lived in a little town NE of Stillwater called Glencoe. My mother faithfully made us all participate in most all of the activities of First Baptist Church of Glencoe. Realizing that it was too expensive to send five children to OSU, we moved to Stillwater where we could all live at home while attending the university. We had somewhat of a dilemma. The little church of which we were a part in Glencoe only averaged about 21 on Sunday morning. If our family withdrew, it would possibly really discourage those who remained. The church might wither away. My mother understood the meaning of commitment to a body. She told us, “We will remain active here until the church can survive our leaving.” Within two years the church had a new pastor who was able to bring in a few more young families. The future was looking bright for the church. Then Mom said it was time to move our church membership.
What does any of this chapter of Numbers have to do with the glory of the Lord? Consider Ephesians 3:20–21: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” The glory of the LORD is to be seen in the church as Jesus works through her. What glory do we see? At times she shines brightly, at other times she appears to be a slut flirting with the world. What causes that flirtation? It is a desire to settle for anything less than His glory. We need a body of believers who will settle for nothing less than His glory. This chapter is an illustration of the need of the body to pursue His glory at all costs.
Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh wanted to live in the land east of the Jordan. They had already conquered it. They wanted to remain there. They approached Moses about making it their home. Now, view it from Moses’ perspective as their leader for the last 39 years. They had grumbled and complained and rebelled. At one point they were getting ready to stone Moses and Aaron. What kind of glory does the LORD get out of that? From Moses’ perspective this was just another in a long train of selfish thoughts and acts. He was convinced that they were so enamored with the land that they could not see beyond their own desires. The nation as a whole needed each other. If they stayed behind, how would that effect the rest of the nation emotionally and how would that effect the nation in their military ability? The glory of the LORD is revealed in His people. How would their staying behind effect the nation in revealing the glory of the LORD?
Moses, understandably, rebukes them for what he saw brewing in their hearts, but Moses did not see their heart completely. They did not get mad and separate themselves, rather they explained themselves and gave a good alternative. They agreed to fight with the rest of the nation until the promised land was conquered and then they would return to their land. Now that, was acceptable! It revealed a humble commitment toward the good of the body. That is what the LORD desires in our church bodies.
I learned from my mother the meaning of commitment to a body. It would have been a whole lot easier to forget about that little church in Glencoe and join a larger church in Stillwater that had all of the youth and choir programs that people desired. But Mom saw a need for us to serve there until the church was bigger and could better afford our leaving. That reflects a commitment to brothers and sisters in Christ. That reflects love. When people in a church fervently love each other by staying committed to each other, it glorifies Jesus. We are in a spiritual war, even as Israel was in physical war. Our faithfulness to each other to our own sacrifice, glorifies Him. O by the way, that church still exists today, and a grade school classmate of mine is its pastor! Let’s glorify Him! Indeed, we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 142
The title says it was David’s prayer in the cave. At least a couple of times, David hid in caves from Saul’s army. Here was a young man who had tasted great military success. He had singlehandedly defeated the Philistine champion. Over the years he went on to lead portions of Israel’s army in successful fight after fight against the Philistine. During the time, he learned vital military skills in leading men into battle. He had become Israel’s champion. The people sang his praise, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten-thousands.” He had accomplished all that King Saul had asked him to do, including marrying Saul’s daughter with its attendant bride price of 200 Philistine foreskins. He had even been secretly anointed as King by the prophet Samuel. Saul’s son Jonathan had recognized that David would be king in his place, and he was fine with it. But David’s meteoric rise to power and the promises that came with it were nowhere on the scope of fulfillment without some sort of mutiny. Mutiny against the Lord’s anointed did not exist in David’s theology.
So here he sits in a cave with his men. He is hunted as a criminal. Instead of leading Israel’s finest, He is leading Israel’s disenchanted. Instead of receiving recognition and adulation of the people, He is receiving scorn and rejection. From a strictly human perspective, this is a hopeless situation. He felt as if no one cared for his soul. The walls of the cave began to close in and shut like the bars of a prison. His physical problems were not the major problem. He was in a prison of the soul. How does one break out of such an impenetrable prison?
David cries out to the Lord. He declares his trouble before him. He complains to the Lord. Wait a minute! He complains to the Lord? Did not the Lord kill thousands of people in the wilderness for the sin of complaining? Yes He did, but their complaint was of a different order. Their complaint was against the Lord and His leadership. It arose out of an unbelief that the Lord loved them and would bring a good resolution to their complaint. David’s complaint is of an altogether different sort. David’s complaint is on the one hand recognizing the realities of his awful situation, and on the other hand, recognizing the realities of who God is and then submitting to His leadership.
