June 11

DEUTERONOMY 16
The Three major feasts of Israel are reiterated here. The Passover graphically portrays Jesus as our Lamb who takes away our sin. The Feast of weeks eloquently proclaims the coming of the Holy Spirit to enable us to bear fruit. The Feast of Tabernacles looks to the Second Coming of Messiah as King of Kings and Lords when our labor by the sweat of our brow will be ended and the harvest of His Kingdom shall be brought in. His glory exudes in each celebration. When they are all fulfilled, we shall indeed cry out with the 24 elders

We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come,
Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
And the time of the dead, that they should be judged,
And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,
And those who fear Your name, small and great,
And should destroy those who destroy the earth.

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

PROVERBS 11
It has been said that in a democratic society, the people get what they deserve in an elected government. Obama has been elected to a second term. What is he like in terms of Biblical values? Let’s see, he is for unqualified support for abortion no matter how late and for the government paying for it. The final straw that caused Israel to be kicked out of the land was when her kings began shedding much innocent blood by causing their children to pass through the fire (child sacrifice). It seems we have that again in a president. Do we deserve it? Since 1973 our people have murdered more than 50,000,000 babies in the abortion chambers of America. Looks like we deserve it.
But murder is not the only Biblical value. "You shall not commit adultery,” is the negative statement of the positive command to protect the institution of marriage. Biblically marriage is one man, one woman for as long as they both shall live. Obama is on record for redefining marriage to include homosexual couples. Do we deserve that? Well since the early sixties the church has been letting sexual mores slide. We look the other direction when our people divorce and remarry, but hammer homosexuals for their ‘sin.’ Looks like we deserve Obama.
“You shall not covet,” is the negative statement of “having food and clothing, with these be content.” One third of the world goes to bed hungry every night. America controls the majority of the world’s resources; we are the most giving nation in the world. Yet we could give so much more. Evangelical Christians alone could easily give double what they give to the Lord’s work, yet we do not give it. What we do give, we spend more than ninety percent of it in the USA, while billions enter a Christ-less eternity. Obama loves to hammer the rich that they should be paying their fair share, but the record shows that before he ran for president, Obama gave very little to charity. As a matter of fact, before he ran for president (2000-2004), I gave more to charity than he did. Considering my salary in 2004 and his salary in 2004, that is not saying very much for him. Sounds like we deserve him.
How did we get in this position? Well verse 3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” Sounds like when we went to the polls our integrity guided us corporately. We got what we deserve. The Lord hates dishonest scales and perverse hearts. Oh Lord change me so that I am honest in all of my communications with others. Untwist my heart so that it might be pure in all of its dealings. Let the truth of Your being and the purity of Your life shine in me. Yes, the glory of the Lord shone in the elections. We got what we deserve. Oh Lord, we would have preferred mercy, but we received what we deserve. Have mercy upon us. We pray for the president whom we deserve. Change our hearts and his heart. Incline them toward true righteousness. Let us/him repent of shedding innocent blood. Let us/him repent of our attitudes toward your design for marriage. Let us/him repent of our lack of contentment toward this world’s goods and giving to those in true need. You are glorious in that You shed Your own blood, so that we would not have to die eternally. You are glorious in that You are eternally committed to Your own bride, the church. You are glorious in that You are content with simply who You are, and gave up your riches in heaven to humble Yourself as a servant in order that we might experience Your riches. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 6
This is a hard chapter about which I can be positive. There is not a whole lot of positive in it. It is one statement after another about how the Lord is going to destroy Jerusalem. In this prophecy, what is the reason that the Lord gives for Jerusalem’s destruction?
She is full of oppression in her midst.

7 As a fountain wells up with water,
So she wells up with her wickedness.
Violence and plundering are heard in her.
Before Me continually are grief and wound. . .
13 “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is given to covetousness;
And from the prophet even to the priest,
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’
When there is no peace.

Looking back on the history of Jerusalem, I could have picked out some things that from my western mindset that I would think would be a little more significant. I would have chosen their sacrifice to other gods, their raising of Asherah poles, their spiritual adultery, their physical adultery, their sacrifice of children to other gods. But what does the Lord pick out in this instance? He talks about their violence, their plundering, their covetousness and the false message of the spiritual leaders. Ouch! That is a perfect description of America!
Our Lord is the Prince of Peace; He is the Lord of abundance; He is the King of liberal giving; He is the Judge who sets us free! However, He does not normally remedy those problems in our lives until we repent of the ways in which we oppress others, plunder others, covet the things of others and speak the truth to one another. Am I oppressed? He sets me free. Have I been plundered? He gives liberally. Do I desire the things of others? He is the abundant One. Have I bought into a false message of peace and prosperity? He is the Prince of Peace. In each one of those problems we must realize that He Himself is what we need. We need to be satisfied with Him. Jerusalem’s destruction was coming because they were not satisfied with Him. Lord, let me see You! Set me be satisfied with you! You indeed are all that I need! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOHN 19:23-42
John recalls three communications of our Lord from the cross that reveal the glory of our King. In the midst of His tremendous agony, Jesus still was in control and thought outside Himself.

1. He gave charge for the care of His mother over to John.
2. He pronounced His thirst in order to fulfill the Scripture found in Psalm 22:15
3. He knew when He had accomplished and finished the task of paying the penalty for our sin. Only then did He "give up" His spirit. Normally when people die, they have no choice in the separation of their spirit from their body. Giving implies a choice. Even in His death He was in control and He "gave up" His spirit at the appropriate time. That's amazing!

John observes that the soldiers, coming to break His legs to hasten His death, saw that He was dead. In order to be sure that Jesus was dead, one soldier pierced His side with a spear. John observed a flow of water and blood. Some doctors have suggested that the cause of this flow was a ruptured heart. A sentimental response is that He died of a broken heart, the creation that He loved and the Father that He obeyed killed Him. But John says that this was done to fulfill the Scripture found in Psalm 34:10, Zech. 12:10 & 13:6. Even when nailed to the cross, Jesus controlled His death. Those killing Him, worked His will. Who can control the circumstances of their death? Only those who commit suicide. But even then their death is without purpose. Jesus controlled the circumstances of His own death for the purpose of saving us and fulfilling Scripture in the process. Indeed our King is a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John