June 17

DEUTERONOMY 22
Why does God care whether the people of Israel mix a woolen garment with a linen garment? Why does God want tassels on the four corners of their covering garment? Why is it an abomination to God that a woman should wear a man’s garment, or a man a woman’s garment? Why is it an abomination to God that sexual morality reflect one man, one woman committed to each other in a marriage relationship, and no other relationship? He really does not explain Himself.
Maybe looking at the creation of humans and seeing God’s purpose can yield an answer. After He created all the animals and spiritual beings, and before He created humans, He said,
Genesis 1:26–2:24 26

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; . . . 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. . . .18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. . . . But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Unlike the animals we are created in God’s image. Theologians have argued for years on what it means that we are created in in the image of God. Whatever it means, the context demands that it include that we are male and female, that we are different from the animals, and that we as male and female are to become one flesh without losing our distinctiveness.
God is one! The thought rings through the Scripture. Yet through the Scripture we find that Jesus claimed to be Yahweh and yet differentiated Himself from the Father. Through the Scripture we find that the Holy Spirit is considered to be God and yet He is differentiated from the Father and the Son. How do we explain these thoughts? We do it by describing God as one in essence, yet eternally existing in three persons. Try wrapping your mind around that!
If God were one and having only one person within His essence, if He were love, to whom would He express His love. He would need someone outside Himself to whom He could express His love. God, by definition, needs no one and no thing. He could not be love unless He had a way of expressing love within Himself. It would be similar to the old question, “If God is all-powerful, can He make a rock big enough that He cannot pick it up?” Admittedly it is a silly question, but similar. If God is love, can He exist without someone to love? If He is one in essence, but eternally existing in three persons, then He does not need someone else in order to love. Rather than need, He chooses to love, so He creates.
Part of our design is to love. We are made male and female in order to love. In loving we reflect His image. As male and female, we come together in one flesh. This becoming one flesh reflects what He is like. The occasional result of becoming one flesh is the reproducing of another human life, another life with the capability of reflecting the image of God. God is forever united as one. He does not divorce Himself. He forever loves Himself. We are to reflect that as His image. So to resort to any other path than the created order is to disparage His image. There should forever be oneness with distinction, just as it is with Him. To divorce is to mar that image. To have multiple sex partners is to mar that oneness. To seek to be one with the same sex is the deny the distinctions. To cross dress is to blur the image. To seek sex with animals is to deny our image. Frankly I do not understand the wearing of two different types of clothing. Perhaps it is that He wanted His covenant people to be reminded of the special image they bear by wearing only one clothing type. Perhaps the tassels on the four corners of the outer garment were to be reminders of their special relationship with Him as image bearers.
He is one. He loves. He is three persons who love. They are one. His love for us is born out of choice not necessity. He chose to create to enlarge the circle of love. We are made to reflect His image. We are made to love in oneness out which springs new life. That is indeed glorious. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PROVERBS 17
For many years I have been seeking to focus daily on the glory of the Lord. When it gets right down to the bottom line of life, does it really matter? Practically speaking, how does focusing on His glory help life right now? Does it really produce anything of value?
Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time seeking to better my life and my situation than to waste in meditation on His glory? As I have meditated, I look back on events of life that would have at one time put me over the edge in emotional turmoil. Instead of turmoil, yes there is pain, but instead of turmoil there is more often a lightening of the load, a peace that comes. I can only conclude, “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.”
Wouldn’t it be better to avoid completely situations that test the integrity of my heart? But standing in the furnace of His glory, I am drawn to His fierce love. He lures me into the glory of His molten purity, in order to burn away the dross of my heart. It is not pleasant; the dross is not pretty, but the glimpses of His purity are worth every bit of discomfort. Yes, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests the hearts.”
Rather than minister to the poor, wouldn’t it be much more productive to minister to those of a higher socio-economic status? After all, it is the wealthy who will have the resources to provide for the poor. But as I gaze at the wealth of the glory of the Lord, I gain a conviction that, “He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”
Wouldn’t it be better to protect my ‘rights’ so that no one harms me, or be sure that I am always vindicated? When someone does something that causes me discomfort, rather than bringing an accusatory finger, do I try to find out why the person did what he did and help them know how not to do that again, or do I rail against them in order to protest my injury. When shown the error of their transgression and they repent, can I become their friend? The glory of the Lord is that He has covered my transgression against Him. As I gaze upon that wonderful deed, I learn that He changes me toward His glory, so that I too, can cover those who transgress against me. He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends. Sometimes covering a transgression is one-sided.
When in a disagreement with others, would it not be better to beat them to the punch? Jesus loves me even when I am feuding with Him. He reconciled the Father toward me before I began to reconcile toward Him. When my face was turned against Him, He brought peace into the relationship so that the war might cease. Gazing at His glory makes me see that and causes me to do the same toward others. “The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts. . . A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.”