Look at how he holds this tension before him. When his spirit was overwhelmed he says, “Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk, they have secretly set a snare for me.” He does not discount the problem at all, but he declares what he knows to be true of God in this situation. God is omniscient and this difficulty did not in any way catch God by surprise. God knows beforehand the traps that our enemy sets for us. Declaring such truth enables David to begin the process of relaxing in the face of death. The only physical refuge that David had was the cave with all of it amenities, snakes, spiders, bugs, scorpions etc. David brings back to mind that God made the cave, “You are my refuge.” He brings back to mind that God provides his needs, “You are my portion.” A complaint given to the Lord in belief also looks beyond the complaint to a time of greater fulfillment. David says, “You shall deal bountifully with me.” I once was told that a component of maturity is being able to endure a current deprivation in order to obtain a future reward. That doesn’t mean that I have to like the current deprivation.
So the glory of the Lord can be seen even in the worst of circumstances. It is His glory to welcome our complaint of the present as long as we are focused upon Him. Focusing on Him enables us to see His omniscience, His protection, His provision and His reward. We can see that even in the midst of great problems! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ISAIAH 53
This is the 142nd day of the year. So far in Stillwater we have received about 2.76 inches of rain(2014). That is .0194 inches per day. If this average remains for the rest of the year, we will have received 7.0943 total rainfall. The grass on my lawn is dead. The countryside is turning brown. Much of the wheat crop is lost. It is desert. We have seen the last few days how the Lord promised to restore the waste land to Israel. By extension we have considered that the Lord wants to restore the waste places of our hearts. Do I, do you believe that He wants to restore the deserts of our hearts?
“Who has believed our report?” It is amazing that we can have the greatest news that anyone could ever receive and yet so many will not believe? It is the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.” The Old Testament prophets, the Apostles and the witness of the church could stand and sing in chorus with Isaiah and say, “Who has believed our report?” Isaiah then looks 700 years down the prophetic hallway and describes the beauty of our Lord in His crucifixion and His accomplishment. He did not take the worldly form of leadership that we desired. He took our grief, our infirmities, our sorrows. He paid our sin debt in our place. In doing so, He suffered unimaginable spiritual, emotional, mental and physical pain. The Father asked Him to do this to pay for our sin. He did it because He loved the Father and because He loved us. The result? The Father exalted Him and then gave us to Him. Unbelievable?
Yes, He wants to restore the waste of our life. He did it through His cross. He invites us to come and die with Him on His cross. When we do, He raises us up and restores our waste places. No cross, No resurrection. He brings life out of death. He will rain abundantly upon our desert places if we will die with Him. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOHN 8:1-30
At around 40 years of age I was forced to admit that my eyesight was getting worse--presbyopia--old eyes. My watch battery died. I needed a new one. Going into the drugstore to purchase a battery I popped the back off of my watch, pulled the battery out and examined it for a number so that I could purchase a replacement. "There is no number on this!" I exclaimed. My oldest grabbed it from me and then read it out very quickly. I took it back and replied, "You're making that up. There is no number on this."
"You can't read that?" He queried.
"There is nothing to read." I replied.
"It's as plain as day!" He rebuffed.
He went over to the battery isle and got a replacement. I shuffled off to the reading glasses display, taking the old battery with me. Looking over the reading glass display I selected the magnification that seemed appropriate from the instructions on the display. I looked at the old battery again. Sure enough there was a number there and it was the number my oldest had read out. I soon found out that the amount of light had a great deal of effect upon how well I could see smaller things.
In the last ten years my vision has become so bad that I can no longer read my Bible without glasses. I even have the so-called "large print edition." However, without glasses, if I go outside at noon on a cloudless day, I can usually read my Bible--if it is a familiar passage, so that I have a sense of what words to expect. Light makes a huge difference in being able to see what is really there. Spiritual light makes a huge difference in being able to see what is really there.
Jesus is the light of the world. The Pharisees were trying to catch Jesus in a falsehood in order to accuse Him publicly. They knew that He was a friend of sinners. They also knew the requirements of the Law. For all that they knew, they still had horrible spiritual sight. You know the story. They brought a woman caught a woman caught in the very act of adultery. (Hmm. . . how did they know when and where to catch her?) There was some light to be shed here. At first it seemed that none was emanating upon the men. But then slowly it began to dawn, and they all left. The woman was forgiven and instructed to cease sinning.
The interesting thing about the glory of Jesus is that as we focus upon Him, we begin to see our own sin. When we have seen it, confess it before Him, and repent of them, they dissolve away. As we continue to gaze upon His beauty, we begin to realize that we are also seeing the Father. All that Jesus does is done to reveal the Father. But we cannot see Him in our sinful state. His light is there to expose our sin and take it away. What a glorious thing! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John