These are all things that He has done for/toward me. As I gaze at His glory, I see those things. Gradually it begins to free me so that I can and will do the same. Daily spending time gazing at his Glory is time well spent. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 12
I have had a number of people to whom I have ministered who have asked me to accompany them to a court case in which they were involved. I presume that they just wanted me there for emotional support for I have been in enough court rooms now to know that the judge usually doesn’t give a whit or even care that I am there. It has been my observation that judges in America are treated like gods. One dare not speak out of turn or unbidden. As a matter of fact, it has been my observation that if I were to say anything in the court room without being invited by the judge, then the judge would take it as an affront to himself and to the system of justice, and it would not go well for me. I particularly sense that if I were to speak up uninvited and say, “Judge, I don’t like the way that you have ruled in this case and this is why. . .” It wouldn’t be long before the judge would instruct me to be quiet, and if I did not obey then I would probably be removed from the room by the bailiff.
Here we are in the court room of the Cosmic Judge, God Himself. Jeremiah has the audacity to say, “Let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit.” Now, in Jeremiah’s defense, he really does have a good question. God has called Jeremiah from his youth to speak for God Himself. Most commentators think that the prophecies up to this point of the book are uttered during the reign of Josiah. Josiah forced the nation to follow the Lord. It appears that while the nation obeyed Josiah, their hearts were far from Him. For whatever specific reasons are behind this, Jeremiah sees through their façade. Thus, he says, “You are near in their mouth but far from their mind.” Essentially Jeremiah is accusing God of not being just. He genuinely feels that these people should be punished. He is wondering why they are not. He is accusing God of letting them get away with murder! Very few judges in the USA would put up with that kind of speech in the court room.
That God does not blow Jeremiah away because of this kind of talk is testimony of the mercy of our Lord, and an invitation to really let God know what is on our hearts, as long as we say it to Him respectfully, as has Jeremiah. God mercifully responds to Jeremiah in verses 5-13. “Jeremiah, if you are wearied by the footmen, what are you going to do when the real flood comes?” Every year with the spring snow melts of Mt. Hermon and the spring rains, the Jordan River would overflow its banks. If you have ever had the experience of being in a swift flowing river that is out of its banks, then you know this metaphor. Keeping in step with the march of the footmen in the army is easy, but what are you going to do when the army marches into the current, and it sweeps you off your feet? How are you going to keep step then?
Essentially this was the best time of Jeremiah’s life from a human perspective. Jeremiah was already upset with God’s seeming lack of judgment. Pain and persecution against Jeremiah will only increase in the future for Jeremiah. God is calling Jeremiah to consider how he would respond in the future when the judgment comes. We Americans have it so easy, yet we complain so much about the lack of justice. This is an invitation to come and know the heart of God. He is just! He is merciful. He calls us to rest in His mercy and grace. Yes we must speak out against injustice, but we must speak out against the human side. We must understand that in His time God will judge the wicked, and in time the flood against us from the wicked might become multiple times worse, but ultimately we must rest in the fact that it is part of his glory to punish the wicked in His timing. In the meantime it is also part of His glory that receives our complaints toward Him as long as they are respectful and obedient. It is His glory to receive us. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 3
Jesus. The power of His name can heal the lame. Yesterday I was at the body shop with Brice. The owner was standing with crutches next to a wheelchair. "What happened to you?" I asked. He recounted the story of being struck down by some auto-immune syndrome that completely paralyzed him in December. He will eventually regain 90-100% of his previous abilities but it will take a lot of time and therapy. He has lost a lot of muscle tissue and weight due to atrophy--non-use. He recounted how for six weeks he lay in a hospital bed and could only slightly move his head. His fingers began to curl from non-use.
This man at the gate called Beautiful was lame from his mother's womb and daily carried to the gate to beg. Surely, His muscles were severely atrophied. He had never learned to walk. Peter spoke the name of Jesus and the man walked. He who had never walked before not only walked but also leaped! He had the muscle mass, tone and coordination to do this immediately! What glory there is in this healing!
But, was he not there when Jesus passed by so many times before the crucifixion? Yet, Jesus never healed him then. Why did Jesus make him wait so long to be healed? Sometimes Jesus doesn't heal because he plans on glorifying Himself in some other fashion. This case was because He wanted to glorify Himself through His disciples. Think on this. Peter and John were simple fishermen, poor fishermen at that. They had given up their trade to follow Jesus. When asked for a simple alm by a beggar, they didn't have it to give. Yet, they had Jesus. They didn't have medical degrees or drugs or therapies. Yet, they had Jesus. They spoke the Name and the man was instantly healed.
The amazing event triggered a crowd. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, took advantage of the situation and preached a sermon explaining the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. As we will see tomorrow, Peter and John were arrested for this--but not before 5,000 men repented and believed in Jesus.
For whatever reason, God does not heal as instantaneously as often as He did in those early days of the church. Yet, I have met several people who have been instantly healed. Many of you are experiencing prolonged illnesses. Why? I don't know. But this I do know, He expects us to keep our eyes on His glory, to seek His face with all that we are. In the proper time He will heal us. Focus on His glory!
What glory there is in the Name of Jesus! Indeed our King is a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John